[Adapted from Rick Warren’s sermon of the same title.]
This morning we’re beginning a new series, "Conversing with God". I will cover it in 4 sessions.
• Frankly, nothing is more important in our walk with God, than be able to hear and understand what God is saying.
• Let’s look at Luke 8:4-15.
Jesus says in 8:8, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Because God speaks!
One of the most basic claims of Christianity is that God speaks to people.
• All through the Bible you see the phrase, "And God said..."
• God wants to have a relationship with you, and that means we need to talk. God has chosen to speak to us.
The problem with communication is that we don’t always hear it correctly.
• We misread one another’s intentions; we misunderstand what is being said.
• Even between 2 very close people like a husband and wife, who spends every day together and talks most of the time, this can happen.
• So how much more challenging would it be to hear God clearly.
That is why I am a little sceptical of people who always so confident of saying, “God told me this or that!”
• I believe this can happen but it is the exception rather than the norm.
• Even pastors who have spend years serving the Lord needs to take time to seek Him.
• I do not have a special phone on my desk that has a direct access to God, like important ministers having a direct line to the President. God does not send me e mail or key in something on my Facebook. I wish sometimes it was as simple as that.
Yet there are other times when God speaks and I know He did, very clearly, like the time when I decided to go full-time. There are times when I know God has put a thought or a deep impression in my mind. I know it’s Him.
What makes the difference? The difference is ATTITUDE.
Whether you get the message or not, depend very much on your attitude.
Jesus says it has to do with our response to the seed. What kind of a ground did it falls on?
• It is not 4 types of people, but 4 kinds of attitudes that people have towards God’s Word.
• You can come with any one of these four attitudes, at different times.
• We need therefore to watch our attitudes because if you receive it well, your life can be changed.
It’s like some cordless phones have different channels on them.
• If you pick up a call and it’s not clear (with a lot of static and noise), you can press a button to search for the best signal and then it switches to that good channel and everything becomes clear.
• Many times God has spoken to you, but it hasn’t come through very clear because you’re not on the best channel. You are disturbed, distracted and troubled by many other things.
How do I better hear God speak to me?
1. I MUST CULTIVATE AN OPEN MIND
The hardened path – a closed mind
The soil must be receptive and not hard.
• I’ve got to want to hear from God, be eager and receptive. I’ve got to be ready and willing to hear.
• This willingness and expectation must be there each time we come before God, either in our QT or worship service.
• We quote Matt 18:20 often at the beginning of the worship service: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” If He is there, then we must expect Him to speak. It’s funny to come together, like the reunion dinner we had, and then to have someone in the group not saying a word throughout the dinner together.
So my heart must be right. I am not here to hear the pastor, or guest speaker, or the worship leader. I’m here to hear God.
• I’m not talking about an audible voice, some writing on the walls or a thunder in the sky. God leaves lingering thoughts and impression in your mind.
• Sometimes it does not come from the whole sermon in its entirety. It may be just one or two liners that the speaker said, and you cannot get it out of your mind. God has spoken.
• But sadly, most of the time, we are not paying attention.
Why? Unbelief
• We don’t believe it’s Him speaking. We don’t believe it’s possible for God to plant thoughts in my mind.
• This is the first type of soil. Your mind is closed.
• 8:5 “…some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.”
8:12 they are “the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”
You look at a farm and you’ll always see this footpath that the farmer walks on.
• It is both HARD and NARROW. Nothing goes in.
• They come before God but you are hard-hearted and narrow-minded.
• This is true with us too, at times. God wants to speak to us, but He doesn’t even get a chance because our minds are closed, our hearts are hardened, we’ve made up our mind.
• So it doesn’t matter what God want to say. I’ve already decided to do it my way.
What causes this closed mind?
1. Pride
• It is a mind that says, “I don’t need God to tell me what to do.”
• It is different from a person who is stubborn and refuses to listen to other people’s opinions, because our opinions aren’t always right.
• But when this same attitude is used against God, that’s what the Bible calls pride. Because God is perfect and will not do wrong. That’s why He does not ‘suggest’, He commands.
2. Fear. Sometimes we’re just afraid of what God might say to us.
• What if I pray or open my mind to God and God tells me to do something I don’t want to do? He might tell me something hard to accept. So better to ignore Him.
3. Bitterness. You’ve been hurt. Some past experiences caused you to blame God.
• People say things like “God, why did you allow this? Why is this happening to me?”
• We don’t always understand everything that God is doing. If you have a painful past, remember this, God is on your side. He hurts with you. He is not against you, He is for you. You have to run to Him, and not from Him.
So don’t close your mind.
• Don’t focus too much on the medium – the speaker, the worship leader, the style, etc. Listen to what God has to say.
• If you shut Him out, you are cutting off your lifeline. You are cutting yourself off from the only One who can touch you and heal you.
• No wonder the beaten path is barren. Nothing can grow there. It is unfruitful.
So the attitude we must cultivate is to have an OPEN MIND towards God always.
2. I MUST ALLOCATE TIME TO LISTEN
The shallow soil - a superficial mind
I’ve got to make time to hear Him.
• We schedule everything else in life – our projects, meetings, homework, dates, shopping trips, everything else – so schedule time for God.
• 8:6 “Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.”
8:13 “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”
Just as the hardened path represents the closed mind, the shallow soil represents a superficial mind. It’s shallow.
• The first one is “I don’t want to think about it.” The second one is “I don’t have time to think about it.”
• No chance to go deep. No time for that, because growing deep requires cultivating. It takes time and effort, and most don’t have them today.
• That’s why the Psalmist says in Psalm 1 to MEDITATE on what God says, DAY AND NIGHT, and then we will be like an ever-green tree bearing fruit always.
Let me share with you what I do.
• Think about one or two things that impresses you from the sermons. Don’t let it go too quickly.
• Anything that you forget will become useless. You cannot work on anything you forget. If you forget the entire sermon, you’ve lost the seed!
• Cling on to it, chew on it and review it over and over again in your mind.
I know some of you take down notes during sermon. That’s really good. Keep it up.
• The faintest ink is still better than the best memory; the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.
• How is it that people can come to church year after year and never really be changed? Because it goes in one ear and out the other. They did not chew on it. They just let it go.
• 8:13 they “…receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.”
• Enthusiasm won’t get you very far. Many start off excited and full of joy, but we don’t see them around anymore. Enthusiasm is not enough. You need to be serious about learning and growing, and this takes time and effort.
Be serious about what God has to say. Allocate time to listen.
• God can’t talk to you unless you are paying attention.
• Cultivate an open mind and allocate time to listen.
3. I MUST ELIMINATE THE DISTRACTIONS
Soil with weeds - a preoccupied mind
A lot of times we miss hearing God because our minds are crowded with other thoughts.
• Our minds are filled with concerns about life, relationships, dreams, worries, all these different kinds of things. This is the Martha’s syndrome.
• Jesus was in Mary and Martha’s home. He was speaking but Martha was distracted by works in the kitchen. Imagine, you have this VVIP of the day in your house, up-close and personal, talking about eternal truths and Martha was in the kitchen.
• Jesus says, “Martha, you are worried and upset about many things…” (Luke 10:41) God called, but He got a busy signal. Or an answering machine that says, press 1 for this, press 2 for that…
The soil with weeds, this third soil that the seeds fell on, represents a preoccupied mind.
• 8:7 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.”
8:14 “The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.”
• Distracted. Disturbed over many things. Too many things in our hands.
• Something needs to be dropped, and usually God is dropped.
I am now teaching Ecclesiastes in my SS class. Chapter 3 talks about our time on earth and we were led to think about things eternal. The Bible reveals to us FOUR things that are eternal – God, His Word, His Kingdom and souls of men. So whatever you do, remember to get back to these four eternals.
Jesus gives us 3 examples of the weeds in our lives. You’ve got to get rid of them.
(1) WORRIES
• You cannot be hearing what God says because your mind are filled with thoughts of your own. In fact, you are not hearing what people are saying.
(2) RICHES
• People are busy making money today. Almost everyone lives for that.
• God gets the leftovers in their schedule; if there are any leftovers.
(3) PLEASURES
• There’s nothing wrong with pleasures. God designs life to be fun and happy. But don’t replace God with the fun things of life.
• If you are too busy having fun and forgets about going to church, about fellowship, about reading His Word, then you are heading in the wrong direction.
Watch out for the weeds in your life – the things that come between you and God; between you and serving God.
I like the way Rick Warren illustrates weeds.
• You don’t have to plan for weeds to grow; it just grows.
• The difference between a plant and a weed is this. For a plant, you need to take care - cultivate, fertilise, trim, water – in order for it to grow and blossom.
• Weed? You do nothing and it grows. Walk into a garden that is totally neglected, and you’ll see weeds. You don’t need to put in extra efforts, it will come.
• When I start neglecting time with God on a daily basis, when I neglect my small group time, when I start to skip church, any of those things - the weeds are going to grow and choke the spiritual life out of me. You experience stress, discouragement, lost of joy and sense of purpose; these are weeds. They choke the life out of you.
• Where did they come from? NEGLECT. They come just by neglecting time with God.
4. I MUST COOPERATE WITH WHAT HE SAYS
The good soil – a willing mind
This is telling God, “Lord, I’m willing to hear you out.” It’s an attitude of saying YES to God. And it comes with trust. This is the 4th soil – the good soil – it represents a willing heart.
• 8:15 "The seed on the good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart who hear the word of God and retain it and by persevering produce a good crop."
• They not only hear God’s Word but RETAIN it. They write it down, they take note of it, and they think about it and go over it. The result is a productive life.
• James 1:22 tells us, "Don’t merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourself. You kid yourself if you think you’re growing just by going to church. Do what it says."
What kind of response do we have towards God today?
• Is yours a closed mind? Not interested in what God has to say.
• Or a superficial mind, happy to be a so-called Christian but not really serious?
• Or a distracted mind, you are sincere but too busy with your own life.
• Or are you the good soil – the willing one, who is keen to know God’s will and do His work.
Only the GOOD SOIL brings forth fruits. It is only when you really listen and obey can your life be changed and you become productive and useful.
• So what are you going to do with this message (this seed)?
• Think about something practical that you need to do in response to God’s Word today.
• Do you need to start reading your Bible, start each day with a short time of prayer, or memorise a verse. Do something! Don’t waste it.
