November 5, 2005
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How do you hear from God? This was the topic of Friday’s discipleship class.
Pastor Don said that we had talked about spiritual gifts, and power gifts in previous classes. All the gifts and unctions operate depending on our ability to hear from God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. These gifts will only operate if we are not out of order, out of time, and need correction of the Holy Spirit.
He pointed out that this topic is sometimes hard to deal with. A new Christian will have an easier time with this subject matter than someone who has been in the Lord for a long time. For, the longer we are in the Lord, the chances are we have developed patterns and ways that we feel are necessary to hear from God. These ways were correct when they occurred in the past but it is not necessarily the way God is still communicating with us. He may use those same ways, or other ways.
In hearing from God believers have had some success (hearing correctly) and some failure (hearing incorrectly). And as is the nature of human beings, we tend to remember our successes and forget the failures. So sometimes we are not objective when we think that our method of hearing from God is always correct.
Once we get set into a pattern of hearing from God, it then becomes easy for satan to counterfeit this pattern. The only way to detect a counterfeit from the real thing is to know the real thing so well that a counterfeit stands out in comparison.
Many times when we pray to God we ask for a sign. This is like in the book of Judges when Gideon asked for a sign, a fleece. He asked God if this is what God wanted to make the fleece wet and the ground dry. God did that. Then the next night Gideon reversed the thing and asked that the fleece stay dry and the ground wet. Then Gideon knew it was from the Lord. Often in the Old Testament the people did ask God for an outward sign. For in those days the Holy Spirit would rest UPON a person. And they would be used mightily by God, but the Holy Spirit was not WITHIN a person as it is these days. The priests and people required outward signs to confirm God’s words. Now we hear from the Holy Spirit within us, not wait for it to rest upon us. We do not need an outward sign.
We pray “Lord help me to stir up the gifts within me.” Pastor Don said that when people come to him and state that they feel God is distant he knows that they are not spending enough time in their prayer life to sense that God is inside of us. Out of the belly (heart) will flow rivers of living water.
In these days God speaks so clearly inside of us, in ways that the prophets of old did not hear. Yes, even today God could use the donkey to speak or respond to our requests for fleece, but we have a better way under the new covenant.
Most Christians have a hard time admitting that at times when they thought they heard from God, that they had accepted a counterfeit. Don’t forget satan is cleaver, and a deceiver, and sometimes he does deceive us into believing we are hearing from God. Then we act on this false belief, and stray from God’s best for us. If we are honest with ourselves and face the fact that we missed the mark, then we can quickly return to the path. But often we tend to rationalize our error and carry on as if we didn’t miss the mark.
When people say “The Lord told me….” Pastor Don says you have to find out how they heard from the Lord. He gave an example of how a member of the church told him that they heard from God that they were to sell their house and go to a place to be a missionary. Pastor Don asked them how they heard this from the Lord. They mentioned that while in a restaurant they were discussing this issue, when the waitress came over, she mentioned the country that they were talking about. They were certain this was a sign from God. So they told Pastor Don. He cautioned them that they may not have heard this message correctly, that they should wait. They did not listen, sold their house, moved, and after years of service had only one salvation. The fruit of this was not huge, they could have had a salvation in the restaurant. Pastor Don said that when the couple gave up, and came back, they went to a different church, and their rationale for not having much success is that maybe that was the one person God wanted saved.
Often when we think we hear from God, and get it wrong, we want to rationalize our mistake,
There are four Biblical ways in the scripture that let us know if it is what the Lord said, specifically and clearly. Usually God does not waste words.
Pastor Don pointed out that when God is speaking he likes to give us room for our own growth and development and creativity, so he does not speak in great details. Often when Pastor Don is given a prophesy from someone it is the first few words that constitute the prophesy, when a person elaborates on and on about those words often the rest of the words are from the person trying to interpret what God was saying. 90% of the time people are prophesying over you what THEY want to hear from the Lord. But often God is not in that prophesy.
An example was that at one point Pastor Don changed a program in the church and a member who loved the old way of doing it, came up and told him Thus says the Lord…. and proceeded to state that the old way was best. But what the member did not know is that God had spoken to Pastor Don and showed him the new way, and that the fruit of the new way was greatly increased.
Sometimes when we hear from God it comes as a surprise because God is out of our time frame. He does not operate in our time-frame that we have on earth. Sometimes we have asked God a question or prayed for a response, and six months later God is answering that prayer, but we try to fit the answer that God is giving us into our current problem. God’s answers are more about what He is concerned about for us, and He will respond when the time is right for us to hear the answer.
God speaks with seasonal references. Sometimes a Word from God is true, but not for that particular time. Pastor Don gave the example that someone came and told him that God wanted him to be a pastor. This was something that Pastor Don did not want to do, he wanted to be an evangelist and musician, but not a pastor. The person then went on to tell him to leave the church he was in and start a new church. Now the first words were from God, that Pastor Don would be a pastor, but the leaving the current church was the “prophet’s” idea of how this pastoring would occur. Pastor Don and his wife prayed, but felt that they had to remain where they were, at Living Word Chapel. Pastor Don prayed to God and said that he needed the gift of administration in order to be a pastor, for he did not have that gift which is why being an evangelist and musician were easier.
After the pastor of the Living Word Chapel died a person named Dave Rumbel gave Pastor Don his phone number and asked him to call. Pastor Don put it off for a long time, and finally called. The person told him that God had spoken to him and that he was to tell Pastor Don, “I have given you the gift of administration.” That was all the person said, but it confirmed the prayer that Pastor Don had prayed, and when he was offered to be pastor of Living Word Chapel, he took it. Had Pastor Don acted on the other person’s prophesy and left Living Word Chapel the outcome would have been different, and most probably not so fruitful.
When God speaks to us, we have to know many things such as if it is for this particular time, an answer to a past prayer. Is it to share with the general congregation, or is it a private message for ourselves. And the first step in learning these things is to know exactly how God speaks to us.
We worked from page 99 in our discipleship manual to know how God speaks to us. It was so well written that I asked Pastor Don if I could type out the page on Xanga, and he told me he gave permission for me to do so.
So in my next entry I will type out page 99 for you to read. Right now I have to rouse kids for various Saturday activities.
This class has been such a blessing to me that I hope it also is for you. Please remember that if there are errors in this, it is my error in notetaking, for much more is said than I can get into my notes.
Have a great Saturday.
Heather
Comments (7)
Thank you for sharing this. Sometimes, the things God says are so clear and so unmistakable that following it is so easy. But most of the time, especially when you need a quick answer, it is not as easy to know what God has to say. Maybe the fault is with me. That I don’t really trust myself to interpret correctly.
Thank you again. I learned a lot from your post.
Cathy
First, you are an amazing notetaker! I do not know many who could capture a lecture so thoroughly.
Secondly, there are a number of wonderful truths here.
Thirdly, I wish I could encourage you enough somehow to study thoroughly and completely, on your own and for yourself, all aspects of the gifts and their use, reading from a wide variety of authors and beliefs. Specifically, prophecy. Have you already? Are you familiar with references to “the Sign Gifts?” (One author in particular I would recommend would be Floyd H. Barackman. He wrote, “Practical Christian Theology.” I am not in 100% agreement with eveything he writes, but he is 99% on target. (I am not in 100% agreement with anyone other than me so far as I can tell. Hmmmm . . .) Anyway, God spoke to me that you should do so.
wow, such an insight into your devtional. thank you!
we often set in preconcieved notions of understanding and non-understanding. even in explaining, your pastor gave generalizations (such as how prophecy is only a short phrase, and that anything longer is from the individual, and not God). And in regards to the missionaies, that only one person was saved, so it must not have been God.
When we look at the book of Isaiah, we realize that worshipers of God can (and most certainly have) had a good many words to say. Same is true of all the major and minor prophets. Equally as true is the many testimonies of Moses or John the revelator. It may be unwise to make such preconceptions, because when we hear many words-our heart will turn off. It may or may not be from God, but the length has nothing to do with it.
A typical Western understanding of “success” is often used as something tangible to verify what we should do, in discerning what we are doing; or in looking back over what has been. But maybe what we should be doing, is simply abiding in this cloud of unkowing, and simply living without question, without condemnation or repentance.
And when comparison sets in, we believe that it’s we that hear from God, and not “them”. It’s wise to seek counsel, confirmation, and affirmation. It’s wise to give discernment to those around you. But we cannot come to a place, where we attempt to mediate anothers relationship (either directly or indirectly).
I gotta run, but I’ll talk to you later. I hope you didn’t take this as anything but a conversation, I wasn’t trying to correct you or your pastor. :: stoker
thought i would just pop in and read thanks GOD BLESS YOUR WEEKEND
Once again, a great post. God does use MANY varied ways to convey messages to use. I have experienced many varied ways in my own life.
Sometimes, he seems to use comments that my close friends make to me. I realize later that they told me something at just the right time that I needed to hear, and He then shows me in prayer that it was from Him.
Sometimes, he “opens and closes doors.” I’ve heard many Christians come to this same conclusion. They want their life to go in one direction, but no matter how hard they try, that door just will not open. Later they come to see that God caused that situation. Sometimes he closes every door but one, which He swings wide open. This can be quite helpful!
However, I must say that this is the year I discovered that for some God does also speak with a voice to his servants, in their own language with very exact, clear messages. I was VERY skeptical of such things my entire life, but He has done this to me with great frequency this year, about very important things in my life. I spent much of this year learning how to believe it was true. But I do believe it, now. HE IS AMAZING. (I don’t mention this to toot my own horn in any way, but simply to testify to the great and miraculous thing (and things) that He is doing in my life. He is absolutely sovereign over His creation, and He can (and does) do whatever he wants.
Hey Heather,
Haven’t read it all, but you always have such insightful topics. My pastor always reminds us God will never call us to do things out of line with his. Whatever God commands will remain true to his nature! Thanks for comming by.
Hello,
I haven’t been around for a while and wanted to stop in and say hello…I have been keeping up with you by reading my daily subscriptions…but not commenting….sorry!
Hope all is well!
Kim