WAS THAT GOD SPEAKING TO ME?

I have such a great life. Really. I mean, I get paid to do things that I would want to do if I did not need to work. Is that not the best?

Last week, I spent Monday through Friday, all day each day at the Gateway Church Freedom Ministry Training. AMAZING. And, I attended with 4 close friendS, and 3 of us stayed at my daughter Katy’s house  and got to visit with her. We learned so much. So many tools that will be very help us lead people into more freedom.

One of the biggest tools we learned was to listen to God. God has not stopped speaking. I love the Bible and know that the Bible is the ultimate word of God. But, God is still speaking to His people.

Rom 10:17  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith comes by hearing. Faith does not come from us. We don’t work up faith.  That does not say, Faith came by having heard. Yes, we heard the Word of God and that produced faith, but we still hear God speak, and every time we hear, we grow in faith.

Luke 4:4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'"

Living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, both the Bible and personal speaking from God. We have to tune in to hear God.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

God speaks to us, He infuses us with spirit and life. That is His goal.       We go to God and ask, “Tell me what to do and where to go.” God wants to talk to you about what you believe and who you are. He does often want to tell us things He wants us to do, but God is concerned much more about your believing the truth about God, and about who you are. When we tune it to hear His voice but all we want to hear is direction, we will miss Him.

Hearing God’s voice is the primary way we disconnect from the old source and connect to God as our source. He gives much more than information and instruction. The word of God is living and active, and delivers what we need.  When God speaks “Peace” He brings peace. God calls things that are not into being. His word contains the very thing that makes us what we are. Peter told Jesus, where else would we go for words of life.

Recognize the voice of God.

It is a Spirit to spirit exchange. He communicates from His heart to our inside person. It may not be words, but a sense or a picture. Some people learn best by visual, some by words, some by doing. God speaks to our inner man in the way that we can understand; picture, words, or a sense.

Discerning the Voice of God.

So, how can you be sure that what you hear really is God?

1. Does it line up with scripture?                                                                             It may be that it agrees with scripture, but may not agree with your interpretation or your doctrine.

2. Does it line up with the nature of God revealed in the Bible?

3. Does it produce the fruit of the Spirit ((Gal 5:22-22 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control)? In you and in people you share it with.

4. Does it bring freedom? Not necessarily freedom from a circumstance, but from being controlled by the circumstance.

And sometimes, I just use the process of elimination. Like this. If I have a sense that I am supposed to give money to support a ministry, but I am not sure if it is God, I figure that Satan does not want me to support a ministry, and I figure that my flesh sure does not want to give my money away, so it must be God speaking. Same process if I feel I am supposed to start a conversation with a stranger, or offer to pray for a friend… Makes sense to me.

I suggest you try an exercise.

Be still, be quite, get comfortable. Close your eyes. Ask God a question, then wait quietly for Him to answer you. Be silent and wait, and just listen for God to speak. Give yourself enough time to work through the process, to sort through all the thoughts and voices in your head. Probably you will go through thoughts like this:

“This is stupid. I am embarrassed. What if I don’t hear anything? How long do I  just sit here? Was that God? No, probably just me. Wait, I heard it again, maybe it is God. I felt something, maybe that is God. No, just indigestion. No, I feel really good, comfortable. I think God is speaking. I see in my mind…could that be God?”

Lots of thoughts will float through your mind. Just ask God to clear your mind and help you to hear from Him.

Ask God:

1. What do You want to tell or show me about Yourself today?

 

2.What do You want to tell or show me about myself?

 

3.Is there anything in my heart that you want to talk to me about?

 

Leave a comment and let me know what you heard!