June 23, 2006

• Hearing God’s voice seems to have provoked a chord in yesterday’s post. It is sooo true that often after we hear His voice we doubt, the wait seems incredible, and we sometimes wonder what we are to do and what God is to do. I think that part of building the relationship with God is learning through trial and error until we get closer to the truth.

  
  

  I want to thank you for sharing what you shared because it gives me hope, and in searching out the following passages, I found some information that helped me to see something I am dealing with in a different light. God is so awesome when He instigates it to touch a person’s heart.

  
  

  Hearing God’s voice sort of reminds me of a joke that sometimes comes across my path about a person stranded on a deserted island praying for God’s assistance. A rowboat comes by – and the man says, no thanks, God will help. A helicopter comes by to the same response, and a few other interventions. The man dies and goes to heaven and asks God why he didn’t answer the man’s prayer – and God said, “I did, I sent the rowboat, the helicopter, etc.”

  
  

  When are we acting in our own strength? When do we wait on God? When is God waiting on us to take a step in faith? These are tough questions we all face. Although we are not doing discipleship classes right now, I remember a few passages from the Discipleship Handbook written by Pastor Don Moore, that might be helpful.

  
  

  Whenever someone has a word of prophesy for us, or when we have a message from God for ourselves or for others, Pastor Don teaches that we have to know how we received the message.

  
  

  Page 99-100 in the Discipleship Manuel (Note the Capital “S” denotes Holy Spirit, the lowercase “s” denotes our inner spirits which hear from God.

  
  

  Hearing the spirits and the Spirit
       God’s ideas are spelled out in the Bible and are revealed in our spirits. Nothing can replace prayer time and times of meditation. Learning to quietly sit and just think on the Lord helps us to differentiate between us speaking in our minds and the Spirit of God speaking to our spirit, which speaks to our minds. The disciple must know the voice of his Commanding Officer.
       1) Our spirit’s voice (inward voice or inside witness) is not loud or even    commanding in nature. Our spirit’s voice has authority and comes to us as completed thought, not usually a string of words. Often, as my mind is reeling through details, my spirit waits for a pause and eases in a message. Sometimes it’s a different subject or an answer to a prayer that was days old. Sometimes it registers as an idea from God that is bigger than my own thoughts.
       There are ideas, revelations, truths that register on our spirits at selective times. These are often called “Rhema words” – living, spoken words that burst forth onto our minds from our spirits. These happen in prayer, praise, worship, and reading the Bible, or in sermons or songs. They get our attention from the inside of our hearts. Sometimes it is just a “knowing.”

  
  

       *There are no premonitions, intuitions, or psychic events,
          but only spiritual episodes that are birthed in our spirits or by God
              and you know who else (demons).

  
  

     Throughout this next section please note: lower case “s” in spirit denotes the human spirit, while capital “S” in Spirit identifies the Spirit of God.
       “We are spirits that live in a body and have living souls,” as Brother Hagin so aptly puts it. Our inner man (spirit) speaks to us, so we need to develop our listening skills. The soul is our will, personality, intellectual mind and our emotions. The soul is earthly, carnal and opposes both the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. Our emotions and logical-intellectual mind must be trained to hear and accept the voice of the Spirit. The soul can only be spiritual when it is dominated by a spirit that is ‘in tune’ with God’s Word and His Voice. From God’s Word and God’s voice there comes messages.
       Becoming a renewed mind and a Spirit-filled believer is to become an inward spirit listener. The message may be new, old, profound or truly simple. Our spirits know way more than our souls. This is the part of man that is most easily in touch with the ‘spirit realm.’ In error we have called it the subconscious, the super-conscious, psychic, deeper-self, Christ consciousness, etc. It is the inner-man, the hidden man of the heart, the spirit, true self and man’s message center.
       Though the message is not loud, it has authority, a ring of truth that demands focus and gives comfort if we listen to our spirit. This is the human spirit acting upon the mind.
       2) When the Spirit of God (Voice of God) speaks. He can be more dramatic and speaks aloud to the whole being. This is rare and is a very special event, which we cannot cause to happen: a supernatural God interrupting our natural day or night activities. This may occur by God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit or an agent–an angel of the above. This voice is very audible to the human ear. Others may hear a sound or rumble but only those intended to hear will clearly know what was being said.
       For example, God speaking on Mt. Sinai and Mount of Transfiguration.
       3) The Godhead or agent may speak but the voice is not naturally audible, it is spiritual. This voice registers upon our mind and spirit at the same instant – very dramatic, authoritative, attention grabbing, then inspiring and peaceful. This voice is God speaking to the inner man and mind of man but not the ear of man.”And the voice of the Lord came to me saying…”
       4) God or His agent speaks or has spoken in our spirit, our spirit tells or retells the message to our mind. This is often by dreams, vision,  and revelations. The mind is being reminded of what the spirits have exchanged or talked about. It can be instantaneous or delayed, as during prophesy. Tongues, interpretations, preaching, teaching, healing or during any anointed time of ministry. The Spirit speaks and leads. Our spirit follows and the mind plays catch up.
      To summarize: 1) Man’s spirit speaks to man’s mind-this voice is our own spirit speaking to our own mind. If we are born again, filled with God’s Spirit, then our spirit has in it the Words of God and the thoughts of God. Therefore, we are regenerated and can trust what our spirit tells us. Also, we can and should allow this voice to dominate and lead us. Not the emotions (flesh) or our minds, but our spirit (the inner man). 2. God speaks to man audibly. 3) God speaks to man in his spirit and mind, and 4) God speaks to man’s spirit, which speaks to man’s mind.
       We must learn how to hear our spirit and yield our will to our reborn spirit. We use words like “feel, instinct, premonition, vibes, voices” – these are all wrong, for it is a present knowing of an inner thought that registers on the person and is interpreted n the mind and translated into a thought or sentence.
       Finally, God is God and can speak to us any time and any way He chooses. We can hear from our spirit’s voice any time if we take the time to listen.
       **”The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD,
              searching all the inward parts of the belly.” (Prov. 20:27)
                 Have you heard from  your inner man lately?”

  
  

   

  
  

  Page 149 of the Discipleship Manuel
  

  
  

  Patience in Prayer

  
  

       Finally, we need to look at the two aspects of waiting on the Lord. The first is waiting on the Lord quietly, in prayer. The second is quietly waiting on the Lord in patience. The Word admonishes the Spirit filled believer to speak mysteries to God through prayer in Tongues, and we are encouraged to pray to the Father even though He knows what we need before we ask. Little is said about what to do to hear from God, so we have a picture of us speaking to God, but of Him ever-silent as He sits in a lofty place, far away. This picture is grossly wrong, for the Holy Spirit, which is God, comes to dwell inside us, as does the Spirit of Christ. We invite Jesus to come and live inside us and somehow forget that He did accept our invitation. I have learned that we must take the time during prayer to listen for God’s response to bubble up on our inside. Our listening must continue after prayer time is over, for God will answer, but He is not required to answer at the moment we ask, because He is eternal and outside of time. There are spiritual factors that determine the timing of when God will answer us. Therefore, we must find the time to quietly wait. This waiting must be with expectant hope and Faith that our loving Father will answer. It is difficult to discern the answer in the noise of life, so with so much going on, so we must draw away to private places whenever we can. Many people miss God because they wait for the answer to come from other sources outside of themselves. This work happens in the way discussed above – prophecy, Word of Knowledge, etc; but in quietness we must learn to appreciate the wonderful power of the still small voice and the Rhema word spoken in our heart. This voice and the Rhema word register upon the mind with quiet clarity and must be focused upon by the carnal mind and repeated in our thoughts, in order to be recognized from God.
       Finally, God speaks to us as the thought we are not thinking at the time, or the revelation that shows up unexpectedly. Patience is learning to have quietness on the inside as we go through life. Paul calls it the peace of God that passes understanding. David calls it waiting on the Lord as in Psalm 27. In Psalm 27 we are waiting on the Lord with active patience. Active patience means we are looking everywhere for God’s answer but we are not disturbed or panicked. We have the quiet assurity that God has answered, and in a moment or two we will find the answer. We are waiting but active with expectant hope, and are confidently at peace – turning over every rock with Faith that the blessing is under one of these rocks!
       We constantly remind ourselves to be at peace and joy, as God knows our situation and is working it out for the best. These are two forms of quietness: prayer and patience, which make the difference between walking in the flesh and walking by the Spirit.
             I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses,
             And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
            The Son of God discloses.
            And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
            And He tells me I am His own;
           And the joy we share as we tarry there,
           None other has ever known.
                                                    Written by C. Austin Miles
  

  
  

   

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