Classroom: Hearing God's Voice 02-09-07
Hearing the Voice of the Lord 02-09-07
Gabby (guest speaker from Lebanon Day 5 of 5)
To be able to hear God’s voice, we have to believe that God speaks so we will listen. We have to believe that God wants to communicate with us and that He does and that He is willing to.
God is always speaking to His people. Through out the entire Bible, God is speaking to His people – from Genesis to Revelation. God speaks to His people. He is not silent. Even nature speaks to the glory of God. We said yesterday that God said, “My Kingdom is a Kingdom of relationships.” And a relationship involves two way communication. It’s like a relationship with my wife.
Some people say God doesn’t speak. If He gave you the ability to speak, then He speaks too. If it’s not a two way relationship – then it isn’t a relationship. God loves us and He wants us to hear His voice. He wants us to hear His voice telling us how much He loves us. Let me tell you this – if you are a born again Christian, then you definitely heard His voice. And if you didn’t hear His voice, then you are not a born again Christian. You’re here because God spoke to you. And one thing that needs to be in your mind. It is your right to hear the voice of the Lord – as a child of God. There is no Christian here on earth who does not have the right to hear the voice of the Lord. Hearing the voice of the Lord is a privilege. Other religions do not have this privilege. Did you know that? Do you know why other religions don’t have this privilege? Because their gods are dead; and our God is alive! Only the grave of Jesus is empty – because He is alive! And it’s not hard to hear the voice of the Lord – it’s hard not to hear the voice of the Lord.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
John 10:14 I am the good Shepard.
We are the sheep. And he says, “My sheep hear my voice.” So he speaks to us, and He wants to lead us to green pastures (Psalm 23). He speaks to us. God doesn’t just tell us where to go and then say, “okay, I’ll meet you there.” No, he meets us there and also guides us along the way. Because He’s alive.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder, but a God of peace.
In your life when there is a lot of confusion, you have to understand that this is not God.
Why does God speak to us?
- To Guide us
- Relationship
- Help our faith and belief
- To show us He is close to us
- So we can be His messengers
- To show His love
- Because He is a living God
Examples in the Old Testament of God speaking to Abraham
Abraham – The Bible didn’t say how God spoke to Abraham. This is good. I like this. God spoke to Abraham, and Abraham heard the voice of the Lord. We don’t know how, but we know that Abraham heard the voice of the Lord. If God were to say how He spoke to Abraham, maybe we would think that these are the only ways that He speaks to us.
Many people say, “How can I be sure that this is God? How can I be sure that this is the voice of the Lord.” You will know it when He speaks to you. And nobody will be able to tell you that “this is not the voice of the Lord” because you know deep inside that it is.
Jacob heard God in a dream Gen 28:10-16
Moses heard God’s voice Ex 3:2
Balaam (donkey) Numbers 22:28-30
Hebrews Ex 13:21
Gideon heard God through a sign (morning dew) Judges 6:37-40
The sign wasn’t just a sign that you knew would happen – it was a sign that was almost impossible.
We did not go to flee, we went because we were called. We did not understand why we should go, but now when we look back, we do understand why we went. You don’t do things to please people, you do things to please God. The decisions you make are very important. If you please people your whole life – your family or whoever, you will find yourself in a bad situation. Do things to please God. If I were trying to please my mom, for example, I would not be ministering here right now at all. And now my father is so proud of the way I’m ministering for the Lord. When you do things, do them to please the Lord.
When you start valuing God’s voice in your life – God will keep speaking to you. If you don’t value His voice or His guidance. He might stop – because you’re not hearing Him anyway, why would He speak to you?
The safest path is the Plan of the Lord. Jesus was never led by the need of the people. He would always go up to listen to the Father, and he would do. There were lots of people all around that were crying, “Jesus! Save us! Save us!” And Jesus would let them – and go up alone on the mountain. So it was never the desire of the people that Jesus satisfied. It was God’s plan.
There have been days when I have not had any money in my pocket at all. You know, I used to live this way when I was single. It was easy. No problem. Now I have a wife and a daughter – and it is hard. I want to feed them. I want to provide for them; yet we still live by faith. God provides for me and my family.
Gen 16:7 and Gen 19:15 – God has given His guidance through angels. Whenever God wants to say something supernatural – He sends an angel. Luke 1:28-34. Jesus speaks to Joseph in dreams. There is an audible voice when Jesus was baptized. Acts 13:2; 15:28; 16:6;
So how does God speak to us?
- Through the inner voice. This is the inner voice of the Holy Spirit within you. (Acts 8:29)
- God speaks to us through Angels
- God speaks to us through animals (Numbers 22:28)
- Gifts of the Spirit
- Prophesies
- Words of knowledge
- Words of wisdom
- Other people
- Prophets
- Other (Acts 21:10)
- Dreams (Matthew 1:20)
- Visions (Acts 16:9)
- Bible or The Word of the Lord (Daniel 9:2)
- Circumstances (Acts 11:16)
- Creation (Romans 1:20)
- God can speak through ANYTHING (example: we don't know how He spoke to Abraham)
Beware of counterfeits. Because Satan knows that the voice of the Lord is so valuable, he will try to counterfeit it. (Acts 8:9-11)
Beware of fortune telling.
Beware of astrology science.
This is not God.
God will not speak to you in a way that contradicts the Bible. He will not go against His word or promises. His Word will guide you to truth and freedom while Satan’s word will lead you into bondage and away from God.
Fast for assurance, that you will have guidance from the Lord. Do not presume to know what God will say. Come with a humble heart. A humble heart is the key. Come before the Lord and ask to hear Him. Seek a sign. Seek a confirmation. How do you know if this is the Lord speaking to you? Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Train yourself. You know voices that are familiar. You know the voice of your father and mother. Sheep know the voice of their Shepard.
Fear of God, not fear of man. Be a pleaser of God, not a pleaser of man. If you’re the type of person to be a man-pleaser, you will be mislead. If you want to please your parents, your family, your friends, you will be… I don’t know where.
Obey. Obey. Obey. If you don’t obey, God will not speak to you. Seeking guidance with no intention of obedience is like seeking self destruction. Guidance for the future comes with obedience in the present.
Don’t come to the Lord with conditions. Come with a desire to obey whatever He says. “Lord if this woman is not from you, I am ready to leave her. If this man is not from you, I will leave him.
These steps are in the book, “Is that really you, God?” The book is excellent if you want to know how to hear the voice of the Lord.
- Submit to His Lordship
- Confess your Sin and seek a clean heart.
- Ask Him to help you silence your own thoughts and desires, even of others. Our minds are full of all these thoughts coming from ourselves and others. God has given you a good mind to use, but right now you want to hear from the Lord.
- Resist the Enemy. “Satan, be silent – in Jesus’ name.”
- Expect Him to speak to you.
- Forgive others. Forgive those who hurt you.
- Wait. Wait, the Lord will speak to you.
As a group, God can give us bits and pieces of the big picture. So when you take them and piece them together you can see it. Even if it’s funny, just say it if you know it is from God.
Gabby (guest speaker from Lebanon Day 5 of 5)
To be able to hear God’s voice, we have to believe that God speaks so we will listen. We have to believe that God wants to communicate with us and that He does and that He is willing to.
God is always speaking to His people. Through out the entire Bible, God is speaking to His people – from Genesis to Revelation. God speaks to His people. He is not silent. Even nature speaks to the glory of God. We said yesterday that God said, “My Kingdom is a Kingdom of relationships.” And a relationship involves two way communication. It’s like a relationship with my wife.
Some people say God doesn’t speak. If He gave you the ability to speak, then He speaks too. If it’s not a two way relationship – then it isn’t a relationship. God loves us and He wants us to hear His voice. He wants us to hear His voice telling us how much He loves us. Let me tell you this – if you are a born again Christian, then you definitely heard His voice. And if you didn’t hear His voice, then you are not a born again Christian. You’re here because God spoke to you. And one thing that needs to be in your mind. It is your right to hear the voice of the Lord – as a child of God. There is no Christian here on earth who does not have the right to hear the voice of the Lord. Hearing the voice of the Lord is a privilege. Other religions do not have this privilege. Did you know that? Do you know why other religions don’t have this privilege? Because their gods are dead; and our God is alive! Only the grave of Jesus is empty – because He is alive! And it’s not hard to hear the voice of the Lord – it’s hard not to hear the voice of the Lord.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
John 10:14 I am the good Shepard.
We are the sheep. And he says, “My sheep hear my voice.” So he speaks to us, and He wants to lead us to green pastures (Psalm 23). He speaks to us. God doesn’t just tell us where to go and then say, “okay, I’ll meet you there.” No, he meets us there and also guides us along the way. Because He’s alive.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder, but a God of peace.
In your life when there is a lot of confusion, you have to understand that this is not God.
Why does God speak to us?
- To Guide us
- Relationship
- Help our faith and belief
- To show us He is close to us
- So we can be His messengers
- To show His love
- Because He is a living God
Examples in the Old Testament of God speaking to Abraham
Abraham – The Bible didn’t say how God spoke to Abraham. This is good. I like this. God spoke to Abraham, and Abraham heard the voice of the Lord. We don’t know how, but we know that Abraham heard the voice of the Lord. If God were to say how He spoke to Abraham, maybe we would think that these are the only ways that He speaks to us.
Many people say, “How can I be sure that this is God? How can I be sure that this is the voice of the Lord.” You will know it when He speaks to you. And nobody will be able to tell you that “this is not the voice of the Lord” because you know deep inside that it is.
Jacob heard God in a dream Gen 28:10-16
Moses heard God’s voice Ex 3:2
Balaam (donkey) Numbers 22:28-30
Hebrews Ex 13:21
Gideon heard God through a sign (morning dew) Judges 6:37-40
The sign wasn’t just a sign that you knew would happen – it was a sign that was almost impossible.
We did not go to flee, we went because we were called. We did not understand why we should go, but now when we look back, we do understand why we went. You don’t do things to please people, you do things to please God. The decisions you make are very important. If you please people your whole life – your family or whoever, you will find yourself in a bad situation. Do things to please God. If I were trying to please my mom, for example, I would not be ministering here right now at all. And now my father is so proud of the way I’m ministering for the Lord. When you do things, do them to please the Lord.
When you start valuing God’s voice in your life – God will keep speaking to you. If you don’t value His voice or His guidance. He might stop – because you’re not hearing Him anyway, why would He speak to you?
The safest path is the Plan of the Lord. Jesus was never led by the need of the people. He would always go up to listen to the Father, and he would do. There were lots of people all around that were crying, “Jesus! Save us! Save us!” And Jesus would let them – and go up alone on the mountain. So it was never the desire of the people that Jesus satisfied. It was God’s plan.
There have been days when I have not had any money in my pocket at all. You know, I used to live this way when I was single. It was easy. No problem. Now I have a wife and a daughter – and it is hard. I want to feed them. I want to provide for them; yet we still live by faith. God provides for me and my family.
Gen 16:7 and Gen 19:15 – God has given His guidance through angels. Whenever God wants to say something supernatural – He sends an angel. Luke 1:28-34. Jesus speaks to Joseph in dreams. There is an audible voice when Jesus was baptized. Acts 13:2; 15:28; 16:6;
So how does God speak to us?
- Through the inner voice. This is the inner voice of the Holy Spirit within you. (Acts 8:29)
- God speaks to us through Angels
- God speaks to us through animals (Numbers 22:28)
- Gifts of the Spirit
- Prophesies
- Words of knowledge
- Words of wisdom
- Other people
- Prophets
- Other (Acts 21:10)
- Dreams (Matthew 1:20)
- Visions (Acts 16:9)
- Bible or The Word of the Lord (Daniel 9:2)
- Circumstances (Acts 11:16)
- Creation (Romans 1:20)
- God can speak through ANYTHING (example: we don't know how He spoke to Abraham)
Beware of counterfeits. Because Satan knows that the voice of the Lord is so valuable, he will try to counterfeit it. (Acts 8:9-11)
Beware of fortune telling.
Beware of astrology science.
This is not God.
God will not speak to you in a way that contradicts the Bible. He will not go against His word or promises. His Word will guide you to truth and freedom while Satan’s word will lead you into bondage and away from God.
Fast for assurance, that you will have guidance from the Lord. Do not presume to know what God will say. Come with a humble heart. A humble heart is the key. Come before the Lord and ask to hear Him. Seek a sign. Seek a confirmation. How do you know if this is the Lord speaking to you? Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Train yourself. You know voices that are familiar. You know the voice of your father and mother. Sheep know the voice of their Shepard.
Fear of God, not fear of man. Be a pleaser of God, not a pleaser of man. If you’re the type of person to be a man-pleaser, you will be mislead. If you want to please your parents, your family, your friends, you will be… I don’t know where.
Obey. Obey. Obey. If you don’t obey, God will not speak to you. Seeking guidance with no intention of obedience is like seeking self destruction. Guidance for the future comes with obedience in the present.
Don’t come to the Lord with conditions. Come with a desire to obey whatever He says. “Lord if this woman is not from you, I am ready to leave her. If this man is not from you, I will leave him.
These steps are in the book, “Is that really you, God?” The book is excellent if you want to know how to hear the voice of the Lord.
- Submit to His Lordship
- Confess your Sin and seek a clean heart.
- Ask Him to help you silence your own thoughts and desires, even of others. Our minds are full of all these thoughts coming from ourselves and others. God has given you a good mind to use, but right now you want to hear from the Lord.
- Resist the Enemy. “Satan, be silent – in Jesus’ name.”
- Expect Him to speak to you.
- Forgive others. Forgive those who hurt you.
- Wait. Wait, the Lord will speak to you.
As a group, God can give us bits and pieces of the big picture. So when you take them and piece them together you can see it. Even if it’s funny, just say it if you know it is from God.
posted by CarbonChris at 4:58 AM
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