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
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
posted by Doug Love at 10:23 AM
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