Why God Speaks Loudest in the Wilderness

Have you ever felt completely alone?

Have you ever walked through a season where life felt dry, difficult, and overwhelming—wondering where God was in the middle of it all?
In this episode of Hearing God's Voice, Jeffrey Paul explores one of the most powerful lessons found in Scripture: God often speaks most clearly in the wilderness.

Through the story of Jesus being led into the desert and the biblical principle of taking every thought captive to Christ, you'll discover how God uses seasons of isolation, struggle, and uncertainty to draw us closer to Him and prepare us for greater purpose.

In this teaching, you'll learn:

• Why wilderness seasons are often places of spiritual growth
• The surprising Hebrew meaning behind the word "wilderness"
• How Jesus overcame temptation in the desert
• Why taking every thought captive is impossible through human effort alone
• How the Holy Spirit empowers us to overcome fear, doubt, anxiety, and discouragement
• Practical ways to hear God's voice more clearly in everyday life
• The importance of intimacy, journaling, and remaining connected to Christ

📖 Key Scriptures:
• Matthew 4:1-11
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
• John 15:7
• John 14:26
• 1 John 4:4
• Isaiah 55

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💬 We'd love to hear from you:
Have you ever experienced a wilderness season where God spoke to you in a powerful way? Share your story in the comments below.

"Remember, Beauty and Change Begin Within"

Transcript

Introduction and Overview

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Good morning. Good Sunday morning. A beautiful sunrise coming up in the east in my window in my study. And I am really excited that you're here this morning on this inspiration and this Bible study teaching. And we're gonna we're gonna share some really, I think, exciting, exciting insights that the Holy Spirit led me to understand through my study in the last couple of days for you. And as I love the Lord to prepare me for this lesson, you got

The Importance of Preparation

SPEAKER_00 0:31

to get prepared. You know, the Boy Scout message is always be prepared. So as you come on, please say good morning and put the comments of your name and where you come from so that we can kind of keep up with you and know where you're, you know, you're residing in your life. And I'm really excited because this is a real special occasion. This is the first, the first inspirational level of teaching from the Hair Loss University membership.

Journaling and Spiritual Growth

SPEAKER_00 1:00

And this is renewing you. It is the process of our ability to help keep balance between life, business, and your spiritual growth. Okay. Now, is everybody interested in that? I pray they are. I pray each and every one of you are, but maybe not, but we can surely change that as we become changed from the inside out. And that's what we're going to talk about. Let me ask you a question. As I was reading my um journal this morning, I was going through my journal, and I don't know if you are a journaler. If you're not, uh you might want to get my uh workbook because uh that's one of the things that I teach, you know, all the time, because for over 40 years, uh since the Lord first showed me how to write and put my thoughts down on paper, but also capture his thoughts. And that's what we're gonna talk about today.

Capturing Thoughts and Scriptures

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Capture his thoughts uh and put the scriptures together with those thoughts and my thoughts and his thoughts and feelings and make them one, and really let the Holy Spirit guide me and lead me and give me understanding, as it says in John 14, 26, the Holy Spirit is for. So journeying is really an important element, at least for my journey. And I found some things in scripture that has given me the ability to really uh utilize methods or techniques, or that that's kind of a raw form of explanation, but the the ability to kind of take from the scriptures the things that David did and and others who journaled and and wrote in the New Testament, how all of the the uh apostles and and the writers of the New Testament put forth the spirit on the paper for us today to learn from. So in my morning session, I said to the Lord, I said, Lord, what do you want of me?

Taking Captive Your Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Have you ever asked the Lord that? What do you want of me? He said, My beloved son, I want all of you. Isn't that God? He says, Give me your ear, listen to my voice, and have communion with me all day and night by being at peace still in your soul and remain in me and allow my words to remain in you. And here was the instruction he gave me take captive your thoughts, take captive your thoughts. This is not, he says, a human effort, it is a work of choice and turning over to the spirit all that is necessary. Well, that tied into a lot of scriptures and took me into a couple things, but here's my first question for you today. Does your mind, now think about this, does your mind run off with all the wrong thoughts and interpretations of what's going on in life circumstances? And you get more worried and more fearful and more anxious or more doubtful, or just in the dumps, or you get depressed, or you get anxious, or you just want to give up? Have

Understanding Strongholds

SPEAKER_00 4:00

you ever been there? That's a question. If so, put in the comments, I've been there, I've been there, or just say yes, but put in the comments, I've been there, I've been there, I've been there. Well, you know, the only way that taking captive every thought and no being obedient to that scripture in 2 Corinthians, let me read it to you because it's very powerful, and I want you to know that if you're gonna join us, I hope you brought your Bible, your notebook, your iPad, whatever it might be, uh, and a pen. But here in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 3 through 6, this is what it says. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. Think about that because we're gonna come back to that. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power, divine power to demolish strongholds. What's a stronghold? I can't do this,

The Battle Against Negative Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 5:01

I'm afraid to do this. Oh, nothing ever goes right. Uh and all those thoughts, in Isaiah, it says, My thoughts, God is speaking, my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. Take on my ways and my thoughts. You must be much, much higher thoughts and much better ways. Understanding what this scripture is instructing us to, but then learning from more scriptures and what the Holy Spirit will lead us today and this morning with will give us the ability to break through strongholds in our life. And

Divine Power vs. Human Effort

SPEAKER_00 5:35

all of us have it. All of us, all of us, always, no matter what we see on Facebook, no matter what we see on Instagram, no matter what we see in TikTok or read in the magazines or the news. Everybody has strongholds. The enemy, the enemy, the devil. And we're going to talk about his attack on Jesus in the desert in the wilderness. Everybody is fighting a battle, whether they know it or not. But are you fighting with divine power and the weapons of divine power? Are you trying on your own human effort, your human strength, your mental strength? Well, let's talk about that. Let's go further in the scripture. I'm right now at verse 5 of 2 Corinthians chapter 10. We demolish arguments and every potential that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience once your obedience is complete. Now, see, you would think that obedience is maybe back to the Ten Commandments, but obedience comes right out of the scripture, take captive every thought. But what that's impossible. We have over 50,000 thoughts in our mind running daily, and they say 80% of them are negative. How do we take captive? I mean, we can't go to work, we can't eat, we can't sleep, we have to, we have to be working like a like a generator. But see, here's what I want you to hear. This is not a human ability. Hear me, to take captive every thought, which is a instruction in the word of God in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, 3 through 6. Take captive is not a human ability. It says it right in those scripture verses.

The Role of the Holy Spirit

SPEAKER_00 7:30

It is only by the ability to be done on the spiritual level, where I must become less and he must become greater. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world, the scripture says in 1 John chapter 4, verse 4. So I'm just setting you up for the real lesson because we're going to the desert in just a minute. But let me just really address this issue. Taking captive the thoughts, feeling like you can't get a hold of your thoughts, is because you're in the human realm. And when we talk about spiritual realm, the spiritual realm where Christ spent all of his time, and he was able to speak to the Father. The Father spoke to him, and he said, I don't even speak the words of my words, or I don't do anything that I don't hear it from the Father. Well, that meant he had the mind of Christ. That comes out of 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 16. But what it says earlier in that same chapter, it says, My my thoughts, my what are you what you see? No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind is perceived what God has prepared for you. But we need to fight through the battle of the human nature to try to do this spiritual consciousness, spiritual lifestyle, spiritual speaking, spiritual thinking on our own human level. That's religiosity. That doesn't work, that might be mind control. That only is limited to what it what you can put together in a day and in your thoughts and your feelings and your emotions, and you can really hold on until you can't hold on. And then what? But when you're in the spiritual realm, when you're in the spiritual realm, when you're absolutely embodied by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit has given you the thoughts of God, the words of God, the instructions, illuminating your your

Experiencing the Wilderness

SPEAKER_00 9:39

in every step of the way, as it talks about in in Psalms 119, verses 105. When you know that you're in the zone, as you've heard, wow. But we have to go to the wilderness. We need to go to the wilderness. Now, let me take you there for just a moment. Have you ever felt all alone? Like you're in the wilderness or in the desert in life? Well, just this week I had somebody say that in one of the comments and in one of the um posts that we did. Feel all alone. Now she was talking about business and she was talking about, you know, being a sole proprietor. But have you ever felt really alone and feeling like the world is beating up on you? Feeling like the world is just coming at you from the left, from the right, from the front, from the top, through the bottom, and you and you just you just can't even turn and not get hit with one problem, one circumstance, one thought, one interpretation of what we're going through. If you have, if you've been there, then you've been in a place called the wilderness, the desert. So in the comments, do the very same thing I asked earlier. If you have felt all alone and you felt like you're in the desert, you just you know, you're just dry as a bone, put yes, I felt that in the commentary. Will you would you please do that? Thank you. Well, the Hebrew word, and I'm gonna teach a little Hebrew now, so again, listen closely with your yarmaka if necessary, just a humor, but in turn, the Hebrew word for wilderness is midbah, midbah, desert, dry place. But the same word, the same word in Hebrew, like in English, we have words that have you know additional meanings to it, but the Hebrew metaber means speak, means speak. And in the scriptures, the desert, the wilderness is where God wants to speak to you

God's Communication in the Wilderness

SPEAKER_00 11:50

because remember what my journal said. I said, and I'll read it again to you. Maybe some of you just tuned in. He said to me, I said, Lord, what do you want of me today? He said, My beloved son, I want all of you. Give me your ear, listen to my voice, and have communion with me all day and night, and being with me at peace and stillness in your soul, and then remain in me in that place as you leave your prayer time, as you leave your your your church server, remain in me so that you go with that same peace, that same stillness, that same consciousness, that same mind of Christ. Remain in me and allow my words to remain in you, then you will be able to take captive every thought on Christ Jesus. Okay, so with this said, how many of you that are listening right now want to hear God speak to you? How many of you want to hear God speak to you? Well, I see over here we've got Rose. Hi, Rose. Good morning. Rose is uh is uh with us this morning, Jamaica, Jamaica. I hope it's nice and warm down there, girl. Uh welcome, welcome this morning. And uh we've got another, I don't know where she's from, but uh I see your comments. I just want to keep an eye on those.

Prayer and Seeking God's Voice

SPEAKER_00 13:18

But uh just you can just see that some of you have have just begun to wake up because some of you from the coast. But I'm gonna get back into what I was just talking about, that I want you to really understand where we're at in the wilderness. And if you know that you want God to speak to you, then right now, right now, let's just pray. Lord Jesus, we just thank you for this time this morning together with whoever is here this morning, and whoever will come here into this place and hear this message today, not from me, but from the Spirit of God, your spirit that will lead us to take captive every thought with your power, with your strength, not by our strength. That we would trust in you and me, not on our own understanding, but we would truly know what you have given us the Holy Spirit for, and it's to be victorious, to be victorious in circumstances and not beat up in circumstances. So now, Lord, take us to the wilderness, take us to where we now can be silent of the world, silent of any circumstance, situation that we've been dealing with or are dealing with it, whether it's health, whether it's business, whether it's family, whether it's relationship, wherever it is, that you would silence this world and allow us to truly hear your voice as you speak to us, strengthen us, fill us up, encourage us, and manifest your spirit within us to walk into our day-to-day and each day forward in Jesus' name.

Jesus' Temptation in the Wilderness

SPEAKER_00 14:45

All right. Well, let's start our real lesson. Let's go where Jesus was taken into the desert by the Spirit in Matthew 4, verse 1 through 11. Now we're understanding with a little prephase for you. This comes from leaving the Jordan River when John the Baptist baptized the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And on to Jesus came the Holy Spirit, and a voice from heaven spoke out and said, This is my son who I'm well pleased. Now that's kind of a plateau that we're coming from. So it's like you had an incredible day today. You just knocked it out of the park. You had tremendous sales in your business, you you had you made people beautiful inside and out. You were just you were you were rich feeling inside and out. And then what? It says, it says then, well, let's go there. Go to Matthew chapter four. Go to Matthew chapter four in verse one through 11. Let's let me read this to you, okay? Unless you want to read. Oh, I'll read for you. It says, Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Now, who led him? Put it in the comments. Who led Jesus? Was it the devil that enticed him? Was it the devil that drew him? Was it, you know, the crowd calling him to go to the desert? It says that the spirit led him. Now I'm going to share something else in the other scriptures that you'll probably come across. Is that when Jesus said, let's go to the other side in the water, what came upon them was the storm that almost capsized and killed them all. But it was Jesus who called them into the boat to go out to sea. He knew that there was going to be a storm, and he was going to take that quiet time, not while the five thousands were being fed and all kinds of miracles were being done. No, no, no. He was going to go alone with his disciples to speak to them and teach them and give them insights and examples and manifest the real mind of Christ within them so that they would then, as he promised, get to the other side. God wants to speak to us. God wants to speak to you. And I want you to hear this because this is Jesus in the desert. For 40 days, he doesn't eat, doesn't drink. He is baked in the hundred-plus degree sands of the desert. What do you think he was doing? Now we know the next part we're going to go to where the devil comes to him, but what was he doing? What was he doing? Same thing that Paul was doing after he got baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Lessons from Jesus' Wilderness Experience

SPEAKER_00 17:38

He went to the desert for three years to be taught, as it says in scripture, taught by the Holy Spirit, and then entered his ministry. Jesus went for 40 days, and God spoke into him in the human body that he was in, spoke to him in the spiritual realm and gave him his marching orders, his marching instructions, and all the things that were necessary to move into what came in the next chapter, which was his ministry began, a powerful, powerful ministry. And all the things that you and I know, he was led to from that point. But let me read this to you so that you probably know it, but it's also time to slow down and hear what the Holy Spirit really is speaking to you today. He may be speaking a little bit more different tune for me, and and each and every one of you that are watching, he has a special speaking word, spoken word for each and every one of us. So let's go there. It says in Matthew chapter 4, I'm reading for the NIV version, starting in verse 1. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After, after fasting 40 days, after remember the word in the Hebrew that I talked to you about, the the the the medbah medbera medbara was speaking. God was speaking to him. So in that he went into the desert for 40 days, where God just washed through him, washed through him the word, the word, the word, because he was the living word, and he was bringing out from the within that living word that gave him the strength and power to go one-on-one with the devil. And watch this. It says in verse 2, after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry, he was human, as well he was divinely God. The tempter came to him. And you know, the devil always comes when when you least expect it. It says, after fasting 40 days and nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn to bread. Now I can go on and teach you about that whole thing about the turning of stones into bread, but the better part of the lesson there is if, because he uses it every time he tempts Jesus. If in verse 17 of chapter three of this very previous chapter, God says, This is my son, who I'm well pleased with. This is my son. But the devil comes and says, What? If the same thing he did in Adam and Eve in the garden, if you are the Son of God, turn these things into bread. But what does Jesus say? And this is what I want you to really remember. I'm gonna put it there. You see it? This is what he did. This is what he did to take captive, to captive his hunger, took captive his his tiredness, took captive the temptation. He took captive by utilizing the word of God that was flowing through him, that he was eating and participating on for those 40 days and his whole life.

The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Warfare

SPEAKER_00 21:02

But in turn, the intensity of having a wilderness experience, a time alone with God, whether it's 10 minutes in the morning, whether it's a weekend that you get away for a retreat, whether it's any of those things or more, you need to take those into the world. You need to take that time constantly so that you can then continue on in that state of the mind of Christ, that state of spiritual level, that it gives you the ability to do what is impossible for you to do, but possible with God. Mark 10, 27. He goes on to say, Jesus says, It is written. In verse 4, he says that in verse 7, it is written. He says that in verse 10, it is written. And then after he had taken captive all those thoughts, after he resisted the devil, he the devil flee, the scripture says, and the devil left him, and the angels came. Came and attended to him. Wow. What does that teach us today? What does that teach us today? It teaches us that we need to be in the spiritual realm and to get the heck out of the human nature. And the only way to do that is not by doing a bunch of exercises and not reading another devotional or going to another church service. How do you do that? To get alone with God and hear his voice. Hopefully,

Intimacy with God through Dialogue

SPEAKER_00 22:31

as I shared with you from the beginning, you'll uh write down what you hear God say to you, but also write to God. That's communion, dialogue. That's what I teach in journaling uh workshop is the dialogue with God, dialogue with God. He speaks, you speak. That's a relationship, that's an intimacy. And that's what it means in John 15:7. Allow me to remain in you, and you remain in me. And ask anything that you want, it shall be done. And I'm not talking about a Porsche in your driveway. I'm talking about anything in the relationship, anything in the ability to bring the kingdom of God forward in your life and the community you live in. The power to be in the spiritual realm is our battle. It's our weapon, it's our strength, it's our victorious guarantee. But if we try to do it in our human nature, let's take it for a business realm. If I'm making a decision in the business realm, and I'm trying to figure it out, I'm trying to, you know, map it out, I'm trying to do all this, which is not a bad thing on the human level. But don't you want to also go into the higher level and see from where God sees, hear what God is saying, and then put the plan into action? Because the Proverb says a man's plans seem good to him, but God's plans prevail. So business, relationships, life, play, as you get more into the spiritual realm, and all of a sudden, when things hit you, you're filled with the spirit, you're filled with the word of God. And when those thoughts of human nature, the thoughts of the devil come, the thoughts of others and what they're putting out there in their voices, you're able to stop them by saying, It is written, I'm a child of God. It is written, I'm preciously and wonderfully made. It is written, I am more than a conqueror. It is written, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And suddenly those scriptures come to life from within you, not from reading a piece of paper, not just reading a Bible verse and memorizing it, but putting it within you so that when it needs to come out, it comes out of the spiritual realm with power, with strength, with the ability to transform and all the things that are necessary to live in this world that we're not of, but we're in. Because we are not of this world. We are of the spiritual kingdom. If you've accepted Christ, if you've asked for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within you, then you have that. If you haven't, and you kind of stumbled in the air wondering, maybe for some other kind of inspiration, that just ask Christ. Romans 10 goes through the process of speak it with your mouth, believe it with your heart. That Jesus Christ is Lord. He died for you, died for your sins, even when you were the worst you could be. And I can tell you my testimony when I found him, I was the worst you can imagine being. And he then does the work of transformation. He does the work of drawing you closer to him. He draws that relationship of intimacy and that communion with him. If you remain in me, I will remain in you. I am not talking about salvation or not salvation. Once you're accepting Christ, you are saved, and that's on deposit. But a relationship, an intimate relationship like I have with my wife Sina, if I'm not in a constant communication with her, if I'm not constantly thinking, how can I bless her? How can I favor her? How can I not get mad at her? How can I not speak a harsh word at her? As I continue to manifest that mindset, then realistically, there's a relationship, there's an intimacy of relationship. That's what Christ wants. An intimate relationship with us so that we don't get beat up in the world, that we don't get burned out in the desert. We get spoken to from the Spirit of God, and He speaks through us, in us, to us, and we speak to Him. And that begins the

Tools for Spiritual Growth

SPEAKER_00 26:57

incredible victory walk that Romans 8, 28 through 39 talks about. Should read that. But here's your challenge today. I'm going to give you a little challenge because I think it's important. You might be saying, Well, where do I start? There's a there's an incredible app that I've used now for years, and it's the U Version Bible app. I put the the com the uh link right there for you to copy down and go to it. It's free, it's absolutely free, but it has every translation of Bible verses. It has a morning teaching, uh, a video teaching. It has um all kinds of Bible plans and Bible verses that all you gotta do is put in the search engine. I'm struggling with what? I'm struggling with uh hopelessness, I'm struggling with you know fear, I'm struggling to use my health. And you're able to put that into the search and find the scriptures and find the teachings that can feed that need to take you out of the human problems and circumstances and lift you up to a firm place of victory, of health, of wellness, of joy. Does that

Living as More Than Conquerors

SPEAKER_00 28:06

mean that all your problems are gonna be gone? No, not till we get to heaven, not till eternity. Does that mean that you know I just snap my fingers and everything's gonna change in a second? No, that's a fantasy, that's a falsehood. But what is true? His word is true. And as you put his word into practice, as you put his word into your soul and you allow it to nurture, like good wine nurtures and ferments, and just gets better and better and better and better, and more saturated you are with the word, the more powerful you live life as more than a conqueror. In business, in life, in play, in spiritual realm. It's all based not on your human effort and human strength. Now, one last thing that he did say to me. He said to me, Jeff, he said, Jeff, um, taking captive or drawing all things onto me, throwcasting all things on me doesn't mean that you sit on your hands. Trusting in me does not mean just sitting on your hands. It means you've got to be the action of the instructions. You have to be the action of the obedience of what I've shared with you, so that you then can embody that victory, that that achievement, that breakthrough through the stronghold. So it's not about sitting on your hands and saying, oh, it's all about the Lord and spiritual, but we're living in this world. Paul, Peter, John, Matthew, all were living in this world. And boy, their stories are pretty harsh in some cases, but they were able to sustain victorious thinking because they were thinking and listening to the Spirit of God who was speaking to them and giving them encouragement, promising that he would complete a good work with when he has begun, and all the other words that are preciously written in this beautiful, beautiful gift from God. But by itself, written words on paper is not what it's all about. It's the written words that are brought into your spirit, revealed to you in your mind by the Holy Spirit. That's why you need to say, Holy Spirit, teach me. Holy Spirit, lead me. Holy Spirit, speak through me. Holy Spirit, allow my thoughts to be God's thoughts and not my thoughts. And continually, maybe pray this small prayer. Lord, I give everything over to you. Lord, I give everybody over to you. Before you

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 30:39

start your Bible study or your journaling or your reading of the Bible or your devotional, start there. Turn it all over. Go to the altar and turn it all over to him and wash your hands of it and let him then fill you up with what you need to then walk into the world that we live every day in, but we're not of. I hope this has spoken to you this morning. I really hope it did. Uh, I know it spoke to me when I got the message in my journal and my reading and my Bible study that the couple mornings ago, and I wanted to share it with you. I hope that you like this. Let me know in the comments. Really important. I know in the comments what you're thinking, what your thoughts are, um, any correct questions, comments, recommendations, um, good, bad, or indifferent. I'm ready to listen because I'm gonna listen through the Holy Spirit to help find more to pour into you, to help you grow in your spiritual walk. Remember the um challenge to grow in your spirit, get the you version if you don't already have it. Uh, it becomes like uh a powerhouse with your Bible and a powerhouse with your church service. It's got music in it for worship. I mean, it's it's jam-packed with incredible, incredible, incredible tools to grow in the spirit. And that's what we're talking about. So today, take captive every thought. And when that thought comes that you're not beautiful, pleasing, perfect, wonderful, wonderfully made, then remember what he says about you. It is written, you're precious, you're wonderful, and that you are beautiful inside and out. I'll see you next Sunday for another inspiration. And look forward to every one of the hair loss members to be Monday at 7:30 and changing it from 7 o'clock because I got some calls from around the country or comments because it's so early for some places that are outside the the uh Eastern Standard Time. So, tomorrow, our first coaching excitement of um the Hair Loss uh University membership is tomorrow, and that's at 7 30 Eastern Standard Time. Bring your pencils and paper, and let's get ready to grow in our business as we grow in our spiritual realm and our life. Love you. Have a beautiful day.