Hearing God's Voice

Well, we are going to continue our series this week on being / / CONNECTED to God.

Last week we started talking about hearing God. That He still speaks. That he uses different methods to talk to us, maybe some things we weren’t paying attention to before.

Well, this week we’re going to jump right in, and we’re talking specifically about one area that we looked at briefly last week.

At the end of the sermon last week I went through 7 different ways, not an exhaustive list by any stretch, but a list of some of the ways that God speaks to us.

I’ll list them again, and if you didn’t catch last week, go back and watch it on our facebook or youtube channel. You can actually go directly to our website, www.cutlerbayworship.org and watch the sermons there. So, some of the ways God speaks to us that I went over last week are:

/ / Audible Voice, you hear it with your ears.

/ / Inner Voice, you hear it in your mind, heart, imagination, like a thought.

/ / Scripture, reading the Bible.

/ / Dreams & Visions, while you sleep, or while you are awake, seeing pictures / movies in the mind.

/ / Angels, God sends angels as His messengers to people.

/ / Signs & Coincidences

/ / Media (Movies / TV / Books / Literature)

And the reason I say that these are SOME of the ways that God speaks to us is that I don’t want to limit God by my understanding. The Bible even says his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts higher than our thoughts, he is able and capable to do exceedingly and abundantly far more than we could ever imagine. Why limit God? Remember last week we talked about a donkey talking.... God is not limited to our own human understanding.

Now, I will say this. In my experience, and this is of the utmost importance, any way God chooses to speak to me has been and will be backed by scripture. I have not had an experience in my life that I would attribute to God that is not found or confirmed by the Bible.

People heard the audible voice of God in the bible.

People heard the inner voice of God in the Bible.

Scripture is the breathed word of God itself.

Dreams & Visions, both in the bible.

Angels, definitely in the bible.

Signs & wonders, of course, all over the bible.

Maybe we could argue on Media, there isn’t a specific reference to someone hearing something on the radio in the bible, or watching something on TV. But, there is actually reference in the bible to books that are not part of the bible. AND, I have a hard time not believing the story I shared last week about the Netflix show that Kelley was watching that just so happened to give me the exact answer I was praying for… If that wasn’t God, who was it? That’s one grand Coincidence!

Remember, Einstein said, Coincidence is God’s way of staying anonymous.

I can’t prove that was God, but my faith sure tells me it was.

I think that is an incredibly important part to remember in all of this. When things happen that confirm what we are praying for, and what we believe the Bible is telling us, in that moment we have the opportunity to choose how we respond. We either respond and say, “wow, what a coincidence.” or we turn and say, “Wow, Thank you God” and we allow our Faith to be encouraged. We have to remember, our faith is in an invisible God, when He reveals Himself that should encourage our faith, rather than make us question!

So, have faith, God still speaks and He wants to speak to you.

AND, when you believe he’s spoken to you, check it against His word, against scripture, because if it goes against the word of God, The maybe it was just the pizza.

God isn’t the only one speaking to us. We know that. So we have to use discernment. But that’s not something to fear. And the church for a lot of years didn’t talk or teach about hearing God for themselves because they didn’t want people to hear the wrong thing, and be confused. They didn’t want people to be led astray. I think it was done primarily in a desire to keep people safe, but in the end it actually hindered God’s people from connecting to Him in a way He wants to. Like I said, this isn’t something to fear, it’s something to learn and practice and grow in. Think about it, If I hear, “Wow, Rob, I love you, I’m proud of you. I have good plans for your life.”

I don’t feel like I should sit back and be like, “Get behind me satan, God doesn’t speak like that.” No, I’m not even that kind to myself....so if it wasn’t Kelley saying it, and it wasn’t me, and it’s definitely not the devil, than maybe just maybe, it’s God.

But, on the other hand, if I’m hearing, “You’ll never get this right. You’re such a failure. How could you even call yourself a Christian?” Well, that ‘doesn’t sound like something God would say that I can back up in the bible, does it?

And let’s just think about that for a second. Because I have been warned before in my life, be careful about this stuff, you don’t want to be deceived etc… And that is true I don’t want to be deceived. And I don’t want you to be deceived. / / However, I find that some people have MORE faith in the devil being able to trick us than in God being able to reveal Himself to us. And that just doesn’t make sense to me.

My faith is not in the devil to manipulate and lead me astray, my faith is in God to lead me and guide me and speak to me.

John 10:1-17, Jesus talks about being the good shepherd, and he calls us his sheep, and he says in vs 4-5, “After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

Have confidence in yourself as a son or daughter of God to recognize the voice of Jesus and follow it, and to understand when the voice you’re hearing is a stranger and you should run. And if you’re not sure, make that your prayer. “God, I want to know your voice, give me discernment to know when you’re leading me, and when I’m hearing the voice of a stranger and should run!”

The bible says in James 1:5, / / If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

That’s pretty cool right there. That word wisdom means, the capacity to understand and function accordingly. That sounds like a good helping of discernment right there, doesn’t it? / / The capacity to understand (is this or is this not God?) and to function accordingly (If it’s a yes, follow it // If it’s a no, gotta go!)

OK, so this week we’re going to look at / / 4 practical steps you can take to develop your conversational life with God. The ability to have a conversation with God. Yes, it’s possible. If God is speaking, and we’re allowed to speak to him, then that’s the very definition of a conversation, isn’t it?

Like I said, this is going to be practical. This is ground level. This is simple, not always easy, but simple to follow instructions on how to hear the voice of God.

Here’s an overview. How it works is pretty simple. You’re going to find a place to sit down, get comfortable, you’re going to ask God to speak to you, You’re going to activate your faith and believe that what you hear, see, sense IS God, and you’re going to write down what you see, or hear, or sense He is saying to you. This way you can go back and easily discern if what you’ve heard lines up with the word of God. Alright, pretty simple, so let’s look at these steps:

Find a Quiet Place

Distraction is the number one reason we don’t hear God. Remember in week 1 of this series I said that God is making himself available to us. That’s His goal, that’s His promise. God IS available, no doubt about that. But then last week, I said that it is our responsibility to make ourselves available as well. That’s the hallmark of a relationship, isn’t it, When two people, who could be totally fine on their own, decide to connect to each other, both by making themselves available to the idea of a relationship, and pursuing that relationship when they see the other person is available. / / Connection only happens when both of the people involved are available and willing to connect.

If God is available, that’s all fine and well, but if I don’t turn to pursue Him, to connect with Him, to show I am also available, what does His availability afford me? Not much, right?

So, after we’ve made the decision, yes, we are available, yes we do want to turn and pursue God in His availability, we need to then take some practical steps of positioning ourselves for a connection.

Psalm 46:10 says, / / Be still and know that I am God.

Be still, it means to sink down, to drop, relax, withdraw. To let go.

The NASB says it this way, / / Stop striving and know that I am God.

The CEV says, / / Our God says, “Calm down, and learn that I am God.”

Take a minute, stop trying to make it happen, relax, let yourself sink down. To me that brings up a picture of a nice big comfortable chair and just sinking back into it.

Practically, what’s that look like?

First, / / Remove the Outer Noise

Get away from your phone, computer or tablet.

Get alone

Remove physical tension / find a comfortable place, you’re not rigid or fidgeting.

Pick a time that works for you, early in the morning, after the kids are in bed, lunch hour in your car. Whatever works.

Instrumental music can be a good help in this area. Music helps activate the right side of the brain, which is our creative side, the side of the brain that is NOT analytical, so you’re not stuck analyzing and over thinking everything. I’ve put some CDs in the back if you need some good instrumental Music, please take one.

Second, / / Remove the Inner Noice

As soon as you sit down to be quiet before the Lord your brain is going to jump into hyper mode and remind you of all the things you need to do, your shopping list, what the kids have this weekend, what you forgot to do, what was that thing you’re wife asked you to remind her of???

This is just your brain being your brain as God intended it. You’ve got quiet, it thinks you want to remember things. So it gets to work. The easiest and simplest solution to this is have a pad of paper with you, and simply right down what your brain is trying to remind you of. It puts your brain at ease and allows it to get quiet because it knows you value the reminder and you’re not going to forget.

I’ve found that sometimes when I sit down to pray, or read my bible, or just wait on God, I am suddenly reminded of sin, or what I’ve done wrong in my life, or what I wish I was doing but haven’t been, my shortcomings. This could be one of two things. It could be the devil trying to trip you up, or, it could be that you’ve just allowed yourself to be quiet, and your conscious has a few things to say and get off it’s chest. See, I don’t think guilt isn’t bad. Guilt is simply recognition of wrong doing. Shame, on the other hand, is what the enemy will try to use to make you feel bad, and distance yourself from God. Guilt is, “I did something wrong”. Shame is, “I am wrong because I did something.”

Learn to recognize the difference, because the solution is NEVER turning away from God.

This one also has a simple fix. And it works for whether it’s guilt OR shame. Whether it’s your conscience reminding you of something, or the devil trying to get you down. / / REPENT // FORGIVE // REMIND

REPENT if you need to. Simple, God, I know Jesus gave his life for my freedom. I repent of this sin and ask that you would wash me clean because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

FORGIVE yourself. God has. time to let it go!

REMIND yourself, remind the devil, remind the world that you are redeemed by God’s grace!

If you find your mind jumping around, or the analytical side of it trying to get some work done, remember I said music is a great aid in this, it activates the right side of the brain. Also, your imagination activates the right side of your brain. Close your eyes, and imagine you walking along the beach with Jesus, and start the conversation that way.

This is the most important part, because if you don’t take the time, the rest of these steps don’t matter. You have to be willing to make this a priority. I learned long ago, / / You can not MAKE time, you can only TAKE the time you have available to you! If you’re waiting for a moment of silence you may be waiting for a very long time. We have some pretty busy lives sometimes, don’t we? But prioritizing yourself and your relationship with God is of the utmost importance. TAKE some of the time you have in the day and block it off to spend with God.

/ / Focus // Direct Your Attention

Today we’re really talking about what I believe God uses the most to speak to us, and that’s the inner voice, and dreams & visions. By the Inner voice, I mean that still small voice, which yes, it sounds like your thoughts, because it’s in your imagination, in your mind. Don’t think of imagination as fake, like we would say, “Oh, you’re just imagining that!”, but when I say imagination I mean your God given gift to dream, see vision and internally hear and see something. Biblically we call this the eyes of your heart.

We all use this from the time we are born. Let’s test it out.

I want you to recite your phone number, but not with your mouth, just in your mind.

Did you hear it? Of course you did. You’re talking to yourself in your mind.

Ok, I want you to keep your EYES open, and I want you to picture a pink elephant.

Who sees a pink elephant, with a monkey sitting on his head, eating a banana?

As I add things, do you see them? Most people do, most people have that kind of response in their imagination. Some people access this more easily than others. Some people have what we call, “WOW, he really has a VIVID imagination, doesn’t he...” Kaylee, our daughter can tell stories, man, … her imagination is fantastic. And it’s a God given gift!

When you read a book, do you see pictures in your mind of what you’re reading?

This is your imagination. God gave it to you.

Ephesians 1:18 says, / / Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.

With the eyes of our heart we see visions, we dream dreams, we see pictures.

On multiple occasions the bible says that God speaks through dreams and visions, the eyes of the heart.

Numbers 12:6, says God speaks through dreams & visions.

Acts 2, says we will see dreams & visions.

Talking about focusing Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 says, / / Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

So, when we take that first step and quiet ourselves down, we then focus on Jesus. We look to Him. What’s that look like? It’s closing your eyes and saying “Jesus, I look to you.”

You’ll hear Kelley in worship sometimes encourage us to picture Jesus standing in front of us, and we’re singing our song of love directly to him. Earlier, I said, picture yourself walking on the beach with him. What are you doing? You’re deciding, Nothing else but Jesus. You’re making the conscious effort to focus on Him!

The Bible says that He never leaves us or forsakes us, so picturing Him being there with you...

When it comes to focusing on Jesus, here’s a simple formula:

/ / DECIDE // ASK // EXPECT

DECIDE for yourself that you do believe the Word of God that says He speaks to us through dreams, visions, pictures, the still small voice in your heart & your imagination.

ASK God to speak to you through dreams, visions, pictures, the still small voice, your imagination.

EXPECT God to speak, use your faith, listen and wait for him.

/ / Listen for His Voice

We’ve read this verse a lot lately, Hebrews 11:6, / / And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

What’s the reward for seeking? FINDING

When we ask God to speak to us, we better start expecting that He will!

When you are taking the time to listen to the voice of God, Ask yourself these questions:

/ / Do you believe God wants to speak to you?

If you don’t believe it CAN happen, how are you going to expect it TO happen?

Jeremiah 29:12 says, / / “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

/ / Are you asking simple questions?

This is not because God can only handle simple question, this is because we are setting ourselves up for a better chance in being confident in the response we hear.

God is there anything you want to show me or say to me today?

God, what do you love about me?

Start with simple questions.

/ / Are you asking questions that do leave room for doubt?

Again, this is not about God, this is about us.

Specific questions that would have a specific answer, complicated questions with big answers, and questions with a yes / no answer can leave a lot of room for our minds and hearts to doubt that we heard God.

Give yourself permission to practice and make mistakes.

Again, remember what I said, this is nothing to fear, but rather something to embrace the journey of.

If you hear something that clearly isn’t God, don’t worry about it. Seriously. There is an element of learning what He sounds like. We all have that friend, that starting out you don’t know their voice, but there comes a point where you don’t need to see their face to know it’s them talking, right?

This is why we put such a high value on the word of God, for a few reasons.

The more you read about God’s character and love for you, the more you’ll understand that it’s His voice speaking to you.

The bible also says that the Holy Spirit will bring back to our remembrance all that Jesus taught. So, if you have the bible inside of you, the bible can then come out of you. And when you are praying, asking God to speak to you, the Holy Spirit can bring back to your memory the word of God. The more you know, the more you can remember, but if you don’t know it, how can you possibly remember it?

Also, as I mentioned before, knowing the word of God gives us the assurance that what we are hearing IS God when it lines up with what the Bible says.

Let me ask you a question… How do you learn what someone’s voice sounds like? You listen to it, right? How do you get better at learning what someone’s voice sounds like? You listen to it more… The more you do this, the more you will understand the voice of God. The more you listen, the more you will recognize that it is God’s voice.

/ / Write it Down

Maybe the most practical of all the steps we’re talking about today. And this is where Faith and practicality come together. We call it journaling.

When it comes to writing down what you are hearing or seeing or sensing that God is speaking to you, don’t question it or doubt it right away, simply write it down. The time to analyze is NOT now, it’s later, trust me, we will get to that, that’s one of the reason we ARE writing it down. So spend time listening and writing, and then later you go back and read it and ask, “Does this line up with Scripture?”

What’s this look like, ok, I’ve set aside some time, I’m sitting in my comfy chair, I have a notebook and a pen, and I write at the top of the page, “God, is there anything you want to say to me today?”

And as I’m sitting there, I hear, in my imagination, my thoughts, “Rob, I know it’s been difficult lately, but trust that I am with you. I am leading you and guiding you. I will make your path straight. I will not leave you or forsake you. You are my son, and I love you. Trust that I am leading you and follow after me.”

ok, so let’s look at some little points here that will help us in writing these things out.

/ / Write in faith

Write everything down that you see and hear or sense God is saying to you. Don’t question now. See, what I just read, when I started doing this, I was so analytical. I would right, “Rob, I know it’s been difficult lately, but trust that I am with you.”

And my brian kicks in…is he....are you? I mean, I don’t know if I’ve been feeling that right now… is that biblical, what if it’s just want I want to hear...

I’ve done 2 things

Discounted what God is saying, so I’m doubting it

Stopped any flow of the conversation. It’s like cutting someone off, they had more to say, but you’ve just cut them off.

write until you don’t feel like there’s any more. THEN go back and look at it.

/ / Journaling helps you focus

This is purely practical. But, writing can actually keep the part of your brain that wants to interrupt out of the way by keeping it busy. It’s focusing on writing, allowing you to hear all God has to say.

/ / You don’t have to try and remember

Again, purely practical here, Having it written down means you don’t have to try and remember what God said. It’s written down. We’ve been saying God talks through dreams, well, if I don’t write my dreams down, before the day is done I’ve completely forgot what I dreamed. But, when I wake up, go, “whoa, that might be a dream God wants to say something to me through.” And grab a notepad and write it down, then my brain isn’t tasked with trying to remember. which it probably won’t.

/ / This will Encourage you.

The bible says that prophecy, which is divine inspiration from God, which is what we’re talking about here, hearing God speak, is for the purpose of building up, edifying and encouraging the body of Christ. You are essentially prophesying to yourself and that is going to encourage you. And if it’s written down, you can read it again, and be encouraged again.

I also find I remember things better when I write them down. If I have a thought, and I’m like, “oh, ya, I need to do that, I’m sure I’ll remember in the morning...” and I leave it at that…good chance I forget. But if I take the time to write it down, I usually don’t even need the note I wrote, the act of taking time to write it down did a better job of getting the information to stick in my brain.

/ / Test it

OK, I said we’d get to this. You’ve written some things down, you trusted that God WANTS to speak to you, now you can look at did God ACTUALLY speak to you?

1 Thessalonians 5 says we should not despise prophecy, but test it. Be willing to test what you’ve heard and if it really truly sounds like something God would say to you, then embrace it. What’s the worst that can happen? You believe something nice about yourself that lines up with the word of God and is something God WOULD say to you? Regardless of whether he did in that moment or not, it’s still the truth of what He believes and thinks about you, so you’ve lost nothing and gained everything!

To test what you’ve written, you can ask these questions:

/ / TEST IT: Does it FEEL like something God would say?

Initial gut reaction, is this something God would say, does it feel like his kindness, his love, his way of speaking?

/ / TEST IT: Does it line up with Scripture?

Did I hear I’m ugly? That’s not in the bible, not God.

Did I hear I’m loved, cherished and treasured? That IS in the bible, probably God.

The more you know the word of God, the more you can trust what you’re hearing.

/ / TEST IT: Is this something you should pass up to someone?

We should all have people in our lives that we trust, that we know hear God and that we are open and have given permission to them to speak into our lives. This is critically important. When it comes to hearing the voice of God, sometimes what we hear is of importance to our lives and we want to pass that by someone we trust.

Maybe you’ve been praying about a new job opportunity, and while you’re praying you hear something about that. You want some confirmation on that, don’t you? Or maybe something like a specific direction, you want good people to weigh in on that.

Or maybe you hear something and you’re just not quite sure about it, or it doesn’t make sense. That’s ok, lean on the community around you.

I’ve asked Beth Dona to weigh in on a couple dreams I had and asked her what she feels God might be saying to me.

I’ve had this go both ways, someone comes to me, says, “man, I heard this, and I just don’t know if it’s God, what do you think?” I’ve been left saying, “I don’t think this lines up with scripture, that’s not the heart of God, I feel like that’s maybe you feeling bad about yourself, so it’s coming back as condemnation, and the bible says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And I’ve had other times where I get to say, “That sounds exactly like something God would say, doesn’t it?” And the person i’m talking to says, “ya,” ...”ok, so what do you think then?” “ya, I guess that was God.”

Those conversations are amazing, it’s the building of faith in our lives.

Have people in your life you can lean on as you Grow and Develop these disciplines of the Christian Faith.

So, recapping:

/ / Find a Quiet Place // Focus on Jesus // Listen for His Voice // Write it Down

Listen, God loves you more than you could ever know. His heart is FOR you. His desire for you is that you experience his goodness and truth!

God still speaks, and He wants to speak to you, to share His heart with you!