Sometimes, GOD Whispers
Junior Level
Nothing draws human focus quite like a whisper. When someone whispers, our ears become keen trying to understand what they are saying. Many times when we are seeking GOD about a specific matter, we really want HIM to send lightening from the sky with thunder proclaiming the answers for us, and indeed GOD has spoken that way many times, however, sometimes GOD whispers and we must be in tune with Him to hear His voice. This study will help us to understand why at times GOD does whisper and I pray it will encourage you and help us all to become closer and have our hearts more fine tuned toward GOD and His voice. GOD Bless you all :O)
Handout: Sometimes, GOD Whispers
Have you ever been in a storm of life and feeling emotionally exhausted, feeling like you’re the only one, and that no one understands or cares what you are going through? Have you ever earnestly begun seeking answers from The LORD but it seems as if HE will not reply? You beg and plead to hear HIS voice but you hear nothing, and if feels as if HE has forsaken you, as if you do not matter to Him at all? As human beings, life can knock us around and sometimes we can get in the mindset that we are all alone and we begin to despair. The prophet Elijah felt this way during a specific time in his life and today we are going to read about it in God’s Word and see how God worked it out.
Before we begin reading, we have to understand what has happened before this area of scripture. In 1 Kings 18 we read that Elijah had greatly angered the king of that time because he had declared that there would be famine in the land for a long time and King Ahab who was a wicked King, and his wife Jezebel set up idol’s of Baal to worship him instead of GOD. Jezebel massacred the prophets of GOD and so she would have loved to get her hands on Elijah but GOD protected him. So it came down to a time when GOD would prove Himself to Ahab as the ONE TRUE GOD and there was a sort of show down if you will. Ahab and his people set up alters to Baal and prayed for him to send fire from heaven…they prayed and they prayed, they danced around and they even cut themselves praying for baal to hear their prayers and Elijah mocked them while this was happening. Then it was time for Elijah to call upon the ONE TRUE GOD of Israel…he began to pray and fire fell from Heaven and consumed the sacrifice and licked up a lot of water that Elijah had the people pour into trenches. GOD had proven HIMSELF all powerful once again. So Elijah commanded that the prophets of baal be seized and they were executed. This made Jezebel furious, so she vowed to kill Elijah and so he had to run for his life!
5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
Ever felt that way? Elijah is so discouraged, he is feeling like he is the only person left in the world that truly loved GOD and was trying to fight for what was right. Elijah was needing to hear from GOD. He had just witnessed the fire of God fall from Heaven and victory over his enemies but now he was alone, running and hiding and exhausted I’m sure. I think he was wanting GOD’S voice booming loud and clear with answers! Watch as we read on what God did!
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Wow! Did you catch that??? GOD was saying YES Elijah I have all power, I can speak through strong winds, through lighting, thunder, through Earthquakes and all sorts of loud ways, but not all things loud are of GOD. Yes, sometimes, God whispers.
Why do you suppose GOD whispers? Why did He come to Elijah in that still small voice?
God wanted Elijah to stop living according to his fear. Elijah was focused on what he could see with his natural eyes. He was focused on his problem rather that his GOD!
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Sometimes God whispers to:
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Notice verse 2, He MAKES me to lie down. GOD knows the storms and the valleys we will face, and sometimes when our emotions are high and we are on the roller coaster of life and there is chaos all around, if we do not stop, rest and focus, we will be beaten down by the enemy. When we get hysterical, we start to distrust GOD and take matters into our own hands and make things worse. So God whispers so that we will be forced to stop and listen hard for HIS voice so that we can calm down and begin to see that we are not trusting Him and get back on the right track.
Sometimes GOD whispers to get us to:
GOD’S ultimate goal is to make us in the image of HIS Beloved SON JESUS CHRIST!
Romans 8:29 “For whom HE did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren!”
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that HE which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of JESUS CHRIST.”
He wants us to grow in the grace, knowledge and in faith of His Son Jesus. That requires us to move closer to HIM. It requires us to live deeper!
Not long ago I heard a story about a young man and an old preacher.
The young man had lost his job and didn’t know which way to turn. So he went to see the old preacher.
Pacing about the preacher’s study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally he clenched his fist and shouted, “I’ve begged God to say something to help me, preacher, why doesn’t God answer?”
The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply, something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across the room. “What did you say?” he asked. The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher’s chair.
“Sorry,” he said. “I still didn’t hear you.” With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. “God sometimes whispers,” he said, “So we will move closer to hear him.”
When the battle is raging and you feel alone, you feel as if you have prayed but GOD isn’t answering…keep your faith and move up closer, it might just be the HE is whispering and you just haven’t been close enough to hear Him yet!
James 4:8 a “Draw nigh to GOD and HE will draw nigh to you.”
Beloved, hang in there, and know that God is with you and HIS promises are ALWAYS true. Be still and listen. He said My sheep know my voice.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”
When you have prayed and cried out to God but you still haven’t heard HIM, be still and trust HIM. In due time, He will answer, and if you are in His will, You will hear. GOD is not slack concerning His promises. (2 Peter 3:9) He will not fail you…HE IS FAITHFUL!
Just like He was there for Elijah, just like He delivered him, He will deliver you. Trust Him and know that there is power, yes even in the whispers of GOD!
Dear Righteous, Heavenly Father…
I praise YOU today for all that YOU ARE. YOU ARE LORD OF ALL! You are Almighty. I praise You by faith of what You are doing and what You are going to do. I know that You are my deliverer and my rescue. You are my rock and my High tower. I will not fear what men can do. I thank You for Your divine protection and favor. Help us to be closer to You so that we can hear You in the times when You whisper. Help us to be still and KNOW that You are THE LORD MOST HIGH when the battle is raging. Help us to remember that we are not alone that You promised You would never leave nor forsake us but go with us even unto the end! I thank YOU FATHER that You are working all things out for my good. I ask You to be with all those reading today and to help this ministry lift up Your name so that You will be glorified in all the nations of the earth! Help us to lead souls to the cross! I love You and I worship You…In JESUS name I pray. AMEN!
~*Cindygirl*~
May 8, 2011