HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD
Jesus puts in plain terms, if you belong to Him, you can hear Him. If you believe the Bible then God speaks to you and with some effort, training and practice you will be able to listen.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
– John 10:27-28
This is a skill that you need to develop over time with practice. The fundamental truth is God loves you, he longs to reach out and talk to you. Even before you received the Holy Spirit, its likely that God would have tried talking to you. Most of the time people can’t differentiate or reject it outright, when God speaks. People often think its their own mind or they encourage thoughts like its impossible for someone as great as the God of the universe to be interested in talking to them.
God thinks you are important enough to talk to you, He loves you enough to care about the tiny details of your life. The problem most of the time is that we are too busy and have no time for God. Many times even when we hear God, we use logic and reason him out saying this is not possible.
At times your sins and your guilt make you feel dirty and unclean, you may feel like you are undeserving of this privilege. Keep in mind, God is willing to forgive you and clean you up. Jesus came to earth and died on the cross for you just so that your sins can be forgiven and you can have a relationship with God.
We make statements similar to “God, I have 5 minutes, you need to talk to me right now and tell me everything I want to know”. Many people do what they want to do, even when they know it is wrong and only when they run into trouble do they think of God. They look at God as a troubleshooter and not a guide. Others ask God for advice but they end up doing what they wanted to anyway. These are some attitudes that God does not appreciate or like to work with.
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
– Jeremiah 29:13
God looks at your heart, if you sincerely long for him and want to hear him, he will most certainly answer. Remember for every one step you take towards God, he takes five steps to get closer to you. Throughout the Bible, God has spoken to numerous people in different ways and even today God speaks to millions of people and guides them. God is the same then, now and forever and he is willing to speak to you. Hopefully the point no longer is Is God willing to talk to me? rather Am I willing to listen?
The focus of your spiritual life should be to answer yes to both these questions:
- Am I looking forward to hear God with all my heart?
- Am I willing to obey him when he speaks to me and guides me?
Biblical Inspiration
This is the story of Elijah, one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. He lived during the reign of an evil queen, Jezebel who systematically killed off all of God’s prophets. The queen promoted large scale idolatry and demon worship throughout the land of Israel. Elijah was one of the last surviving men of God. The queen wanted to finish Elijah off as well, that’s when he challenged the King and Queen of Israel to a contest to see whose God is greater. Elijah is known to have called fire down from the sky. He won the contest hands down and had all the priests of the demon executed.
Once when the King wanted to have him arrested he sent two battalions of soldiers to bring him in, these soldiers were destroyed by fire from the sky. This man of God is said to have divided the river Jordan and walked through it. He is known for raising a young boy from the dead and having been fed by ravens in the times of famine.
His life was far from easy, there were times he was so depressed that he prayed to God asking for God to take his life. He spent most of his life in hiding and in the wilderness. Once he went to Mount Sinai and told God that all that was done till date was fruitless, even his own life did not achieve anything. The kingdom was not repenting in spite of all that he had done and shown them.
Elijah had only the written Word of God to guide him for a long time. Once he sought an audience with God and God decides to speak directly to him. First He sent great winds like tornadoes towards Elijah, but Elijah could not find God in it. Next, God sends earthquakes that are strong enough to destroy a mountain, but Elijah still could not find God in it. Then God sent a great fire across the mountain that Elijah was on, but Elijah still could not find God in it. Finally he heard a gentle and small voice, he knew beyond any doubt that this was his God.
God speaks to us even today in that same gentle small voice. We tend to look all around us for miracles, signs and wonders. We search for God everywhere not knowing that He lives inside us and speaks to us from within. This is a divine revelation that God shares with us through Elijah.
Real Life Inspiration
There were two friends, one of them a staunch atheist and the other a believer. Although the believer had the Holy Spirit, he had been through a lot of trials and his confidence was low as he had not heard from God in a while. They were drawn together because of their love for music. Lets call the atheist A and the believer B in this story.
The atheist A was called by God and soon became a believer, he was eventually gifted with the Holy Spirit. Around this period the believer B got a message from God for his friend A. B wrote down the message and wanted to give it to his friend. The Holy Spirit however, told B that he should not show this message to A, unless A first on his own told him the contents. B was not very sure but he obeyed the voice of God and sealed the message in an envelope.
Time passed and the envelope was forgotten. God was however speaking to A and slowly giving him the message. It a big leap of faith to follow what the voice was saying. A was not convinced that the voice inside his head was actually God and not his own mind.
One day when the two friends met, the sealed envelope fell down from a shelf. A found it on the floor and he could sense the Voice of God was gently nudging him. He could somehow tell the message in the envelope was for him. A suddenly asked B, “Should I become a preacher?”.
B was shocked and thrilled at the same time, he asked A to open and read the message and sure enough it was a beautiful message directly from God. The envelope had God’s plan for A along with some words of encouragement. After this there was no doubt in A’s mind that it was God speaking to him all along.
This incident helped both friends at multiple levels. It restored faith in the life of B who knew that God still spoke to him and used him. It convinced both A and B that the Holy Spirit had divinely inspired them with the same message. Their faith was greatly increased and they understood how the Apostles in the Bible discerned the Voice of God. The scriptures were validated for them and they came to appreciate the perfect wisdom and timing of God.
- God speaks personally to all his children, it is up to you to put in efforts to discern His voice
- Don’t look around you into the world for answers, most of the time God speaks to you from within in a still small voice.
This is one of the deeper areas of your Christian Walk. It is important to be able to identify or discern how the Holy Spirit speaks to you because at any given time you are constantly bombarded with thoughts and impressions from multiple sources. Your environment puts thoughts in your mind, satan or his evil spirits can put thoughts in your mind, sometimes your own mind can play tricks on you and show you its own selfish desires as coming from God.
The Holy Spirit loves to communicate with you, there are many ways he uses to speak to you but he does not confuse you. It is essential to know and understand the Word of God (The Bible) as you read in the previous section as that blocks out most of the doubt and confusion.
Most of the time He speaks to you very subtly, sometimes He does speak to you through open visions, dreams and other more direct ways. The Holy Spirit may speak to you in a direct audible voice but this is very rare.
Here is a list of common ways that the Holy Spirit uses to communicate with you.
- The Word of God (The Bible)
- The Inner Witness or Knowledge with Inner Peace
- Leading or Promptings by the Spirit
- Checks in the Spirit or Stop Signals
- Quickening or Calls to Attention
- Prophecy
- Dreams and Visions
The Word of God (The Bible)
The Bible that we have today, both the Old and New Testaments are inspired and compiled by the Holy Spirit. One of the first things the Holy Spirit will convince you of is that the Bible is the absolute truth and the undeniable Word of God. Every word in the Bible is from God himself and put there by design, it has a purpose and is capable of teaching you something valuable. It is one of the greatest gifts we have from God. The Holy Spirit will never contradict The Bible.
The Holy Spirit himself teaches you the Bible and you begin to understand deep truths, contexts, instructions and hidden meanings in the passages. This means that with even one or two verses, The Holy Spirit can communicate quickly and effectively a lot of information to you. It is your job to read the Bible and keep the Word of God in you. Once you do your part, the Holy Spirit will then bring to your mind at the right time the answers you are looking for.
The Holy Spirit will extensively use the Bible to speak to you. When you are in doubt or in trouble or need guidance for a specific situation, he will put in your mind a story, topic or verse that answers your questions and tells you what to do. The Bible has an ocean of spiritual truths and guidelines on how to succeed in life.
Real Life Inspiration
There was once a man who lived like a criminal for most of his life. God touched him and made him realize the error of his ways. He soon repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. That’s when something strange happened, he was arrested for a petty crime he committed a while ago. This was a shock to him because as long as he was a crook nobody would interfere with his life, once he accepted Jesus and repented he landed up in jail. He was confused and was not sure about what to do.
He did not give up on his new faith and used his time to preach the Gospel to the other inmates who were with him. He suddenly had a verse from the Book of Revelation repeatedly come up in his mind. He was not sure what it meant or how it applied to him. Exactly ten days later he was released as they could not charge sheet him.
He went home and studied the verse carefully, he was then sure beyond doubt that it was for him. When sharing his testimony he says that its almost like the Lord Jesus knew exactly what will happen to him and nearly 2000 years ago put that verse there in the Bible for him.
This is the verse that came up when he was in prison
‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life’
–Revelation 2:10
It completely changed the way he looks at the Bible, he is a changed man now and many lives are touched because of him.
The Inner Witness or Knowledge with Inner Peace
This is another way the Holy Spirit frequently uses to speak to you. He will put an impression, thought or some information in your spirit and when you think about it and follow it through, you will be filled with a great sense of peace. Its a quiet assurance or a relaxed knowing of something.
This impression or information comes up in your mind as something you suddenly know. You may not have heard of it before and have no natural way of knowing if its true. It is important to understand that this will not be some one addressing you in the third person and telling you something rather its something you know in the first person. For example it will likely be something like “I need to visit grandma today, she is sick” and not “Mike go visit grandma, she has fallen sick“
You receive a clear and concise piece of knowledge through your spirit. It is an inner enlightenment or illumination about a situation or question or the meaning of a verse in the Bible. You cannot explain it using logic or reasoning. It may even sound odd but deep down you somehow know its true.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
–Colossians 3:15
This inner knowledge comes with a inner peace and this helps identify beyond doubt that it is a message from God. This is an ability that develops over time. It is important to see if the knowledge you received is consistent with the Bible.
It is also essential to seek God in prayer, if the inner peace becomes stronger as you get closer to God in praise and worship, it is a good indication that what you received is from the Holy Spirit. If the inner peace does not last or disappears when you approach God, it is wise to wait and continue to ask God for direction.
Leading or Promptings by the Spirit
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
– Romans 8:14
Many times in life you are faced with situations and choices. At times the choices may be difficult and you may need guidance on what to do. You may also face situations where you don’t know what to say or how to respond, here the Holy Spirit will give you the exact words to speak and guide you on how to respond.
There also may be times when you have to choose between two good choices and both of them have something in the Bible that can back them up. The Holy Spirit will then lead you in a specific direction, He will show you the path you need to take. You will feel promptings on the inside leading you.
At times even situations around you change to make you take a particular path. In some cases even people start nudging you towards the one direction. It is important however not to completely trust your external circumstances and check any leading you get against the Word of God, your Inner Peace and with God in prayer.
Real Life Inspiration
Once a young woman barged into the office of a colleague and friend and told him she was in deep trouble financially, she was going to file for bankruptcy and sell her house. The friend was taken aback, he did not know how to respond, then suddenly he heard a voice telling him what to say to her. He suddenly told her “Surrender your life to Jesus and let Him care for you, He will make sure you don’t become bankrupt“. The young woman was shocked, she could not say anything. He again asked her “Have you given your life to Jesus?“, she blurted “No” and rushed out of his room.
The friend was a bit surprised by what just happened, he asked God what the matter was, God then revealed that the young woman had a grudge against God and that’s the reason she was resisting Jesus. God also gave the man instructions on how to help her. He went to her desk in a while and gently asked her about her grudge against God, the woman was once again stunned, this was her deepest secret and she shared this with nobody. She broke down crying.
The friend then took her to lunch the next day and explained how God shared this with him and ministered to the troubled young lady. Later he realized that she had a grudge against God for taking her mother away from her so early and held on to this grudge for many years. The woman was then set free and her relationship with God was restored. She received spiritual healing through this incident and was grateful to God for it.
Checks in the Spirit or Stop Signals
This is the exact opposite of leading, it is a type of warning from the Holy Spirit about the direction you are going. This is an extremely important way in which the Holy Spirit communicates with you. It is in your best interests that you pay careful attention to these promptings and obey. Here the Holy Spirit tells you to stop whatever you are doing or change your decision or your path.
You feel the exact opposite of Inner peace when this takes place. Everything may be fine on the outside but deep down you know something is not right. You feel a deep sense of discomfort or a churning within.
There are incidents where the Holy Spirit used checks and stopped people from boarding planes or trains which later went on to crash or derail. In some other cases, the Holy Spirit is known to warn against business deals, career choices and even bad marriage decisions.
It is important to note that the Holy Spirit is not double minded, he will NEVER change his mind. He cannot lead you and stop you at the same time. Pray and ask God about what to do, if you are facing confusing situations
Real Life Inspiration
Once as man of God was getting ready to speak at a conference in another country, he had this strange feeling that something is not right. He did not pay much attention to it but it kept getting stronger to a point where he could no longer ignore it. He then prayed and asked God for guidance on what to do about it. He felt God telling him not to attend the conference. The man of God was in a dilemma, his tickets were paid for and booked by the organizers and they would be upset if he cancelled at the last moment. Also finding a replacement speaker at the last minute would be impossible.
The man again prayed and asked God about what to do, the reply was the same. He knew that he should not attend this conference. With a heavy heart he then called up and cancelled his visit to the conference. He could not even give them a valid reason. A few days later as as he was reading the news he realized that the flight he was supposed to be on crashed and all the 169 passengers on board were killed.
Quickening or Calls to Attention
There will be times when you need guidance and the Holy Spirit will pop an answer out to you from your daily life. It may be through books, radio or devotional messages and even other people.
Something just jumps out and grabs your attention. It may be something trivial like the title of a book in the library or one sentence in a 5 minute telephone conversation. One specific bit of information just comes out of nowhere and sticks on to your mind. This will be somehow related to what you are going through.
Under normal circumstances you would not have even noticed this, but when the Holy Spirit quickens something, it somehow does not leave your head. Once again Inner Peace and the Bible are good tests to see if this comes from the Holy Spirit or your own mind.
Real Life Inspiration
A man was on his was to the airport to take a flight. He was on his way to a Christian meeting and was invited by the organizers to attend. He suddenly had this feeling that he is not carrying his passport and flight tickets. He was shocked, he knew he had packed them and was under the impression that he was carrying them but decided to check anyway. When he checked he realized he was not carrying the bag which had his ticket and passport.
He was extremely tensed, he was already running a bit late for his flight but if he returned home to get his things he was sure to miss the flight. He then started praying in tongues and turned the car around and rushed home to get his bag. He reached the airport about 20 minutes late and was pleasantly surprised to see that his flight was delayed and he was going to make it.
Prophecy
There is a strong misconception about prophecy in the church today. People inherently associate prophesy with predicting the future. The true Holy Spirit inspired gift of prophecy, is still very much alive and active in the church. You too can prophesy over others and build them up, you can read in detail about it under Gifts of the Spirit.
Do not despise prophecies
– 1 Thessalonians 5:20
Prophecy actually is words that will encourage, strengthen and build you up from the inside. Words of Prophesy are given to you by other Holy Spirit filled believers. It is a manifestation of one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. It may have information on the future but that is not the essence of prophecy.
Prophecy will never shame you or break you down. It is given word to word by God himself, the core and the essence of prophecy is God’s love for you and his desire to see you grow up spiritually.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
–2 Corinthians 13:1
All prophecy must be checked with 2 or 3 other Holy Spirit filled believers before you accept it. Many false prophecies are being spread, and some false prophets are doing it for personal gain. Its used at times as a form of Christian fortune telling. It is important to verify prophecies before taking decisions based on them.
Dreams and Visions
The Holy Spirit communicates with you through dreams, the dreams themselves will be unique to a person and what is communicated is usually very specific to an event or situation. It is possible that sometimes the dreams may show you events from the future or to warn you about people or situations. When God gives you a dream he usually also gives you its interpretation so you can understand and benefit from it. Also these dreams are generally received just before you wake up and continue to remain in your mind for a while, unlike normal dreams which completely vanish from memory in a few minutes.
Visions are much rarer than other forms of communication. There are two basic types of visions, open and closed visions. Open visions are when you are fully awake and conscious and with open eyes you can see things take place around you. At times you may even be able to participate in what takes place in these events. Here you can see and experience physical manifestations. John the Apostle wrote the Book of Revelation when he received this type of a vision. Closed visions take place through your mind’s eye, you are awake but physically don’t see anything. The events take place virtually inside your mind. Visions like dreams come with an interpretation or a message that is specific to you.
Be very careful, there are false visions and false dreams. The devil at times exploits sin issues and plants his thoughts and ideas as dreams in our mind. It is important to pray over your dreams and check its essence against the Bible before making any decisions based on it.
Identifying the voice of God is not something that happens overnight. It is part of a process and you get better with time. You may make mistakes, but don’t give up. As you let go of sin and transform yourself you get closer to God your communication with Him gets better. The best thing that you can invest your time is in, while you are on earth is, understanding how to listen to the Holy Spirit.
- Understand the different ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks to you, the way he speaks to each one is special so discover your way today
- Learn to identify when its the Holy Spirit and when its your own mind or satan putting thoughts in you head
The Holy Spirit can be grieved, which means he can be hurt and disappointed with your behavior. Both your thoughts and words can potentially grieve the Holy Spirit. You always have the gift of free will and your actions may cause the Holy Spirit to be grieved.
Grieving the Holy Spirit must be avoided at all costs. He will soon withdraw if you don’t control your sinful behavior. The Bible clearly instructs you to take care, that you do not grieve the Spirit of God. When you grieve the Holy Spirit you may not physically or emotionally feel anything but its very important to remember that you are hurting God.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption
– Ephesians 4:30
All sin grieves the Holy Spirit but these issues are specifically mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his various epistles as things which grieve the Holy Spirit
- Don`t lie, be brutally honest. Half truths are lies !! Stop withholding bits of information or trying to manipulate matters.
- Do not steal, work for and earn your daily bread. Be charitable and generous with what you earn, despise greed and selfishness.
- Tame your tongue, don’t use foul language and stop speaking idle words. Only say what you mean and don’t say things if they are not motivated by love.
- Shun bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor (rioting in groups) and gossip. God hates anyone who sows discord among brothers (slanderers).
Also when you give into your carnal nature and live by the flesh, you are going against the Holy Spirit. The following scripture gives you a list of behavior that characterizes the flesh
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
–Galatians 5:19-21
Biblical Inspiration
The Apostles led the early Christian church with much love and tenderness, the whole congregation lived as brothers and sisters and people freely shared between themselves whatever they had. They also at times sold their possessions and shared the profits amongst themselves and with the poor and needy. The whole church was motivated by love rather than by force or compulsion.
About this time a shocking incident occurred which is very rare in the Bible. A couple by the names of Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold their property and secretly decided that they will keep a portion for themselves and only give the remaining to the church. There was no need for them to do this, they could have kept the whole money or not sold the land at all. Their motives are not clearly explained, they probably did it to show off to the whole community their generosity. They planned and tried to deceive the Apostles.
Ananias takes the money, goes to the church and gives it to Peter, who instantly knows that there is deception in this man. He charges Ananias with letting satan pollute his heart. Peter says while there was no need for him to do what he did, he did so anyway and by doing this Ananias did not sin against men but against the Holy Spirit. Ananias falls dead instantly, they young men in the church quickly bury him.
A while later his wife comes in looking for her husband. Peter and the whole church know the truth, he still gives Sapphira a chance to repent, he asks her “Is this all the money you got by selling the land?”. Unfortunately Sapphira does not repent, she repeats the lie of her husband and she too instantly falls dead and is buried.
This is one of the rare cases of where the exemplary judgement of God was instant. He has great patience and mercy, but it is possible for us as humans to test his limits. God hates lying and hypocrisy, these were Spirit filled believers who took advantage of the goodness of God with serious consequences.
- Identify areas or weaknesses in your life where you potentially hurt the Holy Spirit
- Constantly try to improve and keep asking God to help you overcome these weaknesses
- When you sin or grieve the Holy Spirit, quickly acknowledge your mistake, ask Him to forgive you and consciously try not to repeat it again.
You must believe that God wants to speak to you more than you can imagine. He created you and he loves you. He gave you his only son Jesus Christ to prove how much He loves you. Listening to God speak to you can transform your life and the way you look at things.
How do I start?
The first time you speak to God is crucial, find a quiet place where it you will not be disturbed, free up your mind. Keep a pen and paper handy to write down what you hear. Wait on God, tell him that you love him and want to speak to him. Ask him a question. A good starting question is “God, What do you think of me?”.
Just wait for a bit and then you will hear a flow of words, shut down you mind and just write down or type whatever you hear. Do not allow your mind to process this information, it will reason away what you hear and not let you get the full message. Note down what ever you hear as long as you hear the flow.
The message you receive will surely surprise you. You will likely get something on how much God loves you and cares about you. The message will be so awesome, you may find it hard to believe that the Creator of the universe speaks to you and the things he says to you will be fantastic. This is the starting point of a journey that is sure to transform you.
Real Life Inspiration
The first time a young man spoke to God was a complete shock to him, he heard people speaking of how God communicated with them and how they took many important decisions after consulting him. This shook his views on life, either these people were completely nuts or he was missing out on something awesome. One more thing that held him back was that these people were really famous men and women of God, they could perform miracles and heal people and they had big ministries. He was just a common sinner, a bigger sinner than most.
When listening to one sermon on how to speak to God on the internet this man decided to try it out. He took his out laptop to take notes, sat in a quiet place and tried speaking to God. It completely changed his life, the message that God had for him was so personal and so awesome that he could not believe it. He thought God was joking, and he in fact did not write down the whole message, he skipped out parts that sounded too good to be true.
Later he realised how stupid he was, he went back and added whatever he skipped the first time around. Over time God has spoken to this man time and again, the messages he gets are still too good to believe but fortunately God has worked wonders in his life and he is now able to trust God. He is the God and creator of the universe, nothing is impossible to him.
- Strike a conversation with God, if you have not spoken to him yet
- Remember God is always trying to reach out to you, its up to you to respond.
Your fellowship with the Holy Spirit must develop over time to a point where he is able to flow through you. To understand the concept of Flowing with the Spirit, let us look at a passage that explains this concept with a beautiful allegory.
In the book of Ezekiel (Chapter 47), the prophet shares his vision from God about waters that flow out from the House of God. Initially he walked in the water and it was up to his ankles, He continued wading deeper and the water came up to his knees. He went further and the water was neck deep. Soon he no longer could control his movement and he was floating in the river along with the current.
This river went across the land to deserts and dry places and anything that came in contact with this river was purified and healed. This river then flowed into the sea and purified the sea itself. It is written that the sea itself got its life because of the river. He also adds that the only places that don’t benefit from this is the swamp lands and the marshes where the water stays still and does not flow.
This is exactly how the flow of the Holy Spirit operates in our life. You need to put yourself in the shoes of the person wading the river and look at the life giving waters as the Holy Spirit.
Initially you are ankle deep in the water. This itself is a wonderful feeling as your dry and tired feet receive great comfort when they come in contact with the water. As you progress you get deeper into the water, you still are in full control and for the water to flow it has to go around you. Soon you reach a point where you no longer need to wade and the current lifts you and you begin to flow along with the river itself. At this point you no longer have control but you know you are in safe hands with the Spirit of God.
This river itself originated from God’s house and flows into barren lands and deserts which signify people and places that are broken, wounded, dead and desperately need help. Observe as the river flows through these places it brings life. It brings the healing power of God into the lives of those who are touched by it. This river literally blesses anything that comes in contact with it.
It says the very seas get their life and purity from this river but the marshes and swamps will not benefit. In these places water does not flow, it stagnates and over time becomes unfruitful. This means that those who are not willing to grow, change and become better over time cannot benefit from the Holy Spirit. He can work in your life only if you are willing to step outside your boundaries and are willing to let go of your innate desire to control situations and your natural tendency to resist change.
Observe that initially the water is very shallow and it benefits only you as an individual but as it progresses it touches many places and brings life wherever it goes. Its impact and reach gradually increase it grows large enough to impact the sea itself. This is how your life will transform as you begin to flow in the Spirit. The lives of great men and women of God are examples of how their fellowship started off with a small tickle and slowly grew to a point where they could influence millions of people. Flowing with the Holy Spirit is something all believers must strive to do.
“And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
–Isaiah 58:11
You have the potential to release heaven on earth. You are blessed with the ability to bring healing and comfort to the brokenhearted and spiritually dead. You are called to be a blessing to the nations and a light in this darkness. It is impossible for you to do it without being able to flow with the Holy Spirit.
Real Life Inspiration
This story took place in the United States when a man of God, went to a business and gave the employees there a seminar. He used to do this regularly and the employees looked forward to these meetings. It was a relatively small business and all the employees attended the seminar except the newest employee, she had to handle incoming calls at the reception, as that could not be missed.
The seminar went on well and the man was on his way out, as he went passed the reception he saw this woman and smiled at her as he was leaving. The lady asked him who he was, he told her that he was a minister. She was a bit surprised and asked him a minister of what? as she thought it was a governmental ministry. The preacher chuckled, and replied saying he was a minister of God. The lady’s eyes suddenly widened, she was shocked and blurted out saying “You must be the one”. Taken aback he asked her, “What do you mean by the one?”
The lady went on to narrate her story, she said that she had been a Buddhist for years and last night when she was in meditation, she had this deep feeling that there was something wrong. There was definitely a higher power and her religion had definitely missed the point. She said as she cried out to God she could see a giant ball of the brightest white light come before her. Deep down she knew this was the God she was looking for. She wanted to know and understand who this was. She said that the light told her that tomorrow morning He will reveal more about himself to her.
The preacher was amazed, he told her “Yes I am the one you are looking for” and went on to share Jesus with the lady. This is an example of how the Holy Spirit uses people who are in sync with him to touch people in the most unexpected ways. He is able to put you in the right place at the perfect time
- Grow and cultivate your relationship with the Holy Spirit to a point where you know you are being fully led by the Him
- Trust and depend on the Holy Spirit and over time you will become a blessing to yourself as well as others
Hearing the voice of God is the greatest skill you can pick up and hone in your life. For some people this may sound exceptional, fantastic and hard to believe. The key is that you must believe that God loves you enough to speak to you and you must look forward to hearing from him.
Each person is unique and God uses different ways to speak to different people, but He certainly speaks to all His people.
The Word of God
God already has given you a comprehensive guide on how to live and what to do in many situations through the Bible. This is the first set of instructions, it is essential that you have a good workable knowledge of the Bible.
A study of how the original King James Version (1611) of the Bible was put together will show you how many people suffered persecution and lost their lives, just so that you can have a copy of God’s Word. It will prove beyond doubt the love God has for man and the extremes to which satan went to prevent you from getting a copy.
Anything God tells you will supplement the Bible but never go against it. God already has given his people a detailed set of instructions like pray for the sick, love your neighbor and spread the Gospel. His Word also has practical directions on living life like don’t be idle, but work for your living, don’t lust after someone else’s wife and forgive people.
You can be sure that God will not put in your heart a desire to commit adultery or to lie or steal because they go directly against his written Word.
For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
– John 5:5-21: 7
The word of God is like a perfect balance, it helps you check if the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the desires of your heart are actually from God and not your own selfish desires.
Desires of your Heart
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
– Psalm 37 : 4
If you seek after God sincerely he will change the desires of your heart. He will put his Will and His own desires in your heart. Its a wonderful position to be in knowing that both your own heart and God want the same thing.
Suppose you need guidance on the next step in your education, you just need to ask God to guide you and be willing to obey when he responds. He may put in your heart the desire to pursue a specific course or college. Although you have no direction on your own God will guide you through your heart’s desire.
Similarly if you are presented with two choices, but not sure about on what to choose and both options seem correct, God can make you desire one option more while diminishing your interest in the other option.
It is VERY important to completely surrender to God when you seek after him for this to be effective, or you may just end up hearing your own mind. Also you MUST test any desire in your heart against the written Word of God (The Bible), God will never put anything in your heart that goes against the Bible.
Also once God puts a desire in your heart, you can test it by getting close to God in prayer and worship. Pray strongly in tongues, as you get closer to him and become aware of his presence the desire gets stronger and stronger if it is from God. It will give you a great deal of inner peace and tranquility. Likewise if the desire is not from God it will diminish or completely vanish as you draw closer to him.
The Holy Spirit
God speaks to you through his Holy Spirit once you are born-again and baptized in the Spirit. Jesus himself says that once the Holy Spirit comes into your life, he will reveal and explain to you whatever God wishes to communicate to you. He will guide you and bring you closer to God with every passing day.
When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
– John 16 :13
The Holy Spirit is an extension of God and the He is one who inspired people to write and compile the Bible as we have it today. You can be sure the Holy Spirit won’t guide you against the Word by asking you to do something like hurt somebody or dishonor your parents.
There are many ways that the Holy Spirit uses to communicate with you, these are covered in the next topic.
Real Life Inspiration
Imagine yourself in the middle of a thick forest, you have cities on both sides but to reach either city you have to wade through difficult jungle terrain. There are dangerous animals, treacherous marshes with quicksand, rivers which cannot be crossed and other challenges throughout the jungle.
You know deep down the jungle is not your house and you must get out soon. You however do not know the path or the direction you must go in, to escape. Also you know of the dangers in the jungle but you have very little skill and almost no strength in overcoming these hurdles.
This is how God would help you, he will put in your heart the desire to go to one of the two cities. He gives you a map that you can look up at anytime which has most of the directions you need and a radio which you can use to speak to him. This map is the Word of God or the Bible, the radio is his Holy Spirit and the jungle is your life in this world. It is not where you belong and it is not permanent. You are on a journey and the destination is the City of God or Heaven.
There may be times when you may not be able to understand the map or you may be in a situation that requires help urgently. You need to know exactly what to do and more importantly, the right time to do it. God guides you with his own voice for times like this. He blesses you with his Holy Spirit who is your advisor and guide. His gentle comforting voice speaks to you from the inside.
The voice confirms the map and vice versa, they are not exclusive. The map confirms that what the voice is saying is true and is from God and not your own mind, at times the voice confirms that you are reading the map correctly. It is essential to understand this concept, you need both the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to successfully navigate through life successfully.
Biblical Inspiration
Throughout the Old and New Testaments you will find God speaking to his people, both individually and as a group.
- He met with and spoke to Adam and Eve every evening in the garden of Eden.
- It is written that God spoke to Moses face to face and showed him things most of us can’t even imagine.
- Israel heard God speak to them through thundering, lightning and loud noises with smoke coming out from the mountains.
- Samuel heard God speak to him in an audible voice when he was sleeping in the temple
- Daniel had an angel delivering a message from God to him, he also had many dreams and visions from God which showed him things long before they actually happened.
- God used dreams and visions to speak to so many prophets showing them things that would take place hundreds of years later.
- At times God uses His prophets to speak to people, like when Nathan spoke to King David and Elijah when he spoke to King Ahab.
- God used the Urim and Thummim on the breastplate of the High Priest to speak to Israel
- The birth of Jesus himself was made known to the Virgin Mary through an angel who gave her a glimpse of His destiny.
- The Acts of the Apostles records many instances of the Holy Spirit guiding the followers of Jesus.
The number of ways God used and spoke to his people are just so numerous to list, but He is a loving God and will speak to those who love him and are willing to listen.
People are willing to believe that God spoke to people in the Bible, but have great difficulty believing that its the same God even today and He is willing to speak to you and me.
- The way God speaks to each person is unique, you must identify ways in which God speaks to you personally
- The Word of God is a great test to see if its really God speaking. It is very important to know the Bible well or you may be deceived.
Journaling your experiences with the Holy Spirit is an excellent practice. It greatly helps you when you are in times of trouble and when you faith is low. A journal or a record of your conversations with God allow you to go back in time and see how much you have progressed and also gives you glimpses of how you felt, thought and acted at that specific time in the past.
It will serve as a record of how God blessed you, heard your prayers and worked in your life. It will keep track of how God was with you through your successes, setbacks, trials and temptations. A journal is sure to refresh you during dry seasons give you many genuine reasons to thank and praise God.
Practical tips to effective Journaling
It is essential to keep your journal a secret and make sure you are the only one who reads it, otherwise it will be difficult to be brutally honest with what you write. Keep the Journal as a log of both your thoughts and feelings to God as well as His responses to them.
- Start off by praying, get to a place where you can focus on God without any distractions.
- Let love be the motivator, be honest with what you think and feel. Confront your fears and trust God to help you overcome them.
- Remember this journal is a way of speaking to yourself in the future.
- Write to God, speak to him and express your feelings to him. Ask him questions and wait on His answers. You will be surprised with what you receive.
- Use your journal to both reflect on the past as well as to anticipate your future, again you will be pleasantly surprised with how much better God can make your future as compared to what you have in mind.
- The key to effective journaling is to have dialogues, make sure you have all of God’s responses documented with times. They will be a great source of comfort and faith to the future you
- Record both your pains and suffering as well as your joy and success. Don’t focus on one at the cost of the other.
- Petition God for your needs, ask for blessings, healing, comfort etc.. Keep a track of when these prayers get answered.
Over a period of time you will see your journal become a treasure house of testimonies, you may consider sharing bits with people who are going through tough times in their own lives.
Real Life Inspiration
This is a story of a world famous writer who discovered the value of journaling in an unusual way. Among the things that the writer got possession of once his old father in law passed away was a journal with records of his life dating back to long before the writer married his daughter. It completely changed the way he looked at his father in law. His father in law was a pious and devout man.
In its pages he could see lists of people that he diligently prayed for, his thanks and praises to God for all the good things that he was blessed with. He could see his own name appearing when he met and started dating his current wife. Through the tears and tatters he could see a heart rending walk with God, even the way he wrote spoke volumes about his feelings and emotions and what he was going through at that point of time. He could see the numerous miracles in his life, he could see the multitude of hardships that God had personally carried the man through.
The writer always wondered how his father in law could hold on to his faith during the later part of his life. He needed help with everything even basic functions like putting on his clothes, using the bathroom or finding his spectacles. His memory was letting him down, at times what he spoke did not make sense to anyone including himself. His hands vibrated with a ferocity that matched an old motor, his strength was a fraction of what it was a few years ago. His whole world was restricted to a small room where he spent his last days. There was nothing good about this life to an outsider. Most people would have given up hope and joy in those circumstances.
A thought struck the writer, maybe this journal was God letting him in on the secret of his father in law’s faith, joy and hope in the darkest times of his life.
- Start a journal of your experiences with God, it will soon develop into a treasure house of your experiences with him
- Make it a habit to record things in this journal everyday, be truthful and diligent in your journaling
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