Drawing Near to God #5

Drawing Near God Overview

In this fifth message of the Drawing Near to God series, the pastor of New Testament Church opens with a powerful call to take God’s Word to heart, reminding believers that out of the heart flow the issues of life. Drawing from James 4:7-10, John 10:1-5, Psalm 46:10, Romans 10:17, and 1 John 4:18-19, the message unfolds a rich theology of intimacy with God and the danger of following wrong voices. The pastor shares compelling personal testimonies of pressing into God through severe opposition during the early years of ministry in Merrill, Wisconsin, illustrating how proximity to God silences fear. The account of Elijah at Horeb in 1 Kings 19 serves as the sermon’s anchor, revealing how fear distorts spiritual hearing and drives believers away from obedience. A gripping true story of ten-year-old Tilly Smith, who saved an entire beach from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because she had truly heard and heeded her teacher, powerfully illustrates what it means to hear with understanding. The message closes with a moving scene from Luke 8, where Jairus is challenged to keep believing even after receiving devastating news, urging every listener to draw near God continuously and let His perfect love cast out all fear.

Drawing Near God Outline

• 0:00 – Taking God’s Word to Heart: The pastor opens with an illustration about listening from his children’s ministry days and introduces the core theme: taking God’s Word into the heart so that the issues of life improve rather than embitter.
• 6:30 – A Vision of Mountains and Seeking God: A prophetic vision of mountains rising across the region is shared, with biblical grounding in how mountains consistently represent seeking God, from Moses on Sinai to the Transfiguration.
• 14:00 – Personal Testimony of Pressing Through Opposition: The pastor recounts the fierce spiritual and physical opposition faced during the founding years of New Testament Church in Merrill, showing that pressing into God was the only path forward.
• 22:00 – James 4 and Drawing Near God: A deep reading of James 4:7-10 grounds the sermon’s call to humility, repentance, and drawing close to God, with the promise that He will draw close in return.
• 31:00 – Discerning the Voice of God Among Many Voices: The pastor walks through the many competing voices in a believer’s life and anchors the solution in Romans 10:17 and John 10:1-5, showing that only those who know God’s voice will follow Him faithfully.
• 40:00 – Tilly Smith and the Power of Hearing: The true account of Tilly Smith, who recognized the signs of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and saved an entire beach, is used as a vivid parable for what it means to truly hear and heed God’s Word.
• 49:00 – Elijah at Horeb and the Still Small Voice: A detailed study of 1 Kings 19:9-18 shows how fear silenced Elijah’s ability to hear God, and how the gentle whisper broke through only after the dramatic displays of wind, earthquake, and fire failed to reach him.
• 57:30 – Perfect Love Casts Out Fear: Drawing from 1 John 4:18-19 and Psalm 46:10, the pastor exhorts believers to surrender anxiety, be still before God, and let His perfect love displace every fearful and self-centered voice.
• 1:02:00 – Jairus and the Voice That Says Keep Believing: Luke 8 closes the message as Jesus turns to Jairus after devastating news and says, do not be afraid, only believe, urging every listener to keep their heart tuned to God’s voice above every contradicting report.

Scripture References

James 4:7-10, Philippians 1:27-28, 1 John 5:7, John 8:31-32, John 10:1-5, Romans 10:17, Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 57, Hebrews 10, 1 Kings 19:9-18, 1 John 4:18-19, Luke 8:40-56, Acts 17:28, Matthew 5:43-48

Key Takeaways

• Drawing near to God is not a one-time decision but a continual practice that must be pursued especially in the middle of opposition and fear.
• Faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing the Word of God, so repeated exposure to Scripture is not redundant but essential to spiritual growth.
• Perfect love casts out all fear, meaning the answer to a fear-dominated life is not willpower but a deeper encounter with the love of God.
• If you do not know God’s voice, even born-again believers will follow the familiar voices of bitterness, lust, criticism, or fear instead of following Him.
• The story of Elijah at Horeb reveals that God meets us in a still small whisper, not in spectacular displays, and that fear must be dealt with before obedience can be restored.
• Just because you are going through difficult problems does not mean you are a weak or failed Christian; it means you are on the path of righteousness and need to draw near God again.
• Humbling yourself before God and resisting the devil are inseparable actions, and the pattern of submitting to God, resisting the enemy, and drawing near is the foundational rhythm of Christian life.

Drawing Near God Notes

The Heart Is Where Transformation Begins

The pastor opens with a simple but profound truth rooted in Proverbs 4: out of the heart flow the issues of life. Taking heart means actively receiving something into the core of who you are. This is why repetitive hearing of Scripture is not boring routine but essential spiritual nutrition. Just as faith comes by hearing and hearing, transformation comes not from a single sermon but from consistently allowing God’s Word to saturate the heart until it changes the way a person thinks, speaks, and responds to life’s pressures.

Competing Voices and the Art of Discernment

One of the sermon’s most practical sections catalogs the many voices that fight for a believer’s attention: the voice of fear, bitterness, criticism, money, neighbors, friends, and even one’s own desires. The pastor anchors discernment in 1 John 5:7, noting that the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit always agree. Any impression or leading that cannot be confirmed by multiple places in Scripture is suspect. Scripture interprets Scripture, and believers must take time to be still before God so His voice can rise above the noise of daily life.

Tilly Smith and the Parable of True Hearing

The remarkable true story of Tilly Smith, the ten-year-old who recognized the warning signs of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on a beach in Phuket, Thailand, and saved everyone present, becomes a striking parable for the entire series. She had heard her geography teacher two weeks earlier and truly taken that knowledge to heart. Her heeding of what she had heard was the difference between life and death for an entire beach. The application is direct: everyone in a congregation hears the Word, but those who truly hear, internalize, and act on it are the ones who are saved from catastrophe.

Elijah’s Fear and the Still Small Voice

The extended study of 1 Kings 19 forms the theological heart of the message. Elijah, fresh from calling down fire on Mount Carmel and outrunning a chariot for nineteen miles by supernatural power, collapses into suicidal fear at the threat of one woman. God’s response is instructive: He does not rebuke Elijah immediately but feeds him, rests him, and then leads him to the mountain. There, wind, earthquake, and fire pass by but God is not in them. Only in the still small voice does God speak, showing that proximity and stillness are prerequisites for hearing Him clearly.

Practical Steps to Drawing Near God

The pastor draws from Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God and Psalm 46:10 in the Message Bible, which says step out of the traffic and take a long loving look at me. Drawing near God is not reserved for scheduled prayer times. It is a lifestyle of familiar, humble, and affectionate conversation with Jesus throughout the day. This continual practice builds a recognition of God’s voice so deep that counterfeits, whether the voice of fear, self-pity, bitterness, or worldly distraction, become increasingly obvious and easy to dismiss.

Do Not Be Afraid, Only Believe

The closing passage from Luke 8, the story of Jairus and his dying daughter, delivers the sermon’s final exhortation with great power. As devastating news arrives that the girl has died, Jesus immediately turns to Jairus and says, do not be afraid, only believe. The pastor points out that Jairus had begun with faith, drawn near to Jesus, and received His yes. The enemy’s voice arrived to abort the miracle before it happened. Jesus’ instruction is not to gather new faith but to keep hearing what you have already heard about His goodness and not allow a louder, darker voice to overwrite it.

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