When God is speaking, why don't we listen?

Genesis 12:1-5  

1. I must learn to listen to God. 

I must identify His voice. 

This requires attentive listening. 

2. I must obey God's voice to continue to hear His voice. 

Every act of obedience will build my Faith. (Abraham did not seek God when he went to Egypt, and picked up Hagar). 

3. I must depend upon God. 

(Abraham believed God to get him to Canaan, but he did not believe God during famine by going to Egypt). 

4. I must learn to wait on God for his timing. 

The more talented a person is. The greater that they will want to handle it. Stop. Watch. Wait. 

If I am to know God, I must wait upon God. (Hagar was a gift to Abraham while he was in Egypt). 

If I don't wait, I get what I can do. If I wait, I get what God can do. 

5. I must acknowledge my Faith failures to God and learn from them. 

When Abraham learned to listen to God, He obeyed God immediately. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac to God, and believed God for his resurrection. 

In the critical moments in our lives if we are not listening to God, we will spend a lifetime regretting it.

(Charles Stanley)

Pain's Purpose

God has a divine purpose even if we bring Adversity upon ourselves. (Rom. 8:28) 

Adversity gets our attention. The more self-sufficiency brings on more adversity. 

We determine the amount of adversity.

God's purpose for us is to deal with our pride, cause us to hate sin, remind us of our indecency.

1. Remember everything comes through God no matter what.

2. Pray asking God for His goal in the adversity.

3. Surrender to the unknown will of God.

4. Rest in God's trustworthiness. 

(Charles Stanley)

Thought Alignment

Thoughts and words that are aligned with God's Word originate with God. 

Thoughts and words opposite God's Words are Satanic. 

Ponder what you say before you speak.

Recognize the source of your thoughts by testing where they come from. 

Restrain your words when you speak.

Speak only words of faith aligned with God and His word. 

(read 2 Cor. 10:3-5) Charles Stanley

How prayer works

1. Don't focus prayer on requests, but in your personal, intimate relationship with God.

2. The Holy Spirit prays through us as we surrender to His leadership.

3. Don't stifle the Spirit, but let Him lead.

4. Ask, make me sensitive to what is really going on around me.

5. The Holy Spirit interprets our prayers by asking the Father to meet our real needs.

6. He changes our petition to match God's plan.

7. He reveals to us what our real need is.

8. Ask in prayer for your needs to be provided, or to change your perception of your needs to match His will.

9. Each answer to prayer is one more brick in your foundation of Faith.

10. The Holy Spirit clarifies the will of God.

11. He straightens out our prayers, so that God will answer prayer as if we would ask if we knew all that He knows.

12. The Holy Spirit teaches us God's mind.

13. He convicts us of sin.

14. He helps us escape from sin. He sounds the sin alarm (John 16:7).

15. He confirms the payment by Christ's blood.

16. He recharges us when we are spiritually and emotionally drained.

17. He is our moral compass.

18. He lives in us the life that God knew that we never could alone.

(taken from notes from Charles Stanley)

God is watching

1. Your every single thought must be shifted through "what is God thinking about this situation?"

2. I must be absolutely convinced that God is sovereign.

3. The basis of our Faith is what we believe about God. It forges its way onward when everyone else wants to give up.

4. Listen to God's voice in your heart.

5. Watch what happens when you obey God's voice. Watch what happens when you disobey God's voice.

6. God sees a way that we cannot see. 

7. He isn't going to make a way. He already has made a way. (I Cor. 10:13)

Charles Stanley

The Center of Trust

1. Trusting God really pleases Him. 

Faith is a confident conviction that our God is who He says He is, and will do exactly what He says He will do.

2. The center of my life is not me, but my Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Our faith grows step and step. 

Both adversity and experience exercise my Faith.

4. Trust is moving from the facts then surrendering to His position.

6. Test are to determine by choices of obedience if I will act in accordance with his will in the test.

 (James 1:2-4)(Charles Stanley)

God, are you here?

1. Look for God's presence throughout the day. Evaluate.

2. Ask how did He reveal His presence?

3. God will draw you so close that sin will lose its appeal.

4. Remember that God speaks consistently with His written word.

5. He will wake you up at night, so expect it. 

6. If so, look for an idea, an answer to prayer, or direction.

7. Anticipate it.

8. Listen for when He is speaking.

9. Write it down. He will draw you to a passage. He will give you strength.

10. Get on your knees.

11. Tell Him that I need to feel your presence. He will be with you during trials.

(notes from Charles Stanley)

The Prayer that God hears

1. Pray focused upon God's person and power.

2. Mix prayer with God's word. You will perceive your prayers having more weight.

3. Pray with an open Bible. God's word coupled with your Faith in Him obtains God's favor.

4. Offer prayers in humility and submission.

5. Express confidence that God is with you, and acts in a manner that He chooses.

6. Use crying and tears in prayer with your entire being.

7. Offer in Faith to do whatever God requires you to do. This prayer God hears.

8. My view of God is going to greatly effect what I will ask for.

9. I will ask for great things if I understand the greatness of God.

10. My view of God will impact my lifestyle... 

Charles Stanley.

Wanting to hear God?

Waiting on God means to pause and wait for further instructions from God. 

It takes courage to allow for opportunities to pass on by.

Tell you peers not to ask about what you're waiting for anymore. To peers, you are not doing anything.

Fearful people pass on their fears. 

Don't move until God tells you to move. 

Mixing feelings and fears are a recipe for failure.

1. Ask questions for application in Bible Study. 

"What was God thinking in the situation?"

2. Obey what you discovered.

3. Recall God's past faithfulness...

Charles Stanley

How to survive a Satanic Attack

Satan's strategy are schemes, tactics, or assaults upon a person for harm.

1. He uses deceit and craft to make us believe something that is untrue to be true.

2. Satan blinds the minds of the unbeliever.

3. He redirects our attention from God to a specific need or desire.

4. He gets you to focus on what you don't have, and forget what you do have.

5. Satan narrows or pinpoints your thinking forgeting about future consequences and focus on immediate desires.

6. He chooses our weakest moments such as when you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. 

(H + A + L + T = HALT) 

Do you know your weakest moments? 

Ask what were the conditions of your failures in the past?

7. Satan works to get you to doubt God's word.

8. He will get you to ask is this really what scripture means?

9. He will get you to misinterpret and rationalize.

10. Satan works to get you in debt.

11. He tries to engage you in conversation.

How to survive a Satanic attack.

1. His attacks are well calculated. To go to battle, you've got to be able to identify the enemy.

2. Stand firm.

3. Don't debate with Satan.

4. Get ready before the battle occurs. Satan opens doors of opportunity for tempting. He waits for the critical moments of our lives.

5. I must pre-decide what God wants me to do.

6. We must wear the Breastplate of righteousness which means to protect our hearts.

7. We have to be careful about what we allow in our heart. 

(notes from Charles Stanley)

What it means to pray in Jesus name

Praying in Jesus name means....

1. Association - We are united with Jesus in vision and purpose.

2. Access- We have access to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Agreement- We are praying what Jesus would pray in our situation.

4. Assurance- If we are praying because of our association in Christ, we have access because of this association. 

We are in agreement with what Jesus would be praying in our situation. 

Then we are praying in Jesus name, and therefore have assurance that our prayer will be answered.

(Charles Stanley)

Trials and Test

We walk by Faith and not by sight.

Trusting God really pleases Him.

Faith is the confident conviction that God is who He says He is, and will do exactly what He says that He will do. 

The center of my life is not me but my Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our faith grows step by step. Both adversity and experience exercise my Faith. 

Trust is moving from the facts then surrendering to His position. 

Test are to determine by choices of obedience if I will act in accordance with God's word in the test. 

It takes endurance for me to stay in the situation until God has completed His purpose. 

Thinking about problems like God is wisdom. God gives His thoughts generously. 

(James 1:2-4) (Charles Stanley)

How to Handle Anxiety

Anxiety originates from... 

1. Misunderstanding my worth to God.

2. Focusing on what I can't control. 

3. Failure to trust God. 

4. Following the world's pattern. 

5. Misplaced priorities. 

How to handle anxiety. 

1. Surrender to the rule of Christ. 

2. Surrender to God's molding his righteous character in me. 

3. Surrender to what God wants. 

4. Allow God to assume the responsibility for my wants and needs. 

5. Don't live tomorrow today. 

6. Take God's word that he will meet my every need. 

(from Matthew 6:25-34 and notes from Charles Stanley)

How to Stop Doubt

1. When uncertain about the will of God, I should ask God... 

"what is your will, and how should I pray in this situation?" 

2. Human reason is in conflict with my Faith. 

When I trust God, He gets involved with His awesome power no matter what. 

3. Don't depend on feelings, but what God has said. 

4. Don't depend on the negative council of others. 

5. Don't focus or ponder on circumstances. If I focus on circumstances, they get bigger and bigger.  

Ask am I going to believe what I see, hear, feel, or am I going to believe what God has said? 

When God has told you something, do not change your mind. 

We must believe the promise for it to be activated. 

Satan tries to redirect our thoughts from God and His promises onto our circumstances and our senses. 

6. Make a decision. 

Choose to believe that God is trustworthy, faithful, and does exactly what He says. 

Say I refuse to doubt God any longer. 

Say I refuse to think about circumstances. 

The wavering stops with this choice. This decision stops doubting. 

7. Get into God's Word and meditate on His promises. 

Tell Satan that you have absolute confidence in God's promises. 

Remember that nothing is working against you. 

Refuse to doubt God. 

Keep refusing. 

8. Watch, expect, and anticipate the answer to the request. 

It is like an adventure on how God will meet your needs.

James 1:2-8 (taken from notes from Charles Stanley)

How to get out of debt

1. Conviction that not repaying your debt is not the will of God (Romans13:8).

2. Confession to God that being in debt is a sin, and you are turning from it. Refuse to allow your desires to control your spending and not God, which put you in debt in the first place.

3. Commitment is a decision to have the courage to sacrifice until your repayment is complete.

4. Confidence that God will guide you to get out of debt. God will not get you out of debt for you, but He will give you the wisdom to do it yourself.

5. Cooperate- all your family members must be united to escape debt.

6. Construct a budget that includes repayment. It starts with a pencil and a piece of paper.

7. Change your spending habits. If you depend upon making more money, you'll only adjust your spending upward.

8. Council- find someone who will hold you accountable for your budget and spending habits.

9. Contributions- God joins in when you give first to God. You can't disobey God and expect his blessing while disobeying Him.

10. Consistency- Stick with it. If you deviate, your spending will get out of control again. 

Charles Stanley

How to overcome a hurt.

You know that you have a hurt that won't heal if...

1. You can't stand the memory of how the other person hurt you.

2. You can't wish the other person well.

3. You want the other person to suffer as your have suffered.

Passive hatred is...

1. You don't like him or her.

2. You don't want to be around them.

Active hatred is...

You are wanting to cause him or her suffering.

Unforgiveness comes from....

1. Pride

2. Selfishness

Consequences of unforgiveness...

1. Emotional bondage by being wrapped up in the past.

2. It will harm how you relate to others.

3. It will damage your relationship to God.

4.It will damage your emotions.

The hurt can be healed through forgivenss.

1. This doesn't mean justifying the hurt.

2. It doesn't mean excusing the hurt.

3. It doesn't mean denying the hurt.

4. It means time cannot heal the hurt.

Unforgiveness is like a poison lodged in our memory.

Forgiveness does not mean that the other person will be sorry for what they have done to you. They may misunderstand your attempt to forgive as an attack. Forgive them for you to get past the pain. Have an imaginary conversation with the other person telling them what they did to you. How you felt, and giving them your forgiveness to break free yourself.

(Charles Stanley)

Keys to Knowing God

1. You must learn how to listen to God.

2. You must study God's Word prayerfully.

3. You must apply what God is saying to you through His Word.

4. You must make notes of what and where God has spoken to you. 

5. You must reflect on the outcome of applying God's Word, or choosing not too. 

6. You must take time to be silent and listen to God.

7. You must discipline yourself to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 

 The Holy Spirit impresses you to guide you while you study God's Word. 

8. You must anticipate and believe when God has spoken to you. 

 If God speaks to you and you ignore Him, why should He continue to speak to you? 

9. You must obey God if you want Him to continue to speak to you. 

If you really trust God, you will obey Him. 

Every act of obedience will build your faith if you pay attention to the consequences of obeying or disobeying. 

 (Study the life of Abraham in Genesis 12-17) 

10. You must learn to depend upon God to meet your needs. 

Depending upon the world to meet your needs is always a bad idea. 

It is a form of idolatry.

11. You must acknowledge your faith failures to God for what it is. 

 Say Lord I just haven't been trusting you, but I have been doubting that you know better than me.  

I have doubted that you will take care of me. 

Please forgive me for doubting you and not obeying you. 

Please start speaking to me again. 

I will listen, and do what you say.

-Charles Stanley

How to Know if You Are Filled with the Holy Spirit

1. A Spirit Filled Believer is not dominated by their circumstances.

2. A Spirit Filled Believer responds to stress in a way pleasing to God.

3. A Spirit Filled Believer might be tempted to respond in an ungodly way, but yields to the Holy Spirit's guidance anyway.

4. A Spirit Filled Believer follows the Spirit's leadership and acts like the recreated person that they really are and not selfishly.

5. A Spirit Filled Believer receives empowerment to do God's will because it flows through his or her surrendered will from the Holy Spirit.

6. A Spirit Filled Believer surrenders voluntarily to the Spirit's moment by moment and step by step direction.

7. A Spirit Filled Believer recovers from sin quickly.  

8. A Spirit Filled Believer responds to the initial promptings of the Holy Spirit inside of them.

9. A Spirit Filled Believer refuses to allow the world to steal from him or her the qualities that God has put inside of them.

10. The question is not whether you can identify whether someone else is a Spirit Filled believer, but can you identify a Spiritual Filled Believer in you?

(Charles Stanley)