How To Hear God's Voice! Part 2

There are many people who have written on this subject. I am not going to say anything they haven't already said, with great wisdom.  Before we get started I wanted to list one person in particular who has the clout to talk about hearing from God and acting on what God says. His name is Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area. Bill wrote a book called The Power of a Whisper. He has waited 30+ years to write the book so that He could back it up. Check it out here.

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[Part 2 of 3]


God speaks to people in different ways.

1. The Sinai Experience: 

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you.  -Exodus 19:9 NLT

Sometimes God speaks audibly.  Not often, but sometimes.  If God does speak audibly, it's always for the sake of those listening.  In the Sinai Experience, God spoke audibly to Moses in order to give Him the law for the people.  He spoke audibly so the people would hear and know the Lord is God!  His purpose was for the people.  That they would be filled with awe and trust in His name and His laws (Since God's laws were put in place for our good).  When God speaks audibly His purpose is always for those listening—to respond with action to His words.

2. The Whispers:

In the book of 1 Kings chapter 19 we see one particular way God spoke to a very important prophet named Elijah.  Elijah had just won a great contest between 450 prophets of Baal and the LORD (You can read about it in 1 Kings 18).  The end result proved Baal a false god.  God accomplished an incredible victory through Elijah.  Yet, after the contest, Elijah fled out of fear for his life because one person wanted to kill him.   He had just overtaken 450 prophets of Baal but fled due to one person's threat. (How often do we do that?) That's where we pick up the story.  Elijah fled to a cave where God spoke to him.  Here is the conversation:

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. 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?”  -1 Kings 19:11-13 NLT

God chose to speak to Elijah through a gentle whisper.  Many people expect the God of the universe to speak powerfully (like He did to Moses):  A blast of wind, a powerful earthquake, or a firestorm.  But God chose to speak through a whisper.  This begs the question: What is a whisper?

A whisper can be an insight God gives us from His Word that challenges us and those around us to act accordingly.  A whisper can be a prompting of our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, in a situation where God wants us to step in and act on His behalf (By the way, that is what the church must do for a lost world!).  A whisper can be a thought God puts in our minds, through prayer, that leads us in a new direction for our lives!  A whisper can even be God speaking through someone else in a conversation, blog, or other type of communication.  

When necessary, God will speak to us like He spoke to Moses, in a cloud on top of a mountain.  Most times, though, God will speak through whispers. 

To Recap:  God is always speaking.  When we hear Him, we must respond.  After all, that is what listening means!  God speaks through Sinai experiences (sometimes) and whispers (most often)!

Part 3 to follow.

How To Hear God's Voice! Part 1

There are many people who have written on this subject.  I am not going to say anything they haven't already said, with great wisdom.  Before we get started I wanted to list one person in particular who has the clout to talk about hearing from God and acting on what God says.  His name is Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Church in the Chicago area.  Bill wrote a book called The Power of a Whisper.  He has waited 30+ years to write the book so that He could back it up.  Check it out here.

© Francois Etienne Du Plessis | Dreamstime.com

There are three things we must understand if we want to hear the voice of God.

[Part 1 of 3]

God speaks when we listen.  Listening is much different than hearing.  Listening means we hear with anticipation to act.  God is always speaking.  Our inability to hear results from our inability to listen.  Jesus said: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." -John 10:27 NLT  Two things get in the way of our ability to listen.  Sin and busy-ness.  

1. If we have sin in our lives that we haven't confessed to Jesus, we must confess it.  Confession is the first step to hearing God's voice.  We can't hear a holy God when we, ourselves, are bound by unholy sin.  In other words we can't hear holy, when we're unholy!  The only way to rid ourselves of sin is to confess and repent.  To confess means to tell Jesus what we've done.  To repent means to turn 180 degrees away from sin and walk towards God.  That's the first step to listening.

2. The second thing is busy-ness.  Psalm 46:10 says "Be still, and know that I am God!"  Notice where the comma is in that sentence.  "Be still, and know that I am God!"  We must be still before Him and expect Him to speak.  Since God is always speaking, we must make time to hear and listen.  If we can't sit down for 10 minutes a day and spend time listening for His voice, we'll never hear Him speak!

To recap: God speaks when we listen.  In order to listen, we must confess our sin and make time to hear from Him.

Parts 2 and 3 to follow.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do!

Growing up is tough!  As we mature into an adults we become responsible for our own lives and, if we're married, the lives of our families.  When those bills come rolling in and it's our responsibility to pay them, its the real deal.  We have to cowboy up, pay those bills, and make sure the needs of our families are met.  Life stages are real.  And with each stage comes new responsibilities.  The same is true of our spiritual lives.  But how do yo know when you're grown up in Christ?

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Here's what Jesus said identifies spiritual growth:

43 For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit,44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.   -Luke6:43-45 ESV 

If we are growing spiritually then we will produce good out of our hearts because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.  We will take seriously His commands and live them out daily.  It can be hard to define spiritual growth because we may not know what it really looks like.  What does "good fruit" look like in the life of a Jesus follower?  The Apostle Paul gives us a clear definition in Galatians 5:22-23a:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control;

Likewise Paul also gives us a definition of selfish desires, those contrary to God, that identify spiritual stagnation:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  -Galatians 5:19-21 ESV

A true spiritual growth test is to ask those who know you: "What do you see happening in my life right now?"  If they tell of the good things that reflect the fruits of the spirit then you know you are growing, if not, then it might be time to refocus.

Go over the lists.  Celebrate the victories in the areas of growth and dig into the areas that need work.  Ask the Spirit of God to lead you and He will.  You will notice it will be hard to root out the sinful, selfish desires Paul lists.  The reason is it's engrained in our flesh.  But do not give up!  "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37 ESV)

Growing up is hard to do but it so worth it!  

We'll Never Be More Ready...

Here is the video from my message two weeks ago.  Ready or not, Jesus is coming back!  It will be much better for us to be ready than not!  We'll never be more ready for what God has for us than right now!  Please feel free to discuss the video below in the comment section.  Enjoy!