A People of the VOICE

This summer I heard a sermon that stays with me strongly even now, and I find myself needing to come back to it again and again.  We are called to be a people of the VOICE, who live by the sound of it; for, there are no limits to what Holy Spirit can do through a yielded heart – a heart that gives God a "yes" and walks by the sound of His Voice.  We often want to hear about what to do, and He wants to talk about relationship.  

So, what does that look like? How do we hear and know His Voice? But in today’s world, what does that look like?  Some people say that it looks like God giving you a peace about something and that is His way of giving direction.  I think sometimes that can be true, but the devil also can give us a false sense of peace.  I’ve known both sides.  I’ve walked in a “peace” that ended up leading me in a path that quickly became unhealthy and shattered some things that God had called me to walk in.  I’ve known the pain of walking in a false peace, and if this is our only litmus test, we are at high risk of being led down a path toward destruction and away from the things of GOD, as the enemy disguises himself as an angel of light. 

Often God will use His Word and highlight something that we are reading or have read and give us an impression – and often God speaks to us about relationship more than about direction.  Not that He doesn’t give direction, but He is so faithful to orchestrate times, places and move us in a million different ways that we don’t even realize, and He wants most to talk to us about relationship, growing deep in Him and learning how to love others.  He speaks through other people to whom He gives a word that brings life or correction or direction or draws us deeper into the things of GOD. Sometimes I will be in the middle of something altogether different from what I've been praying for/about and suddenly God will speak to me about the prayer on my heart, and it's so clear and beautiful, and sometimes hard, and I just know it's Him.   

I love Brother Lawrence and his writings-  a monk who learned to experience God and hear His voice in the every day - when he was scrubbing floors or potatoes, cooking, serving, washing dishes or in contemplative prayer.  God revealed Himself to him in such a beautiful way and taught him that every waking moment is worship and an opportunity to commune with God. He wants to connect with us as much washing dishes as worshipping in church. 

He speaks, like He did to Elijah, in a still, small Voice, the gentle whisperings of GOD.  Most of the time, GOD speaks to me when I get quiet enough to listen.  My journals are letters to GOD and in the past few years, and more so this past year, I have written to Him and then asked a question and just started writing the response. Everything that comes to mind right after I ask the question, I start writing, then I read it and "test" it by God's Word, and I've always found this true.   This is how I most often hear from GOD.  I find he consistently speaks to me in the quiet place.  Here’s an excerpt of that kind of conversation: “I love you.  Things are going to accelerate but in a peaceful way.  You will have help.  The time is now and this vision must come to pass – be prepared to marvel.  I have quenched the schemes of the enemy and am giving Heaven’s strategies for things to run smoothly.  Even…will hear my voice.  Be ready to follow my voice. Don’t fear.  Hope in the Lord!”  

 Another entry in July last year- Me: “Oh Abba, So many things, a heaviness of heart, feeling overwhelmed, alone…Go before me to have a productive conversation with my husband.”  HIM: “My daughter, I love you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives.  Let not your heart be troubled – trust me.  I know the path forward.  Be honest and vulnerable and let go of the outcome.  Also, build up your husband today.  Find ways to speak life over him.”

GOD is practical, intentional, and He can speak the hard truths in just the right way.  I want to be like that! 

Isaiah 50:4,5. The Voice of God is our inheritance…it’s about communion with Him.  I need to…we need to cherish/pursue the WORD from the mouth of the Father. Matthew 4:4 

How to grow in this? 

1.       Record His words

2.       Speak His words

3.       Pray His words – wage warfare with/for the prophecies given to you

4.       Be grounded in His Word – rooted in God’s Word, not striving but rooted in sonship

5.       Obey His words – like Abraham rising early to walk in obedience and not delaying

6.       Enjoy His words – Psalm 1:2 and 40:8

 

God isn’t seeking to hide Himself from us but does hide Himself for us – a treasure worth seeking after and searching out. You were BORN FOR THE VOICE- there’s a stewardship of it.  And stewardship of the things of GOD always carries with it delays and mistreatment, misunderstandings and accusations, even related to our own failures or a sense of being unqualified to hear Him or walk in His calling.  I have faced this time and again and wrestled over it and have come to be so thankful that I am not called to live out the WORD OF THE LORD based on my own qualifications but because GOD SAYS I AM QUALIFIED. 

 

SO…I am going to be one of the ones who speaks/prays in to the dreams of GOD until it happens and see with my own eyes that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE..  Romans 12:12

And in the midst of this I find security not in what He is doing but in WHO HE IS and what HE SAYS TO ME!