Habbakuk's Habit - Hearing God's Voice

The Christian who is able to accurately and consistently hear the voice of God will experience a quality of spiritual life far greater than the one who cannot.

I want you to learn about hearing God’s voice from a man of God by the name of Habakkuk. Turn in your Bibles to Habakkuk 2:1:

• Habakkuk was a prophet and a poet for God
• He lived at the same time as two other more well known prophets: Jeremiah and Zephaniah
• He wrote his little book, which is actually a song (Like the Psalms) sometime between 650–627 BC


“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.” Habakkuk 2:1-2

These two verses answer four very important questions regarding our desire to hear the voice of the Lord:

1. What does God’s voice sound like?
2. What must I do to hear Him?
3. How does God speak?
4. What do I do with what He says?


I. WHAT DOES GOD’S VOICE SOUND LIKE? – V. 2A

As a prophet of God, Habakkuk knew the voice of the Lord.

“Then the LORD replied…” v. 2a

Habakkuk is seeking God and God responds. Habakkuk recognizes who is speaking. He isn’t uncertain. Habakkuk says in no uncertain terms: “Then the LORD replied…”

One of our big struggles is separating the voices in our head. We question: “Is this God, or is it …my own thinking? …my own emotions? …the voice of others? or …the voice of Satan?”

Habakkuk knew who it was. And so can we. Two weeks from now, we are going to dig in deep around the issue of what God’s voice sounds like.

But for today – be assured – God stills speaks – and if you will seek His voice, you will hear Him. From Genesis to Revelation God spoke to His people. In every covenant that God has ever established – from Abraham, to Moses, to the New Covenant of Jesus – God speaks to His people.

Jesus said in John:
“I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” John 5:25

We were – apart from Christ – dead in our sin. But He spoke to you – and as you heard, you came to life.

What He has begun in you He will complete. Rest assured, God will teach you what His voice sounds like.

Before Habakkuk heard the voice of the Lord, he had to position himself in a listening position. He uses military terminology of a soldier standing on guard duty.

II. WHAT MUST I DO TO HEAR HIM? – V. 1A

“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts…” 1a

He goes to the highest part of the fortress – the ramparts – and he stands, watching.
What is he watching for? The voice of the Lord.
What is he doing? Standing at watch.

The Hebrew word for ‘stand’ literally means to ‘stand still, to attend to, to stop moving or doing and to take a position.’

This is very important for those who would hear the voice of the Lord. You’ve got to put yourself in the position where you can hear.

God’s voice is easy to miss. You won’t hear it in the noise. You won’t hear it in the hurry.

There is a fascinating account of Elijah hearing God’s voice in 1 Kings 19:12-13…
“And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it…” 1 Kings 19:12, 13, KJV.

God is not in the earthquake.
He isn’t in the fire.

His voice is in the stillness. He doesn’t yell. He is far too confident for that. He speaks in a whisper.

And – here’s the miracle: Elijah heard Him!

Do you want to hear the voice of God? Come out of the noise, come out of the rush – and station yourself in a place where He can be heard.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10, NIV.

In three weeks, we are going to be focusing all of our attentions on what it takes to be still. But for today – because you want to hear Him speak, you’ve got a choice to make: Stay in the noise and hurry – or – choose to find time where you pull away and move into the stillness. This is imperative, there is no shortcut – to hear God’s voice, you have to join Habakkuk ‘standing at your watch…’

Is the Spirit of God calling to you right now – don’t you feel His desire for you to come alone with Him? This week – pull away – two times, three times – get to the ramparts. Get alone with God and be still. Be still. Be still.

Which brings us to the third question:
III. HOW DOES GOD SPEAK? – V. 1B

“I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” 1b

Notice the mixed terms he uses: “I will LOOK to SEE, what He will SAY to me…” Ordinarily one doesn’t LOOK to SEE what is said, usually you LISTEN to what is SAID. But this is no accident and it isn’t sloppy use of words. Habakkuk is very intentional here.

The Hebrew for “look to” literally means: “to look, to observe, to watch closely…” – This is what Paul was talking about when He said…

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” Ephesians 1:18, NIV.

To hear God – I need to see with the eyes of the heart!
To hear God is more about spiritual revelation than it is about intellectual understanding!

Do you want to hear God? Pray that God would open the eyes of your heart!

The Hebrew for ‘to see’ literally means: “to see, to have vision, to gaze at…”

To see is to experience this spiritual revelation. God revealing Himself to you. A moment in time when you experience a spiritual eyeopening!

God has been teaching me that His revelation is more about VISION and DREAMS than about WORDS. In other words – the voice of God can and frequently is spoken through the use of VISIONS and DREAMS.

God speaks through visions and dreams.

Look at the promise found in Acts 2:17-18
“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” Acts 2:17, 18

• God speaks through His Holy Spirit – poured out and poured into your life.
• Male and female, young and old – will experience the Revelation of God!
• He speaks through prophecies.
• He speaks through visions.
• He speaks through dreams.

We aren’t very good at prophecy, visions and dreams. But, God says He speaks to His children this way, so it seems like wisdom to get good at it. On July 10th, we’ll be examining the issue of seeing in the eyes of the Holy Spirit.

But for today – why not ask God to speak to you as you sleep? Why not ask God to show Himself to you through your relationships with other Spirit-filled believers?

Which leads us to the fourth question:
IV. WHAT DO I DO WITH WHAT HE SAYS? - V. 2

Habakkuk gets alone with His God, and God speaks. What did he do with what was revealed? Verse 2 tells us…
“Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it” v. 2

The Hebrew word for ‘write down’ speaks of make a recording, a record, to write it down so that it is preserved.

The Hebrew word for ‘revelation’ literally means: vision – so God says to Habakkuk ‘record what I have shown you.’

Now, God may reveal something to you that is intensely personal and is specific to you – it isn’t for everyone, it’s for you. Still you should learn to record what He speaks, because it will help you as you continue your journey. This is a very significant point. When God reveals something to you, you are to record it. To write it down.

One of the disciplines that the Lord has been developing in me is that of spiritual journaling. Allow me to share a couple of revelations that I have recorded:

On February 13th, while attending a worship service at Harvest Rock church in Pasadena, a prophecy was given over me. I recorded it immediately in my journal: “Those who upheld your hands failed you. You are a man of God. The new ones will stay. Move in the Spirit as a father with anointing. The increase of harvest is coming and you are trusted in leadership. As you act believing, a release of the Holy Spirit is coming with signs. You are God’s man.”

This word from the Lord gave me confidence to lead out – and the evidences of the truth of this are becoming more and more evident in this church family.

Writing down what God reveals becomes a source of confidence and continued direction. You can look back upon it and see where God has taken you and how far you’ve come as you’ve walked with Him in faith and obedience.

To hear the voice of the Lord requires that we record what He has said, so that we can accomplish what He directs.

CONCLUSION: Some of you might be thinking: “Well, I have the Bible, isn’t that enough?” And of course, everything you receive must be evaluated and tested against the Bible, and if it is found to be contradictory in any way, than it must be rejected. BUT – as you seek a PERSONAL relationship with Christ, then PERSONAL words from Him seem absolutely vital to your growth.

When I hear the voice of the Lord, it builds me up in a way that nothing else ever has! And you can have this same kind of exhortation and encouragement in your walk with Him as well!

The example of Habukkuk serves us well in our desire to hear God more clearly.

Let’s look at the first three verse of Habakkuk 2 again:
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:1-3

Revelation awaits an appointed time! – God will speak to you at just the right time!
It speaks of the end and will not prove false! – What God says will point you in the right direction and will be proved true!
Though it linger, wait for it! – Our task is to seek His voice, regardless of how long it takes!
It will certainly come and will not delay! – He reassures us right now – He will speak!

So – what you do with this message will determine much of what the quality of your spiritual journey will be.

Struggling to Hear God's Voice: What We've Learned Thus Far

INTRODUCTION:

Every once in awhile, it is appropriate to step back and take a look at what God has been doing. It helps us to see the forest for the trees.

• God gave us SIX PROPHETIC WORDS:
1. FAITH: “Faith is the gift from God that moves me away from fleshly and soulish living into spiritual living.”
2. IDENTITY: “Because of Faith, I belong to God and His Kingdom.”
3. BELIEVE: “To believe is to take action steps which demonstrate my new identity.”
4. MIRACLES: “Miracles are God taking action.”
5. MIRACLES: “The undeniable action of miracles demonstrates the character of God.”
6. TESTIMONY: “God is becoming increasingly real and increasingly loved by us!”

• God has been teaching us a NEW VOCABULARY:
A vocabulary of praise!
To pray believing and to speak faith!
For some a new prayer language!

• God has been teaching us that ‘isolation is not our friend’ and he is moving us onto deeper more authentic Christian relationships where He is the center and focus.

• God has been teaching us that we are gifted by His Holy Spirit to love one another deeply from the heart and to minister to one another effectively.

• God has been teaching us that He still speaks to those who love Him and that we are to rely upon the Holy Spirit in the day to day of living.

Our response to all of this? Praise God!

As Christians, we are coming to believe that God does speak to us – and that we should be able to grow in our recognition of His voice.

But – we still struggle with this!

• We have all grown up in the box of rationalism – where our intellects act as a censor or filter and as a result we miss out on a great deal of what the Spirit is doing. We don’t have ‘ears to hear and eyes to see’ what the Spirit is saying!

• We struggle because much of our Christian life has been all about keys, steps, principles, and rules – rather than relationship, conversation and intimacy.

• We struggle because when we have tried to pray, it has not been the two-way dialogue we hunger for, but feels like a monologue that bounces off the ceiling.

Regardless of our struggle – we know that God is calling us deeper into Him!

During the next few weeks of June and July, I am going to share with you what has been happening in my journey with Christ – and what He has been revealing which is setting me free to hear God’s voice more clearly than ever.

Earlier this year, I spent several weeks teaching on how to hear the voice of God. And during those weeks, we learned some vital truths that applied will help you hear God. But there is still more we need to know and experience so that God’s voice will be clear to us. And that’s why we are revisiting this topic: Nothing could be more important to me as your spiritual pastor than for you to be so connected to God that you are clearly and consistently hearing His voice.

The Desire of God’s Heart

• Why would God take us on this journey?
• Why would He lead us into these new places of spiritual revelation?
• Why would He require that we move out of the places of comfort and into new arenas of faith?

BECAUSE THE DESIRE OF GOD’S HEART IS TO HAVE COMMUNION WITH YOU AND ME.

He desires you.

When God created man, He did so to have fellowship and friendship with Him. Adam, Eve and God would spend their days walking, talking, laughing and sharing joy together in the safety of the Garden. They enjoyed one another. They weren’t strangers to each other. There was no sin – so there was no separation. There was no death – so there was no disconnection. They loved each other in a way that we cannot fully understand this side of the Fall.

But when Adam and Eve chose sin over friendship, everything changed. Suddenly there was a secret that had to be hidden. Suddenly there was shame instead of openness. Guilt cast a dark cloud. Everything changed.

And we read in Genesis 3:6ff
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”” Genesis 3:6-11, NIV.

These are some of the saddest words ever written:
‘they hid from the Lord…’ – can you picture them, cowering behind a tree when they heard the voice of God? The very thing we long for – the voice of God – caused fear!

God calls to them - ‘where are you?’ – Something has happened – I’ve never had to search for them before! They’ve always come running!

“I was afraid…” Adam replies. Fear invades and fear tries to isolate us from the very one who is our best friend!

“because I was naked…” – I’ve always been naked with you before, but now, it’s different, for my nakedness brings me shame. I don’t understand what has happened, but…

“I hid…” – I’m not the same, I am afraid, I am ashamed – something isn’t right! So all I knew to do was to stay away, to isolate, to hide – I can’t bear the thought of being seen for who I really am!

And God says: “Who told you that you were naked?” – Notice He doesn’t say: “You’re naked? Oh my goodness, you are! I’ve never noticed before!” – No! He says: “Who told you?” Who is the one who is seeking to destroy what we have together? Who is the one breaking our friendship?

“Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” That can be the only reason for this sudden change of behavior. SIN – utter rebellion against my life-giving instructions – that can be the only plausible explanation for this change.

Ever since this moment in time – God’s desire has been to restore us to Himself.

He desires you.

Listen with your heart to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NIV.

• In Christ – makes you new again!
• From God – who reconciles us to Himself
• Through Christ – who became SIN so that we may be RIGHT with God again!

He desires you.

• He invites you… Out of isolation, away from fear, and over-coming hiding…
• He invites you… Into friendship, into faith, into His house!
• He invites you… to taste and see His goodness! (Psalms 34:8)
• He invites you… to know His will and to hear the word of the Lord (Acts 22:14)
• He invites you… to feel His Holy Presence!
• He invites you… to breathe deep of His beauty and fragrance (2 Corinthians 2:14-16, Ephesians 5:2)

This is the desire of God. You are the desire of God.

And today – we meet Him, in Christ and we think deeply, we are stirred to passion, we are humbled and exalted at the same time! And we gather around His meal – a tangible expression of His desire and His presence.

The night before His crucifixion – he gathered with His friends and ate a meal – saying:
“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:19, 20,

• Body given – for what purpose? “for you” – God bringing YOU back to Him!
• Blood poured out – for what purpose “for you” – God bringing YOU back to Him!

You are the desire of God.

So what will your response be?
• Hide?
• Shame?
• Guilt?
• Distance?

Or –
• Will you run to Him?
• Will you cast yourself before Him?
• Will you move into the depths with Him?

We eat and drink – not lightly. Not without thought. Not without due consideration of what this is all about.
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-28, NIV.

Today – we celebrate our relationship with God and His desire to bring us to Himself. He is moving in our midst. And we are growing.

PRAYER