A Prayer for Hearing God's Voice
“The word of the Lord came to Elijah… “I will send rain upon the earth.” That was the foundation of that persistent praying and sevenfold watching on the mountaintop. First the ear heard, then the voice persistently claimed, and the eye expectantly looked. First the voice of God, then the voice of man. That is the true order. Tremendous results always follow that combination.” S. D. Gordon
In order to pray God’s will, it is crucial that we hear His voice clearly. We all know what it is like to talk with someone who never listens. It is terribly frustrating. Likewise, God wants us to learn to listen to Him. As we spend time before Him in quiet listening we are able to pray His will more fervently and with greater expectation, hitting the target effectively. When you give God time in listening prayer, He will direct your prayers strategically, even when you don’t realize it.
This 4 1/2 minute pray and teaching will help you to pray and hear God's voice. It is called: A Prayer for Hearing God's Voice.
This is from the Intercessors Arise International School of Prayer.
By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC)
www.intercessorsarise.org
listening (6)
One of the themes of my blogs has been the importance of praying together. I believe the American notion of independent faith is a serious problem. The lyrics of an old him used to say “You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself.” This is false teaching. The Holy Spirit certainly dwells in you as an individual. But almost every verse where the Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives in us is plural. One of the foundational ways of developing real understanding of our spiritual unity is in praying together.
Much of my thinking and about praying together has been influenced by the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 4. Verse 24 tells us that the church raised their voices together in prayer. The translators of the King James Bible, recognizing that it would be very difficult for the entire church to pray this prayer together, interpreted this verse as praying with “one accord.” This expresses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 “If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
Here is what I believe we would have experienced had we been there on the day recorded in Acts chapter 4. Someone, possibly Simon Peter, began, “Sovereign Lord.” Someone else, maybe you, followed that up by saying, “You made the Earth.” When I heard you pray that the Spirit spoke to my heart, and I prayed, “and the sea.” Someone else added “and everything in them.” And so our prayer became a tapestry with all the vividness of the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us as we prayed one prayer.
Now to do this we have to listen prayerfully as everyone else in a group prays. Most of us have been guilty from time to time of thinking, maybe desperately, about what we were going to say when our time came. You can guard against that by recognizing that God will speak to you when others pray. And you can pray what the Spirit presses on your heart in their prayer.
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
One of the themes of my blogs has been the importance of praying together. I believe the American notion of independent faith is a serious problem. The lyrics of an old him used to say “You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself.” This is false teaching. The Holy Spirit certainly dwells in you as an individual. But almost every verse where the Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives in us is plural. One of the foundational ways of developing real understanding of our spiritual unity is in praying together.
Much of my thinking and about praying together has been influenced by the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 4. Verse 24 tells us that the church raised their voices together in prayer. The translators of the King James Bible, recognizing that it would be very difficult for the entire church to pray this prayer together, interpreted this verse as praying with “one accord.” This expresses what Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 “If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching anything that they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
Here is what I believe we would have experienced had we been there on the day recorded in Acts chapter 4. Someone, possibly Simon Peter, began, “Sovereign Lord.” Someone else, maybe you, followed that up by saying, “You made the Earth.” When I heard you pray that the Spirit spoke to my heart, and I prayed, “and the sea.” Someone else added “and everything in them.” And so our prayer became a tapestry with all the vividness of the Holy Spirit speaking through each of us as we prayed one prayer.
Now to do this we have to listen prayerfully as everyone else in a group prays. Most of us have been guilty from time to time of thinking, maybe desperately, about what we were going to say when our time came. You can guard against that by recognizing that God will speak to you when others pray. And you can pray what the Spirit presses on your heart in their prayer.
http://thinkinginthespirit.blogspot.com/
http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/
http://writingprayerfully.blogspot.com/
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know what they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few...therefore stand in awe of God. - Ecclesiastes 5:1-2,7b
God desires to hear his children pray. He made us, formed us (Psalm 139), and placed love in our hearts for Himself and for others. Thus, it's good to pray and express our hearts to God in worship and petition.
But how should we bring our petitions to God? Should we back up and dump our dump truck's worth of concerns on Him and then move on with our lives? Should we badger or filibuster God to get our way (plead God's ear off to do something our way because we think we know the best possible outcome if we do)? Or is there a better, more God-honoring way?
Paris Reidhead, a 20th Century pastor, wrote a little book titled, "Beyond Petition: Six Steps to Successful Praying." In it, he outlines a pattern for praying that I believe presents a well-balanced way to approach God in prayer- anytime and anywhere!
Prayer of Affirmation
Prayer of Confession
Prayer of Confession
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Prayer of Praise
Prayer of Wisdom
Prayer of Faith
It goes beyond the common A.C.T.S. (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication/requests) format to include:
Affirmation: confirming that God loved you even while He knew the worst about you. He first loved you. Nothing you've done has earned his love. He loved you first and He loved you to Himself. That's why you love Him and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. David and Solomon prayed prayers of affirmation, and so can you as you pray.
Wisdom: This is a prayer that's a request to God; asking Him how you should pray. Prayers of affirmation, confession, thanksgiving, and praise (listed above) have not asked God for anything. They establish and grow awe and wonder of God in our hearts and minds (and are important as we pray).
The prayer of wisdom is the first request offered in this format of prayer. It serves to seek God's heart and thoughts on a matter or concern before we launch into pleading for God to do something we'd like Him to do for us. It requires first asking Him of His opinion, and then listening, waiting, and being still (remember Psalm 46:10?) to hear His answer(s). It may also require you to invite others to join you in praying for God's will to be discerned in the matter (this is different than asking somebody to join you in praying for a specific outcome you desire prior to first hearing from the Lord. To pray in that manner would be to potentially invite others to partner with you in badgering God for your will to be done!). There's a difference between the two, so consider how you plan to ask a praying friend to pray prior to asking them to pray in a specific way!
Once God confirms His will in the matter (directly to you and/or though what He's told praying friends who have faithfully sought the Lord's answer with you), you can pray and earnestly seek Him for the specific result He's revealed to you- and He will do it! He's faithful, and His promises are true!
To see God's best possible outcome should be our desire in each and every petition or concern that we bring to God. Yet, how easy it is for us to think through potential outcomes, come up with one we sincerely desire, then request or demand of God that He do it that way! I've found that as I yield to God first, ask Him to show me how to pray in a matter, listen for His voice, then pray accordingly to what He desires, that He does immeasurably more than I previously thought or imagined possible (Ephesians 3:20)!
Some might say, "But it takes time to wait, to listen for God's voice, and be still before Him! I don't have that kind of time. I need the answer or result right now!"
You can have a Burger King (have it your way) result, or you can practice Psalm 46:10 and discover God's much greater result and answer to your prayer- as you align your heart, mind, and soul with Him, and then pray His way in the matter.
As we practice this way of praying; our relationship, trust, faith, dependency, joy, patience, awe, and wonder in the Lord grows! Those are an incredible number of outcomes that happen when we seek God first, let our words be few (let His words become ours instead of only speaking ours), and be still and in awe of Him!
May the filibustering of God cease!
Final thoughts:
* A personal relationship is a two-way conversation, not just a one-way dominating speech.
* God's spelling of the word, intimacy = In to Me see.
Actually, my title is misleading. When it comes to prayer, children much more often seem to “get it” better than adults do. When it comes to prayer, we would probably be more accurate to say, “So easy, an adult can do it.” But I’m only a few sentences in and I’m swerving off topic already. Let me get to my point.
This summer my church’s prayer ministry is teaching a series on prayer in children’s church. We’re teaching the kids everything from the basics (prayer equals relationship with God, the Lord’s Prayer, and intercession, to more advanced (for adults anyhow—maybe not for children!) concepts like listening prayer, perseverance, and inner-healing prayer. I’ve been amazed and encouraged by how easily some of these kids put into practice what they are learning—with faith, earnestness, vulnerability and boldness, no less!
Take, for instance, the little girl who has been praying for a long time about a friend who is mean to her. She told me that at first all she asked God to do was to “make her nicer.” But as she persisted in prayer, she started to realize some things. She realized that other little girl might be nicer if she knew Jesus! So she started praying that her friend would come to know Jesus. But then she realized that her friend might not even have heard very much about Jesus, so she started praying that she would read the Bible so she could get to know Jesus.
Over time, as she persevered in prayer and let God reshape her prayers, her prayers became more mature and others-focused. She told me her prayers are not so “greedy” any more.
It took me many years to learn that persevering in prayer does not mean praying the same (often self-focused) request over and over, day in and day out. Now I realize that part of God’s work is to shape me and my prayers into conformity with His character and plans. I do that by listening to Him, asking questions, listening some more, and hanging in there, even when God seems to be taking a long time. But this little girl already almost intuitively understands these critical truths.
So I have a thought: What if, after we’re done teaching the prayer series to the kids in children’s church, they come and teach the adults to pray in the adult service? Maybe they could make it simple enough that even we adults could do it!
Whenever I read Jesus’ last recorded prayer—“that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity” (John 17:22-23) I add my “amen,” but usually with a certain poignancy. The corporate unity He prayed for has always seemed so elusive to me. How can we get our ministry teams, churches, Christian organizations, families—any group of two or three believers gathered in His name—to operate in one accord?
Yet, somehow the early church seemed to find unity, even when they had to make important decisions and handle conflicts. I’ve been thinking about that lately, asking God what we can learn from them so we, also, can fulfill Jesus’ desire and prayer.
Two examples stand out to me from Acts. In chapter 13, while the church worships and fasts together corporately, they hear the Holy Spirit say that they are to send out Paul and Barnabas as missionaries (v. 2, emphasis added). They agree with God and one another, lay hands on them and send them off. Then, two chapters later, Luke reports a huge conflict about what is to be required of the Gentile believers who have recently come to faith. After much discussion and debate, the apostles and elders with the whole church wrote a letter with their decision. In the letter they state, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us” (Acts 15:28) and they move forward with what they heard from God and each other.
In neither of these cases do we learn the exact process by which the believers got onto the same page with each other and God. But we do know that they had a habit of meeting together to worship, pray, and listen to one another and God. I think we can learn something from that.
In the past few months, three significantly different ministries that I’m a part of have been trying to practice listening-together-to-get-on-the-same-page. Some attempts seem more successful than others, but overall, I’m hopeful. In one group we needed to make a decision about our participation in a specific event that we each held different opinions about. In another we wanted to know God’s heart for the people we serve so that we could get onboard with Him. In the third, we wanted to hear Him about specific strategies for doing His work.
Although the exact methods differed, there were some definite commonalities in the ways the three different groups approached listening to God corporately. In each case:
1. Someone started the time by asking God a specific question out loud
2. We took time alone in silence (depending on the group, this ranged from 10 minutes to the better part of a day)
3. During the silence each of us individually jotted down our impressions of what we thought God might be saying
4. We came back together and compared notes on what we were hearing, and noted where several of us were hearing similar things.
5. Based on where we found agreement, we took that as confirmation and talked about next steps for moving ahead.
I’m still new at this, but in each of these recent experiences, I’ve been encouraged. I’m not sure it’s the actual method that matters so much as the group’s acknowledgement that apart from Him we can do nothing, that we need His Spirit in order to come together as His body, and that we’re going to take time to be quiet and listen for what He has to say—together. It seems like God honors our desire to honor Him in this way. And I get excited because I’m starting to see that maybe Jesus’ prayer for unity could actually be answered! I want that, don’t you?
—Cynthia Bezek
