
Hearing from God and Following Him
Main Point: God is not silent, but we need to listen
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower
and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’S renown,
for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” —Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-13
We need to hear from God, and God wants to be heard. (Isaiah 55:1-3)
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” —John 7:37
“Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good.” (Isaiah 55:2b)
If we want to hear from God, we need to prepare ourselves for what God might want to say to us. —Isaiah 55:6-9
• Honestly want to hear what God has to say
• Deal with the sin that gets in the way of hearing
• Trust in God’s mercy and goodness
• Acknowledge that God’s wisdom is superior to ours
• “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. (John 7:46)
If we want to hear from God, we need to be immersed in God’s word and allow God to speak to us through it. —Isaiah 55:10-11
• Open the Bible
• Read it thoughtfully
• Expect God to speak through it
“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” —Jesus, Luke 8:18
When we do hear from God, we need to respond to what God tells us. —Isaiah 55:12-13
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.” —Isaiah 55:12a
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” —Jesus, John 10:27
Takeaway ¬ God has not stopped speaking so we should not stop listening.
QUESTIONS
1. If you have heard God speaking to you, what was that like? What form did it take (an impression, word from scripture, audible voice, etc.)?
2. Do you think it’s odd or strange that people would say they hear from God regularly?
3.Do you think God only speaks to us through the Bible, or does He use other methods as well? If you think He uses other methods, what do you think those are?
4.Abraham Lincoln said, “I am satisfied that, when the Almighty wants me to do, or not to do, a particular thing, he finds a way of letting me know it.” What do you think of about that?
Table Discussion Question: Jesus calls his followers “friends” (John 15:15). Think about your closest human friendships. How do you think friendship with Jesus is like that? How is it different?