Isn’t it so true that you and I are far more inclined to converse comfortably and easily with people whom we have come to:

• know well
• like or love very much
• trust

Isn’t it also true that when we miss out on conversing with these people that we feel that something import and meaningful in our lives is missing?

The 2 Points We Can Take Away from This

1. A genuine, 2-way, intimate conversation only develops as we build understanding, knowing, liking/loving, and trusting with the other person.
2. When for whatever reason we miss out on these conversations, we feel deprived of something very important and meaningful in our lives.

It’s exactly the same with your friendship with God.

It’s a GIFT, Not Something You Can Earn!

The Lord has given YOU the ability to hear Him speak to you, and speak to you as INDIVIDUAL WOMAN.

It is a gift.

It’s not something that we can ever earn.

It’s a result solely of God’s grace.

No one, therefore, must think herself spiritually superior simply because she hears the Lord speak to her!

Like ALL God’s blessings, this blessing is available to all who desire it.

Your awareness of this fact will keep you humble and patient with those who doubt that this gift is real.

And, be assured, there will be those who are cynical and doubt.

Dealing with the Cynics

If by chance you happen to remark that the Lord speaks to you directly and personally, people (sometimes, regrettably, even those who profess to follow Jesus) might try to mock you or persuade you that you are blaspheming or are insane.

In fact, the Enemy will use these folk to rattle you. 

When his happens, it’s worth remembering that Satan’s goal is ALWAYS to separate you from the Lord and, in particular, from His love for YOU.

The Enemy can use cynics to do precisely that.

Don’t be angry with these folk.

Instead, all you need to do is to give them a reason for your belief.

The reason is straightforward: Jesus said that His sheep ‘know His voice’ (John 10:4 NKJV) and that He ‘calls his own sheep by name and leads them out’ (John 10:3 NKJV).

The Lord cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2).

You can dismiss, therefore, the taunts of the naysayers!

Why the Cynics Have a Problem

It’s not possible for a person’s intellect to make sense of the amazing fact that Almighty God can and wants to converse with mere human beings like you and me.

The Enemy can use cynics to do precisely that.

Don’t be angry with these folk.

Instead, all you need to do is to give them a reason for your belief.

The reason is straightforward: Jesus said that His sheep ‘know His voice’ (John 10:4 NKJV) and that He ‘calls his own sheep by name and leads them out’ (John 10:3 NKJV).

The Lord cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2).

You can dismiss, therefore, the taunts of the naysayers!

Why the Cynics Have a Problem

It’s not possible for a person’s intellect to make sense of the amazing fact that Almighty God can and wants to converse with mere human beings like you and me.

As the Apostle Paul explains, spiritual realities cannot be received or understood by our carnal or natural mind (1 Corinthians 2:14). 

You can access these only by your spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).

This is why you can expect people to doubt that you have heard the Lord speaking to you individually, directly and clearly.

Until they, too, come to know the Lord with their ENTIRE being —their heart as opposed to their intellect —they will be genuinely unable to fully grasp this truth.

You need to respect these people’s point of view, but at the same time stand firm on your conviction and not allow their cynicism to rattle you.

After all, perhaps you and I were once just like them!

An Important Word of Caution:

The Need to ‘Discern the Spirits’

Having stressed the vital need to hear God’s voice, I must also issue a word of warning now.

In hearing God’s voice, it is essential to be able to know whether what you have heard is from God or from another source. 

The scripture says

There is a way that seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death

Proverbs 16:25 NKJV

(My emphasis)

There can be 2 main reasons for being misled:

• Satan can deceive you. After all, as the Lord has warned you, he can appear as ‘an angel of light’ (2 Corinthians 11:14) when he is, in fact, the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44)

• your own human imagination is capable of misleading you

One of the ways you can know if what you have heard is from God is to ask yourself whether it brings you peace. If you do not have peace, it could well mean that it is of the Devil.

Peace is always from God. Confusion never is.

You can also ask yourself if what you have heard brings glory and honor to God or not. God will never tell you anything that contradicts either His character —which is unconditional LOVE of God, yourself, and all others, including those who wound you —or His Word.

When I need to be sure that what I’ve heard is from the Lord, I often use the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5) as an additional guideline. Anything that is contrary to the fruit of the Holy Spirit is DEFINITELY not of God.

Another back-up is to seek the wisdom of a holy friend or spiritual guide whose integrity you trust.

In a time of crisis, I always do this.

Discernment is always necessary when you’re faced with important choices.

But it’s absolutely vital when you have to make choices in the midst of a personal crisis or trauma.

History is replete with events such as the Inquisition and the Crusades in which people who committed the most monstrous of crimes mistakenly believed that God had told them to do it!

When making decisions that can have significant consequences, it is crucial that you 

• ask the Lord himself to give you confirmation that you are on the track He desires for you 

• take time to discern the source of the voice you have heard 

• seek the wisdom of a trusted holy friend or spiritual guide 

• compare what you’ve heard to the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5)

The Holy Spirit Will Always Help You

Also remember that you can always count on the Holy Spirit to help you to discern whether or not you’ve heard God’s voice.

The Spirit is ALWAYS your Guide and Teacher (John 14:26, John 16:13).

The Spirit is also the One whom God has chosen to reveal His truth to you here on the earth (John 16:14).

An Example from My Own Life

Your ability to hear God’s voice can make all the difference in your life when times are truly tough.

 Here’s an example from my own life that will help clarify this for you. It’s taken from my book: 

It recounts how, when I was experiencing huge confusion in a major life crisis, I suddenly heard very clearly one day these words from God:

“You are standing on holy ground.”

On looking back, I realized that the Lord had spoken these words to me in order to reassure me that He was, and would always be, present right in the middle of my extremely distressing situation.

And I knew that, once He was present, He would love, protect, and guide me through my confusion at every step of the way.

 

Holy Ground

From the very beginning of my troubles and for the seven-year duration of my battle with the Evil One, I was keenly aware that the Lord wanted me to know that He was present right in the midst of my distressing situation so that He could love, protect, and guide me every step of the way.  

Part of this awareness came from some words that the Lord had spoken to my spirit very clearly right at the start of my trials. Returning to my car one day after a particularly discouraging encounter, I heard these words with unusual clarity:

…you are standing on holy ground.

                     

Exodus 3:5 NLT

 

In the icy, determined evil that would surround our family for the next seven years I would return to these words again and again. They never failed to provide a much-needed spark of life, hope and consolation. They reminded me that right in the very midst of my situation, no matter how intense the darkness, there stood the Lord Himself, and that His presence made the darkness holy.

Importance of the Scriptures

God’s word in the scriptures is the foundation of all prayer. 

Unless you know at least the basics of God’s word, you cannot know who He is.

And if you don’t know who someone is, it’s impossible to enter into a meaningful conversation with him!

A Word of Warning About the Scriptures

Having said this, I need at once to say something else: which is that while the scriptures point you and me to God, they themselves are not God!

The road sign that tells you it’s “250 KM TO PARIS” is not Paris itself.

It simply points you to the city of Paris.

It’s the same with the scriptures.

Never regard them as a substitute for the Lord himself.

What do I mean?

I mean that you might be able to recite the scriptures faultlessly and still not have met the Person at their centre.

The words of scripture will remain mere words on a page if you do not pray them with your whole being, your heart, if you do not open up yourself wide to the living Word i. e. the Lord himself.

If you doubt what I say, listen to what Jesus himself said to the scripture ‘experts’ of His day:

You search the scriptures, for in them

you think you have eternal life; and

there are they which testify of Me.

But you are not willing to come to Me

that you may have life.

John 5:39-40 NKJV

(My emphasis)

It is entirely possible to know the scriptures and yet miss the Lord!

The one thing you can’t afford to do when you’re facing tough times is to miss the Lord.

Some Scriptures to Consider

Note: Words in bold indicate my emphasis

 

“Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds:

“Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8 NLT

 

‘And the very words I have spoken to you

are spirit and life.’

 John 6:63 NLT

 

Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts….

Hebrews 3:15 NLT (2007)

 

He who is of God hears God’s words.

 John 8:47 NKJV

…so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

                                                          

Isaiah 55:11 NIV

 

 

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:11 ESV

 

“If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians.”

EXODUS 15:26
New King James Version

 

 

I have treasured the words of His mouth

more than any necessary food.

 Job 23:12 NKJV

Other Ways to Hear God

In the story of Christ’s meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4: 1 – 42), we are told that the woman’s neighbors responded strongly to her testimony.

As a result, they wanted to see and hear Jesus for themselves.

So … they went to Jesus and begged Him to stay with them at their village ‘…long enough for many to hear His message and believe’ (John 4:39 - 42 NLT).

They begged the Lord to ‘stay with them’ for a while (John 4:40).

The Lord responded to their request.

The result was that the hearts of these folks were converted to the Messiah in the same strong, definitive, irrevocable way that the heart of the Samaritan woman had been converted.

 ‘Now we believe

Because we have heard Him for ourselves

Not just because of what you told us.

He is indeed the Savior of the world:’

 John 4:42 NLT

(My emphasis)

Why? How?

Because these folks had

• asked the Lord to stay with them for a while

• as a result, had heard the Lord firsthand, directly, one-on-one, for themselves

Do like these folks.

Ask the Lord to stay with YOU for a while

Then you can hear Him firsthand, directly, one-on-one, for yourself.

Discover how to do this by entering regularly into times of silence with Him in solitude.

It’s in the fertile soil of heart prayer that you give yourself the best opportunity to stop doing all the talking and simply be present to the Lord.

In this way you can really listen to Him —listen with the ears of your HEART, the very best ears for hearing Him speak.

Remember: it’s a GIFT —not something you can ever earn!

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Read Part 1 here                      

Read Part 2 here 

 

 

It’s in the fertile soil of heart prayer that you give

yourself the best opportunity to hear God

speaking to you personally. 

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