Do you think that God speaks to his people?

Do you think that God speaks to his people?

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders. . .

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. . .

The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. . .

And in His temple all cry, "Glory!" from Psalm 29

As we have been looking at prayer, we have confined our discussion to what we offer up to God in the way of praise, adoration, confession, thanks, and supplication (asking)~ we talked about the value in ordering our prayers so as to offer our complete thoughts toward God as we talk to him, and invite him into our lives.  However, this is really one-sided prayer, as we have made no room in our prayer mode for God to speak to us.  Do you think God still speaks?  Have you heard his voice?  If you did, would you know it was God?

I love what the boy Samuel said to God, when he thought he heard his voice - "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3.8-9)   If God was indeed speaking, he wanted to hear him . . . me, too!  I didn't grow up understanding that God speaks to his children today, but instead that I would only find his voice in the pages of Scripture.  And yet, inside myself, it only made sense that God had not stopped communicating his thoughts once the Bible was complete.  To be sure, the 'permanent address at which the word of God may be found is the Bible,' but since the canon of Scripture was closed almost 2000 years ago, does that mean he has nothing to say to us in the 21st century? I think not.

"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do from that motive. It is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us." 1

Do you desire to hear God's voice?  I would think you do if you are desirous of a meaningful relationship with him.  To whom did God speak in the Bible? Moses, Noah, Jonah, Mary, Esther, Isaiah, Saul (who became Paul) Ezekiel, and others . . . what do they have in common with each other?  They were seeking after the heart of God.  'The ideal for hearing from God is finally determined by who God is, what kind of beings we are and what a personal relationship between ourselves and God should be like.'2   From John 10, 'The Shepherd of the sheep . . . calls his own sheep by name and leads them out . . . he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice . . . "I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me . . . my sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me."

How does God speak?

~in a still, small voice

~through Scripture

~through other believers - including messages from the pulpit

~visions - when awake

~dreams - when asleep

~circumstances - opened or closed doors; serendipitous meetings

~a "knowing" in our innermost being

When God speaks, he expresses his mind, his character, and his purposes--and his leading will always be consistent with Scripture.  He will not shout at us though, in order to get word in . . . "we need to give much time to communicate with the Holy Spirit.  He will not speak to anyone who is in a hurry.3   God is a gentleman and will not break the door down to get our attention, so we do well to obey--

"Be still, and know that I am God." 4

Ah, therein lies the 'catch' for most of us . . . it takes discipline to be still, and to quiet our minds.

For me, I have just added an "L" to my acronym – A.C.A.T. has now become A.C.L.A.T -- Adoration, Confession, Listening, Asking, Thanking.  So, if you found value in using the acronym to order your thoughts in prayer, this is a worthwhile amendment to it.  To my written prayer--after Adoration and Confession, I write an L and then I am still.  If I am seeking direction for a decision or circumstance, I ask God to speak to me--and then, I am quiet for a little while, which includes quieting my mind.  Sometimes, a verse comes to mind, sometimes an impression, sometimes nothing. . . and that is okay.  Then too I try to create other 'quiet' in my day for the Lord to get a word in edgewise--I turn off my radio in the car . . . I go for a walk outside with no i-pod or headphones . . . in other words, I make decisions to 'be still' throughout my day.

Create some quiet in your day, and 'be still, and know that he is God.'

Grace and Peace to you, my dear friends~

Christine

PastorWoman.com

1 Brother Lawrence from The Practice of the Presence of God; 2 Dallas Willard, Hearing God - ** a phenomenal book; 3 David Wilkerson; 4 Psalm 46.10