God's Gentle Whisper
The sermon emphasizes the importance of entering into God for a place of blessed union, where we can experience the highest kind of prayer and see miracles and answers to prayer in perspective.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the importance of silence and stillness in learning profound truths about God, contrasting it with the lessons learned in the chaos of life. He argues that while prayer often focuses on requests and obtaining things from God, the highest form of prayer is about entering into a deep union with God, transcending mere requests. Tozer highlights that true understanding and connection with God come from moments of quiet reflection and being still, as encouraged by the psalmist. This deeper communion with God is far more significant than any miraculous answers to prayer.
Text
There are truths that can never be learned except in the noise and confusion of the market place or in the tough brutality of combat. The tumult and the shouting teach their own rough lessons. No man is quite a man who has not been to the school of work and war, who has not heard the cry at birth and the sigh at life's parting. But there is another school where the soul must go to learn its best eternal lessons. It is the school of silence. Be still and know, said the psalmist, and there is a profound philosophy there, of universal application. Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush. Almost every book on prayer deals with the get element mainly.
How to get things we want from God occupies most of the space.
Now, we gladly admit that we may ask for and receive specific gifts and benefits in answer to prayer, but we must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.
Sermon Outline
- The School of Silence
- A place to learn eternal lessons
- Contrast with the noise and confusion of the world
Key Quotes
“Be still and know, said the psalmist, and there is a profound philosophy there, of universal application.” — A.W. Tozer
“Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- To experience the highest kind of prayer, we must focus on entering into God rather than just making requests.
- The school of silence is a place where we can learn eternal lessons and experience a profound sense of union with God.
- We must avoid making prayer a glorified gold rush by focusing on the union with God rather than just getting things from Him.