Listening to God

What if God isn't just near, but can actually be heard through his Spirit? The promise of the scriptures and Jesus is that we would never be left as orphans, but that we will have him in a different form- the Holy Spirit. If you feel confused, hopeless, or lost in your life, be encouraged because you have someone who is your Help.

Here are resources that have helped me listen to God:

- Practicing the Way- Listening to God video

- FaithForward: Listening Prayer helps you hear God more clearly. Here's how.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone, my name is Daniela. Um, welcome to the line. Thank you so much for picking up. Today we're going to talk about listening to God's voice. Listening to God's voice has saved my life multiple times on multiple occasions. And I want to invite you to practice that as well. The key word to that sentence that I just said was practice. Practice, practice, practice means continually testing and trying out this skill. First of all, if you believe in Jesus, you have to remember that it is not just a privilege, it's it's comes with a package. Like imagine you're in a relationship with someone and that person doesn't talk to you. Like, what? Is that even a relationship at that point? No, it's not. And so listening to God's voice is something that we should can we should expect in our Christian walk. God speaks through different ways. Just like an artist paints in different mediums, oil painting, acrylic paint, God speaks in different ways. He's a God that wants to be known. And Psalm 103, it says that God makes his ways known. His ways basically just mean the way that he sees the world, his perspective of how the world is supposed to go, the rules of the cosmos that he created, how we're supposed to interact with him and with each other. And yeah, he made his deeds known to the people of Israel. Do you see the difference between that? The difference is Moses got to know God's heart. That's why he experienced and went into the rest that God had for him. But some of the Israelites didn't make it. Most of them, only two families made it in. In the book of Exodus, just the first five books of the Bible. But the key thing is he is a God that wants to be known. How much do you want to know of God? Is the question. The second way God speaks is through creation. In Psalm 19, the Bible tells us, I believe in the first verse it says, The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Um, there is no speech, like they are always speaking, but Daniela, they don't have a voice, but they are revealing something about this God, and you are also revealing the world something about this God as well in your personality, in your demeanor, and just the way that you look, how unique you are. It lets us it lets the world know who this God is. God also speaks through people. If you hear someone say something that just brings you so much peace and just perspective and hope, God spoke through that person. God speaks through his word. That's why God tells us to meditate on his word day and night because his word gives us wisdom. Likewise, God also speaks through visions. Some people have dreams and their dreams come to life. God is most likely speaking to you through your dreams and in many, many different facets. Now, as I said, God is always speaking, but there is specific instruction that God has for all of us that He wants us to obey. And the thing is with obedience, is not only is it a privilege, not only is it a blessing, and I'm not gonna act like it's easy, but when you see it as a way to abide in God's love even more, we just we obey quicker. I'm talking about personally listening to him. So there's a difference between the manifest and the omnipresence of God. I'm going to give you an example of this. Imagine I come to imagine you come to my house, okay, and I am in my room, I'm not in the living room. You come to my house and I'm still there, right? I'm in my room. That's kind of an example of omnipresence. I'm there, but if I come out of my room to go talk to you, to sit next to you, that's now my manifest presence. So I'm not just there, I am there, there. I'm there to talk to you. I'm here to be there with you. And that's the level of intimacy that God wants us to have with him, his manifest presence. Personally listening to him, personal instructions from him, because you have been created for something specific, unique, and great. What and how much someone says is a reflection of the relationship they want to have with you. Think about it. If I come to you and all I say is, hi, how are you? Surface level conversation. You can safely assume that I want a surface level relationship with you. But if I come and I'm like, hey, how are you? How's um school? How is your family? And if I go a little deeper and I ask, I heard you told me last time that your mom is sick, how is she doing? If I go a little deeper and I ask, how was that surgery your sister had? Is she okay? What is she doing to recover? Do you see the relationship that I'm trying to establish between the two of us? I actually got it from a book that my brother shared with me. That the relationship you have with someone is reflected by how much you say and what you say. And the Bible shows us that God wants to talk to us about everything: our relationships, our um sexuality, our money, our decisions, our thoughts, everything and anything. The Bible is an open book, it is there to teach you everything you need about life, because God created life. And the thing is also that God does not expect you to understand life, God considers you a sheep, but he also doesn't say that because he does he thinks less of you. I mean, he created you, he gave up his son for you. He says that because he knows that you'll need a shepherd, and that's why he's called the good shepherd. So back in the days, shepherd and the sheep, they used to know each other. They were besties. The shepherds smelled like the sheep, and the sheep would know the voice of the shepherd. They would not follow the voice of a thief or a robber. And yet, in this world, we have a hard time deciphering God's voice. But in this episode, we will figure out exactly how to listen to him. In Jeremiah 33, verse 3, God Himself says, Ask of me. This is my paraphrase version, ask of me, and I will answer you, and I will show you and tell you great and unsearchable things. In John 10, verse 24, the Bible tells us that my sheep listened to his voice. I looked up what listen means in the original language, and here's a little more information on what listen, how Jesus uses the word listen. To listen means to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, essentially not being deaf. That tells you, first of all, that if we're not listening to God's voice, and if we don't know how to listen to his voice, you're not functioning the way you should as a child of God. Which I'm not saying this to demean any of us, including myself. I'm trying to just show us like the expectation that God has for us, which is a constant walk with him. It's it's it's knowing that you have someone to go to and to ask questions to and expect him to answer, if not in the way you want him to, but he will answer. Uh, to listen also means to give ear to a teacher. Why is that important? Well, Jesus describes himself as a rabbi, a rabbi is kind of like a pastor, but a rabbi is actually a little closer than a pastor because a rabbi, he would, if the rabbi chose you best, know that you are amazing. Like you, the rabbis would not try to make themselves look low, like to make it into a school of like a respected rabbi, just know that it's like making it to Harvard. But Jesus is choosing anyone and everyone, he says, Whosoever believes in me, whosoever, it's everyone and anyone. And you might be like, Well, Daniela, I don't know how to do that, and I don't think I believe in myself enough to follow and to hear God's voice. It doesn't matter because God believes in you, He believes in you walking in what He has for you. To listen also means to consider. So it's not just, oh, I can hear noise, I can hear what Daniela is saying, but I can consider what she's saying. I can kind of decipher what she's saying. Have you heard the phrase to read between the lines? Likewise, it also means to understand, to perceive, so to decipher, to have discernment for the wisdom that he tells you to. So again, I want us to deconstruct and remove that lie that we are not able to hear God's voice, that it was only for the past, it's only for pastors. No, as a real as a child of God, as someone who wants to know God, God wants to make himself known to all of us, especially to those who want to hear from him. Let's do a little audit. Look at your life right now, just overall, and ask yourself are you happy with the way you are you are right now? Are you do you feel like you're living a life of abundance? Do you feel like your life lines up with the Zoe life, the abundant life that Christ has for you? If I had to be honest, the answer is no, uh, for most of us. And that's actually good news, okay? Because we're gonna learn how to do that by listening to God's voice. Now, if you said yes to most of it, but there are areas or two that you're like, yeah, this does not represent the peaceful, abundant life that God has for me. Not to say that there is not gonna be hard things. Jesus said, expect hard things, but rejoice, for I have overcome the world. Am I rejoicing in suffering? Well, I'm probably not experiencing the life that Christ died and suffered for me to have. In Hosea chapter 4, verse 6, the Bible tells us that my people fall for lack of knowledge because we don't know what God wants us to do, we don't do what he wants us to do. And it's not just hearing his word, but also listening for the sound of his voice. As you learn to hear God's voice, expect to also maybe hear different voices, different impressions on your spirit, like your own thoughts. And there might be the thoughts of the enemy, thoughts of the world, and there also might be thoughts that people have said that distract us from hearing God's voice. But the truth is that if especially if you are a believer in Jesus, this is a promise for you that you have been given the authority in Christ to silence the other sources and clear the way to hear his voice, and you can be confident that it is God speaking to you. Confusion doesn't belong in the kingdom, it's human, but in the kingdom, you don't have to be confused. Jesus is the way. The Bible also lets us know in First Corinthians that we've been given the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is a mind that reflects Christ's perspective of the world, um, Christ's thoughts, Christ's attitudes. That's what we've been given, nothing less than that. In Matthew chapter 28, verse 18 to 19, the Bible lets us know that all authority has been given to Jesus. You might be like, Okay, yes, Jesus has all the authority. Yes, thank you, God. But but hold up. It also means if you are in Christ, know that you are one with him. What does that mean? In John chapter 17, verse 22, Jesus prays. Yeah, if you want to see what Jesus thinks of you and what he wants of you, and you just want to um see that you're known and that you're loved, go read John 17 on your free time. The Bible tells us that Jesus prays, he says, Father, I want them to be one with you as I am one with you. Jesus, are you serious? And in the New Testament, in the letters of Paul, Paul says that we've been hidden in Christ, in God. He also tells us that we've been engrafted in God. He also tells us that we were dead, and now we have been brought back to life. What does this all mean? Well, it means that whatever Christ has, you have. So, us before we gave our lives to Christ, our bank account was negative like a thousand. If I had to be generous, we had zero in our bank account. But Jesus is rich, rich in holiness and love and mercy. And Jesus, in his loving kindness, because he died for us and he raised again for us, and he and he rose again for us, that means that whatever Christ had, we have it too. So your bank account is no longer at zero, it's at like a million dollars, and it will never change, even when you sin. What you need to do when you sin is you need to remember, because when we sin, we think that our bank account is at zero when we've already been given more than enough. Now, how do we actually practice this? This is going to take time, and the more you do this, the better you become at listening to God's voice. If you want to learn how to play an instrument, the more you play it, the better you become. We're going to pray. Prayer allows us to activate and to experience what Christ has for us. So I invite you when you do this to go to a quiet place and to be with yourself. Leave your phone in another room, pause, breathe like three deep breaths. Remember that we are holistic beings. If our body and our mind is jittery, even though you're at like you're sitting down calmly, you won't really be able to listen to God's voice. Okay. Um, something else I wanted to say is God has direct access to your mind. If you are in Christ, He has direct access to your mind. Which means as you do this practice, you might see little visions, little like pictures or words that might be God speaking to you. Um, I also invite you to just get a pen or a paper to write down any impressions that Jesus gives you as you practice this. I also want us to remember that God speaks to be heard, and that you might go to God and ask him, God, I need your help figuring out who I'm going to date or something else like that. And you come to God already with a posture of, I'm not gonna listen to you, I'm gonna do whatever I want. He might not speak to you because you're not gonna listen. To listen in the Bible is not just to hear noise, but to obey. The word shema, listen, in Hebrew means to listen and to obey. So ask God to also give you a heart that yields to his voice. There are many things we will avoid if we just ask God, God, what do you want me to do? God gives grace to the humble. If you know you need help, which you we all do, God will speak to you. Okay, here's the practice. Calm down, sit in silence, in solitude, and ask the Holy Spirit to silence the voice of the enemy. You that is your privilege. In Isaiah chapter 54, verse 17. The Bible tells us that no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you will condemn. This is your heritage as a servant of God. Your righteousness is from him. That is your privilege. That's why it's important to know God's word because when you listen to the enemy, it's like, nope, that's not true, that's not true, that's not true. God's word is a really cool book. Okay, once you do that, I ask the Holy Spirit also to recenter. I used to I really love this phrase to recenter your scattered senses upon his presence. And once you do that, have faith what you ask as well. When you ask God to do something without knowing that he will do it before he does it, don't be surprised if you don't receive it. You God works through faith. He says, My righteous one shall live by faith. I'm gonna pray this prayer over you as you do this. You can come back to this anytime you do choose to practice this. Father, I come to you. You can repeat after me as well if you'd like. Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, your son, and according to James 1, verse 5, which lets me know that when I lack wisdom, I can ask you. I am seeking wisdom, guidance, clarity, comfort, anything for, and then you talk to God about your request. In the name of Jesus, according to Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, and Luke 10, verse 19 to 20, I take authority over Satan and his fallen angels, and command that they be rendered deaf, mute, and blind to my prayers, and removed from my presence. I submit my own voice to the shed blood of Jesus, and command that my own thoughts be taken captive to the obedience of Christ, according to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 5. I ask, Father, that only your Holy Spirit will speak to me now as I wait on you for wisdom, insight, and direction. And whatever you show me or direct me to do, I pray that I will quickly obey in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Once you've prayed that with all your heart, wait in silence for God to speak for 10 to 12 minutes and jot down any scripture, songs, pictures that God gives you, and then pray about it too. God will not give you the whole plan because if he did, then why would there really be a need to trust him? Right? God wants to be your biggest dream, God wants to be your source of help, he wants you, even as he reveals his plans for you, he wants to be your biggest dream come true, and he is, so just trust him. I know it's kind of hard, but ask the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to trust him. I'm going to end with examples of how listening to God's voice has saved me time, effort, energy in my life. This is just more of a mundane one, and I'll give a more drastic one. So the first one was I was reading this book and I really wanted to know the page of it, and I said, God, help me find the page, like holy spirit, which page, what's the page number of this book? What's the page number that I am looking for? And then I just heard such a gentle whisper. God's voice is gentle, it's so gentle, it just calms you down like nothing else. He said, Go to page, I believe it was page 15, and I went there and it was the exact page I was looking for. Very mundane, but it also shows that God wants to be there with you in every second of your life. The second way I've experienced God speaking to me was through my dream. He speaks to me through my dreams. When I asked him, I prayed at night, I said, God, I need to hear you. And I was sleeping, and then I heard I saw a vision of someone, I saw a vision of uh someone's death, and I saw it come to pass in my life. Um, before it even happened, before I heard the news of it, and it's like, oh, okay, God was speaking to me there. He wanted He wanted me to intercede. It's when God reveals especially something about someone else, He's asked, He trusts you enough to be an intercessor, which is a gift. It means that God can trust you. I'm not sharing this to say that I know it all and I always hear God's voice. In fact, I make mistakes. I'm saying this to encourage you that if God is speaking to me, he's gonna speak to you too. I promise it is his desire. And if you feel this burning desire, this like holy zeal to hear his voice for yourself, he put that in you because he wants to, he wants you to hear him more than you want to hear him. So be encouraged by this message, and I pray that you continue to practice this and listen to the only voice that matters, which is the voice of the good shepherd. He promises to speak if you are willing to be a sheep, some an animal that doesn't know much or at all or know anything, or when they do know, they don't do better. Jesus is your shepherd, a good one too. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make his face shine upon you, and may He lavish you with His peace. Blessings everyone. Bye.