voice (7)

A Prayer for Hearing God's Voice

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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

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Prayer Discovers God’s Agenda

"Every time the Lord faced an important decision, He prayed. When He was being tempted to do things by the world's methods instead of the Father's, He prayed (Matthew 4). When it was time to choose His disciples, He prayed the entire night (Luke 6:12). If the Son of God required a night of prayer in order to determine the Father's mind, how long might it take us in prayer to clearly determine our Father's will?" Henry and Richard Blackaby

Let prayer set the agenda of your life. Many of us often worry about our lives. What should we do next year? Where should we live? What school should we go to? These are all good questions that need careful thought. But if most of us were honest, we would admit that we worry needlessly. It is right to get wise counsel and weigh out the options; however when concern turns into unnecessary anxiety, we are not trusting God, who knows exactly how to handle every situation we face. Life becomes simpler when we learn to seek God for every aspect of our plans. Our times spent in prayer will bring revelation of His agenda for us. We can be confident that in the final analysis, it is God who knows what is best for us and what will give Him the greatest glory.

Prioritizing prayer and letting God set your agenda brings great peace. We lived for five years in Asia and experienced the typhoons that are so common in the Indian Ocean. Primarily they move in circles instead of from east to west or north to south. Before navigators understood their movement, they would try to maneuver out of the storm and often suffered serious destruction in the process. With a better understanding of typhoons, navigators have learned to locate the center of the storm—
where it is totally calm—and go there. This is much like prayer and discovering God's agenda. As we pray, we are able to circle in on God's agenda and find the center of His will. In this place, we experience His peace. When we try to get out of His will, we find destruction and chaos. Through prayer and renewing our mind in God's will, we discover God's perfect and pleasing will (Romans 12:2).

We must learn to pray about everything and trust in God’s wisdom, which far surpasses ours.  At times we may sense His direction and feel the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit even though nothing may look logical according to our human perspective. I remember a time when my husband and I began to pray about lengthening our ministry time overseas because we felt God might want us to extend our visit to certain countries. We had already been traveling for two months, we were tired, we had much to do in the U.S., and my father was ill, so an extension needed prayerful consideration. There were other reasons why going home would have been the right choice from a human standpoint. The problem is, often God's viewpoint is different from ours. He sees things far in advance and from His perspective, which far surpasses ours. 

Through prayer, we discovered God's agenda. We sensed His peace in staying longer, even though going home would have been easier and seemed more logical. In this case, we felt we had to go with the leading and peace of the Holy Spirit. The real key for us was prayer and waiting upon God, listening and hearing His voice. 
 
We may not know the full picture of why we were to extend our time overseas, but we do know that we had to take that step of faith that was guided and empowered through prayer in order to do God's very best. We knew that we were in the right place and that when we did return home, we had completed what God had for us. 

God loves to hear us pray with fervency and then listen and step out in faith according to His leading. Perhaps there is something you need to pray over regarding God's plan and purpose in your present circumstances. Praying through every decision, listening to His voice, and leaning upon His wisdom will enable you to determine His agenda. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Guidelines to Hear God's Voice in Prayer

"But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7, Amplified).

How can we hear God when we pray? Here are some guidelines to help you hear His voice as you seek Him in prayer:

  • Bathe your life in prayer - Pray about all the decisions in your life daily. Ask Him for direction so that you may fulfill His will for your life for that day. Continually bring major decisions to Him in prayer. Pray, listen, and wait with expectancy. 

  • Believe that God does speak to you - Accept the promise in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." 

  • Find time to be alone with God - Take time to pray and listen. Most of life is very busy, but time with Him is of utmost importance so we can hear from Him. Often the Lord responds with a thought planted by His Spirit into the mind or heart.

  • Keep a journal of what God says - We can better evaluate guidance and see what God is saying when we journal on a regular basis. Journaling helps us to ponder our thoughts and impressions so we can clearly discern the path God wants us to take. 

  • Test what you hear - What we think is God’s voice may come from the Holy Spirit, the enemy, or from our own souls. Ask the Lord to confirm what you think He may be saying. First John 4:1 exhorts us to test the spirits. It's good to seek confirmation from at least two other Christians before taking action, especially on big decisions.

  • Carefully check all guidance with Scripture - God’s Word is truth. What we think God is speaking should line up with Scripture. This is why we should examine everything carefully with the Bible.  

  • Obey God - We must be willing to act on what God has told us. When we obey God, there is blessing. If we still doubt what we think God is saying, it is good to continue to ask Him for confirmation until we sense His peace.

Let's follow these guidelines and practice listening to God. Let's learn to eliminate the distractions in our life.

"Jesus knew that His mission was not to attract a crowd, but to remain obedient to His Father. It was prayer that set the agenda for Jesus' ministry (Luke 6:12). Prayer preceded the miracles (John 11:42-43); prayer brought Him encouragement at critical moments (Luke 9:28-31); prayer enabled Him to go to the cross (Luke 22:41-42); and prayer kept Him there despite excruciating pain (Luke 23:46). Follow the Savior's example, and let your time alone with God, in prayer, set the agenda for your life." Henry and Richard Blackaby


Intercessors Arise News

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

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Learning to Listen to God

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him… Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:18, 21).

If ever we needed to listen to God and hear what He is saying, it is now. He longs to be gracious to us and wants to show us the way in which we should walk. This is so important because there are so many voices. There is so much negative static that strikes us from every side.

We need to listen to the heartbeat of God and not to what others are saying on TV or the internet. What is God saying about us? How are we to pray? How do we know what He is saying about the times we are living in? We must know how to clearly hear God. This is critical for us. Listening could save us our life! It saved one man from an awful, deadly crash.

An elderly man named Robert was in a terrible emergency situation. He was 81 years old and forced to land a plane with no flying experience. Can you imagine a worse situation to find yourself in? One day Robert Kupfreschmid and his 52-year-old pilot friend were flying from Indianapolis to Muncie, Indiana. While they were flying, the pilot slumped over and died at the controls, and the single-engine plane began to quickly nose-dive. 

Robert grabbed the controls and got on the radio, pleading for help.

Two pilots heard the call and immediately gave him instructions. Mount Comfort was the closest airport. Robert closely listened to every word as they gave a steady stream of instructions on how to climb, steer, and land the plane. The pilots circled the runway three times before inexperienced and frantic Robert was ready to land the plane. Emergency vehicles were called and ready for the approaching disaster. Witnesses saw the plane’s nose nudge the center line and bounce a few times before the tail hit the ground. The plane landed and to everyone’s amazement, this 81-year-old man was not injured.

Robert had listened so carefully and followed those instructions with such intense precision because his very life depended on it. Think about how our lives would be transformed if we listened and followed God’s instructions with such care as Robert did as he landed that plane.
 
God is always speaking to us, but many of us don’t take the time to carefully listen to what He says. 

The truth is that most of us are just too busy for God. We’re so often making our plans about what we think He wants, but we’re not really taking the time to listen. We proceed with a hurried prayer for His stamp of approval on what we want to do. But let’s stop for a moment and evaluate our hearing ability. We don’t want to be like the man who bragged that his hearing aid was the finest one available. His friend asked, “What kind is it?” He answered, “About 2:30.” He didn’t hear exactly right, did he? 

We so often fall into the disease of busyness. But how did Jesus live His life? He spent unhurried time in the Father’s presence listening, praying, worshipping, and carefully taking instructions every day for God’s perfect plan. He was in constant communion with the Father. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. He prayed what the Father wanted Him to pray. We must do the same. Many things will look good, but what does the Father want us to do? 

What is He saying?  

Listening to God and hearing what He is saying should be a daily experience. It’s not something we have to go on a retreat to do. Those times are good and beneficial, but if we can’t take the time to really listen to God on a daily basis, we have missed the boat. He may be in one place, and we have steered out of the center of His will and may not even know it. The challenge is going to get greater and the demands will only increase as the days get harder. We must learn this lesson today.

I write books on prayer and one day I was saying to the Lord, “Some people are too busy to read my books on prayer. They are racing around doing things all the time.” I felt the Lord say to me, “Don’t feel bad, Debbie. They are too busy for Me, too.” We need to listen to God every day. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us into all truth on a daily basis. Prayer is not only asking. It’s a two-way relationship. We listen to God and we talk to Him.

How can we put the brakes on and really learn to listen? There are certain basic things we must cultivate in our life that will help us to hear God’s voice. Here are several ways that will help you to cultivate hearing God’s voice. We read in Revelation 3:22, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Hearing God’s Voice

  • Know God’s Word - God’s will is made known in His Word. It’s our final judge in our decisions. Learn to read, meditate on, and pray God’s Word. If we look intently at His Word, not forgetting it but doing it, we will be blessed in what we do (James 1:25).

  • Look at your circumstances - God’s guidance is often confirmed through circumstances. Bring your circumstances before the Lord in prayer.

  • Listen to your heart - What is it saying? The Holy Spirit is living in you. Examine your heart before the Lord, and ask Him for revelation (John 16:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19).

  • Know God’s peace - Is there peace in your heart? Even if there is a storm in your life and you are going through a difficult experience, you can have God’s peace (James 3:17).

  • Meet God’s conditions - God will guide us if we do what He says. Meeting His conditions will unlock His promises to us. Ask the Lord if you have any sin in your life that needs to be confessed.

  • Follow God’s guidance even when it is difficult - It does not always feel good when we have to bear our cross. God breaks us and does not want us to become too comfortable. Commit yourself to His ways even when it is hard (Isaiah 55:8-9).

  • Humbly seek God’s guidance daily - Humbly lay your daily and weekly schedule before the Lord. Stay humble and walk day by day with God (Psalm 25:9).

  • We must have listening ears - God often speaks through a still, small voice. He may drop a thought into your mind. He is often guiding us when we don’t realize it. We must listen to these quiet thoughts and ask, “Lord, are You speaking to me?”

  • Take action when you hear God - We must do all that God tells us to do. The Bible says that we should not merely listen to the Word and deceive ourselves; we must do what it says (James 1:22). There are times when we wait and listen carefully to God, and there are times when we must take action.

We need to develop this skill of listening. We don’t want to miss even a small nudging from the Lord in any circumstance of life. We don’t have to know all the details. Many times we will only see what is right in front of us. We need to carefully listen to God’s promptings just as this young man listened carefully to instructions.

A young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator. He answered the ad in the newspaper and went to the address listed. He entered a large, noisy office with a telegraph clicking in the background. A sign at the counter instructed all job applicants to fill out the form and wait until they were called to enter the inner office. The young man completed his form and sat down where seven other applicants were waiting. After a few minutes, he got up, went to the door to the inner office and walked right in. 


The other applicants were wondering what was happening. A few minutes later the young man came out from the inner office escorted by the interviewer. The interviewer said, “Gentlemen, the job has been filled by this young man.” Grumbling, one of them spoke up, “Wait a minute—He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!” The employer responded, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. So the job is his.”


We need to learn to listen like this young man did.
 He got the job because he was listening carefully. We need to learn to listen to God’s voice carefully. He has a big job for those who know how to hear His voice and obey His Word. Hearing God takes a lifetime. It’s a skill that grows as we develop our relationship with Him. 


A Geiger counter is an instrument for detecting the presence and intensity of radiation. The closer you get to the radiation, the louder and faster the clicking noise becomes. In the same way, when you cultivate hearing God’s voice in your life through His Word, your circumstances, His peace in your heart, etc., the pieces begin to come together. You have the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, and His divine guidance system helps you. He shows you when you are getting closer to His will. Like the Geiger counter clicker, you sense the power of His guidance as you begin to touch His perfect will for your life.

It is an awesome responsibility and privilege to hear God’s voice.

“As you study your Bible, you may sense that God has something to say directly to you through the verses you are reading. Take a moment to consider the awesome reality that the God who spoke and created the universe is now speaking to you. If Jesus could speak and raise the dead, calm a storm, cast out demons, and cure the incurable, then what effect might a word from Him have upon your life?” Henry and Richard Blackaby

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

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A Voice in the Wilderness

“A preacher preaches a message. A voice is much more than this. A message can deliver content, but a voice comes from an anointed life that has the power to actually turn people. A message delivers information. A voice delivers people. Anyone can deliver a message, but only a consecrated life can be a voice.” Wes Martin
 
Today we are hearing voices from every direction. The voice of technology, and the voices on the internet and TV are at an all-time high. Rarely can we get away from all the noise. It is blaring for our attention all the time day and night. Everyone seems to be trying to be a voice in a busy and rapidly increasingly world of noise and empty promises.

 
But what is God looking for at this point in human history?
 
He is looking for consecrated ones who will be His voice; His voice in prayer, His voice in speaking words of truth, and His voice in everyday life in various situations that we encounter all day long. Even though we are in a world of noise, we are in a famine for truth. False promises and lies are everywhere. It’s time to stand on God’s Word and speak His truth into our life circumstances.
 
God is looking for those who walk in wholehearted abandonment like John the Baptist. His life is an example to each one of us.
 
The Life of John the Baptist
 
“Then they said to him, ‘Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?' He said, 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the LORD,' as the prophet Isaiah said” (John 1:22-23, NKJV). 
 
Let’s look at some of the qualities of the life of John the Baptist because he was God’s voice in the wilderness. What was John like? How could he become a powerful and anointed voice for God?

  • John identified himself as a voice - He prepared people to encounter God Himself. When he spoke, decisive shifts took place in people’s lives and they turned toward righteousness.
  • John lived in simplicity - He lived in isolation and was consumed with His message and the one who had sent him.
  • John was a faithful witness - He was faithful to the word of the Lord regardless of cost (John 3:7-18, 29).
  • John was established in His identity before God - He did not look to other men for his identity or for approval. He looked to God.
  • John was a man of prayer and devotion - As he grew up he became strong in spirit in the desert (Luke 1:80). He had a deep life with God.
  • John was a consecrated vessel - He was set apart as a Nazarite to minister to God all his days. He did not drink wine or strong drink (Luke 1:15). He practiced fasting regularly.

In these days God is looking for those who can be His voice in the wilderness. Like John the Baptist, He is looking for those who will prepare for His Second Coming.
 
Are you a voice for God? Are you that consecrated vessel God can use in this critical day? 
 
The Spiritual Violence of John the Baptist

“There has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in opportunity] than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matthew 11:11-12).
 
John was the Father’s messenger who came to prepare the way for Jesus. He was the greatest man and a burning and shining light (John 5:35). Matthew 11:12  speaks of spiritual violence. It points to being resolute to pay any price necessary in seeking more of God. This is what John the Baptist was like. He violently reordered his priorities and the way he did everything. His lifestyle had a violent impact on the devil’s kingdom.

Jesus set John forth as the premier model of wholeheartedness in devotion. In his spiritual violence, John radically sought after God without reservation or compromise. He loved God. He was great in God’s sight. When God releases a greater measure of His power and presence, He looks for a greater dedication. In these days God is looking for those who will experience the Kingdom of God in greater measure by the holy forcefulness of spiritual violence. John the Baptist was this type of man internally because of his extravagant love for God that confronted all the inner hindrances and barriers to fully experiencing God in his heart. John the Baptist was hungry for God. He had a vision to have everything that God would give the human spirit in his age.

John called himself a friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). This is how he saw himself. He had a forerunner ministry. He opened his heart to God and prepared the Bride for the coming of Christ. He stood, He heard, and He greatly rejoiced because of the Bridegroom’s voice. He modeled the way to prepare a spiritual highway (Luke 3:7-20). He emphasized calling people to repent and announced the coming of Jesus. He called people to righteous living. He modeled a wholehearted pursuit of God and what it looks like. His life’s message is clear. No one has ever passed him in abandonment to God.

So many in the Church have lost their purpose in life. In the pursuit of making this world a pleasant place to live, multitudes have chased after lesser gods. We must listen to the message of John the Baptist. We must repent and return to God with wholehearted abandonment. We must wait upon God and prepare in these end times (Matthew 24:42-43; 25:13; Mark 13:33-38; Luke 21:26; Revelation 3:3 16:15).

As we wait, pray, and live in righteousness, we gain strength for our hearts. Jesus is coming again. Like John we must prepare this generation for the Lord’s return. John prepared for the first coming of the Lord through modeling his lifestyle, his message, and through the power of the Holy Spirit that was on his life. We must prepare others for the second coming of Christ. We may be a forerunner as an intercessor, in the marketplace, in the media or as a preacher calling people to prepare the way of the Lord. We have the same Spirit in our lives as John did.

Let’s be inspired by John's life. Let’s let it challenge our lives to the core. We are God’s model of wholeheartedness. We are God’s voice at this time.

Being God’s Voice

As you pray, ask God to make you His voice. Ask Him to release His authority in your life to turn others back to God and righteousness. The world is living in a wilderness of increasing fear, anxiety, loneliness, and pain. People are hiding their fear through constant activity and in so many unfulfilling ways in their anxious attempt to make this life pleasant. They need God.

We are the voice of the Lord on the earth as we positively declare His will through our prayers and our lives. God is looking for consecrated vessels like John the Baptist. He is waiting for something to be done, waiting for someone to pray His will. We become God’s voice on the earth for breakthrough by praying His will as we listen and obey. Heaven responds to our prayers. God listens and acts on our behalf. 

The atmosphere changes; we change; our lives change.     

You are God's voice in this generation, pointing the way to His second coming. As you pray, you are releasing His power in the world. As you speak, you are declaring His will on this earth. As you travail, your tears are releasing His power to break the darkness over the land. As you live, you are modeling a dedicated life.
 
He wants to use you in greater and greater dimensions. He wants you to rise up higher as a consecrated vessel for His glory. But it’s up to you. The King of the Universe is calling you higher. Will you say “yes” to a holy lifestyle, to a deeper prayer life, to a level of consecration that only He can make real in your life?

Let’s be His voice in the wilderness. Let’s prepare others for His Second Coming. Let's prepare the way of the Lord.  
 
He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in,
 every mountain and hill made low.
 The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation... I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.' And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them” (Luke 3:3-6, 16-18).

A powerful word -  A Voice in the Wilderness - Prepare the Way of the Lord 


Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff

deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org

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Hearing His Voice?

"Hearing His Voice?"

 

Fairly often I encounter Christians who describe God “speaking to them.”  It is as if the Almighty actually verbalizes His unique direction right into their eardrums.  Frankly, I am skeptical.  I do not hear voices nor to do I see detached hands writing on the wall.  Yet, the Bible is clear that Christ is living and active among His people and He has commanded the churches to “hear what the Spirit is saying” (Revelation 2 & 3).

 

The Bible is prolific about the importance of hearing God’s voice – in both Old and New Testaments. Yet, how do we understand God’s pledge to speak to us without slipping into some kind of extra-biblical, subjective mysticism? Let’s try to understand.  

 

The Priority of Hearing God’s Voice

 

Throughout the Old Testament, the precursor to obedience was hearing God’s voice, most often through His commandments revealed in the divine Scripture. Dozens of times in Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Jeremiah we find references to the voice of the Lord in connection with His revealed commandments. “Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice” (Deuteronomy 26:17).  In Daniel 9, the sins of God’s people are described as a failure to hear and obey God’s voice (9:10, 11,14). The Psalms describe God’s voice speaking through His creation (18:13, 19:3, 29:3-9, 68:33, 77:18).

 

In the New Testament, Jesus announces that His sheep will hear and know His voice and follow Him (John 10:3, 4, 16 & 27).  He also declared that everyone who is of the truth hears His voice (John 18:37). He predicted that day when His voice will resurrect the dead from the grave (John 5:25 &28).  In Revelation 3:20 He calls on those within the lukewarm, self-sufficient Laodicean church to hear His voice as He knocks on the door, offering restored fellowship.  The book of Hebrews calls us to not harden our hearts when we hear His voice.

 

How Do We Hear God’s Voice?

 

His voice is contained in and consistent with His revealed word – Throughout the Scripture, hearing God’s voice is synonymous with obeying His commands.  The Bible is “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).  In the closing verses of the New Testament we are warned not to add or take away from the revealed word (Revelation 22:18-19).  The sufficiency, authority, relevance, and transformational power of the Scriptures trump any individual revelation of the “voice” of God.

 

His voice is apprehended and applied by His Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 says it so completely (read it well).

 

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

 

The indwelling, all-knowing life-tutor of the Holy Spirit gives us understanding to hear and apply the voice of God in His word.  Those who do not have the Holy Spirit do not hear or understand the instructive voice of the Holy Spirit.  First Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

 

His voice is comprehended and confirmed among His people – The assembled church and gathered leaders in the Book of Acts heard  from God as He spoke to them by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2, 15:28) as they waited on the Lord and sought His will.  The confirmation of a community of godly believers is a necessary dimension of the voice of the Holy Spirit.

 

Characteristics of the Voice of God

 

When the Lord’s voice resounds it is precise, powerful, and penetrating.  God’s will is clear, not muddled or mysterious.  His voice brings the exactitude of His word to our hearts and minds in order to direct and confirm.  His voice is powerful.  By His command all of creation emerged and by His voice He rules over creation (see Psalm 29).  The voice of Christ was authoritative and powerful during His earthly ministry (Luke 4:26).  In Revelation, His voice is depicted as the force of “many waters” (Revelation 1:15).  God’s voice is also penetrating, cutting deep into the heart and soul of man, where real change occurs (see Hebrews 4:12).  The mouth of the risen Christ is described as a “sharp two-edged sword” (Revelation 1:16). 

 

Our Response to the Voice of God

 

We respond in obedience – The primary word associated with the idea of the voice of the Lord is “obey.”  (Even a casual search in a concordance will demonstrate this convincingly.)  As Mary said at the first miracle of Jesus, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5).  The defining characteristic of those who “hear from the Lord” is a life of Christ-honoring obedience, not some irregular state of emotion or braggadocio.

 

We respond in trust – Psalm 29 is a dramatic depiction of the many aspects of the power of the voice of the Lord.  At the end of this Psalm we find a powerful application of what it means to recognize and receive the voice of the Lord: “The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29:11).  When we hear His voice we rely on and receive from Him as our source of strength and peace.  The “peace be still” (Mark 4:39) of Jesus' voice is evidenced through a life of trust.

 

We respond in intimate surrender –The living Christ, walking among the churches, says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me”(Revelation 3:20).  This invitation to restored, intimate fellowship with Jesus requires our response of surrender as we open our hearts to His presence and Lordship.

 

Today . . . IF You Will Hear His Voice

 

Our ultimate response to His voice is very clear (Psalm 95:7, Hebrews 3:7, 15; 4:7).  "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”

 

Copyright © 2012 Daniel Henderson. All rights reserved.

 

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Listening Prayer and Expectation

“’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

Think about these questions as you evaluate your personal relationship with God.

Are you able to endure silence?

Are you tuned into hearing God’s still, small voice?

Are you able to listen attentively to what He is saying above all the noise of your world?

In order to pray His will, it is crucial that we hear God’s voice clearly. We all know what it is like to talk with someone who never listens. It is absolutely frustrating! Likewise, God wants us to learn to listen to Him. It is as we spend time before Him in quiet listening that we are able to pray His will more fervently and with greater expectation, hitting the target effectively. We need to be certain of hitting our target as we pray for the situations we see around us. When you give God time in listening prayer, He will direct your prayers strategically, even when you don’t realize it. He will help you to proclaim His will in your prayers, and your level of faith will increase.

God has so much to say to us daily, but often we can’t hear the fine, quiet tones of His voice.

When I was growing up, my father used to make and sell hearing aids from our home. Individuals would come into our house with hearing aids that needed repair. We, as a family, would not even bother to go into the living room to talk with them, because we knew they were not able to hear our voices.

How many of us are in the same situation with God?

He can’t tell us things because our hearing needs repair or we are not taking the time to listen. He often can’t speak into our lives because we are not ready, nor able to discern the treasures of what He has to say to us. Just as we could not communicate with my father’s hard-of-hearing guests, God may feel the same way with us. He can’t share His secrets because we are not listening or are too distracted. We are not able to hear Him whispering in our ear. As a result, we are the ones that miss out and have chosen the lesser thing. And our expectation of what God can do does not increase.

Listening prayer builds expectation. Notice the difference between Mary and Martha in Luke 10:39-41: “She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made… ‘Martha, Martha’, the Lord answered, ‘you are worried about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better.’” Mary listened and sat at Jesus’ feet while Martha worked.

Let’s look at three dimensions of listening prayer. As you evaluate your own listening skills, answer these three questions.


Three Dimensions of Listening Prayer

1. The Ear Hears - Are you attentively listening?

It’s just too easy for us to make our plans and then ask God to bless them. But to be effective in prayer, we must learn to listen to His plans and cooperate with Him. We are then able to pray God-size prayers and join God in partnering with His answer. His blessing then follows because God’s plans will always bring tremendous blessing and fruitfulness. t may take time, but in due season we reap a harvest. Listening is key to being effective and watchful in prayer. It’s a skill to develop in all relationships, but especially in our relationship with God. If we don’t listen to God and hold fast to His word, the devil will continually attack and weaken us with His lies.

“The first stage of Moses’ prayer training was wearing the noise of Egypt out of his ears so he could hear the quiet, fine tones of God’s voice. He who would become skilled in prayer must take a silence course in the university of Arabia”. S. D. Gordon

2. The Voice Persistently Claims - Are you persistently claiming?

Sometimes God tells us things in the secret place of listening, but we fail to persist in claiming His promises. We may pray for a time, but then we give up. We fail to proclaim the truth in His Word. However, when we do move into that dimension of knowing what God wants and as we pray His Word with His unction and anointing, the answers will surely come. Our faith will rise up to that level of proclamation, and we shall see the fulfillment of our dreams. Listening prayer builds an assurance in our inner being of God’s will in the here and now. This moves us into new dimensions of faith and victory.

“When we so absorb this Book (the Bible), and the Spirit of Him who is its life that people cannot tell the line of division between the man, and the God within the man, then shall we have the mightiest power as God’s intercessors in defeating the foe. God and man will be as one in the action of service against the enemy. S. D. Gordon

3. The Eye Expectantly Looks - Are you expectantly looking?

It’s easy to lose an expectant heart when we are bombarded by bad news on a daily basis. We don’t want to live in the place where we listen to the lies of the enemy. We want to have ears that hear the sounds of heaven and eyes that look with expectation of victory in all that is before us. We are soon stepping into eternity, a wondrous place to live. Now is the time to rise up in prayer and see what God has for each one of us as we work to pray in His kingdom. We are made to reign with Him, and one day all our tears will be turned into joy. Learn to listen now and the heartbeat of God will empower your prayers of proclamation, and you will look expectantly for the fulfillment of those prayers.

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always” (Psalm 105:4).


Moses learned to listen in the desert. He learned the value of solitude. God had him in a training program. Early this morning I got up, got a cup of coffee, and sat outside listening - listening to God, to the many sounds of nature, to a natural wonderland of birds and animals right in my own back yard. It was a rich experience and as I did this, my expectation level in God rose.

When we begin to listen to the voice of God through a trained, attentive ear, then we shall be able to walk in a new level of Holy Spirit-inspired productivity and anointing. Let’s ask God to help us to slow down and listen in prayer, that He may empower us with Godly proclamations of life and truth that bring freedom into the lives of all those we touch through intercession. Learn to touch heaven with your prayers by learning the secret of listening prayer. Learn to live on this level of expectancy in prayer. We can learn from the example of Moses as we seek to be God’s watchman in prayer.

To view this article or send it to your friends - http://ignitingthefireofprayer.blogspot.com/2010/08/listening-prayer-and-expectation.html

“There were two distinct stages in the training of His (Moses) ears. First there were the forty years of solitude in the desert sands, alone with the sheep, and the stars, and - God. His ears were being trained by silence. The bustle and confusion of Egypt’s busy life were being taken out of his ear. How silent are God’s voices. How few men are strong enough to be able to endure silence. For in silence God is speaking to the inner ear.” S. D. Gordon


By Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise
deb@intercessorsarise.org
http://www.intercessorsarise.org

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In the Silence

It is in the silence that God speaks and we must be quiet and listen. How hard can listening be? Very hard. In a society were we are always "plugged in," listening can be challenging. We feel a need to "do something, say something, move something and hurry God along." Being quiet requires us to slow down and wait on God to answewr. Being quiet requires us to concentrate on hearing in the silence. Being quiet requires us to tune our ears to hear God's voice and tune our hearts to receive his revelation. Being quiet is building a place of intimacy with God. Being quiet is being content sitting in his presence and silently waiting.
In the silence we worship God's majesty, his power, his glory. In the silence we become sensitive to God's presence and we filled with awe. In the silence we learn that God is asking us to be quiet. Not rushing, not impatient but confident that he hears and will answer. In the silence he teaches us to trust him.
"And He said, Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a sound of gentle stillness and] a still, small voice. When Elijah heard the voice, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 King 19:11-13 (AMP)

In the silence we wait for God to ask us, "Why are you here? Why do you seek me? What are you inquiring of me?"

After the silence God speaks.

"And the Lord said to him, Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And anoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to be prophet in your place." 1 Kings 19:15-16 (AMP)

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