A Speaking God

It used to upset me when someone would say that God spoke to them.

I'd say why doesn't God speak to me. 

We need to know how to recognize and listen to the voice of God. 

For me, recognizing the voice of God was the problem.

Jesus compared recognizing God's voice as a sheep recognizes the voice of their shepherd.

John 10:1-5, 14-16 NLT)

10 “I (Jesus) tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 

2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 

3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 

4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 

5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,

15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 

16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 

God speaks to us by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-11), through the Bible, and through other believers.

The problem is not the volume of God's voice, but the volume of the world around us.

Prayer and fasting is how we turn down the world's distractions and noise.

I was a teenager when our Pastor, Chris Hodges, was my youth pastor.  Chris took us fasting, and it was terrifying to me to go without food.

I normally hear God at the end of the fast and not at the beginning.  

We hear God's voice as we read God's Word, the Bible.  The Bible is not a book to read, but God's voice to hear.

The more that we read God's Word.  The more that we can hear God's voice.

God doesn't need decision makers, but hearers of His voice to follow the decisions that He's already made.

A day not reading the Bible is like a day of not hearing God's voice.

Hearing God's voice is like an idea that we recognize as coming from God. 

John 10:10 (NLT)

10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

These words above in red were written in the context of hearing Jesus's voice. 

Satan is attempting to destroy us by preventing us from hearing God's voice through the use of  distractions.

God, I pray against the spirit of distraction in our lives.  The media, work, schedules, friends, and thoughts.  

Help us to identify distractions and put Your Word first. 

What is God saying about your relationship to Him?  What can you do better?

Lord, what is my calling?  My Purpose?  What is my next step?  What do I need to change or eliminate?  

Speak to us for we are listening.  

What about my family and friends?  How can we love others and be more sensitive to them?  

What is my purpose in work?  Will you tell me how to use it for your glory?  

Who do we need to get closer to or eliminate from influencing us in a negative way?  

Jesus, what are you saying to me about my joy?  How can I be more joyful, so my life will be contagious?

Tell us how to carry your joy today.  Jesus, tell me the times that I need to be more joyful instead of sad.  

We lift you up Lord Jesus.  

God, you are not a silent God, but a speaking God.  You are our Emmanuel, our God who is with us.  

Layne Schrantz, Church of the Highlands

Video

https://21days.churchofthehighlands.com/#prayer-service