2. It’s Time to Seek The Lord

3.  “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12  When we seek Him, He comes and showers us with His righteousness

4. It’s Time to Seek The Lord  Early Rain and Latter Rain  Deut. 11:14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.  Jeremiah 5:24 …'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'

5. Early Rain  Planting Season (November)  Seeds start to grow  Isaiah 30:23 He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows. He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful. In that day your cattle will graze in broad meadows.

6. Latter Rain  Before Harvest (July)  Latter Rain ensures a bountiful harvest  Leviticus 26:4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit.  Ezekiel 34:26-27 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. [27] The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

7. Rain of Grace and Blessing  Rain of grace is a gift from God; without His initiative we cannot even start to grow  Job 5:10 He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.  Psalm 147:8 He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

8. Rain of Grace and Blessing  Rain of blessings because without “favor” from the Lord there will be no abundance in our lives.  Joel 2:23 Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

9. Rain of Grace and Blessing  We need to ask God for rain  Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime; it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men, and plants of the field to everyone.” (ZEC 10:1)

10. When there is no rain  When there is no rain, the harvest failed, no matter how hard and diligent we labored  Jeremiah 14:4 The ground is cracked because there is no rain in the land; the farmers are dismayed and cover their heads.

11. Why is there no rain?  Amos 4:7 "I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.  Jeremiah 3:3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and no spring rains have fallen. Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame.

12. Drought Brings Famine  Deut. 11:17 Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.  Jeremiah 5:25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.  1 Kings 18:1-2 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." [2] So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria,

13. How to Ask For Rain  “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12  Asking for rain starts with “seeking the Lord” through worship and prayer

14. How to Ask For Rain  Seeking “the Lord” means “not seeking your own interest”  It’s all about God, not us.

15. Steps to Seek The Lord  “Sow for yourselves righteousness”  Get right with God  Mal. 1: 6 A son honor his Father, and a servant his Master.  We are His sons and daughters! What does a son owe his father?  Honor “Honor you father and mother.”  >>>attach weight to something. Take something with seriousness.

16. Steps to Seek The Lord  If you don’t take God seriously, worship is going to be a bother to you. But when you understand that God is your Father, that you’ve been born into a new family through new birth….  You’re going to come with love, dedication and honor towards God.  People who don’t honor God are simply people who don’t take God seriously. It’s better not to go to church than to go to church and not take Him seriously. Rev. 3: 15- 16

17. Steps to Seek The Lord  G. Campbell Morgan: Half hearted worship is the worst form of blasphemy. It’s worse than not believing God. Why? Because it says: God, I believe in You, but You just don’t inspire me. You’re not worthy of my whole hearted worship.  So: when you come to church, bow your head and say, “Dear God, in everything I do, the way I sit, talk, smile, sing, listen, may it honor You.”

18. Steps to Seek The Lord  “break up your unplowed ground”  Psalm 65:8-13 (NIV) Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. [9] You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.

19. Steps to Seek The Lord  [10] You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. [11] You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. [12] The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. [13] The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

20. How to Ask For Rain  “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12