A lonely frog telephoned the Psychic Hotline and asked what his future holds. His Personal Psychic Advisor tells him, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you." The frog is thrilled, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party?" he croaks. "No," says the psychic, "in biology class."

Today, we're beginning a new series of messages called "Go Deep." Over the next six weeks I want to challenge you to go much deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. If you were teaching six lessons on how to go deeper with God, what would be your topics? The journey I want to lead you on may surprise you. Just like the frog was surprised about where he would connect with the beautiful girl, I think you will be surprised at where you will connect with God on a deeper level. How many of you would like to go deeper in your walk with God?

Last summer on our thirtieth wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii, we spent a half day snorkeling in the beautiful Hanauma Bay. Neither Anita nor I are good athletes when it comes to water sports. Snorkeling is probably the limit to our underwater viewing. Don't get me wrong. We saw some of God's beautiful creatures by simply paddling around on top of the water with our rented snorkeling equipment.

But it's when you go out for some boat jumps and actually scuba dive that you're going to have some sea experiences that make our snorkeling like peering at some guppies through a Wal-Mart aquarium. Scuba diving requires more skill, more practice, and more courage. But the further out you go and the deeper you jump, the greater the rewards will be as you explore all the sea creatures swimming around the beautiful coral reefs.

The same is true in your walk with Jesus Christ. You can learn a lot by coming to worship each Sunday and attending a Sunday School class. The pastor will open God's Word and teach you some biblical truths that you can apply to your daily lives. But you can't go very deep in your walk with God if you're just snorkeling around on Sunday mornings. God wants you to go deeper. The Bible says, "So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ" (Hebrews 6:1, Msg). So over the next six weeks I want you take this journey with us. Applying what we teach you is certain to move you into a deeper relationship with God.

Through the years I have attended various conferences and seminars that have been life-changing for me. During these events it was like God had his megaphone in my ear just to make certain that I was listening. I remember the first John Maxwell conference I attended. It hit me at a time that I was struggling with my leadership identity. God spoke to me during that event, and my life has not been the same. I remember attending the Promise Keepers Clergy Conference in Atlanta with 50,000 other ministers from around the country. I don't know if I've ever witnessed a more powerful outpouring of God's Spirit in a place. The following Sunday, I remember standing before you and saying, "I just want you to know that I met God this week."

I could list more. These "get away from the office" trips have proven to be very beneficial in helping me go deeper with God. But what about all the many days between these mountain top experiences. How can I hear from God? Certainly He speaks outside of the big event, fireworks experiences. What is His will for my life tomorrow? How do I know what He wants me to preach on for the next series? How do I lead the church through a particular transition? The answer to these questions revolves around my desires and abilities to go deep with God.

What about you? You've probably made some key spiritual decisions during the big events like a revival service or a mission trip or a leadership conference. But when you come back down from the mountain top, how do you sustain the spiritual momentum? Can't God help you through the daily decisions and issues you face?

What does the Bible say? Before I read the primary verses for today's message, let me set the stage. The people of Israel had fallen away from God and had begun to worship the Baal gods. Elijah challenged King Ahab to bring 850 of the Baal prophets to Mount Carmel. There he challenged them to a showdown. The story is one of my favorites in the whole Bible.

They constructed an altar on top of the mountain, and Elijah issued a challenge. The God who consumed the altar by fire would be the true God. The Baal prophets went first. Nothing happened. Elijah called upon God Jehovah and instantly the altar was consumed with fire. Everyone fell to his knees and cried out, "The Lord-he is God! The Lord-he is God." Great victory for God's side!

I wonder what was on Elijah's mind after this showdown on Mount Carmel. He probably thought, "Finally. Now the people of Israel will return to God." Did they? Nope. What did happen, however, is that Elijah got a love note from Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab. She was enraged that the prophet had all of her Baal prophets killed. Her note essentially said. "You've got less than 24 hours to live."

What happened next? The great prophet who witnessed the mighty hand of God acts like a coward and runs. Forty days later he was about 200 miles away, whimpering around in a cave out in the middle of nowhere. He's depressed and discouraged and wants to die. That's where we pick up the story. Let's read. [Read 1 Kings 19:9-18.]

God told Elijah to get out of the cave and go stand on the mountain because He had a message to give him. The prophet obeyed. A windstorm blew through. It was so powerful that the mountains split apart and rocks went tumbling. No message from God. Then he begins to feel the earth tremble. An earthquake is taking place. Still no message from God. Then a fire broke out. But no word from God.

After the fire came a gentle whisper. And Elijah heard God speak. God gave the prophet his next assignments. The suicidal thoughts are gone because He heard from God. How did He hear? It was a whisper. He heard God whisper.

Out of all the things we're going to teach you over the next six weeks, this probably is the most important. If you want to go deeper with God, listen for His whisper. We can learn a lot by going on mission trips, attending conferences, or taking a Bible study. In fact, these things can be life-changing. I know from my own personal experience. But if you want to go deeper in your day-by-day walk with God, you've got to learn to listen for His whisper.

I think ministers, me included, are often guilty of thinking that some new innovative program is going to be the very key that will get the church on fire. I think the person in the pew is often guilty of thinking that it is the depth of the sermon that is the key to bring spiritual renewal. "We need some good-ole fire and brimstone, toe-stomping preaching." What I'm saying is that the most common way God speaks is through the still, small voice.

Here is the problem. We want to hear from God. But there is so much noise and clutter in our lives that we block out anything God might be trying to tell us. So we place undue pressure on the preacher, on the Bible study, on the conference, or on the mission trip to get us all jacked up spiritually again. God, on the other hand, is saying, "Hey, what about Me? Would you slow down long enough just so I can talk to you a little bit?"

You know how big a proponent I am of a quiet time, a time alone with God each day. In fact, it is absolutely the number one necessity in your life if you want to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. But when I say, "Listen for the whisper," I'm not necessarily saying, "Have your quiet time." I'm afraid that most of our quiet times have become a time when we rush through some Bible reading or devotional book and say a few quick prayers, and then rush on to the more important things of the day.

Listening for the whisper certainly includes establishing the priority of a daily quiet time. But if you really want to hear the whisper of God, you've got to start reading just a small portion of Scripture and then reflect on it over and over. Pray, "God, talk to me. What is it you're trying to say to me today?" But also throughout the day, you need to have some moments when you stop all activity and just listen.

Most of us are bombarded with noise. The radio is on in the car. All day long you're in meetings and talking and punching keys on the keyboard and building or repairing something. You come home and turn on the television. It's like we're too uncomfortable with quietness. But it is usually in the quiet moments that you're able to hear the whisper of God.

Last fall I was trying to plan my preaching schedule. But I was stuck on what to do during the Christmas season. The weeks kept passing by and no word from God. Just blanks. I found myself in one of those periods that stress was high, my schedule was frustrating, and I was not making time to just be quiet and let God give me direction. Finally, I decided that I needed to get away for about a day and a half and just pray and listen. No TV. No internet. No newspaper. Just God and me.

It was amazing. I was stretched out on a lounge chair within just a couple of hours of arriving. I was looking up at the billions of stars. And it was obvious God began to speak. I've never heard the audible voice of God. But it was so evident that night. Looking up into the heavens, I began to ponder how God is at the center of the universe. With the Advent season approaching-that was it! Jesus-the Center. In about fifteen minutes of quietness, God gave me direction for the Christmas services.

I remind you, however, that God doesn't just whisper when you're all alone out under the stars somewhere. He doesn't just whisper in your living room where you have your quiet time. Listen for Him all through the day.

Last Monday, twice I sensed the whisper of God. One was in our weekly staff meeting. It was the first time in weeks that instead of rushing through the calendar and making decisions on this issue and that issue, we simply talked. We talked about our ministries, and we talked about the health of the church. And I believe if you were to talk to the other staff, they would say they could hear the whisper of God.

Later that day during my hospital rounds, I was arriving at Lexington Medical Center when I noticed a car stalled in the hospital driveway. It had traffic backed up onto 378, which is where I was. People, impatiently, finally started pulling around the car. There was the whisper. "Ken, do something." I pulled around the car, rolled my window down, and hollered, "You need some help pushing the car." The man responded, "I've got to do something." Just a simple act of kindness that provided a big help for the gentleman.

If you want to go deep with God, you've got to listen for His whisper. Do you need God's wisdom for an important decision you must make? High school student, do you want to make sure it's God's will for you to go out with someone? Do you just wish you could hear from God about anything? Have life's trials got you to the point that you just need to hear God's whisper? Seasoned Christian, have you been complaining about the preaching or the Sunday School class when in reality you're not putting yourself in the position to hear the whisper of God? Mom or Dad, are you at the end of your rope trying to pull in a wayward child?

Then go deep with God. Somehow you must get away from the noise of life so God can talk to you. He will. He may give you a whisper that will be the very breakthrough you've been longing for. Or He may simply give you the calm assurance of His presence through your pain. But I promise you-He wants to whisper to you. Give Him the opportunity to do so.