THE HEART IS THE PROBLEM OF THE TONGUE.
TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF THE TONGUE:
OUR HEART MUST BE
PURIFIED
PROTECTED AND
PREPARED
(SO THAT THE TONGUE CAN FULFIL IT’S PURPOSE)
TO SOLVE THIS HEART PROBLEM.
TO PRAISE.
TO PRAY.
TO PREACH.
AS THE OVERFLOW OF THE HEART
THE TONGUE IS PREPARED FOR A PURPOSE.
PRAY PERCEPTIVELY.
PRAY PERPETUALLY.
PRAY PURPOSEFULLY.
PRAY POLITELY.
PRAY PATIENTLY.
PRAY PERSISTENTLY.
PRAY PRIVATELY.
PRAY PERCEPTIVELY
Perception is just another word for realization
just as we saw with praise, we need to realize
WHO it is that we are engaging with.
PRAY PERCEPTIVELY.
Realize who you are praying with
prayer is a conversation
A dialogue and not a monologue.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven, and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
PRAYER IS ABOUT LISTENING AND SPEAKING.
Exodus 33:11.
The Lord would speak to Moses' face to face, as one speaks to a friend.
GOD GAVE MOSES THE LAW(5 books)
John 5:46-47.
If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?
2 Peter 1:21.
For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
While we can enjoy closeness with God, our intimacy with Him is built on a deep reverence for Him.
Psalms 25:14.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and HE makes known to them HIS covenant.
When we think in terms of a human relationship, this may be difficult to understand. After all, what does it look like to revere a friend?
One way that helps to understand this is to think of what it’s like to make friends with a king.
Billy Graham was a close friend of several Presidents of the USA.
Friendship with God does not mean we lose a sense of reverence for Him; after all, He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Proverbs 22:11.
One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend.
Billy graham.
Billy Graham had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents, from Harry Truman to Barack Obama
(12 Consecutive presidents).
Billy graham.
Jesus’ friends, will always give Him the glory and place of honour. When John the Baptist was being compared to Jesus, he didn’t claim glory for himself, but exalted Jesus, saying:
John 3:29-30.
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is
full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.
That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
He must become greater; I must become less.
Is our prayer life attentive and are our words gracious?
Or demanding?
Can you imagine Billy Graham
sitting down with the president and
talking all the time like some of us
do who like the sound of our own
voice?
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Ecclesiastes 5:2-3.
Do not be quick with your mouth,
do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven, and you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
A dream comes when there are many cares,
and many words mark the speech of a fool.
THIS HEADING MAY SOUND LIKE A CONTRADICTION, BUT THAT IS BECAUSE WE THINK THAT PRAYER IS JUST US TALKING.
BEING SLOW TO SPEAK AND QUICK TO
LISTEN APPLIES TO PRAYER AS WELL.
James 1:19.
Let every man be quick to listen but slow speak.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-5.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
PRAYER IS ABOUT LISTENING.
IN FACT, PRAYER IS MORE ABOUT
LISTENING THAN SPEAKING.
GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR VAIN
REPETITIONS AND SCRIPTED
CONVERSATION, LET US MAKE OUR
PRAYERS AN INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE,
WHERE THE LORD HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY SOMETHING AS WELL.
IF YOU ARE GIVEN TO MUCH TALKING
AS SOME ARE AND OTHERS CAN’T GET
A WORD IN EDGE-WAYS, THEN FORCE
YOURSELF TO HEAR GOD SPEAK, BY
READING HIS WRITTEN WORD.
WE SING A SONG,
OPEN OUR EYES LORD,
WE WANT TO SEE JESUS,
OPEN OUR EARS LORD,
AND HELP US TO LISTEN .
MAY THAT BE OUR PRAYER.
As the early Middle Ages (500–1000) moved into the High Middle Ages (1000–1300), communal recitation of the daily office gave way to private prayer. Beautiful illuminated books of hours emerged to guide the prayers not only of monks in their cloisters but also of nobles in their castles.
God speaks to us through HIS WORD and in the absence of all other directives this must be our guide. It is also the standard by which we judge whether we are hearing from God, man, our own flesh or Satan.
Acts 17:11.
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
You and I have no excuse for not being able to hear God, we have his written word.
We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don’t want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? Perhaps it’s because we know that when God speaks, we know we have only two choices: Either we will do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God’s servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative.
PRAYER IS LISTENING. WE CAN’T BE TALKING ALL THE TIME BUT WE CAN BE LISTENING ALL THE TIME.
LIKE THE PROPHETS AND THE APOSTLES WHO PENNED THE SCIPTURES, WE CAN HEAR FROM GOD ON AN ONGOING BASIS.
Like Samuel (1 Samuel 3:9-10)
LET US SAY:
“Speak lord your servant is listening”.
GOD SPOKE TO DANIEL IN PRAYER. WHY WOULD WE THINK THAT HE SPOKE TO ISAIAH IN ANY OTHER WAY?
REMEMBER GABRIEL’S WORDS
Daniel 10:12.
Daniel, don't be afraid! God has listened to your prayers since
the first day you humbly asked
for understanding, and he has
sent me here.
Isaiah 6:6-8.(A dialogue.)
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!
ISAIAH WAS SENT TO DELIVER A MESSAGE AFTER HE SAID TO THE LORD
“here, I am Lord send me” (This is a dialogue)
NOW GOD GIVES ISAIAH A MESSAGE FOR ISRAEL.
BUT LET US LOOK AT WHAT THAT MESSAGE WAS.
IT WAS A FRIGHTENING MESSAGE.
Isaiah 6:9.
He said, Go and tell this people:
Isaiah 6:10-11.
Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. Then I said, “For how long, Lord?
And he answered: Until the cities lie ruined.
HOPEFULLY, THIS MESSAGE ISN’T ONE THAT WE AS HIS NEW COVENANT PEOPLE WILL BE SENT.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE BEEN SENT SIMILAR WARNINGS BECAUSE AS WE HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO GAVIN'S MINISTRY ON THE BOOK OF REVELATION, OVER AND OVER THE PHRASE IS USED IN THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
“LET HIM THAT HAS AN EAR HEAR”
LIKE THE LAODICEAN CHURCH
ARE WE STILL SETTLING FOR A LUKE-WARM RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD
WITH HIM OUTSIDE KNOCKING AND WAITING TO BE INVITED IN?
Revelation 3:13-20.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
PRAYER
OH LORD PLEASE HELP US TO LISTEN MORE AND NOT JUST WITH OUR EARS BUT WITH OUR HEARTS AS WELL, BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT TO SILENCE YOU.
Most Christians don’t have a problem talking to God, but many Christians don’t listen to the Lord.
Some don’t know how to; some don’t care to and still others hear him and choose to ignore him and in so doing silence him.
Jeremiah 6:10.
To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear.
The Word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
Mark 4:23-25.
He who has ears to hear let him hear. Consider carefully what you hear, with the measure you use it will be given to you and even more.
He who hears will be given more, he who does not hear even that which he has will be taken away.
When we stop listening, God stops speaking.
There is a difference between having ears and having “ears to hear.” Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the seed contrasts types of hearers: those who let the Word of God pass straight through their ears and those who truly listen and seek understanding (Mark 4:13–20). Some hear the Word, yet they do not allow it to take root because the seduction of worldly pleasures and comfort overcomes them. Others end up rejecting the Word because of persecution or trials. Others hear the Word and open themselves to understand and accept it so that it transforms them. Those who have “ears to hear” allow the Word to bear fruit to the glory of God. It is up to the hearer to decide whether to take the Word seriously and pursue understanding; only a few are willing—the rest have ears, but they do not have “ears to hear” (Matthew 7:13–14, 24–27).
Romans 10-17.
So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by THE WORD OF GOD. GOD’S WORD can give us the (ACTIVE FAITH) we need to restore our hearing.
DON’T IGNORE THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IF HE IS SPEAKING TO YOU ACT AND REPENT AS JOB DID WHEN THE LORD OPENNED JOB’S EYES AND INITIATED THE CONVERSATION.
Job 42:4-6.
You said, Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you shall answer me.
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
John 8:47.
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.
John 10:3-5.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they
know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.
John 10: 8,9 &14-16.
All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
On rare occasions God speaks with an audible voice.
God speaks to us through his Word and in the absence of all other directives this must be our guide.
God speaks to us in a still small inner voice in our heart and mind.
God speaks to us through people especially the more mature Christians who mentor us.
God speaks to us through circumstances.
WE WOULDN’T SIT AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A DEAF PERSON, SO WHY DO WE THINK THAT GOD WILL?
The big problem that confronts modern day Christianity is not a God that doesn’t speak, but Christians, who like the Jews of old, do not listen.
Zechariah 7:11-13.
But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen…So the Lord Almighty was angry. “When I called, they did not listen; so, when they called, I would not listen” says the Lord Almighty
1 Samuel 15:22.
Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings… as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice.
OBEDIENCE IS THE RESPONSE THAT KEEPS THE DIALOG GOING.
IF WE REFUSE TO DO WHAT GOD TELLS US, WE SILENCE GOD AND RISK DEAFENING OUR SPIRITUAL EAR.
Ezekiel 33:30-33.
As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD. My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.
Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one
who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and
plays an instrument well, for they hear your words
but do not put them into practice.
TO PRAISE PROPERLY GOD MUST OPEN OUR EYES, BUT TO PRAY PROPERLY GOD MUST OPEN OUR EARS AS WELL.
PRAISE AND PRAYER
Matthew 6:7.(ESV)
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
WE HAVE LOOKED AT SOME EMPTY PHRASES THAT PEOPLE USE IN THEIR PRAYERS, LIKE PLEADING THE BLOOD, ETC.
LET US KEEP OUR PRAYERS BIBLICAL.
Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him,
and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord,
and help us to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus.