Selective hearing occurs when we tune in to what we want to hear, and zone out that which we do not want to listen to.

• Greg wonders why his boss does not seem to have heard his repeatedly expressed concerns about safety in the workplace, and yet jumps at the smallest complaint from customers.

• Kelly, a young mother, jokes with her friends about what she calls her husband’s ‘selective hearing.’ At night he seems to be oblivious to the baby’s cries, slumbering on while she wakes and attends to their son’s needs.

In spite of these examples, selective hearing can actually be a good thing. It is important to filter out those things that are clamouring for our attention, but are a distraction, or wrong and ungodly.

Selective Hearing in our Relationship with God

When selective hearing occurs in our relationship with God, we may genuinely believe that we are hearing from Him. However, the truth is that we are only listening to what He is saying to us on some issues. We have neglected to listen to His voice regarding other, important things.

I know that many of my readers have a great love for God and desire to serve Him. Like me, you may be involved in some kind of ministry or service, or helping people, or preparing for ministry.

When it comes to our ministry priorities, many of us eagerly listen and press in to God. But I believe He desires to encourage us to hear His voice in other areas of our lives.

The Father wants you to know that He knows and cares for every area of your life intimately. He does not have a hierarchy of concerns—every part of your life is valuable to Him.

Remember what Jesus said: ‘even the very hairs on your head are numbered.’ (Matt 10:30)

Signs that we are Selectively Hearing

Important areas that we may overlook in our conversations with God may include health, family, finances, relationships, our attitude and even the quality of our thought life.

We may be sincerely loving and serving God and even have an active devotional and prayer life. But if we do not communicate with God over the above vital areas in our lives, they begin to clamour for attention.

• Weaknesses  in our health and general wellbeing begin to show—eventually they actually hinder us from doing what God has called us to do
• Relationships start to come under stress, and may begin to break down
• We feel stressed, or lack the joy that we are supposed to have in our service for God
• Our financial situation starts to slide, and so on

For example, as a writer, it is very easy for me to spend a lot of time sitting at the computer. This is a vital ministry role for me. But sometimes I work additional hours at the computer and do not spend sufficient time resting and walking and exercising. After a while my body starts to ache and complain because I am not living a balanced lifestyle and looking after my fitness and wellbeing.

If I were listening to God and following His leading in the area of my physical health, then I would be attentive to this.

Selective hearing does not just happen with ministry. We can also be focusing on some priorities in our lives to the exclusion of others—for example working hard in the area of fitness, but not spending quality time with our family.

Do a Self-Check for Selective Hearing

At this time of year especially, it is beneficial to do a self-check in each of the following things. Note: if you have recently had a holiday, think about the quality of your life immediately prior to your break.

• What is my body telling me?
• What is the quality (or lack of quality) in my close relationships telling me?
• What is my schedule saying?
• What about the state of my finances?
• Am I honouring God in my thought life?
• Am I communicating with and listening to God in each of these areas?
• What am I tolerating?

As you consider these questions, the Holy Spirit may bring another area to mind.

I have come to realise that selective hearing is defective hearing.

It is not honouring to God when important areas of our lives are not in submission to Him.

Samuel was one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. He had an intimate relationship with God, listened to His voice and instructed a nation in God’s ways. And yet, he did not pass on his spiritual values and legacy to his sons—they grew up to be godless men who neglected justice and took bribes. (1 Sam 8:1-4)

Talk with God about your Whole Life

One of the best things that I did last year was take a week’s break to get aside and relax and spend quality time talking with God with no ministry agenda. After a few days, I found myself talking to my Father about important things in my life that I did not normally take the time to pray about. There were things that I was tolerating, that I knew were not His best for me. I was able to be honest and to process some things. I came away with a renewed sense of vision for the whole area of my life, not just my vision for ministry.

Do you call Jesus Lord? Do not just listen to Him concerning the areas that satisfy your desire for fulfilment. Give Jesus the leadership of your whole life, not just a part.

The life that honours Him is one of balance and wisdom.

As you enter this New Year, take some time to meditate and pray about on these different areas in your life. And remember, you can be transparent in your dialogue with God. The Father’s love for you is intimate and all-encompassing, and no issue in your life is too small or too big for His interest and care.

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Related Posts:

Jesus Is Lord: What Does This Mean In My Daily Life?

Your Prophetic And Christian Ministry Will Be Impacted By This Choice

How To Recover The Wonder Of Hearing God’s Voice

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Do you have any further thoughts about the topic of hearing God’s voice? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment in the comments box below. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.

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© Helen Calder 2011 Enliven Blog – Prophetic Teaching

On team with David McCracken Ministries: Prophetic Ministry That Empowers The Church

Did you receive this from a friend? Read more from Enliven Blog or sign to receive our weekly prophetic teaching updates at http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog

Personal guidance—receiving direction from God for our lives—can hold great power when we hear Him clearly and follow Him fully.

However, as with prophecy, there are some pitfalls if we do not exercise wisdom and care in the process of hearing from God for ourselves and others.

What are these dangers, and how can we make the most of personal guidance?

What is Personal Guidance?

As God’s children, we have a personal relationship with Him and can expect to hear His voice. [1] (John 10:2-5) Personal guidance occurs when we receive and follow instruction from God for decisions relating to our own lives.

A great example of someone who received personal guidance from God and acted upon it is Abraham, who is known as our ‘father of faith.’ Abraham set out from his home town and followed the call of God to Canaan. His obedience to personal guidance from God impacted the destiny of generations to come. (Gen 12:1-5).

The Holy Spirit has a significant role in our lives as our teacher and guide. (John 16:12-15)

You can receive guidance from God in many ways, including:

• Circumstances—for example, doors of opportunity opening or closing
• Scripture—a verse or story speaks to you
• Through Prayer
• Internally—an idea, thought or impression you perceive is from God
• Prophetic Dreams
• Suggestions from other people around our lives
• Through leaders
• An inner sense of peace
• The desires of your heart (Ps 37:4)
• Other prophetic means—a vision or word

When it comes to guidance for decision-making, confirmation is important. The strongest guidance occurs when a number of these things line up together, much like signposts pointing in the same direction.

If you are dependent upon receiving personal guidance through another person—for example a leader or a prophet—something is amiss in your relationship with God.

You can have confidence that God desires to speak to you personally and that you do have the right as His child, and the ability, to hear Him.

Weighing up Personal Guidance

It is amazing how people who understand that prophecy needs to be submitted and weighed up, throw all caution out the window when it comes to personal guidance!

The first test of personal guidance concerning big decisions should be the same as that of prophecy:

• Is it in agreement with the Bible’s instruction?
• Is it consistent with the nature of God?
• Is it consistent with the way God has wired and gifted you?
• What is the fruit—check the projected outcome of your decision?
• Do wise and mature Christian leaders around your life confirm your guidance?

Avoiding Pitfalls when it comes to Personal Guidance

‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’James 3:17

Faith and Wisdom need to work Together.

God has given us minds to consider and process decisions. We need the wisdom that comes from consideration by ourselves and others. As David McCracken says, ‘Hear clearly. Plan wisely. Obey boldly.’

Timing

However clearly God’s direction comes to you, it is important not to forget that there are always variables. And a big one is timing. Does the direction relate to right now, or to a time in the future? Does it relate to a small window of time, or is it relating to long term?

I made a mistake once when God spoke to me clearly about taking on a certain ministry role. I made the error of assuming that His guidance related to long term, when the role was transitional. This resulted in unnecessary personal pain.

You may hear God speak something to you but the timing is not yet. I recommend recording what He has said, along with your response, in a journal.

Guidance Involving Other People

Something to watch out for is if you believe God has spoken to you about something, but the outcome is dependent upon the decisions and actions of others. Examples of this include promotion, vocationally or in ministry, or direction about a relationship such as marriage.

If your perceived guidance relates to a specific person or situation, hold onto it lightly. Consider your guidance unconfirmed until the person responds accordingly.

In the practice of personal prophecy, we have a saying, ‘No dates, no mates!’ In other words, don’t apply specific timelines, or prophesy concerning marriage relationships. I personally believe this guideline should be applied to personal guidance as well. If you sense God is saying something strongly in this area, I recommend that for your own safety and that of others, you take it to a leader or someone who you can be accountable to. [2]

Unity

‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is… peace-loving, considerate’ (James 3:17)

Following through on your perceived guidance should not result in division—this is especially true of church life [3] or in a marriage relationship.

If your spouse is not in agreement with personal guidance you have received, this should be an orange flashing light warning that something is amiss! It may be a timing issue that will try your faith until it is resolved.

Leadership and Advice

‘For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.’ Prov 11:14

We need to understand that we are not infallible, and we do not stand alone. God has created us to be interdependent upon one another. [4]

Remember that I am talking about big decisions here—not the small daily ones!

The aspect of accountability is so vital that I will spend the next post discussing it.

Don’t Hold on too Tight

Don’t hold on to personal guidance too tightly, or be specific or dogmatic about it—be willing to release it or allow it to be clarified as time goes on.

If you believe you have received instruction from God, or a vision from Him for your life, do not view it as though it is a target bulls-eye that you have hit directly centre. That is a sure way to be disappointed! Remember the stories of Joseph, and David?

Most often, the journey of following God is like the flow of a river. People in scripture who followed the call of God experienced opposition and change, but in spite of these things moved towards their destiny as they kept their hearts right. We need to trust in the sovereignty of God.

Desire of our Hearts

‘Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.’ (Ps 37:4)

It’s important to distinguish between what our God-given heart desires are, as opposed to desires that are sourced from weakness. Wrong desires can result when we have a deficit in our lives where we are not fully established in God’s love.—this is especially true of desires relating to relationships.

Confusion

Watch out for confusion. It can also be a sign that the guidance is not clear enough for you to act upon—for example the timing may not be right. However, confusion may also be a sign of spiritual warfare.[5]

God’s Grace for our Mistakes

Many years ago, The Hunk and I made a business decision based upon what we believed was guidance from God. Upon review, we missed some practical steps of wisdom and moved too quickly.

When we do make the wrong decisions based upon our interpretation of what God has communicated to us, all is not lost. His grace and mercy prevails. God uses these times to teach us and grow us.

In our case, although we lost a lot of money and learned some hard lessons, our Father delivered us miraculously when we realised, repented and cried out to Him for help. We also emerged stronger and wiser.

The Power of Obedience

Like Abraham’s response to God’s call to go to Canaan, decisions that we make in the will of God have the power to positively impact not only our own lives, but to have a ripple effect that can affect those around us, our families and generations to come.

I recommend that this post should be read in conjunction with next week’s one: Do You Have A Ministry Call?

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Do you have any experiences or questions to share on this topic? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment in the comments box below. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.

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Notes:

[1] As I have pointed out in the following post, the Holy Spirit has many creative ways of speaking to us:
How to Recover The Wonder Of Hearing God’s Voice

[2] See next week’s post on The Power of Accountability for Personal Guidance

[3] I have personally made mistakes in the area of division in church life. See my book, Prophetic People in a Changing Church, or listen to my testimony on the podcast page.

[4] Not Word Perfect: Understanding How Prophecy Works In The Church Today

[5] See the following post: 12 Signs Of Spiritual Warfare

 

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© Helen Calder 2011 Enliven Blog

On team with David McCracken Ministries

The simple chorus, ‘He Is Lord,’ has been a popular praise song since my early days as a Christian.

My pastor led the song at our church staff meeting last week. It was my final meeting after being on team for nearly 7 years. [1]

In the context of saying farewell to a group that has been like family to me—in order to pursue God’s call to serve elsewhere—the chorus was a reminder of what Lordship means: hearing and obeying God (Luke 6:46).

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“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once [Peter and Andrew] left their nets and followed him. Matt 4:19-20

As Jesus call to His first disciples illustrates, His Lordship (leadership) means three things:

1. Relationship—and in particular, hearing His voice (in this context, receiving instruction)

2. Releasing—leaving our own agenda in favour of pursuing His priorities

3. Responding—acting in obedience to His word, His call, His will.

Jesus’ Lordship is more than making a one-time commitment to Him, and it is more than asking for His guidance for important decisions in our lives.

The meaning of ‘Lordship’ is that Jesus is our leader. We may call Him Lord, but for Him to actually BE Lord, that means we are following Him—on a moment-by-moment, and daily basis.

The Joy of Following Jesus

I have come to realise that responding to Jesus’ leadership is neither a hardship to be feared, nor a duty to perform.

In the past, I had trouble with the concept of Jesus’ Lordship, fearing Him to be a hard taskmaster, when He has actually promised me a life of rest and joy. (Matt 11:28-30, Rom 14:17) [2]

Now I know that Jesus’ Lordship means following Someone whom I love and want to be with more than anyone else in this world.

Jesus’ Lordship in Our Daily Lives

‘Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.’ Rom 8:14

Recently, I have been meditating on what it means to live a supernatural Christian life. The bottom line is this: empowered Christian living is about relationship.

Our life with God should not just be a devotional appointment, but a dynamic living relationship with Him.

He wants to speak to us: not just in the context of

• Personal prayer, Bible study and devotions, or
• Ministry at our church or from teaching elsewhere

but also as we go about our everyday lives.

He does this through the Holy Spirit, whom He has sent to help us know God’s will. (John 16:12-15)

The Leadership of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit lives in us, and wants to communicate the Father’s purposes to us.

As we follow His leading, we can live like Jesus did—seeing people around us changed and impacted by God’s love.

So, what does this look like in practical terms?

Firstly, we need to remember that the Spirit speaking to us is not like a person speaking.

When we talk about ‘hearing God’s voice,’ we are using an earthly expression to describe a heavenly concept. We simply do not have a framework to understand it.

You and I use words, speech and body language to communicate. However, the Holy Spirit has endless ways that He can communicate with us.

7 Ways the Holy Spirit can lead us in our Daily Lives

Over the past year, the Hunk and I have seen some amazing things happen in our lives and in those around us.

Here are some of the things we have learned to pay attention to, as we go about our daily living:

1. Living in the fruit of the Spirit

It is important to realise that we do not need special guidance to live in the fruit of the Spirit. (see Gal 5:16-25)

In other words, when a situation arises that provides us with an opportunity to respond in a loving (patient, joyful, etc) way, we can just do it—asking for His help.

2. A thought, or ‘urge’ from the Spirit

The Spirit leads us through ‘promptings.’

Sometimes these can be subtle. We may have an urge to go somewhere or speak to someone and it is only afterwards we realise it was the Spirit leading us.

At other times, He is leading us to do something other than what we have planned personally to do. When this happens we need to be intentional about obeying Him.

3. A Difficulty Arises.

When a problem occurs, whether it is in our lives, or in the life of someone around us, it is an opportunity to bring God in on the scene through prayer.

We need to become more familiar with responding to a need immediately with prayer. This may mean offering to pray for someone who has a need.

4. An Opportunity Presents Itself (Col 4:5-6)

This can include:

• An opening in conversation gives us an opportunity to share an aspect of our faith
• We have an opportunity to express God’s love through practical assistance when someone is in need.

‘Seize the Day.’

5. Divine Appointments

A Divine appointment looks like coincidence at first.

We can probe a ‘coincidental’ meeting to test whether the Lord has arranged it.
For example, you meet an acquaintance while out walking, or at the shops and you pause to greet him or her.

It may simply be an opportunity to quietly pray for them as you part ways. But if they express a desire to connect further, or share a problem they are facing—explore the opportunity.

6. Prophetic Revelation

Prophetic revelation can include such things as spiritual dreams, symbols, visions and words and thoughts from God. [3]

7. Unique Ways

Ultimately the ways you hear from God will be unique to you.

In the same way that the voice of a friend becomes familiar over time, as we grow in intimacy with God we learn to recognise His voice.

Even though it can be helpful to look out for the above things, don’t forget that the Spirit will speak to you and lead you in many different ways. It’s not about finding a formula, it is about relationship. [4]

Remember, too, that when it comes to matters of hearing from God, especially in relation to prophetic experiences and decision-making, it is vital to have accountability in place—safe people we can check our guidance with. We never ‘outgrow’ the need for Christian leadership and being in a healthy church community.

When we get it Wrong

‘Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?’ (Luke 6:46)

We won’t always get hearing and obeying God’s voice right. I know that I often miss opportunities to respond to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

When this happens, I can confess my shortfall, receive God’s forgiveness, and move on, secure in His love.

Our walk with God is not one of perfection, but of grace (Rom 8:1-4). What is important is that our hearts are open to respond to Him and to grow in this area.

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Do you have any experiences to share on being led by the Spirit in your everyday life? I would love to hear from you. Leave a note in the comments box below. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.

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Notes:

[1] From 1 February 2011, I will be on the ministry team at David McCracken Ministries. You can read about it here: http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/01/20/annnouncement-and-article-by-david-mccracken/
(and yes, while there is a little bit of sadness at letting go of my previous role, there’s a whole lot of joyful anticipation at what is to come. Thank You Jesus!)

[2] This response can be a sign that we are still struggling with an ‘orphan mindset,’where we don’t comprehend who we are or Whose we are. You can read more about it here:

http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/11/04/breaking-free-from-an-orphan-mindset/

[3] You can read more about receiving prophetic revelation in the following posts:

http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2009/11/14/how-to-exercise-your-prophetic-gift-pt-2-how-to-receive-a-revelation-from-god/

http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/07/27/how-to-recover-the-wonder-of-hearing-gods-voice/

[4] Here is a post about having an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit:

http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/11/23/how-you-can-have-an-intimate-relationship-with-the-holy-spirit/

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© Helen Calder 2011   Enliven Publishing
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/

Now that Christmas is behind us, the thoughts of many of us are turning to the New Year.

• What lies ahead for us?
• What are God’s plans for our lives in the coming year?
• What promises does our Heavenly Father want us to lay hold of?

Many people are looking for prophecies for the coming year. They want to know what the prophets are saying.

Like them, you may be searching for that special word from God that your heart connects with; a prophecy that His personal message for your own situation.

Reading prophecies from others can be encouraging—but there is something even better available to you and me. We can hear God’s voice for ourselves [John 10:4-5].

I am going to share some keys on how to receive a word of encouragement for you directly from God for the coming year.

But first, here are some personal stories to let you know how powerful even a simple and straightforward word can be.

A Word From God can Change Your Life

One regular visitor to our church office this past year brought me a great deal of joy. It was Brian—a retired, single man whose life has been transformed by a word from God.

As 2009 drew to a close, Brian’s life was the same is it had been for a long time. He describes it now as a life characterised by sadness. Brian found himself unable to stop continually dwelling on hurts and pain from the past.

Reading the book ‘The Shack’ at around this time gave Brian hope that his life could be different. A word came to him: it was ‘Freedom.’

Then one of our prayer leaders gave Brian a printed copy of my blog post on how to receive a personal word from God for the year 2010. At the top of the page was a space that read, “2010: Year of ______ “

One Sunday at church, our pastor’s message brought life to Brian’s soul. He responded to God and heard the Father speak personally to him, ‘I will set you free.’ From that moment, Brian was powerfully delivered.

He then wrote on the blog article, ‘2010, Year of Freedom.’

During the following months, Brian would often bring in the printed blog post and show me the words ‘Year Of Freedom’ along with a growing list of scriptures he added to the page in his own handwriting.

God’s Word was building his faith, enabling Brian to continue in the victory Jesus purchased for him on the cross.

A Word From God Can Herald Breakthrough

Late in 2009, I was participating in a prophetic worship night at our church, when I had a vision.

I saw myself smashing down a massive plate of glass that had a nice, smiling, but superficial image of me on the front. Behind the glass, another, real, ‘me’ was waiting to break out: a warrior and leader, who would call people to serve Jesus and join His army.

At that moment, to my amazement, a team member took the microphone and sang a prophetic song of the Lord calling His people to war.

Realising that the act of smashing down was symbolic of repentance, I took time to repent of projecting an image of myself that I felt would make me acceptable to people and to God. This image was an idol, standing in the way of being all that my Father had created me to be. It was keeping me trapped in a lifestyle of performance. [1]

As 2010 approached, I was praying about God’s purposes for the coming year and the vision kept coming to mind, along with the words, ‘Break Out.’
I felt that God’s word for me was that 2010 would be a ‘Year of Breaking Out.’

The Hunk felt that God was saying something similar to him.

‘Breaking Out’ proved true for us on many fronts. We broke through some stuck places spiritually, as a couple, and in our finances. New ministry opportunities began to emerge for me personally.

A Word From God Can Sustain Us in Times of Trial

But the fulfilment of God’s word is not always comfortable.

In May 2010, ‘Breaking Out’ was to prove painful as I felt that God was leading me to lay down a ministry leadership role.

I shared this with mentors and leaders in my church, who confirmed this guidance was from the Lord. The anointing of the Holy Spirit was evident in the decision and in the handover to a new leader.

For a short time, I felt lost. I knew I had broken out into a new place, but had no way of defining what that was. Knowing that God ordained my ‘Breaking Out’ helped me to trust Him for my future.

It was not long before the Holy Spirit revealed the Father’s plan. As I enter 2011, an exciting new door of ministry is opening to me. [2]

How You Can Receive Your Own Word From God for the New Year

Here are some simple steps to waiting on God for a personal word for the coming year. Of course, you can receive a lot more than a single word—however, I have found that encapsulating God’s message for your year in one or two words can help you remember and focus on His purpose for you throughout the year.

1. Pray and ask your Father to give a word concerning His promise and plans for your coming year

There are many ways in which you might receive a revelation. He might speak through a through, scripture, a picture, an idea or some other way [3]

2. Pray and ask the Lord for any further insights about the word.

I like to look the word up in a dictionary or thesaurus to clarify the meaning, as well as pray and seek out scriptures that reinforce what God is saying

3. If the word goes beyond simple encouragement and compels you towards action or change, remember that principles of interpretation and accountability apply to the word [4]

What you can do with your word

1. Write down or journal about how you received the word and what it means to you.

2. Share it with those around your life who can rejoice with you when it is fulfilled and encourage you on when times get tough

3. Keep it in front of you throughout the year.

4. Review the word and its outcome at the year’s end. As I have done, you can reflect upon what God has done in your life throughout the year and how the prophetic word has been fulfilled.

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Would you like to share your own experiences or word from God? Leave a comment in the comments box below. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.

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Notes:

For further prophetic inspiration for 2011 see my post, 2011 Can Be A Year Of Visitation From God

[1] If my thoughts about performance resonated with you, the following post may be helpful:

No Longer An Orphan: How I Discovered The Father’s Love

[2] I will be announcing this in a few weeks time. It’s very exciting… Stay tuned!

[3] For more about this topic, check the following post:

How To Receive A Revelation From God

[4] As I did in the above story, I advise submitting what appears to be a directive word, or guidance, to your church oversight. For more about how to determine whether a word is of God, the following posts may help:

4 Things You Can Do With Your Personal Prophecy

How Can You Tell If A Personal Prophecy Or A Dream Interpretation Is From God?

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© Helen Calder 2010    Enliven Publishing

http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/

Now on team with David McCracken Ministries

The thing I love most about teaching beginners’ classes in prophecy is that look of joy and amazement on people’s faces when they realise that they have heard God’s voice for another person for the first time.

We should never lose the wonder of hearing the voice of God—whether for others or ourselves.

But sometimes over the passage of time, familiarity, staleness, or just plain weariness can rob us of that sense of awe, joy and privilege.

Early last year I was burnt out and in a place where it was difficult to hear from God. But now, the communication—and the wonder—is back.

So, how can we retain or recover the wonder of hearing God’s voice? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Reflect on the Privilege and Power of Hearing God’s Voice

Adam heard the voice of the Lord as He walked in intimacy with Him in the garden. (Gen 3)

And yet later, Moses wondered that Israel had heard God’s voice and lived. (Deut 4:33)

Such was the destructive power of sin on humanity’s relationship with God that upon hearing God’s voice Israel cried out,

‘We will die if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.’
(Deut 5:25)

The Power of God’s Voice

I have come to realise that the ability, power and strength of the voice of God is far beyond my capacity to perceive.

• Using His voice, God created the heavens and the earth
  (Ps 33:6, Gen 1)

• God’s voice shatters His enemies (Isa 30:31)

• God’s voice is heard in creation’s majesty—the roaring of the waves, thunder and lightning, the events of nature (Ps 29)

John heard His voice like a trumpet (Rev 1:10) and as rushing waters (Rev 1:15); Daniel, ‘like the sound of a multitude.’ (Dan 10:6)

Paul was taken to heaven and heard ‘inexpressible things.’

Reflecting on this causes me to wonder.

2. Consider What Jesus Has Done

That you and I can hear the voice of God and live is a truth that demonstrates His incredible grace.

Jesus reconciled us to God through His death on the cross so that the voice that once threatened death to Israel can bring LIFE to us.

In John 10:27, Jesus said, ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me’.

God desires an intimate relationship with you and I even more than we want it with Him—He created us to fellowship with Him and to hear His voice. He wanted it so much that Jesus paid the ultimate price.

And this causes me to wonder.

3. Remember it is About Relationship

When I was burnt out, it took me a while to realise that I had made the mistake of equating ‘listening to God’ with a type of performance—and I had nothing left to give.

I needed to get back to relationship.

Think about when the phone rings and you pick it up. How different are your responses when the caller is:

• A telemarketer
• Someone you love

You see it’s not about the Voice—but the Person behind the Voice.

When we are in love with Jesus, we look forward to hearing Him speak to us in our everyday lives.

4. Put Yourself in a Place to Encounter Him

We need to position ourselves to encounter God and hear His voice, and what that looks like will be unique to each of us.

For me, it firstly meant recognising and repenting of wrong beliefs that had trapped me in a lifestyle of performance.

I then rediscovered His grace.

It also meant being creative with my devotional life, trying new ways to journal, and discovering a new appreciation for the Bible’s personal message to me.

It meant paying attention to my ‘spiritual pathways’ and realising that spending time with God outdoors and with listening to fresh worship music helped me to personally encounter Him.

As I did these things—as I put myself in a position to encounter God—I began to hear His voice breathing life back into me.

5. Explore the Unique Ways the Holy Spirit Speaks

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…’ Rev 2:11

One day we shall look upon Jesus’ face in all His glory, and hear His voice in all its strength. For now, we hear Him speaking to us by His Spirit.

However, we need to realise that God speaking is not like a person speaking.

When we talk about ‘hearing God’s voice,’ we are using an earthly expression to describe a heavenly concept. We simply do not have a framework to understand it

You and I use words, speech and body language to communicate. However, the Holy Spirit has endless ways that He can communicate with us.

We hear His voice, not with our physical ears, but with our heart and our spirit.

Throughout the Bible there are many different ways God spoke to His people.

In the book of Acts alone, we see God speaking through prophecies, dreams, visions, angels, leaders, signs, the inner voice of the Spirit—and so on.
There are many ways in which the Holy Spirit can speak to you. Meditate on what the Bible shares about this and be open to hearing Him in new and fresh ways.

The Wonder Recovered

This year, my sense of wonder has returned.

During the past couple of weeks I have heard God speak to me personally in many ways:

• A conversation with my pastor that rocked my paradigm
• The words of a stranger who walked into our church for the first time
• A lone eagle in the sky during time out with God
• An insight from the Bible that has fed me for days
• Circumstances that could only have been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit

Last week The Hunk and I were ministering when I heard God’s voice for a woman in the room. As I shared the word, I watched her face change from defensiveness, to amazement and delight.

And right at that moment I fell in love with the Holy Spirit and prophetic ministry all over again.

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Related Posts:

Face To Face With God: Can I Have A Relationship Like Moses?

When your Devotional Life Is Dry: How To Fall In Love With The Bible Again

Spiritual Renewal: Café Moments With God

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© Helen Calder   Enliven Publishing

Now on team with David McCracken Ministries