One of the
most common questions that I get is “How do you hear God?” This is a big question therefore in order to
answer it we need to take a big step back and look at the big picture.
God speaks to us through scripture
If you want
to grow in Hearing God better, it is important to spend time reading His Word! God’s Word is 100% accurate and God often
speaks to us through reading it. If you are new at listening prayer, I would
start by asking Him to speak to you through your Scripture reading times as you
have your daily devotions. God speaks to
us through scripture in two different ways. First, He speaks through the logos Word. This is the written Word, the Bible, and it is
given to everybody. Second, He speaks
through the rhema Word. This is the Word of God to you personally,
given for a specific time, with a specific purpose. When you are reading the Bible and a verse
jumps out at you, that is a rhema
word from the Lord.
On Monday I
was reading a passage of scripture in my devotions when I sensed the Holy Spirit
tell me, “this passage is for Miles (my son); read it and substitute the word
“Miles” for “I”; this is the type of boy I am calling you to raise. Pray these things for Him.”
The passage
that I was reading was about David, it was not written for Miles. But God gave me a rhema word to pray those scriptures for my son. He showed me part of Miles purpose and
calling in life and that it was my job to raise Him to fulfill that purpose. God was speaking to me through His Word.
God loves to
speak about our present circumstances and He often does it through His Word. If you want to get better at Hearing God and
Listening Prayer then spend more time reading His Word. Ask Him to speak to you through it. I have
many passages of scripture that are my favourites – you hear me talk about them
all the time. Do you know why they are
my favourites? Because God has spoken rhema words to me through them.
One of the primary
ways to Hear God is through His Word. He
takes the logos and turns them into rhema.
It’s called illumination. For
example, we all know that the Bible says that God loves us, but when the Holy
Spirit speaks this as a rhema word to
you, you can actually feel His love and this awakens something inside you, it
changes you drastically from within.
We must linger or wait on the Lord
This is
often called meditation. Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything
written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (NIV). It’s not
about learning more and more logos,
it’s about getting rhema’s. We need Bible knowledge so that we can
recognize truth from error but we also need to intentionally listen to God
through meditation on His Word so we can find our true purpose in life and find
success in filling it.
How do you know it’s God who is speaking to
you?
- It will NEVER contradict Scripture (test what you receive)
- The Word will come alive in you
- Time will tell if it is a true or a false word (through good or bad fruit)
- Ask God to provide confirmations.
How to Grow in Hearing God and Listening Prayer
I often tell my kids that if they want to be better piano players then
they must put time in on the bench. You
have to practice – but not any kind of practice, they have to practice the
tricky stuff, they have to play the tough parts of a song over and over again, often
slowing down the tempo or only playing one hand at a time until they get
it. It’s similar in our walk with
God. We need to put time into it –reading
the Word and in prayer. We need to
listen in prayer and then obey what God shows us.
Many people are afraid of listening in prayer because they
are afraid of getting it wrong. It’s OK to Hear wrong, that’s how we
learn. When it comes to acting upon what we hear, we need to use wisdom
and good judgment. If it’s a little thing which is in alignment with the
Bible and if getting it wrong won’t have damaging or permanent effects then we
can feel free to jump in with faith and do what God told us. For example,
if I think that God told me to fast from red meat or if I think He’s telling me
to donate an extra $100 to charity. I may have heard right, I may have heard
wrong. There are no permanent issues to contend with here, nothing
contradicts Scripture, so I just do it! If I got it wrong, that’s fine,
I’ll just learn better next time. God is please with my desire to listen to Him
and obey.
On the other hand, if I feel that God is asking me to double
my mortgage to support a friends new business, or if I think God is telling me
to move across the country or to quit my job – I would need multiple
confirmations because these things are larger issues that have profound
effects. I would need to listen in prayer on an ongoing basis (maybe even
months or years) and then I would also pray with others, get counsel from godly
people around me and look for confirmation from Scripture (multiple rhema Words). I would also need my
husband to be in agreement. Also, scripture is always the plume line when
it comes to listening prayer. We are to use wisdom and our understanding of
Scripture to make wise decisions. I may Hear wrong, but that
doesn’t mean that I will make a wrong decision. As I spend time and effort
listening in prayer, reading Scripture and talking to others – I will see the
error in my way and make it right. I may look bad (and grow in humility)
but I won’t screw up my entire life. Make sense???
Stay tuned next week when I look at other questions people have about listening prayer and Hearing God.
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