Did you know that there is something that will block your relationship with God? It is a barrier that will keep God from hearing your prayers, it’s a barrier that will keep God from blessing your life, and it’s a barrier that He wants to remove so that He can bless you. What is this barrier?
Introduction: God is searching...
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
…for a select group of people.
The Question:
This is a principal throughout scripture that God is looking for a man or a woman whose heart is fully his. God is looking for regular ordinary people that are all His so that He can show Himself strong for them; to give them whatever they need – wisdom, faith, people, staff, finances, whatever they need to do His will, His purpose. Some He has a lot some a little, some not a all. What does it take to make a difference for God? What kind of person does He promise to strongly support? The Answer:
There are 6 prerequisites The first is that when God looks your heart: Do you have a dislocated heart? Do you really care? Is your heart really beyond self needs and worldly possessions to really care for other people? Our model was Nehemiah.
• A Dislocated heart.
Nehemiah 1:1-4 "1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,”
When he heard these words he took them to heart. He was just a businessman, someone who had a fulltime job, yet his heart was going out to the needs of his people far away.
• What is a dislocated heart? It is a God-given concern for others that propels us out of our comfort zone. It is a passionate concern for God’s agenda that supersedes our own desires for personal peace and prosperity.
• Two other examples where Jesus and Paul
The second prerequisite is a Broken spirit.
• There are Two Timeless Axioms Concerning God’s Character:
1. There is something that God hates 100% of the time. When he sees it in a man, when he sees it in a woman when he sees it in a child or corporation, when he sees it in the old testament when he sees it in the new testament God moves against it; It’s not like he is unhappy about it, it is not like he is displeased, he’s against it, he comes against it! He brings consequences, He hates it! That one thing is Pride, God hates pride100% of the time. Pride can be strutting yourself rebellion, pride can be self sufficiency – I don’t need God, and doing your own thing as if God doesn’t exist.
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Proverbs 8:13 ;"
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” James 4:6
2. God responds to a Broken Spirit 100% of the time. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba, after he had murdered her husband David repented and the Lord revealed to him these words:
“16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:16-17 ;
You see, we have this idea that after we have done something terrible that God will never use you; "I did this", or "I did that", "I’ll try to be a better person", "I’ll do better"; "I’ll be kinder to people"; we have this "works" mentality and it doesn’t work! When we are far from God, and you understand that you are spiritualy bankrupt the only way back is through a broken spirit, You must come to the point to say God, I messed up, I blew it, what I did was wrong, would you forgive me? Will you have mercy on me?
"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15The Bible is full of great examples. Moses was a murderer, David was an adulterer and a murderer, Paul was a murderer; somehow we get the picture of these men who are the heroes of the faith but these men did horrendous things, they were very evil people at a certain time, they broke the heart of God – and then they repented! They recognized how they had violated a holy God, They didn’t try to cut a deal they just said “Oh God I was wrong, I don’t deserve it but please forgive me.” When they came to that point and sought forgiveness from a humble and contrite heart the floodgates of heaven opened to them! He restored him!
How Do We Develop A Broken Spirit?
You don’t develop a broken spirit by beating yourself up. Here are three parts for the development of a Broken Spirit.
Our Model = Nehemiah
• A broken spirit begins with a restored view of God – not beating yourself up!
“4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, 5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6a Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel” Nehemiah 1:4-6a
We tend to focus on the problem, focus on the problem, focus on the problem and then you start to view all life through the lens of the problem and begin to think that life stinks! So, you drink stuff you shouldn’t, take pills that don’t really help, Watch TV all the time, eat too much all in an attempt to push away or hide the problem as if it doesn’t exist.
Either you have very big problems and a small God or a very big God and very small problems in comparison. These are only two options. Nehemiah had God centered prayers! Do you have God centered prayers or do you just whine before the throne? “God what about this, God what about that. “ Sometimes we just worry out loud and call it prayer. We do not consider who it is that you are talking to!
Nehemiah was speaking to the Great I AM, the one who spoke and the galaxies came into existence, he was speaking to the One with all power and all resources, he was speaking to the One who keeps his covenants of loyal love: he had a high view of God! A view of majesty, power, love, wisdom, justice, and holiness.
The words of the Psalm 46:10 and the song “Be still, and know that I am God: . . .” means next to nothing for the majority of today’s Christians. Christianity today has had big external gains (bigger churches, padded pews, conditioned air) but we have, by and large, grown weaker in our walk with the Lord. Over the last fifty or seventy years the type of Christians that the church is producing is progressively less and less like Jesus; less holy, less loving, less faithful Today’s Christian are many times “It’s all about me” Christianity and when hard times come, they get mad at God for not answering their prayers like they wanted – and fall away.
The way to get a “high view” of God is to become a “worshiper”. You must worship God for who he is. That is when you get alone in a room and think about Him; that is where you adore Him, praise Him, honor Him and thank Him; this is where you are not trying to get something done; this is where you do not constantly look at your watch to see what time it is; you think on the beautiful things God has made and you cry out Holy, Holy, Holy is God almighty!
Application: Worship
Isaiah 6:1-6 “1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:”
• A broken spirit leads us to an accurate view of you.
Nehemiah 1:6b-7“6b and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.”
Until you get a “high view” of God it is difficult to get to a place to realize your need of repentance; once you come to understand not only who God is but how you stand in His sight - your need of repentance and confession comes.
Application: Confession
James 4:7-10 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
• A broken spirit results in a renewed commitment to fulfill God’s agenda.
It was after three months of prayer:
Nehemiah 1:8-11: 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,”
Application: Intercession
James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.“
Summary Principles for Impact:
1. We must let God work deeply in us before He will work significantly through us!
2. Until we make prayer a priority progress and power will never be a reality
3. Difference Makers are not necessarily those with “a lot to give,” but those who make available all they have.
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