By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – There are times when a believer comes to a major crossroads – when God issues an invitation to join Him in what He is doing, will you be willing to trust Him.
“It’s a crisis of faith,” Tom Blackaby said. “Will you step forward in faith or step back and say I can’t go there, it will cost too much to follow you? You have to decide – is God God? Is He the truly Lord of your life? If you say yes, you have to make major adjustments in your life.”
Blackaby spoke on Feb. 16 at the Louisiana Baptist Building about the seven steps for knowing, doing and experiencing the will of God. His two-day stay in the state for the Experiencing God Tour also included Natalbany Baptist Church before coming to Alexandria. He will also speak at Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association office in Shreveport from 1 to 3:30 pm on Feb. 17.
He is the second son of bestselling author Dr. Henry Blackaby. He has written or co-authored numerous books, including The Man God Uses, Experiencing God at Home, and 7 Steps for Knowing, Doing and Experiencing the Will of God. He currently is senior pastor of Brookswood Baptist Church in Langley, British Columbia.
Blackaby shared the seven steps for knowing, doing and experiencing God’s will. They are:
- God is always at work around you.
- God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
- God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
- God speaks by the Holy Spirit, through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purpose, and His ways.
- God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
- You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
- You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.
Blackaby said when God speaks, he must say yes because the cost is greater by saying no to Him.
“It will push you beyond what you’ve known,” he said. “We have to live by faith.”
He said once that encounter with God happens, it requires faith and action.
“Encounters with God are God-sized,” he said. “Our world is not seeing God because we are not attempting anything that only God can do. What you do in response to God’s revelation (invitation) reveals what you believe about God.”
Blackaby then shared what to expect in this process. Spiritual warfare, exposures of sin in the congregation, re-evaluating ministries within the church, personal revival and even working with other denominations all may happen as the church experiences God on a new level.
He encouraged churches to set up church-wide prayer evenings, plan consistent evenings where members can share as a whole what God is saying to them and clean out the church prayer room because it will be in use on a regular basis.
