Hearing From God

So, I ran into a problem the other night. I was getting ready for my prayer time with God, and as I knelt there on my knees I just could not get close to Him. I couldn't hear His voice at all. I tried singing praise and worship songs, being still and listening, I even asked Him to give me a sign so that I knew I was still in His will. Nothing was working.

I don't know if you've ever not been able to hear God, but it's a scary feeling. I felt disgusting and wrong. I felt like God didn't love me. I felt like He had given up on me.

As I was about to give up and go to sleep, something in the back of my mind started to push me to open up my bible (A.K.A. the Holy Spirit).  I did the "open up to a random page trick", and I landed in Psalms, specifically Psalms 25. I studied this chapter before so I still had a few things highlighted. "To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You...Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed...Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation..." (NKJV)

Reading these verses began encouraging my spirit. I became hopeful again. Then God revealed something to me... myself. He told me that these feelings of loneliness, hurt, anguish, and desperation were birthed out of my little time spent with Him. He told me that things in my life were taking up to much time from Him. Our God is a loving God, but he's also a jealous God! (Exodus 34:14)

God told me to write this blog about hearing His voice, I had other plans for blog topics but this one is urgent. I'd like to focus on three points on how to hear from God:

1) Read your Bibles .

The best way to know someone's voice is to spend time with them. Recognizing God's voice comes with reading about Him and how He has spoken to others in the past.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

In the scripture above Paul is saying that EVERYTHING within those 66 books is meant to teach us how to govern ourselves: What to wear, what to eat, how to speak, how to teach, how to love others. The Scripture is not just a bunch of words written by random men, they are LIVING and BREATHING. They are God's way of speaking to His people. This is a hard concept to grasp but think about it for a second; scripture says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. (John 1:1)

Also, it is important to read your Bible because God does not always speak in the same way. He uses a variety of outlets in order to speak to us. Sometimes, He speaks to us with a still small voice/gentle whisper like he did with Elijah (1 Kings 19:12). Other times, he uses other people to speak to us, as he did with Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2, Jonah 3:1-2). He may even speak clearly and audibly as He did when He spoke to Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-4). 

However it is that that He speaks to you, pay attention.

2) Check what you hear with the Word.

If what you hear  is really from God and not your flesh/demons/evil spirits then it should line up with the Bible. The Bible says that Satan himself turns into an Angel of Light in order to deceive us (2 Corinthians 11:14). Gods Word is consistent and true: "Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away" (Luke 21:33). God will never tell you one thing in the Bible and then tell you something different in an impression. That impression could be your flesh because God is no liar.

A few weeks ago I was witnessing to two girls in one of the dining halls at the University of North Texas. The Holy Spirit led me to say things that in other peoples eyes could be viewed as radical. I noticed however, that when I said a certain thing one of the girls shut me out completely. At that moment I just thought it was because she was being convicted and felt ashamed; but later on God brought to my attention that what I said was being said out of my flesh.

At that moment I was not letting the Holy Spirit lead me. I was being disobedient to the will of God, something that we as people practice all too well. In 1 John 4:1 we are told to not believe every thing we hear but to test the spirits.

As Christians we must be careful of what we say. Words hold the power to encourage and the power to discourage. Even as I write this blog I'm constantly trying to focus on what I say and how I say it. If I can't find a Word to back up what I write, then I probably shouldn't be writing about it.

It is extremely important for us to memorize and meditate on the Word of God so we can know when He's truly speaking. Lay down your selfish desires when you come to God in prayer and learn to discern between the Holy Spirit, your flesh, and the spiritual forces of evil. 

3) OBEY OBEY OBEY

This is the most important step in the whole process of hearing from God. If you truly believe that God is telling you to do something (or to stop doing something), whether it be by conviction or affirmation from another source, obey whatever it is He's saying. 

"But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).

Too many times I've found myself in the position where I wanted to do things my way. Where I've wanted to continue with my sin and add God to the picture as well. I was like the Israelites, always complaining and disobeying God (Numbers 14, 16). Wonder why you can't find what God has promised for you? Wonder why you heard God clearly once and then never heard Him speak again?You probably aren't following His will. We have to constantly examine ourselves to make sure that we are being obedient to everything that God says. 

The kindness and patience that God shows to us is intended to lead us to repentance, not to further dis-obedience (Romans 2:4). God has so much for us here on this Earth. He loves us and He wants us to prosper in all aspects of our lives. We must obey His commands in order to keep hearing from Him. 

Hope you all learned something you didn't know before from this post. Sorry if it was a bit lengthy haha. I'll try to cut them down in the future. Stay blessed everyone!

-Daniel 

Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright

Have you ever worried about something? What job will I have in ten years? Where will I attend college? How am I going to pay my rent? When will I find that special someone? How am I supposed to deal with the loss of my parents?

These are all questions i've asked my entire life, and I'm pretty sure you have too. Worrying is a disease that plagues the mind. It eats away at our hope, our expectations, and our faith. But most importantly:

Us worrying makes God look bad!!!

(When I say us I mean Christians. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior AND have repented of their sins, constantly pursuing a love relationship with Him). 

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" (Matt. 6:25-27)

When we worry about the things of this world we doubt God. We belittle God's power and all that He's done. How could we ever doubt a God that is the author of creation? Scripture makes it perfectly clear that God is perfectly capable of taking care of all the things He's created.

"But what if I'm just concerned about my future? I have goals in life I need to plan ahead?!"

I understand this question completely. I just finished my 3rd semester at the University of North Texas (CAAAWWW) where I'm studying Music Performance, specifically classical music.

Since music is such a skill based field auditions are always necessary. Unfortunately good paying jobs within symphony orchestras are scarce due to musicians having tenure. This means they have their job until they die or decide to leave. For the musicians with the jobs tenure is great, but for the ones just coming out of college it isn't so great.

I listen to so many of my friends who aren't pursuing music degrees talk about internships they have lined up after college or about how many jobs are available in their particular field. And when I was asked what my plans were after college I used to just make up elaborate answers that sounded good. I was always worried about how I would provide for my family. Would I end up becoming a street musician begging for money on a corner? The truth is I had no idea what I wanted to do after school. To be completely honest I still kind of don't. However, as I started to pursue God more and actually try to have a relationship with Him my fears and worries started to go away. It wasn't that I did not care about my future, it just didn't become the number one thing on my mind. God became the number one thing on my mind. Pleasing Him became the number one thing on my mind. Understanding Him became the number one thing on my mind.

Jesus says that we must seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness and he'll take care of the rest. He doesn't say we have to find the kingdom of God we just have to earnestly search for it. 

But what does seeking the kingdom of God look like? 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

 Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. 

These are the tools we need in order to actively seek out the kingdom and His righteousness. If we make sure that we are continuously in communion with God (remember prayer is a two way conversation He should be talking back) then we should be fine. His peace will cancel out any anxieties we may have. 

Doesn't that make you just smile? If we serve a God who's able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ever ask then why fret?

God knows what you need!!! Let Him take care of it!



- Daniel