OPENING SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 19:1-12 NLT

¹When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. ² So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

• Fear can not only stop you from forgetting who you are, but fear can stop you from hearing the voice of God.
• Here is this passage, we also find a “human” Elijah. We find a tired Elijah.
• The journey of faith is rewarding but it is also tiresome.

⁵ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

⁸ So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to MOUNT SINAI, THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD. ⁹ There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

• Elijah was going to Mount Sinai because he thought that was the only place that God would speak to him.
• Elijah was trying to recreate “The Moses Experience”

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹¹ “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

• God was giving Elijah the Sinai experience in the physical sense without the spiritual sense.
• Elijah’s expectation of God was limited to the wind, to the fire, to the earthquake…but the frequency of voice was beyond the physical.

And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

• The Hebrew word for whisper is “Demanah” which is translated as “Silence”. A whisper is a sound of silence.
• Sometimes that whisper is a little nudge, a dream, a person that God sends our way, sometimes it is an open door.

#1 HIS FREQUECY IS RELATIONAL

²⁰“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation 3:20 NLT)

• The frequency of God’s whisper is about relationship. It is not intrusive, but it is based on an invitation. You invite Him and He comes in!

#2 HIS FREQUENCY IS INTIMATE

• The definition of whisper as a verb is: To speak very softly using one’s breath without one’s vocal cords, especially for the sake of privacy.
• Getting close creates something called intimacy.

⁸ COME CLOSE TO GOD, AND GOD WILL COME CLOSE TO YOU. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your LOYALTY is divided between God and the world. (James 4:8 NLT)

• Without loyalty there is no intimacy.
• Loyalty leads to intimacy. And Intimacy leads to the frequency of His whisper.

#3 HIS FREQUENCY IS APPROACHABLE

• The frequency of God’s whisper is approachable. When God found Elijah in that cave, He instructed him to do this in verse 11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,”

¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)

CONCLUSION

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?