SoulShift: Ask to Listen

Mark 4:1-20, Mark 9:1-8

Pastor Ryan Willson

March 13, 2016

  1. Hard Heart…Listen! (Mark 4:3-4)

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”

What does a hard heart look like?

  1. Mark 4:15 -Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satancomes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
  2. A hard heart resists the word of God- this makes it easy for Satan to come and take the seed.

Notes:

  1. The Shallow Heart (Mark 4:5-6, 16-17)
  1. Mark 4:16-17 -Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
  2. If a seed is planted in a thin layer of soil it can’t last because it has no roots.

Notes:

  1. The crowded heart (Mark 4:7, 18-19)
  1. Mark 4:18-19 - Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealthand the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
  2. The crowded heart has way too many things in it. There is just no room for the seed to grow.

Notes:

  1. The Fruitful heart (Mark 4:8; 20)
  1. Mark 4:20 –“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
  2. This is the heart that produces fruit like the fruit of the spirit.

Notes:

  1. Listen to Jesus (Mark 9:1-8)
  1. Mark 9:7“This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
  2. This was a significant moment. They are told to listen. There is no one else who they should be listening to except for Jesus.

Notes:

  1. We ask but do we listen? (1 Kings 19:11-13)
  1. From the moment we commit our lives to Jesus we must learn how to listen. This is a continual process.
  2. Sometimes God speaks in a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12)

Notes:

Moving from Asking to Listening

Get alone with Jesus. Get to a place where there are no interruptions, no technology, bring only your bible and something to write with. Read silently, or out loud and listen for God to speak through his Word. Write down what he is saying to you and then do it.

Listen to God’s Word. Don’t just read it. Read slowly. Read a sentence and sit quietly, think on it.