Hearing God, Part II

The other day I blogged about how to hear God. The main point I made was that we have to believe He speaks to us.

Second we have to have faith and believe He's who He says He is. The Bible is the one true place to discover God's character. Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word is living and active, sharp! John 1 tells us Jesus is the Word of God made flesh.

Peter tell us it's inspired by the Holy Spirit, men being a mere conduit.

So, to hear God we have to have faith, believe He is a God of truth.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."

Hearing God just means believe He is a rewarder. He wants to speak.

I John 4:8b tells us, "God is love."

How then would a loving God not want to share with us? Does He have to submit to our demands? No. Does He have to tell us everything. Absolutely not. We couldn't handle it. But we must believe when we go to Him with request, petitions, cares and concerns, He is listening. He will respond.

The Bette Midler song advocates God watching from a distance. But He's not beloved. He's right in us. He can't be any closer.

Colossians 1:27, "... Christ in us, the hope of Glory."

Now, you have to believe in Him, believe in Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Life, but God gave us His Spirit.

Paul wrote, "it's the mystery of the ages."

Therefore, God must want to fellowship with us.

Luke 11 is my favorite verse on hearing God.

In the first part, Jesus speaks. "Hey, if you ask of God, He'll give to you. You're evil people and when your son asks for bread, you don't give him a stone, do you? No, neither will your Father in Heaven. He's good. Perfect. Kind and loving. In fact," Jesus says, "ask, seek, knock. You'll find, see and the door will be open."

Our problem is endurance. Patience. Learning to hear the voice of our Beloved.

Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice." Therefore we know it's possible to hear God.

Tomorrow or Monday, ways to learn to hear and testimonies!

I said Yes, but didn't go

For awhile now, oh, going on five plus years, I've had a yes in my heart toward the Lord about a certain thing.

A lifestyle, really, to which I said a rousing "yes" in my heart when I first heard the message on the contemplative lifestyle even though I was full aware of my weakness to execute.

But in my weakness, He is strong, right?

A few months ago, I was in a Spinning class muttering to God as I rode up a pretend hill how I just needed grace to be more devoted to fasting and prayer, living a contemplative life. And guess what He said?

I about fell off the bike. My heart sank right down to my toes.

"You're quickly becoming like the son who said yes, I'll go to the vineyard but didn't."

Who? Me? Oh, no!

But I knew it was true. How long can I claim weakness and frailty when the living Lord dwells within me? How long can I want but never try?

He wasn't mad at me. Just right. In a way, giving me the option to say, "Hey, forget it, I don't want to live a life of prayer and fasting."

But, I do. I want to do His will. He's called me to an intimate place and I want to be found there. My writing and everything else is life comes from those inner chamber moments.

So, I resolved to put a bit more muscle behind my desires.

At the End of the Age, or the End of My Life, which ever comes first, I want to stand before Him as a faithful one.

Which leads me to my next confession. I've been struggling lately. Whine, whine, blah, blah... And no, I don't need rehab or counseling. My faithful husband keeps lifting my chin so my eyes see Jesus instead of my navel.

So, yesterday at church, one of the singers starts with a "prophetic" song. It was my Sunday not to lead worship so I sat among the congregation, worshipping.

Now, those of you from charismatic churches know what I'm talking about: I heard the song... and rolled my eyes. Not in the mood for a song...

Yet, being the mature Christian woman I am, *a-hem* I listened to this song from the Lord, and was HUMBLED.

The words began to strike my heart. My eyes teared up.

"You are in a hard place, but don't worry, you've done nothing wrong. Stay on the journey."

I don't know about any one else, but that song was for me! It addressed my heart and fear - "I'm in a hard place, did I do something wrong? How do I get out of it?"

No and I don't. I keep on. Thank goodness for the faithfulness of the singer because it was the Word of the Lord I needed yesterday. The singer was right, I was out of line.

And, in the midst of my eye rolling, the Lord used me to impart something to another member of the Body of Christ.

Isn't He cool?

So, go on about your life, be faithful, listen for encouragement from the Lord in the familiar and unfamiliar places.

You are His favorite one.

(cross posted from www.faithchick.com)