This month in Serbia we’re partnering with a local church, ministering to the community around us, forming relationships. This past weekend we were fortunate to get to attend a seminar held at the church, about hearing the voice of God.
Now, before the race, I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever ‘heard’ God’s voice. I’ve prayed and asked Him to answer those prayers, but I never waited and listened for Him to respond. Training camp in August was the first time that I’ve ever ACTIVELY listened for God to speak to me. The first time I opened my heart and mind to Jesus in that way.
I’ve learned that since the Lord made us all unique in our own way, we also hear Him different from each other. Some people hear the audible voice of God, others get pictures. I’m a tactile (hands-on) learner, so I feel things that God is telling me.
My team learned so incredibly much these past few days and I’m just going to, in a couple individual blogs, just recap what the speaker taught us.
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk – it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good? You will enjoy the finest food.” -Isaiah 55:1-2
This gift of hearing the voice of God is free to anyone who takes it. But that’s just it… You must take it and work at it.
Jesus had a few significant relationships in His life on earth. The first was with His Heavenly Father.
This helps us learn how to hear God for ourselves.
So, who is God?
In order to hear God, we must know who He is; his character; his nature.
Some of Jesus’ first words in Mark’s gospel are “Repent and believe”. Repent in the Greek literally means to change our way of thinking; to change our minds. And not just our theoretical knowledge of who God is, but our deeply rooted pattern of thought. Those thoughts impact how we live our lives and react to situations.
A lot of fear comes into play when we think about hearing God’s voice, but most fear is rooted in lies. Like, “God is a strict father who’s never quite satisfied with me”. But when we want a clear picture of who God is, we look at Jesus.
“…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…” -John 14:9b
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God…” Colossians 1:15a
Compassionate Approachable Forgiving Unselfish Patient
All these words describe Jesus; therefore, they describe God.
The next question we need to ask ourselves is “Who am I?”
What are my thoughts about myself? What does my pattern of thought run like in terms of my identity?
There are even thoughts that run through our head at a subliminal level but have a profound effect in our lives. Like “an orphan rather than a beloved son or daughter”.
It is absolutely VITAL that we are defined by God. He defines who we are, not the world. We mustn’t make agreements with the world about who we are, but, see ourselves as God sees us.
We can even ask God, “Who do you say I am?”. And then, we pause long enough to hear Him speak. We can look through the lens of the Trinity.
“I am the daughter of a heavenly, perfect Father. He’s pleased with me. I am unconditionally loved by Him.”
We can look at ourselves from the perspective of the Holy Spirit. The Word doesn’t use the words like ‘dripped’ or ‘sprinkled’.
POURED FILLED OVERFLOWING DRENCHED COVERED LAVISHED
We are the literal dwelling place of the Spirit of God.
We can experience the abundant joy of God’s presence. The SAME spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in us.
Ask yourself: Does my thought pattern follow this? When I look at myself in the mirror, do I think these things about myself?
We have to know who we are. When we really know to the depth of our being who we are, that reflects in our ability to hear His voice.
As I was writing this blog I asked God what He thinks of me and I got these words:
PRECIOUS UNIQUE WANTED SEEN CHERISHED PURSUED
I would love for each of you who read this to ask God the same question. If you feel comfortable, I’d also love to hear what He says.
When you pray, invite Him in first, open your hearts to what He has to say. If you’re skeptical (which, to be honest, sometimes I still am), ask Him to soften your heart and open your mind. I’ve started, when I pray and ask God questions, to open my hands up to Him, ready to receive whatever He’s going to pour over me.
In my next couple of blogs, I’m going to continue sharing what I learned, in hopes that it will help anyone reading to be able to better hear the voice of God.
