What Do YOU Hear God Saying To YOU

If you have experienced someone coming up to you and delivering a word from God it is quite an amazing feeling. A word from God, delivered through someone else, can come in many ways. It may be in the form of them telling you something direct they heard from God for you. It may come in the form of them sharing a dream they had with you. Or it may come in the form of them praying over you and things were delivered to them during that time of prayer. But no matter how it comes to you, there is something special that you feel when you know God is saying something specific to you through someone else. However today I want to challenge you to hear directly to hear directly from God Himself. If this is something you have struggled with then I pray this blog will help you today.
There are so many scriptures that reference hearing from God. (John 10:27, Romans 10:17, Jeremiah 33:3, John 8:47...just to name a few) In fact, I believe you will find more in the bible about hearing from God than you will about talking to God. We have all grown up hearing that famous saying that "we should listen twice as much as we speak, that's why God gave us 2 ears and only one mouth". And as funny as that saying is, there is a lot of truth to that. A lot of people feel like their time "with God" must be filled with them speaking and speaking and speaking and crying out and then speaking some more....to God. And Even though I fully believe God wants to hear from us, He wants us to thank Him and praise Him in prayer, and He wants us to cast our cares on Him.....I also believe He wants us to shut up long enough sometimes for Him to get a word in there too. Not sure if you have ever been in a conversation where you sit down with someone and the next thing you know 20 minutes has gone by and they have done all the talking and you pretty much haven't said a word. Then they look down at their watch and realize they need to go and the next thing out of their mouth is "hey, it's been great talking with you". To which you look back at them with a blank face because there really hasn't been much "talking" on your end....just a lot of listening to them. Have you ever walked away from your prayer time and felt like God was looking at you the same way. Has the "buzzer" ever gone off because your 15 minutes of prayer time is up (yes there was some sarcasm in that...ha) and you walk away saying "man that was a good time praying to the Lord"...but God is saying "wait, I still have so many things I wanted to say to you"? I think the reason this happens to so many Christians is because they fear quiet time with God. If things get quiet then they feel like their prayer time is being waisted, or they feel like it wasn't "prayer time" at all. But that is SO not true. Some of my best prayer time has been spent with me not saying a word. Some of my best time with God has been spent with me on my face before God just listening to anything and everything He wants to say to me. And I have spoken to people who really do fear that kind of time with God. They are afraid their mind will race or they will lose their focus or they will even dose off. And I am hear to tell you that in the beginning each of those things are probably going to happen at one point or another (because the enemy is going to be fighting you). But you also have authority over your mind and your thoughts and you can pray against that. You can call every thought you have to be obedient to Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5) and you can tune in and focus on God. And the more you do this, the easier it will become. Remember that other old saying "practice makes perfect".....well in order to practice you have to "do"...not talk about doing.
So let me go back to what I said in the beginning....about how great it is to get a word delivered to you through someone. How do you think those people are getting those words? It is not that they are "super spiritual" and you are not. The bible says that what God will do for one He will do for another, He shows no partiality. The only difference between them an perhaps you is that they may be giving God a platform to speak 'to them' and 'into them' more than you are. But it doesn't have to be or stay that way. Today, start to give God more time. Try to shut everything else out and give Him a chance to speak to you. Create an environment where you can focus on, and hear Him. Meaning, driving down the road with the radio off may not be the best way to start. Yes you can get to the place where you have become so close to God, and so in tune with Him, that you do hear Him in those moments. I fully believe everyone can get there. But in the beginning be purposeful in setting aside time....and a place...where you just want to hear from Him. Then get all sin and/or unforgiveness out of your heart and give God clear access to speak into you. You will be amazed at what happens when you do.
God, Thank You that You take the time to speak to us. Thank You that you are not a God that sits off a million miles a way, but that you desire intimacy with us. You desire those quiet moments where we can hear Your voice. Help us Holy Spirit to be purposeful in creating the time, place and environment where we can not just speak to God, but we can hear from Him too. Then help us to be obedient in the things that are revealed to us in those moments. In Jesus name, Amen