Habakkuk 3:2 Part 2: Prayer and Hearing the Voice of God

Habakkuk 3:2
Theme: Prayer and hearing the Voice of God

Introduction:

This is the second week of a series that I started last week. Unfortunately I didn’t do a good job of introducing it last week because the message I had to preach was such a fire in my bones and I was so weary from holding it in that I passed over a proper introduction to this series.

I’m preaching a series on “How to Start a Revival” which includes Repentance, Prayer, Holiness and Passionate Worship. I realize that it may sound formulaic to preach a sermon on four steps to a revival because it seems to place the emphasis on human effort rather than a spontaneous willful act of God according to His good pleasure. But I believe that anyone who joyfully practices these steps is in revival and a church that is made up of members who are practicing these steps is in revival. I also believe that revival is exactly what is beginning to happen in our church and so I want to take the proper pastoral prerogative and provide biblical direction to what I believe is happening. I have been in a church where it happened before and it came as a response to preaching!

So yes, revival is a spontaneous willful sovereign act of God when He pours out a renewing spirit of repentance, prayer, holiness and passionate worship upon individuals and a church- even a city or nation. But revival will not happen without these acts of obedience (Repentance, Prayer, holiness and worship) preceding the movement of God!
Obedience is the key word here.

So “How to Start a Revival” is an appropriate title for this series beginning last week with repentance. But do not think that because I am moving on to the next topic that repentance is a done deal- this entire series and our ongoing behaviour must be saturated in ongoing humble flesh mortifying sin abhorring joy producing liberating repentance as an antecedent to and a chief component of true revival. So if you are not in a state of repentance this morning, you are in a state of rebellion to the Word and the Spirit of God who calls all men everywhere to repent and be repentant.

Let me remind you of what a revival is- I said this a few weeks ago, but it bears repeating :
A revival is a little bit of heaven come down earth. A revival is when the church realizes that our purpose is not about getting men into church- it’s about getting God into men. Revival is an overwhelming sense of the presence of God.

And I illustrated it this way:
…suppose Jesus physically descended into this church this morning: What would happen next is what revival looks like (If it did not happen, judgment would certainly follow):

• Upon seeing the radiant holiness, goodness and utter lack of darkness or evil in Christ, people would fall on their face in recognition that if they spent an eternity in hell, they would do so justly if it were not for the grace of God and they would abhor their sin, tear their shirts and grieve!
• It would result in an outpouring of love and forgiveness and graciousness towards one another as well as a never-before-experienced humility. Business meetings would be an extension of worship and the height of worship;
• There would be an overwhelming single mindedness in the church towards preaching the gospel and world missions;
• people would be quitting their jobs and selling everything to go live in Darfur and China and Burma… and in a short period of time there would be martyrs from among us;
• There would be a constant and as of yet unheard of hunger for the word and prayer and personal holiness- prayer meetings would be held every morning and every night;
• Worship would be spontaneous and passionate and shameless as we cried out holy, holy holy! Worthy is the Lamb!
• And there would be joy! Exhilarating, zealous, fanatical, liberating, self effacing, fervent Joy! (The Pentecostals would call us fanatics!).

Shame on us if we did not react that way if Jesus were to descend upon us this morning!

But Jesus is standing here this morning and we are unmoved by that fact! Not only are we apathetic to his presence this morning, we are actually in rebellion to it! That is the opposite of revival! That’s the condition we are in if we are not in a state of revival- unmoved by the radiant glorious presence of God. That should cause us to fall on our faces!

Over the past several weeks I have been preaching about things that kill a revival and keep us in a state of anti-revival- things like self sufficiency and depending on the world’s methods instead of God’s; things like the way we use our mouths both to praise God and then slander one another in gossip; other things that kill revival are unrepentance, stubbornness, pride, bitterness, bringing division and spiritual apathy.

Our text for this morning is the same as last week, Habakkuk 3:2, the prayer of Habakkuk; let’s rise and read it together in the form of a prayer:
O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

I don’t want to you to miss the fact that this is a model prayer. Great and powerful servants of God pray to the living God this way. It’s personal, it’s impassioned, it’s unrehearsed, it’s poetic and it is able to produce what it requests: a revival of the works of God!

Works like the Exodus, the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, the visions of Daniel, the healings in the gospels, the recovery of site to the blind and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Cornelius’s house.

I have preached on the topic of prayer a number of times during my ministry and even recently. But I have rarely spoke on the most essential component of prayer so today I want to talk about- hearing the voice of God. Habakkuk says “I have heard your speech and was afraid.”

Are you afraid this morning? Hear the word of the Lord and be afraid!

But some people may not believe that God speaks! They’re wrong. In fact, if you have never heard God speak then you’re not a Christian at all because God speaks all the time and you cannot be one of his sheep if you have not heard his voice. Listen and be afraid:
• Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live (John 5:25).

• And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe (Jn 5:37-38).

• …the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice (Jn 10:3-4).

• My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand (Jn 10:27-28).

• Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (Jn 18:37).

Not only that, but I can cite countless times when God spoke audibly to people. He spoke to Adam, He spoke to Cain, He spoke to Noah, He spoke to Hagar, he spoke to Abraham and Sarah, he spoke to Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Daniel, and the other prophets.

God does not change- He spoke in the past and continues to speak today- He is not muzzled! He speaks through our consciences, in dreams, through preachers, through bible study, in times of quiet meditation and even, if he chooses, in an audible voice which may come in the sound of a still small voice or of a mighty rushing river!

We read this in our Experiencing God study last week: Henry Blackaby writes,
Does God really speak to people today? Will He reveal to you where he is working when He wants to use you life? Yes! God has not changed. He still speaks to people. If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the heart of your Christian experience.

When God speaks, He demands a response. If you are unchanged by the voice of God, then you are in willful rebellion to it. When He speaks, we must change the course of our actions and beliefs about ourselves and the world around us! We must alter the course of our lives and the things that occupy our time and then we will find ourselves at the centre of His will and in the midst of a personal revival that might result in a revival of the church and even the city. All it takes is for one soul (even the soul of a child) to become enraptured by revival fire to cause this entire nation to turn from sin.

God speaks in many ways; He speaks through scripture- the Word of God, He speaks through the Holy Spirit “…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (Jn 14:26). And he speaks to you through circumstances and relationships.
[There’s a] harbor in Italy [that] can only be reached by sailing up a narrow channel between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have been wrecked, and navigation is hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port, three lights have been mounted on three huge poles in the harbor. When the three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows he’s off course and in danger.
God has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply—the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. The three harbor lights of guidance are:
1. The Word of God (objective standard)
2. The Holy Spirit (subjective witness)
3. Circumstances (divine providence)
Together they assure us that the directions we’ve received are from God and will lead us safely along his way.
- Gregory Asimakoupoulos
Bob Mumford, Take Another Look at Guidance.

But all of these things would be meaningless without prayer. Habakkuk is speaking to God in prayer when he says, “I have heard your speech”. Hearing God’s voice is how we know what to pray for and how to ask God to renew His works in our current circumstances.

It is impossible to hear the voice of God though even when His Word, the leading of the Holy Spirit and personal circumstances are lining up if we are not praying. If you are reading God’s Word and hearing from the Holy Spirit and still unable to discern His will then it is because you are prayerless. It’s like a one sided phone conversation. Its only when you begin a concerted effort at prayer that the scriptures will leap off the page and speak to you about personal intimate life changing things that will be confirmed by the Holy Spirit and life’s circumstances so that the voice of God will be like a mighty rushing river and you will find yourself face to face with the will of God for your life and in the midst of a personal revival!

Warren Wiersbe explains that,
There are no shortcuts when it comes to revival. The church desperately needs revival, but it is not going to come by quick and easy methods. Evan Roberts prayed for eleven years before the Welsh Revival broke out, and his ministry during that remarkable time broke him physically. More than one hundred thousand people were converted to Christ during that mighty awakening, but it was not the result of manufactured meetings (they were spontaneous) or manmade promotions. True revival goes deeper than that.
Warren Wiersbe, God Isn’t In a Hurry, (Baker Books; Grand Rapids, MI, 1994), p. 14

If you’re prayerless then you may be the one who his holding back revival from happening in this church and the only thing that God is saying and the only thing that you can hear Him saying is “repent because you are far from me and return to me”. It’s God’s call to prayer. If you are prayerless, then the application for you is: Repent for ignoring Him and pray!

And don’t just say you’ll go in your prayer closet and utter a few pious platitudes to God you need to be praying with other people on a regular basis either at the church prayer meetings on Friday night and Monday evening or with a group of people at your work or with your spouse on a regular basis or with a few men or women in the church during the week.

I’ll give you 5 reasons why praying alone is not enough:
1. Praying regularly with a group of people keeps you accountable to prayer.
2. Praying regularly with a group of people keeps you focused on prayer during the prayer meeting
3. Praying with a group of people helps you learn how to pray
4. Praying with a group of people allows us to pray more accurately for one another
5. Praying with a group of people encourages us when we see answers to one another’s pray.


Conclusion:
So God is speaking to this church; what is He saying? Does anyone know what He’s saying? I believe He’s saying that we’ve gone of course. That we’re running around playing church and advancing personal agendas and ignoring the entire purpose for our being as a church and as Christians; we’re playing religion and He’s calling us to relationship.

So what is the prescription for our disease of spiritual paralysis?

1. Repent
2. Pray
3. Return to Holiness
4. Begin sharing the gospel
5. And restore worship in our lives

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;