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LIFE PRINCIPLES NOTES | LP071202

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Have you ever felt like God was giving

you the silent treatment? You prayed andasked Him to give you direction, but there was no

answer.You listened for His voice, but He did not

respond.You may have even wondered if you hadmissed His direction or if for some reason He had

abandoned youwhich He would never do.

Understandably, it can be very disheartening when

you dont hear from God at all.

So how do you respond when God is silent?

Do you think that He has lost interest in you? Do

1 Instances of His silence.

There are many examples in Scripture of Gods silence. For example, when Lazarus was sick and dying,his sisters sent word to Jesus saying,Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick (John 11:3).They knew

how deeply Christ felt for their family, and probably imagined that He would rush to be with them in

their time of need. However, this was not the case. In fact, John 11:6 tells us,When He heard that he

was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Instead of running to comfort

them, Jesus waited. He was silent.Yet, it was for a very good reason.When Jesus finally did go to see

them, He glorified God by raising Lazarus from the dead.

God was also quiet for more than 400 years between the last prophet of the Old Testament

(Malachi) and His words to Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) in the New Testament.As you can

imagine, after 400 years of waiting, Israel was ready to hear His voice.

Gods silence is for a very good reason.Yet, if the only thing you care about is getting information

from Him or having your requests answered, then you are going to miss some of the greatest blessings

in knowing God.And He certainly does not want that to happen.

2 A lesson from His silence.Many times, God is silent when we first ask Him about a significant decision or trial that we are

struggling with.We want to honor Him because we know He will bless our obedience.We ask Him to

show us His willclaiming Matthew 6:33, which says,Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness,

and all these things will be added to you.Yet, He does not reply. So we pray more, wondering when

He will show us what to do.Then, in a moment we dont expect, He rewards our intense desire for His

willHe gives us the unmistakable guidance and direction that weve been asking for. He assures us of

what He is going to do in our life with clarity, purpose, and power.We discover that during this time

of silence, God was preparing us for something truly great He wants to do in and through us.

Summary:

Scriptural Principles:

you feel as if Hes distant and unreachable? Do you

have a difficult time understanding why He would

be quiet when you need Him so badly?

God has an excellent purpose for His silence,

although you may not yet comprehend it. And

He will teach you through it in ways youve

never imagined.

Supporting Scripture: Psalm 46:10; Matthew 6:33;

27:46; Mark 15:34;Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; Revelation 8:1

Key Passage: John 11:1-15

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HTherefore, humble yourself before Almighty

Godgetting on your knees and acknowledging

that He is Lord of your life.Be silent before Him and

be willing to hear and obey whatever He says to you.

Because if you will seek Him wholeheart-

edly in the silence, all of your anxiety, anger, and

disappointment will disappear. God will give

you a profound sense of His presence, love, and

power that satisfies the deepest longing of your

heart. Its yours for the asking, friendso

receive what Hes offering.

LIFE PRINCIPLES NOTES | LP071202

Conclusion:

3 Reasons for His silence.Although it is comforting to know that God has a purpose in the silence, what specifically is God

accomplishing? This, of course, varies from person to person, and depends on where you are in your walk

with Him. However, the following are some questions we can ask to understand how He is working.

a) Are we really listening? Sometimes, God is speaking, but we just havent learned how to be quiet

and pay attention to Him.At other times, Hes not saying what we want to hear, so we imagine that He

is not communicating His will to uswe tune Him out.Whenever there is silence, it is good to analyze

whether or not were really listening to Him.b) Do we have any unconfessed sin? Occasionally, God is silent because He wants to make us aware

of unconfessed sin in our life.This is because sin is destructiveit hurts your relationship with Him, with

others, and it also wounds you.Therefore,God will wait until you are willing to deal with your sin to speak.

c) Do we require preparation? God is sovereign. He is in charge of all thingsincluding our life.

However, sometimes were just not ready to relinquish control to Him. So there will be times He will

wait until we acknowledge His rightful place in our lives.Then, when He knows we have learned enough

to be obedient to Him, He will give us direction.

d) Is God teaching us to trust Him? Sometimes we truly want to honor God as our sovereign Lord, but

were afraid to trust Him.Yet, God wants us to have a relationship with Him thats based on intimate love and

trust. He wants us to learn the truth found in Hebrews 13:5,I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER

FORSAKE YOU.When God is silent, it doesnt mean that He is inactive or that Hes not listening. Rather,

He is teaching us to have confidence in Him even when our feelings and circumstances tell us differently.e) Have we learned to distinguish His voice from other influences? This is very important because you will

not be able to obey God unless you first learn how to hear Him. Listening to God is essential to walking with

Him.You need to differentiate between His counsel and the advice of others in order to do His will.

f) Is He teaching us to persevere in prayer?You should never stop praying just because it appears that God

is silent. He wants to hear your heartbringing you to the point where you are absolutely honest and

completely vulnerable to Him. He is deepening your intimate relationship, so persist in prayer.

4 Responding to His silence.Although we may feel somewhat disappointed, angry, confused, fearful, and even guilty, we need to

remember that God uses silence in our lives as a tool.There is an important reason He is getting our

attention.Therefore, we should:

a) Ask Him what He is accomplishing in us.b) Remember that His silence doesnt mean that Hes inactive.

c) Be confident that He is sovereign and everything He doeseven the silenceis for our good.

As He says in Psalm 46:10, Cease striving and know that I am God.

d) Respond to Him in patient, persevering, and praise-filled trust that anticipates His wonderful

work in your life.

e) Continue seeking Him through His Word and prayer.

Benefit from the truths that haveshaped Dr. Stanleys life and ministrywith the Li fe Pri nc ip les Bible. VisitShop InTouch at www.intouch.org.

Has God been silent lately? Then He is raising your

Christian life to a new level of intimacyone that is

far above what people generally believe the life offaith to be. He is deepening His intimacy with

youhelping you understand His great love for you.

He is also teaching you the way He thinks and His

will for your life so you can genuinely

love Him in return through obedience.