Monday 08.01.2017
The law of silence
Basic text
Joshua 6:10 "Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall [any] word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout."
INTRODUCTION
In a few days, we will start 21 days of prayer for the conquest of the year 2018. In order to prepare us and assure us that we will pray effectively, it is important that we know what the word of God teaches on the principles that guarantee effectiveness in prayer.
The laws for the conquest of Jericho
What have been the laws Joshua set and instructed to conquer Jericho ? We will speak today of the first law which is the law of silence.
LAW 1 : The law of silence
To conquer Jericho, Joshua had instructed the people not to make noise. We find the statement in Joshua 6:10
"Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall [any] word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout."
The reason why some believers fail to be effective in their prayer life, it is because they have not learned the law of silence. They are making too much noise. They speak more than they listen. They are not discrete. Their mouth never remains quiet. They do not discern when to speak and when to be silent. They are on phone 24/7. They are on facebook 24/7. They are surrounded with people 24/7.
The Bible is clear that there is a time to shut up and there is a time for talk (Ecclesiastes 3:7). It is also clear in Scriptures that sin is unavoidable when there is much talk. (Proverbs 10:19)
Jesus Christ the Son of God who is also the Word of God spent 30 years in silence. At the beginning of his ministry, he spent 40 days of silence in the desert. During his earthly ministry, he was always in search of solitary places for his one-and-one moment with the Father. (Matthew 14:23 ; Matthew 26:36 ; Mark 6:46 ; Luke 6:12)
When we speak of silence, we speak both of inner silence (silencing all voices contrary to the voice of God) and of outward silence (creating an environment of calm, tranquillity and peace)
Why do we need silence?
§ Those who pray without submitting to the law of silence, God calls their prayer "abomination"
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination.
§ Silence is the secret place, the place of the one-on-one with the Father.
Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
§ We need silence to hear the voice of God.
Job 29:21 Unto me [men] gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel.
§ We need silence so that our battles become the fighting of God.
Exodus 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
§ We need silence to shut the door and to prevent access to the enemy.
§ We need silence to work on our thoughts and to give shape to our ideas.
= TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PRAYER =
1) Build silence in you and around you
2) Be specific : define clearly your request to the Lord; be detailed and exact in your prayer.
Before Jesus answers Bartimaeus’ prayer, he asked him a question, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51).
= PRAYER = PRAYER = PRAYER =
What are your personal resolutions to build inner silence in order to improve and make the most of your moments of prayer?
What are your specific requests to the Lord for those 21 days of prayer? for the year 2018?
IN Jesus name !!!
Pastor T.D. KASUKU K.K.
The Word of Life Church International
Nairobi/Kenya
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