Many believers think that the ability to hear God is a gift for more spiritual people or those called to the five-fold ministry; but each believer is can hear God effectively. This blog is a transcript of the Facebook Video Blog dated April 22nd, 2020. Feel to print this transcript for reference.
The goals of this blog are to activate your spiritual senses and help you recognize the ways God has been speaking to you. In this article I will discuss how to “clear your senses” to hear God and highlight how God communicates. In the next article, I will discuss the subject in detail. So let us start with the basics.
Each believer can inherently hear God because; (1) we are created in God’s image according to Genesis 1:26-27 which says, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. As God’s creation, we look like Him and have the ability to talk and to hear Him in return. (2) God is our Father, just as in the natural a father relates to his child, we too have the ability to know when our Father is talking and to distinguish His voice from a stranger. (3) God shows no partiality according to Romans 2:11. This means that hearing God is not limited or set apart for special people; but each believer can equally hear God.
I sense strongly that the benefits of this quarantine are to get us back to fellowship and communion with God on an individual basis. God is relational and so is His communication. When we seek God, we should expect a response; but to know His response we must have our senses tuned to hear Him. The way God speaks varies from one person to another. Thus it is important that we do not rely on others to hear God for us but rather learn and be comfortable with hearing God for ourselves.
It is also important that we learn to hear God for ourselves because God may switch how He communicates to us from season to season. At times this is because He wants to advance us by teaching us His ways; and times the switch is because we can no longer hear Him through the original mode of communication (there various factors that cause this). Therefore, we need discern when He has switched His mode of communication and discern quickly how He is speaking to use.
Our Lord Jesus Christ placed a lot of emphasis on having “eyes to see and ears to hear” in the gospels and in the book of Revelation (see His directives to churches). So it is important that we really ascertain how God be it verbal and non-verbal. To get better at hearing God, first identify how God talks to you and continue to develop that channel of communication. Every gift is an introduction for more. So if you hear God once you can hear Hi more frequently, if you are a hairdresser you have the potential of owning and franchising a wholesale beauty store! A gift, spiritual or natural a potential has to be explored further. We are responsible for developing what God has given us. So let us review how to clear our senses or how to position ourselves to hear God:
- Communicate to God-As shared earlier, we have a relational Father. God wants to partner with us in our daily affairs. A relationship requires dual communication with feedback being reciprocated. Whereas it is true that God can speak to us unsolicited like when He approached Gideon, or when Jesus got Paul’s attention on the road to Damascus, often God will respond when we engage in communication with Him. We can initiate these types of communication through prayer, worship, praise, dance, reading the Bible and even when meditating. Expect to hear from God whenever you engage in these.
- Foster relationship with the Holy Spirit– The Holy Spirit is the breath and the voice of God. Among the functions of the Holy Spirit is are to teach, counsel, guide, advocate and intercede (see John 14: 15-17; John 16: 7-8; John 15:26-26 and Romans 8:26,) All of these are oratory in nature. As you develop friendship with the Holy Spirit, you will get to know His voice and His ways, this will result in also knowing the distinct voice of the Holy Spirit from the deceptive voice of the enemy. Friendship with the Holy Spirit is like friendship with a close friend or child whose voice you can recognize in a crowd because of its uniqueness.
- Obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit –Doing what God asks builds our relationship. Immediate obedience shows that we can be entrusted with more. The more we follow the instructions we are given; the more information God will provide; God will talk to us more when we listen to Him. Most of the time God will start with simple instructions related to your daily life, like “move your car”, “call your sister”, “close the door” and with time He will tell you more complex information. Do your best to obey these simple instructions even when they do not make sense.
- Guard what God tells you by releasing ONLY what He wants released at the right time and to the right people. There is danger in sharing revelation to everyone. Most of the time God provides the information for you for immediate application. If you sense God wants the revelation shared, ask Him to tell you the people group and the best time to release the information. There is also danger in sharing revelation in the wrong environment or prematurely. Under such conditions, the revelation will not be received, and one may just be a sounding gong- there will be no impact of the information shared. Below are some guidelines to consider if you have to share information God has given you:
- Write the information down and ask God for interpretation or direction about it
- Ask the Holy Spirit if the information is for you or someone else
- If it is for someone, ask the Holy Spirit what to share and when to share it.
- Ask God to prepare the heart of person the information should be release to.
- Always release the information in love, in non- judgmental way; and be sure that you leave the person edified, comforted, and encouraged.
- For intercessors, most of the revelation are often given as a strategy for prayer simply to pray for.
- Should you feel that the leadership of your Church or anyone in authority should receive the information, then identify the protocol that is in place for sharing. If there is no protocol, consider the following:
- Write the information and ask to meet with the leadership or person(s) of authority
- Share the information in an objective way
- Leave it up to the leadership or person in authority to judge and follow through with the information you shared.
- Remember that you are not to impose the information; once you have delivered the message, your role ends. The information may not be received well; but be encouraged that you have done your part and leave it at that unless the Holy Spirit gives you more instructions.
- Do not leave a church or fellowship, and or do not end a relationship because the recipient ignored the information you shared unless God directs you to.
- Finally, note that God loves to share His secrets with us, so not all revelation is for disclosure. We draw unnecessary attacks from others or spiritual attacks when revelation that should private is shared. God can direct you to hold off sharing some insights until an appointment time or He may direct you never to share anything. As good stewards, we are capable of keeping His secrets!
6. Do not contaminate your senses-Our senses are highways of communication that allow us to engage with the frequencies of heaven. If the highways are jammed or polluted, we may receive minimal information, blurred information, or no information at all. All physical and spiritual senses must be free of contamination and obstruction. To start, we are spiritual beings who engage spirit with the Holy Spirit.
- So first we must ensure that our spirit is not contaminated with unforgiveness, bitterness, trauma, hatred, or any sin. We decontaminate these by repentance through the blood of Jesus and by feeding the spirit with the word of God. Praying in tongues also edifies the spirit.
- By submitting to the Holy Spirit and not the flesh. Galatians 5:13-26 outlines live in the Spirit. Whatever is not of the Spirit of God, contaminates. It is imperative then that keep all channels of communication clutter free. For example if God chooses to give us visions, our eyesight must be clear, that goes for ears to avoid, gossip or slander, for the mouth to avoid criticism, cursing or judging.
- By guarding our Hearts and Mouths– Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Protect the heart by what you feed it with. Feed the heart with righteousness and righteousness will come out of the mouth. Feed it with junk, and filth will be projected from the mouth. The eyes of understanding is the heart not the physical mind. Life and death are in power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Prophesy is about hearing God and communicating what God said. Blessings and curses cannot flow from one mouth, gospel, slander, criticism, and judgments cannot be passed from one mouth the tool being used to communicate must be clean.
- Avoid Distractions– Distractions are the biggest hindrances to hearing God in this day and age. With advanced technology where most information is at our fingertips, we can easily be swayed to listen to other sources than God. Well, we now have social media and various platforms that we can obtain information from. Whereas the information being shared may not be bad, but it is critical that we obtain revelation and information from God directly. It is more important though that God becomes our first source of information. This requires that we make time to hear from God. At times God visits and we miss Him because we are distracted by other things or people. It is like longing for company, but not availing yourself when the guest comes. Be sensitive to those silent nudges to avoid certain people, to slow down or toe shut off your computer or phones. Be sensitive to God’s presence; when God is around you will know or sense Him! Why? Because you are created in His nature! God responds when we give Him attention- and my I add that God wants our whole attention.
- Rest– I have come to discover that God speaks more when we are at rest. My definition of rest is different; I believe we come to rest when we cast all cares to Him; when we entrust God with everything; when we trust Him despite the negative experiences; we are guided and guarded by His peace ; that is when He speaks the most. My other definition of rest is when we cease from our works, take time off to physically, emotionally, and spiritually rest. In the busyness of life or ministry we can miss God! Take time to rest, we each need a sabbath on a daily basis.
My objective this week was to encourage you that God can speak to you and He probably has been. God wants to communicate with you regularly, and you can hear Him well. Next time I will elaborate on the modes of communication- God speaks to us through physical and spiritual senses, i.e. Ears, eyes, mouth, nose, touch(skin), sense of smell and emotions, through an inner voice or instinct, through our imaginations and thoughts, through creative ideas, numbers and colors, through dreams , visions, trances and third heaven encounters; God speaks metaphorically through dreams and visions, these require accurate interpretation, through others by using words of knowledge, words of wisdom or prophesy. Through pastors and ministers, through songs, arts, and His creation; and through numbers.
However, the number way God speaks to us is through His Word, the Bible. Based on the list-in the previous paragraph can you identify the way God speaks to you? Is there something God told you and your thought it was just your mind and later it happened just the way God had told you? Reflect now on occasions that you felt God wa speaking- Go back and write the instructions down. Next week I will teach in depth about each mode of communication.
Hearing God and acting on what you hear is Walking with the Spirit- It is walking with God, Enoch walked with God, Abraham Walked with God, Noah walked with God. When we act on what God has told us-it is walking in Faith. This pleases the Lord. God then starts sharing more with us.
Now feel free to say the prayer below; I have an impartation prayer at the of it as well.
PRAYER
Father in the Name of Jesus, I thank you for this day, for the gift of life. I thank you for creating me in Your image and for the conversations You are inviting me to have with You. Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for the Blood that You shed for my sins, the Blood that cleanses and purifies. Holy Spirit, I thank You for being my helper, teacher, intercessor, and spokesperson. Father God forgive me, I repent for grieving the Holy Spirit, for not paying attention to You and ignoring You when You speak or visit. I repent of every distraction and contamination I have allowed to my senses. Father God, I thank you for forgiving me and I receive Your forgiveness in Jesus Name.
Now I appropriate the Blood of Jesus to cleanse my senses. I decontaminate my senses by the Blood of Jesus. I renounce and reject anything that is blocking my hearing, I break all legal rights, I command anything blocking my hearing out in the Name of Jesus. I declare that all my senses are clear and receptive. I declare that I am Your child Lord and I know Your voice according to John 10:27 and John 10:5 (My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.)
Lord Jesus You said that I should ask, and it shall be given according to Matthew 7:7-11. – I ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Your anointing, and Your Fire. Lord I ask that my senses be activated to hear you again. I command my minds, thoughts, imaginations, eyes, ears, mouth, spirit, heart, nose, emotions be opened the voice of God. Be opened to the Holy Spirit in the Name of Jesus. Lord I am open to hear and to receive from You. In Jesus Name
IMPARTATION PRAYER
Father in the Name of Jesus, I pray for whoever is reading this article right now. I pray for eyes of their understanding to be opened. I pray that as they read Your Word, grant them revelation and insight of Your Word. I pray for wisdom, knowledge, interpretation, and application of what you have told them in the Name of Jesus. I pray for wisdom to release the information at the right time and to the right people in Jesus Name. Lord I bless the reader in Jesus Name, Amen
Blog by Pauline Adongo, MJC International Inc.,
Harvest, Disciple, Equip & Ignite Nations