Hearing God’s Voice:

We live in a world that says we cannot hear God’s voice, even in today’s church many people say we can’t hear God’s voice.  They say He doesn’t speak to His people anymore, that was an Old Testament thing. Yet then we run across scripture like this in John “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is what I do in the name of my Father.  But you don’t believe me because you are not part of my flock.  My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me.”(10:26-28)  What are we to do with this, it is basically saying that we as followers of Christ should know His voice when He speaks to us.    For us to hear the voice of God and recognize it we have to have a true and meaningful relationship with God.  God speaks to us through different ways but for those who follow, when they hear His voice they know it is His.  For years I didn’t understand what all that meant but the closer I have grown to God the better I understand it.  God speaks to us in a way that we know it is Him. It isn’t some coming down in the clouds moment such as seen in Monty Python’s Search For The Holy Grail.  But in the stillness of our heart, or when we are praying and we are still for a moment to hear His voice.  Richard Blackaby explains it this way in his book Experiencing God; “Knowing God's voice is not a matter of honing a method or discovering a formula. Recognizing God's voice comes from an intimate love relationship with Him. Those who do not have the relationship do not hear what God is saying (see John 8:47). Since God will uniquely communicate with you in the intimacy of your walk with Him, your relationship with Him is of utmost importance.”

Blackaby, Richard (2008-09-01). Experiencing God (p. 125). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

How Does Prayer Really Work?

Many people believe that prayer is something that gets us what we want; it is us asking God for what we want.  Then when that doesn't work the way they wanted, they get mad and proclaim God doesn't exist or He doesn't care.  Let us take a quick look on how prayer really works.   We first must understand that prayer is a tool for people to come into communion with God.  It is through prayer that the sinner comes to God and prays for forgiveness (Luke 22:32, James 4:7).   It is where the believer gathers strength (Jude 20, Matthew26:41), and so many other wonderful things.  So how does prayer work then?  We read In Psalm 66:18, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened.”  We find out from this piece of scripture to be heard we must confess our sins and give our lives over to God.  Many people say I prayed once and nothing came of it, did they confess their sins did they truly want to come into communion with God or did they want to get something from God without having to change their lives?

We must pray in faith, we must pray knowing that God is going to answer and we are going see some great and amazing things come from pray.  “But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.”(James 1:6-8)  As we pray we need to pray in line with Gods will, not our will or what the world prays for but for the things of the Kingdom of God.  “we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will.  And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for.”(1^st John 5:14-15)  We need to be sincere in our prayers as well, truly seeking out God and not our own wants.  “And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s people, ²² let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”(Hebrews 10:22)  We are to also pray presently without begging or trying to bargain with God.  We are to continue to pray for some things for a long while until God answers them.

Matthew 7:7-11 we read this;  “Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.  You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?  Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!  If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  God has given us a powerful tool in prayer. All we need to Ask, Seek, And Knock.  But too many times we do not understand this wonderful gift that God has given us.  We grow in faith through prayer, we get wisdom through prayer, we come into communion through prayer. 

Shifting From Flesh to Spirit

I have come to notice that we as a people have this idea of making God into what we want God to be.  If we want to do something that is not biblical we come up with a thought that makes it ok.  We say things like, well, I accepted God and His love and I am sure that is enough.  God’s love is more than enough to cover all my sins past, present, and future.  I noticed that so and so whom I go to church with watches this show so it is ok.  But as we begin to dig deeper into the word the God we come across pieces of scripter like this one, “Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.”(John 3:19-21)  This is Christ talking in this piece of scripture; He’s saying that we who come to God must come to hate sin.  Not flirt with the idea of hating sin, not commit sin and then repent later even though we knew better.  But to truly come to a place in our life where we love the light and despise the dark.

We must shift from lust of the flesh to living in the spirit, Paul talks about this in Romans 8:1-17.  This is what the first two verses of say; “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.”  Did you see that Paul says we are freed from sin through the power of the life-giving Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit comes into our hearts and body and gives us the power to conquer sin.  We must realize that we no longer need to live under the control of the flesh, our bodies are filled with corruption and sin but we can take hope in knowing that Christ conquered all that through the cross.  We no longer need to live in the darkness but we must live in the Spirit.  Deep in our hearts the Spirit is ready to guide and direct us closer to God, we must work hard to no longer live in the darkness.  Verses 9-12 tell us; “ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.) Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God.  The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you.   So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.  For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

 Let us give up living in the flesh and become strong in the Spirit let’s allow God to truly rule our lives.  Let us stop making excuses and start living in the light and being the light.  Let us stop lying and saying we are following while we are only following who we want God be.  “We are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. ⁷ But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.  If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. ⁹ But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.” (1^st John 1:6-11)