Drawing Near to God #4

Drawing Near God Overview

In this fourth installment of the Drawing Near to God series, the pastor opens by recounting a divine vision of mountains rising across the Midwest — a prophetic picture of believers ascending into God’s presence. Grounding the message in James 4:7-10, he challenges the congregation to stop drifting toward worldly compromise and return to an intimate walk with God. The sermon draws on the story of Moses at the burning bush, showing that God speaks when we choose to draw close rather than pass by. A rich exploration of the many competing voices in life — money, lust, fear, and emotion — leads into a powerful section on discerning the voice of God, anchored in John 10:1-5 and 1 John 4:1-2. The dramatic confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, and Elijah’s subsequent flight into fear, illustrates how even the most anointed servant must learn to quiet himself and hear God’s still, small voice. Psalm 46:10 and the story of the lost pocket watch become vivid calls to stillness. The pastor closes with a prayer of repentance and a prophetic declaration of open doors in 2026, urging every believer to apprehend the very purpose for which Christ took hold of them.

Drawing Near God Outline

• 00:00 – Vision of Rising Mountains and the Call to Draw Near: The pastor shares a prophetic vision of mountains rising across the region and the Midwest, establishing that mountains in Scripture symbolize drawing near to God. He introduces the series theme and anchors it in James 4:7-10.
• 06:30 – James 4 and the Danger of Divided Loyalty: A close reading of James 4:7-10 reveals the context of a persecuted early church tempted to compromise with the world. The pastor calls believers to weep, mourn, and return to full-hearted devotion rather than splitting loyalty between God and culture.
• 13:00 – Moses at the Burning Bush — Choosing to Draw Close: The story of Moses on the backside of the desert demonstrates that God waited to speak until Moses made the deliberate choice to turn aside toward the burning bush. Drawing near is always our responsibility first.
• 21:00 – Discerning the Many Voices That Compete for Attention: The pastor catalogues the voices of money, lust, fear, emotion, and Satan — who counterfeits familiar voices. Using 1 John 4:1-2 and Romans 8:14, he insists that any voice contrary to the word of God is a lie, and that the Spirit can never contradict Scripture.
• 31:00 – John 10 — Knowing the Shepherd’s Voice and Fleeing Strangers: Jesus describes His sheep as those who know His voice and will not follow a stranger. The pastor warns that when we refuse to obey God’s voice or follow our own desires instead, we are effectively treating God as a stranger in our own lives.
• 38:30 – Be Still — Psalm 46:10 and the Parable of the Lost Watch: Through Psalm 46:10 and a vivid story of a farmer’s grandfather pocket watch found only through stillness and a quieted mind, the pastor teaches that hearing God requires intentional silence, a calmed mind, and focused attention on His voice alone.
• 45:30 – Elijah’s Fear and the Still Small Voice — 1 Kings 19: After the fire from heaven on Carmel, Elijah flees in terror from Jezebel. God meets him not in wind, earthquake, or fire but in a gentle whisper, commanding him to go back and fulfill his assignment. Fear paralyzes; the voice of God restores and commissions.
• 53:00 – The Mount of Transfiguration and Hearing Above Emotion: On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father silences Peter’s emotional outburst with a single command: hear Him. The pastor connects this to Elijah’s journey, showing that God always brings us back to His word after stripping away fear and feeling.
• 56:00 – Prayer of Repentance and Declaration for 2026: The sermon closes with a corporate prayer of repentance, surrendering personal weaknesses to God. The pastor prophesies phenomenal opportunities opening in 2026 and prays for physical healing of ears, calling the congregation to apprehend all that God took hold of them for.

Scripture References

James 4:7-10, Romans 8:14, 1 John 4:1-2, 1 John 5:7-8, John 10:1-6, Luke 18:18-23, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 8, 1 Kings 19:5-15, Matthew 17

Key Takeaways

• Drawing near to God is always the believer’s personal responsibility — God promises to draw near in response, not in advance.
• Any voice that contradicts the word of God is a lie, regardless of whether it sounds like your own emotions, a trusted person, or even a prophetic word.
• The Spirit of God and the word of God are one, so the Holy Spirit will never lead you to do anything contrary to Scripture.
• True spiritual maturity requires facing your weaknesses honestly before God rather than running from them or blaming others when life falls apart.
• Hearing the voice of God demands deliberate stillness — quieting the mind from competing concerns until His gentle whisper becomes unmistakable.
• God’s greatest assignments often come after a season of fear and failure, just as Elijah was recommissioned immediately after his lowest moment under the broom tree.
• The greatest opportunity you will ever face in life may be disguised as the greatest problem you have ever encountered — you need ears to hear God to recognize it.

Drawing Near God Notes

The Central Invitation of This Message

The controlling theme of this sermon is deceptively simple: draw near to God and He will draw near to you. The pastor frames this not as a mystical aspiration but as a practical, daily discipline. He roots this call in the historical crisis of the first-century church addressed by James, a congregation scattered by persecution and tempted to compromise with surrounding culture. The parallel to contemporary believers is unmistakable. When the world grows hostile and chaotic, the instinct is often to accommodate rather than consecrate. James counters that instinct with a command to weep, humble yourself, and close the distance you allowed to open between yourself and the living God.

Competing Voices and the Practice of Discernment

One of the richest sections of this message catalogs the extraordinary number of voices pressing in on every believer: personal emotion, financial pressure, lust, bitterness, doubt, and the voice of Satan himself — who the pastor pointedly calls a counterfeiter, not a creator. The key text from 1 John 4:1-2 is applied broadly: test every voice, including your own inner voice, against the word of God. The Spirit of God and the word of God are one, and they will never disagree. This framework gives believers a reliable, Scripture-anchored filter for every decision, relationship, and apparent leading they encounter.

Stillness as a Spiritual Discipline

The parable of the lost pocket watch is one of the most memorable illustrations in the sermon. A farmer searches frantically for his grandfather’s watch, enlisting the help of noisy children who only create chaos. A young man finally recovers it by entering the barn alone in complete silence, quieting his mind until he could hear the faint ticking. The pastor applies Psalm 46:10 directly to this image: be still and know that I am God. This is not passive resignation but active, focused quieting of the soul — clearing away the noise of worry, ambition, and distraction until the voice of God becomes audible.

Elijah’s Weakness and God’s Recommissioning

The account of Elijah fleeing from Jezebel in 1 Kings 19 demonstrates that even the most powerful servants of God carry significant personal weaknesses. Immediately after one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament, Elijah collapsed in fear and self-pity under a broom tree. God’s response was not rebuke but tender provision — bread, water, rest — followed by a commission. The still small voice asked the same question twice, but the second time Elijah heard it without panic, and God sent him back to finish the assignment. The pastor uses this to assure every listener that fear does not disqualify them; it simply marks the next area God wants to strengthen.

Apprehending God’s Purpose for Your Life

The closing exhortation draws on Paul’s language in Philippians: I want to apprehend that for which Christ apprehended me. The pastor ties this to his own forty-year ministry in Merrill, built from nothing against every discouraging voice. He speaks prophetically about 2026 as a year of phenomenal open doors, but warns that these opportunities will only be visible to those with eyes sharpened by time in God’s presence. The greatest moments in life, he argues, often arrive disguised as impossible problems — and only believers who have cultivated intimacy with God will have the perception to recognize and seize them.

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