Is God Still Talking?

Dr. Charles Stanley

How can we hear God’s voice speaking into our lives? Take our online lesson to learn about listening to God

“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! “Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. “I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices. “Oh that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! “I would quickly subdue their enemies And turn My hand against their adversaries. “Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever. “But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:8-16)

Children have selective hearing, the ability to tune out an adult’s voice whenever they want. Either they are absorbed in their own activities and do not want to be disturbed, or they do not like what they are hearing so they ignore the voice. The adult is speaking, but you would never know it by the child’s response. At times we behave the same way toward our heavenly Father, don’t we?

A Breathing Lesson

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But despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. —  Luke 5:15-16

Our society wants us to spend every waking second of our lives doing something. As a result, the pace of life can become quite daunting. There are clients to meet, deadlines to make, calls to return. We run at 10,000 RPM for the entire day, then make our way home and have to deal with cooking dinner, washing laundry, and getting the kids to bed.

We must learn to slow down in life. Race cars cannot be repaired while on the track, so why do we think we can "be still, and know" God (Psa. 46:10) when we cannot find the time to take a lunch break?

A Life of Promise

Susie Larson

The fact that you’re standing here today with breath in your lungs testifies that God has a plan and purpose for you on this earth. Jesus wants you to live with bold confidence in His promises and humble dependence on His voice. He plans to transform you into a woman of purpose and lead you to places you could never otherwise go apart from Him.

What’s so beautiful about our call is that God knows full well whom He’s getting when He calls us.

In his book Holy Ambition, Chip Ingram reflects on the people God loves to use:

How to Hear from God Regularly

Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

Editor's note: This article was adapted from Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, copyright 2012, 1999, 1993, and 1984 by Dallas Willard. Published by Formatio, a division of InterVarsity Press, Downer’s Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com.

God is constantly speaking to people. But too often, they miss out on hearing God’s messages because they seek His guidance only occasionally – usually when they’re going through a crisis or facing a major decision. Then, with a dire need to hear from God, people become confused and frustrated when they don’t clearly hear what they should do.

It doesn’t have to be that way. God wants everyone to hear His messages clearly, and it’s possible to do so. The key is to forget about formulas and gimmicks for hearing from God, and to focus instead on developing the kind of relationship with God that will empower you to hear God speaking regularly. The closer you get to God, the more you can enjoy ongoing conversations with Him, and the more God will use those conversations to transform you into the person He wants you to become.

Here’s how you can hear from God regularly:

How to Get Godly (if You've Got the Guts)

Whitney Hopler, Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Roger Barrier's book, Got Guts? Get Godly! Pray the Prayer God Guarantees to Answer, (Xulon Press, 2011).

God listens carefully to all of your prayers, but you usually can’t predict how He will choose to answer them. There is one prayer that God always answers “yes” to, though: praying for spiritual growth.

Since spiritual growth always reflects God’s will for you, you can count on God helping you when you let Him know that you’re willing to pursue spiritual growth at any price. Your willingness to do whatever it takes to become more spiritually mature invites God to work in your life in powerful ways.

Here’s how you can pray for spiritual growth and work with God to mature in your faith:

Expect to Hear His Voice

"The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice, and I know them and they follow Me." (John 10:27, The Amplified Bible)
So many believers are unsure of their ability to hear God or know His voice. They're always afraid that they won't be able to tell when the Spirit of God is talking to them.

What they don't realize is this: Hearing the voice of the Spirit is a privilege that the Bible says belongs to every believer (Rom. 8:14). All we have to do to exercise that privilege is to receive it by faith and put ourselves in a position to hear.

Spiritually Alive

 

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall be made alive. —1 Corinthians 15:22

The spirit realm is a world greater and more awesome than this world could ever be. We who are spiritually alive can cross into that realm and hear the voice of God. We can live without fear, for we have eternal life by the blood of the Lamb.

The spiritually dead cannot see what we see or hear what we hear. I have seen them wandering the earth by the thousands: milling in and out of theaters and shopping malls, driving on the freeways, mowing their lawns, and dragging themselves through life. Like weary prisoners who march until they drop, the spiritually dead walk without hope, defeated prisoners of a lie. They believe the lie that they will live and die, and nothing lies beyond.

One day the trumpet will sound, but they will go on with their weary lives-.-.-.-typing, welding, baking, and driving as though nothing had happened. Those who are spiritually alive will hear the sound no one else hears and skyrocket into the presence of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Jesus, I long to live daily in Your spiritual realm.
Help me to live without fear and to obey
Your voice each and every day. Amen.

http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/devotionals/daily-breakthroughs/?devFor=2012-09-29

The Long Miles

Written by Gail Morris

Do you find it hard to hear God in the busyness of the day to day? Take today’s lesson “Listening to God” to help refocus your attention.

“After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.” (Genesis 5:22)

One morning during my walk, I came across something that made me shake my head. I heard a noise behind me. It sounded like an engine, but not car-like. Through the darkness, I could only determine a vague outline of a moving object. While I kept my pace, the noise came closer. I glanced over my shoulder again and watched as a golf cart cruised by me.

How Do You Know When God is Speaking to You?

By Allen White 

Photo courtesy of melter.

“I believe that God is directing me to __________________.” How do you handle that in a small group? Whether the group member feels led to quit his job, move to another state, or end a relationship, how do you help your group member discern the truth?

From the very beginning, God has been in relationship with people. Today, we’re not walking in the garden with God in the cool of the day or getting inspiration to write new books of the Bible, but God does speak to us. The question is how do we know that it’s actually God and not wishful thinking or indigestion? Here are some tests for what you might be hearing:

1. What does the Bible say?

Where Jesus Christ Has a Real Work To Do There Has To Be A Death

In John Chapter 12 and at verse 12, we come to that point where Jesus Christ rides into Jerusalem, and it is now clear to some that Jesus has not got long to live if he remains in that city.

The scene is one of where the scheme has begun to go into motion to have Jesus Christ, the Son of God, crucified, killed and silenced, once and for all. It has been rumbling on now for some months, and we see this so clearly as John records the details.

When God begins to speak in a new way, there are always those whose only desire is to silence the voice of God. Sometimes people are successful, for a season, until God in His goodness and mercy and persistence, sends someone else along who will speak for him with a stronger and louder and more penetrating voice.

Man With Cancer Claims the Voice of God Cured Him - Powerful Video

Diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and given less than 5 years to live, Jacob Boger says he heard the voice of God telling him to stop all cancer treatment.  Soon after, he became cancer free. That was 9 years ago. This is his story. http://www.godvine.com/Man-with-Cancer-Says-the-Voice-of-God-Cured-Him-678.html

The Supreme Memory Book Is A Complete System For Memorizing Scripture

Attention Christians: Stop struggling trying to memorize scriptures the hard way!

Long-Lost Manuscript Resurfaces With Easy-To-Learn Techniques That Will Have You Memorizing Biblical Scripture In No Time...

From the desk of Don and Dawn Publisher of "Memory Delight" Christian Newsletter

Dear Fellow Christian,

Let’s face it, memorizing scripture is tough!

There’s no doubt, it’s one of the most important and also, most difficult things for any Christian to learn.

The Gift of a Word of Knowledge

Rick Joyner Newsletters -Prophetic Insight

I was involved in another prophetic experience that I think has some great lessons. It happened when I was flying our ministry plane to Nashville, Tenn., with some of our musicians to do some recording.

After taxing to the General Aviation ramp, a line girl directed us to a parking spot. After we deplaned, the wife of one of our musicians said to the line girl as she walked past her, “You get along with animals better than you do people—you should have been a vet.” The line girl looked stunned, and I couldn’t help wondering if this had insulted her.

Nine Ways God Speaks to His People

Have you ever heard someone's testimony of how God has spoken in clear way in particular situation? You may always find few in every small group or church, who always have accounts of God's clear voice. 

Have you ever wonder how can God speak to everyone but you? Does God really speak? or is it mere emotion or feeling? 

Does he really communicate in clear (sometimes audible) voice? The answer is of course "Yes". He does. 

So, what are the ways in which he speaks? 

Let us look at what bible says about the ways in which God speaks to his people.

Becoming God's Voice for Breakthrough

Debbie Przybylski, Intercessors Arise

“As God’s representative on the earth, He has given us the authority to speak for Him. When we speak under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we speak as His voice on the earth. During strategic times, the Lord will prompt us to pray prayers that will bring breakthrough.” --Barbara Wentroble

When we look around us we hear so many voices. There are so many voices we can listen to every day. There are many words we can speak every day, both good and positive or negative and evil. God’s voice can appear small to us when mixed with all the satanic and evil voices all around us. There are false voices in the media, in the school system, in talk show hosts, and even in the church. We must be able to discern truth from error and the true from the false every day. In the end times we must learn to drown out the other voices and know God’s voice and speak it.

We had a car but it wouldn’t start. Doesn’t that sound like a familiar situation to many of us? My husband checked the battery to make sure there was power there. Yes, there was plenty! He then checked the starter and replaced it with a new one but when he turned the key, no power was getting to the starter. He examined the cables. He discovered that the negative cable was not grounded to the frame. It reminds me of many of us. Just as the car had no power to start when the cable wasn’t attached right, we can have lots of good things in our Christian life but if we are not grounded in the Word of God and speaking it out, the power of God can’t flow freely through our lives.

The battery of our life needs the Word of God to empower us to be and do all that God intends.

As His representatives on earth, we must learn to be His voice and speak clearly with His authority. But do we really know how powerful God’s voice is? Do we realize that we can become God’s voice for breakthrough?

God’s Mouthpiece

We are the voice of the Lord on the earth as we positively declare his will through our prayers. God many times is waiting for something to be done on earth, but He needs someone to pray his will. We become God’s voice on the earth for breakthrough by praying His will as we listen and obey. He wants us to be His mouthpiece on the earth. We can accomplish great things as His mouthpiece. Heaven responds to our prayers -- God listens and acts on our behalf -- good things happen in the spirit realm when we learn the secret of positive confession.

The atmosphere changes -- we change -- our life changes.

Think of what Jeremiah accomplished after he became God’s mouthpiece. He was called to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:9-10). That’s a powerful calling. Through our prayers we can do the same. We need the Lord to touch our lips and put His Words in our mouth. So often we can have negative words flowing from our mouths rather than positive words that confess God’s truth. But God’s Spirit wants to flow through us as rivers of living water (John 7:38). We must believe this, and as the days darken we must learn to be His voice and speak His truth!

If ever there was a need for being God’s voice on earth, it is now. God’s voice is powerful and accomplishes great things. Let’s look at some Scriptures to put into perspective how mighty our God is. Psalm 29:3-9 says:

“The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, 'Glory!'"

One of the things that the voice of the Lord does in these verses is to break (shabar). This means “to burst, to break into pieces (like a wild bear); to destroy, to perish (such as kingdoms, a city, or a people); to cause to break forth, to open (the womb)”. The broken places need repairing. Nations are in turmoil, evil is rampant, people are discouraged and frightened. We can stand in the gap and bring healing to the earth as we are God’s voice of hope and life. We can help destroy the works of evil and rebuild, repair, and restore through our prayers. Kingdom people know how to pray in His Kingdom. We read in Isaiah 58:12:

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Positive Confession

When we pray with positive confession, we pray with expectancy and faith. It’s easy to be negative when you are going through a difficult time in your life. I know that I am tempted to complain during those times. It is so easy to talk about the problems. During testing times like this, we must especially watch our speech. As we go against our feelings and positively confess God’s truth and praise His name, our hearts change. Our mindset changes and confusion, discouragement, and anxiety flee.

But we first must trust God and His character. We must trust His Word and not our feelings. He will carry us through. Faith is expecting what I pray will happen. We do not just believe God can do something, but that he will do something. Positive confession is bold and confident in it’s praying. Once we know Gods heart, we boldly pray it and then we walk in faith that it will be so, even when the answer is not there yet and even when difficulties are all around us.

Positive confession is confidence in God and acting on that confidence. We must pray with confidence that God will answer our prayers according to His wisdom and goodness. We must trust that He knows what is best for us. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” It’s so easy for us to lean on our own understanding instead of boldly leaning on God and His Word. Faith acts on God’s Word, His truth. Look at the example of Abraham in Heb. 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Abraham went by faith. His life was a positive confession of God’s promise.

In declarative prayer that positively confesses God’s truth, we expect God to answer us. We pray with assurance when we know we are asking in His will. When we have the assurance that a promise is from God’s Word for us, we can pray it confidently and claim it authoritatively. We don’t just believe but we say exactly what we believe.
We hold firmly to the faith we profess -- “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14).
We confess with confidence -- “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6)
We confess with our mouth -- “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Romans 10:10).

For our faith to be effective, we must positively confess it. It will never be mine, until I say so. We may have to pray many times. Elijah had to pray 7 times for rain. Jesus had to pray 3 times in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are encouraged to keep on asking and keep on seeking in Matthew 7:7. We have to keep on until we have the assurance from God and then we begin giving thanks.

What are you facing in your life today where you need to practice positive confession of God’s truth? Are you standing upon His promises and practicing declarative prayer? Are you leaning upon your own understanding or are you boldly leaning upon God’s Word? Are you God’s mouthpiece in a world that desperately needs to hear His voice?

Let’s pray with an attitude of expectant faith. Let’s pray that we will be God’s mouthpiece on earth today in our prayers and actions.

“When we are really praying in faith, our attitude will be one of expectancy rather than wish or desire. Faith means that we’ve moved beyond believing that God can do something to believing that He will do something when we ask.” --Jonathon Graf

Together in the Harvest,

Debbie Przybylski

Intercessors Arise International

deb@intercessorsarise.org

http:www.intercessorsarise.org

http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/becoming-god-s-voice-for-breakthrough.html