We often go off on our own way, looking for something to alleviate the pain or the guilt we experience. Jesus is looking to minister to us in our trouble; we need to learn to quiet ourselves and wait on Him.

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller, Mat Gehret
Sermon 12352
7:00 PM on 8/10/2022

P. Schaller –

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord Jesus! Amen. Yes, Great. Turn to Isaiah 8. This will be our theme tonight is
prayer or another word waiting on God. How many of you do yoga exercises? Anybody. Okay.
There’s a couple. Alright. Hot yoga? No not that one. Is. 8. Good to have P. Scibelli back. He's
over here with Linda. We love you pastor. You are awesome. You are awesome.
Isaiah 8:17, so it looks like what the prophet is saying that waiting on God though he is hiding, I am
waiting on God. Waiting on God in the Hebrew. We have this word. It means waiting actively
with anticipating, hoping for God to act. The most familiar passage in Scripture where we see
this word is Isaiah 40:31. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

I want to encourage us tonight in a certain attitude that is not one of being driven or forcefully
or feeling guilty but instead one of quiet anticipating on God. This vs. 17 is suggesting this. It’s
actually in a number of places in our psalms. Psalm 25, Psalm 27, Psalm 62, Psalm 123. Also
Proverbs 20:22 is a great proverb on waiting on God. Not looking for recompense or revenge in an
unjust thing that happened to you but instead waiting on God. What an amazing thought this is
to wait. Anticipation and leaning on the nature and character of God.

I believe it goes this way: if my understanding of the nature of God is very big and my
understanding of God moves my heart, then I’m ready to anticipate from God. I wait on him. I
may not see the results right away, but I have this anticipation because I know who he is. That is
at the key of our new life. Our new life as provided for us the spirit of knowing the nature of
God.

Look at the next verse here, Isaiah 8:18-19, so this is what happens. People can’t – they have a very
weak understanding of the nature of God. So, they depart from him and they go to wizards.
They go to magic or they go to some other thing. They are looking for results. I remember
Abraham Lincoln’s wife; Mary Todd Lincoln would have seances because she wanted
communication with her sons who had died. She was eager, very driven, very interested in
communicating with the dead. Why? Cause she couldn’t wait on God. Why not? Because the
concept of God. I don’t really know actually. I’m talking about her like I know but I don’t know
actually. I don’t know the whole story but it disturbed Abraham Lincoln that that would be
happening in the White House and also trying to find rest for his wife who did become mentally
sick and very troubled in life, very depressed and very dark.

There are people that turn away from the living God. God is saying to the Jews you should be
waiting on me even though I have turned away from you. Isn’t it? vs. 17. Even though God hides
his face, I will wait on him. There it is. I have the understanding that God is not a God far off.
That he is a God that satisfies. He is the one that I need. He is the one that speaks to my heart.
He is the one that ministers to me and he’s the ultimate answer for my life. This is at the very
heart of our lives.

Turn with me to Psalm 27. Or go to Proverb 20:22 on the way to Psalm 27. Proverbs 20:22 that means
don’t say I’ll seek for revenge. I rented out a house. They never paid the rent. I’m stuck with a
mortgage payment. I’ve been ripped off. I want a solution. Fine. I understand we all are with
you on that. However, there’s a key. Vs. 22. But wait on the Lord.
I believe this is a problem for many of us that we haven’t learned what that means to wait, to
rely. It’s not a dead, passive, dull, dud-type relationship. No. it’s an active, interactive
relationship as we are anticipating God in life.

Now go to Psalm 27 please. We could go to verse – the whole psalm is amazing. Vs. 13-14, it’s in
italics. I don’t know what it is in the Hebrew. Vs. 13-14. I think I’ll just do the message. Turn with
me to Mark 7. That was to be an introduction but I think I’ll just do this because of the context
and then we’ll do the offering. I asked P. Matt Gehret to share a word on prayer.

Turn to Mark. 7:24-27. The Jews did call Gentiles dogs. Maybe they still do. I don’t know. Jesus
didn’t go to the Greek, the Syrophoenician, the Lebanon territory in the northern part of Israel.
He didn’t go to minister to them. In a sense, he is very discouraging to this woman. Ever felt
discouragement? Maybe he’s not for you. Ever felt you have done something wrong and are
kind of paying for it? Every felt you have kind of failed in living the spiritual life or somehow you
haven’t been what you should be? When someone mentions prayer you roll over and groan
because you feel it’s something you can’t do or haven’t done or something like this.

In a way, all of us are dogs. All of us could be beat up by ourselves and by Jesus. And Jesus could
say something to you and I and we would just shrivel up and be very little. This is the idea of the
story how I want you to read it with me. This happens to us as Christians. You hear a man of
God or a story of a woman of God and they have done such great things and you feel like I
could hear Jesus calling me a dog. Here’s the key to the woman. She can take it. I am a dog but I
know your character. I know who you are. Fine. Call me anything you want. I won’t argue with
you but I know who you are.

That’s the key in waiting upon God. It’s not about us. We are dogs. It’s about him. It goes the
other way often naturally speaking. We are dogs. We kind of go off with our tail between our
legs off into the woods to disappear and seek for wizards or something else to entertain us or
to alleviate the pain or the guilt. We go off on our way and Jesus is looking for cause he’s a
minister and he’s saying, do you know me? If you know me, you will not go away from me. If
you know me, you will seek me. If you know me, you will quiet yourself and wait upon me and
trust me and believe me. So, go to the next verse.

Vs. 27-28. My words. Fine. That’s okay. I’m a Greek. I’m not a Jew, but I know you. I believe you.
I know you. Please, this is it. This is the blessing of our spiritual life. It’s a flexible God that is not
in a crusty little box that says, you’re a dog. Get out of my face. But it’s more like this: you’re a dog but I know. I know what you know about me. I know that you can take it. I know that you
have strength in your heart. I know that you are seeking me. You will find me. You will find me. I
will answer you. I will bless you. So, that’s it.

Go to the next verse please. It says, vs. 28. Meaning I’m not arguing with you but I know you got
something for me. I’ll take a crumb from the Jews’ table. You’re spreading out a big table for
the Jews. I’ll take a crumb. I’m not leaving. I’m believing. And if you didn’t do it today, I’m going
to believe you for tomorrow. I’m quietly waiting on you and I am enjoying you. I am anticipating
you. I am trusting in you.

You see I want you to get another concept of prayer. Prayer is not a tough thing. Prayer is
simply putting your heart and your mind on the nature of God and enjoying him. It says in Isaiah
my house will be a house of joy and prayer for all nations. It says joy there. My house will be a
house of joy with prayer. Beautiful.

Go to vs. 29. I would say Lord, I knew you would do it. I know who you are. You are not a God
afar off, Jeremiah 23:23. I know who you are. I am believing you for that. I might not see it right now
but I am waiting on you. I had fainted lest I waited upon you and believed you. And then you
ministered to me. You sent a little child to minister to me. You put me in a church where I could
get ministered to. I had a friend who kind of ministered to me and prayed for me. I got sunshine
in the morning. Spiritual sunshine that came into my heart on a dark day. God showed up for
me. I’m waiting upon him. He’s renewing my strength. We are running and not getting weary;
walking and not fainting. We are able to do this that has been set before us because we have
learned to wait upon God.

Now here’s what happens to us. We are in such a hurry, American people. We are in such a
hurry. We want the results now. If it doesn’t show up, I got to get it on my own. I got to take it
in my own hands. I got to take this on my own. I got to find a solution. I got to do it. I love our
ambition. I love our motivation in many ways. I love how we can be very focused as people. At
the same time, don’t miss out on this message cause they that wait upon God is different from
taking it into my own hands. Hezekiah waited on God and God dealt with the Assyrians. Jesus
taught us to abide in the vine. We will bear fruit. Jesus told us don’t fear. He told us to be
anxious for nothing. He told us to be patient. He told us to walk by faith not by sight. He told us
to look at the things invisible and not the things visible. He told us to set the Lord before our
face for he is at our right hand in Psalm 16:8. And that through him we can do a lot and it comes
this way.

Alright, so, vs. 30. Well, that’s it for that message. It’s a beautiful one. There’s some other
verses we could use too. Psalm 73, Hosea 12:6. Thank God for that. Would you pray with me, please.

P. Matt Gehret – Good evening. Wasn’t that a phenomenal message? How many of us needed
to hear that tonight? The song service, the message, the offering song. All of it. I’m going to try
not to screw any of that up right now as we wrap this up!

Maybe a quick announcement. As the Bible college director, it would be important for me to
say the semester starts in two and a half weeks. If you are interested in signing up, registration
has been open, is open. If you have questions about it at all, feel free to stop by our office.
Come see me. Call our office and we’ll get you set up. Okay. So, keep that in mind. How
awesome would it be to come to Bible college and learn to wait upon God. I don’t care if you
get an A or F in any of the classes. I do but in light of what we are hearing tonight, I care that
you learn to wait upon God. That you learn what prayer really is. What I want to say to you is
how to do that in the Spirit.

So, let’s read Romans 8:26 and then we’ll pray. Romans 8:26, I’m reading from the King James. Vs. 27.
(Prayer). In 1 Kings 3, Solomon is visited by God in a dream and God comes to him and asks him,
Solomon, what do you want? Solomon thinks about it for a second and he answers him in 1 Kings
3:7. I think as P. Schaller has already said and I hope that this is just going to add to that, I think
we all feel that way in different regards, different aspects of our life. I do not know what I am
doing. I do not know how to go out or how to come in.

But then he changes what he says and he addresses God directly. And he does know who God is
and this is what he says to him. Vs. 8. He knows who God is. He had the example of David his
father before him. You can argue all day about David’s character, but God gets the final word
on David in Acts 13:22, and he says he’s a man after God’s own heart. That’s how we know and
understand David. He’s a man after God’s own heart. Solomon has that example before him
and he gets to learn about who God is through his father, David. He knows he can go to God
and he can ask him, Lord, I don’t know what I’m doing but you know what you’re doing. Give
me the wisdom and understanding to be able to discern, to be able to lead, to be able to
encourage, to be able to decide, to be able to get from this side to that. This side of the Red Sea
for the Israelites to the other side. Right?

What circumstances in your life don’t make sense right now that you have no idea what to do.
Do you know God? Do you know that prayer is not some formula? Do you know that prayer is
not some method, some incantation, some sort of – something that you write down and you
repeat over and over again. Matrhew 6 says avoid vain repetition. Avoid it. Don’t go near it. Don’t
even think about it. That’s not what prayer is. Your Father in heaven knows what your needs
are before you ever even bring them to him.

Do you know what prayer is in Romans 8:26? I’m not there. Hold on. I got to get back there. Romans
8:26, maybe prayer is actually one of the infirmities in our life. Maybe we are weak in it. Maybe
we don’t know how to do it. Maybe we don’t understand what to pray for, how to do it. if there

is some specific thing we should say or how it should go, but we do know is who God is and his
character and what he says to us. In Hebrews 7:25 it says Jesus “ever lives to make intercession for
us.” He is able to save us to the uttermost. Okay. And then in John 14 Jesus says I’m going to send
another person after me. It’s the Holy Spirit. And vs. 18. I’m going to send the Holy Spirit to
comfort you. Vs. 26. I’m going to send the Holy Spirit to teach you. In 1 John 2:20, I’m going to
send the Holy Spirit to anoint you. And also, I’m going to send the Holy Spirit that it would make
intercession for you with groanings that cannot be uttered.

And you know when you just step back and you let go and you let God in and you put your faith
in him and you stop trying to make your method work. You stop trying to put your formulas
together and get the right concoction of intercession and adoration and confession and all
these – supplication – and all these other things that you could try to say, hey, this is prayer,
God. This is what I’m bringing to you. When you step back and you just say God, I do not know
what I should pray for. Then I guarantee you – don’t trust me. Trust the Word of God – I
guarantee you that the Holy Spirit at that moment is making intercession for you in a way that
cannot be understood except for in vs. 27, by God.

It says in 2 Timothy 2:24 that the servant of the Lord must not strive, right? Have you ever thought
about that? The servant of the Lord must not strive? In Romans 8:1 it also says “there is therefore
now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus to them that walk not according to the
flesh but after the Spirit.” How do you walk after the Spirit? You get out of the way and you let
the Spirit make intercession for you. You let the Spirit pray for you. You let the Spirit bring the
need to God to the throne of him on your behalf because Christ is listening to it. Christ is
interpreting it for you. Christ is taking action on your life through the Holy Spirit for whatever
your need might be. For whatever circumstances you are facing.

You have like take the Syrophoenician woman. You have a daughter who is possessed by a
spirit. You have a son who is in the hospital. You have a family member who is sick and it
doesn’t look good. You don’t know what to do. You don’t know how to pray. You don’t know if
there is the right thing to say or the wrong thing to say. But you know God. You know his
character and you know he has given you the most powerful tool you can ever wield that has
nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. It’s his Holy Spirit. It’s his presence inside
of you. So, let’s pray with that in mind as we wrap this up.

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