The Silence of God (Isaiah 58:1-9)

Today, we begin a new message series called “Need Direction?” I think all of us what answer the question of the title, Do you need God’s direction in your life? With a resounding yes.

The past three weeks, we ran a survey at church asking everyone 3 questions. What do you wonder about, worry about or wish for? When we combined all three questions together, the top topic had to do with knowing God’s will. How can I know what God’s will is for my life?

That question certainly does not have a one word or one sentence answer. So this series “Need Direction?” will be looking at what the Bible has to say about making decisions in a godly way. God’s Word gives us general principles about what God’s will is and how to make decisions in life.

Romans 12:2 (NLT)  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I believe this message series will help each of us be transformed by God in our thinking. The behavior and customs of this world and often directly opposed to God’s will. We need to learn how to know and follow God’s will for our lives.

Let me list four elements of making biblical decisions in line with God’s will:

• Apply the wisdom of God’s Word. All decisions need to be in keeping with the general principals of God’s Word.
• Communicate with God through prayer and listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice.
• Listen to wise counsel of other believers.
• Take into account the particular circumstances of your situation.

By using these four elements of guidance, God will give you specific guidance concerning His will in every area of your life. God wants you to know His will.

James 1:5-7 (NIV)  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

We need wisdom to know God’s will. If we ask in faith, God will give us wisdom to know and follow His will in every important decision of life.

Today, my message is entitled “The Silence of God.” Oftentimes, people blame God for not speaking them or giving them wisdom. It seems to them that they ask God for wisdom and they hear nothing.

Today, we’re going to look at the main reason that God is silent when we pray. Our passage today is taken from Isaiah 58. The background is that in the year 537 BC, the Persian king, Cyrus allowed Jewish captives to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Although the project was started, there were all kinds of difficulties and the project was discontinued. Isaiah is writing a message for the people in that kind of difficult situation who felt that God was silent and not answering their prayers.