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Hearing God Speak - Part 3

Hearing God Speak, Part 3 from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Transcript:
Today we are going to be continuing our series on “Hearing God Speak” and in this message I want to focus on more of the ways that He speaks to us. Again, I will be sharing some very personal things from my life that are true stories. If you missed the first two messages, then you really should watch them and catch up. As a short summary: Jesus told us that we would hear His voice and He still speaks to those that are listening today.

All through the Bible people heard the voice of God speaking to them, but we need our spiritual ears opened to hear Him. We can see fine with our natural eyes, and yet be blind in the spirit. Jesus said Revelation 3:17: “you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”. Those people thought they saw, but yet they were spiritually blind. They thought they were rich, but yet they were spiritually poor. We can hear fine with our natural ears, and be spiritually deaf.

There are many scriptures in the Bible that speak of having our spiritual ears open. The Lord said that He would cause our ears to hear. Jesus had a saying: “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear!” In the book of Revelation which was written after most of the original apostles and the apostle Paul were dead, Jesus repeatedly said: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  Now Jesus was crucified about 30-33 A.D. and the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation around 96 A.D., so Jesus was still telling people to listen to the Spirit over 60 years later. See God did not stop speaking when the apostles died, we just need our spiritual ears opened so that we can hear Him. One of the ways that He speaks to us is through personal prophecy:

Personal Prophecy: The prophet Isaiah had this to say about the Lord speaking through him:

Isaiah 50:4–5 (NKJV) — 4 “The Lord GOD has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. 5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away.

The Lord opened Isaiah’s ears, He awakened his ear to hear in the spirit, to hear what God was saying. Sometimes it was a word in season to those who were weary. So the Lord gave Isaiah words to strengthen and encourage those around him. This is personal prophecy in a nutshell: “When the Holy Spirit gives you a word in season to comfort and strengthen those around you. Paul had this to say about prophecy:


1 Corinthians 14:1–5 (NKJV) Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

Personal prophecy should always 1) Edify: meaning instruction, and education. 2) It should Exhort: meaning strengthen, encourage, build up.  3) It should Comfort: meaning to relax, console, calm. God will give you a word in season for others when they need it most and it should always be positive. Never do negative personal prophecy, leave that to someone in the office of a Prophet. Giving someone a word through the Holy Spirit does not mean that you are a prophet as listed in the 5 fold ministry of Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Teacher, Evangelist. Those are offices, and there is a strong difference when you encounter one. If you are in the office of a prophet, you don’t have to tell anyone, they already know… Continuing on in verse 4:

4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
That is true. Jude verse 20 tells us: But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit. This means praying in tongues, and it builds up YOUR spirit, but if people around heard you, they would not understand a single word of it and they would not be edified by your words. Because of that, I pray in the Spirit in private, and I prophecy in public. Verse 5:

5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
Again we see that above all, Paul wanted the church to learn. He wished that they all spoke in tongues, but even more that they prophesied. This would be to encourage, strengthen, and build up the church. Paul went on to say in:

1 Corinthians 14:31–33 (NKJV) — 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. He said: You can ALL prophesy one by one, that all may learn, that all may be encouraged and then in: 1 Thessalonians 5:19–21 (NKJV) — 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

The word prophecy occurs in the NKVJ about 174 times and it appears from Numbers to Revelation:


It is a core teaching in the Bible. You would have to rip pages out of most of the books in the Bible to get rid of it. Paul firmly believed in the power of personal prophecy to build up, comfort, and edify the church, and he warned people about despising or forbidding it. When you see weak, powerless churches today, it is because the Spirit has been quenched, and prophecy has been forgotten. It was given to make us strong, to build us up, to encourage us.

Example: In the mid 80s, I caught fire for the Lord and went through a personal revival in my life. I read the Bible about 8 hours a day and listened to it all night. At the time, there was a “Jesus is coming back next month” movement and I began to really study end time events. I became captivated. I read, and re-read, and wrote out Daniel, Revelation, Matthew 24 and others. I had charts, timelines, and graphs on all of my walls. It looked like a scene from a “A Beautiful Mind.”

I was attending a Baptist church at the time and a friend invited me to his church, which was Charismatic and moved in the gifts. I knew absolutely nothing about it, nor anyone there but him. That morning they had a guest speaker from Texas. During his message, he called me up front and began to prophesy over me and he really nailed it. I could feel the Holy Spirit all over me and there was so much in his words, but a part that caught my attention was this. He told me:

“You’re one that desires to know the end, right from the beginning. Son don’t worry about the retirement plan, its time for re-firement, for that is where I stand. And don’t be so concerned about the end of the Book, go back to the beginning and take another look. And you don’t need all of the things to fit, just allow your purpose and mine to knit. ”

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:24–25 (NKJV) “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.” That morning in that church, I knew without a shadow of doubt that God was among them and I wanted what they had. Soon I was baptized in the Holy Spirit myself, speaking in tongues, and prophesying to others as the Spirit guided me. It is for all of us. God has no favorites. What He will do for me, He will do for you. God will use you to speak to others. God will others to speak to you.

How does it work: In my life, whenever I am praying for someone, I may hear a few words - and if I speak those words, then a stream will follow. You never really know what is going to come next. You speak it as it comes, as you are carried by the Spirit. If you wait for the whole thing to come, it rarely will. You are merely a water hose and the Spirit flows through you. The Holy Spirit will give you the next sentence, when you speak the first one that He gave you. It is completely based on faith. Paul said “let each prophesy according to their faith” (Romans 12:6).

Feeling Impressions:  An impression is defined as an idea, a feeling, or an opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence. In my life, I just sometimes know that I know. In the Bible it was often called “Perceiving.” In Luke 5:22 it reads: “When Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?” Jesus suddenly knew what they were thinking, and it was supernatural wisdom. The word “Perceive” occurs about 50 times in the Bible:

Example: We went to sell a piece of property after the taxes on it began to climb into oblivion. During the title search they uncovered a judgement on it from an old sales tax bill. I had closed a business some years back, but they continued to “estimate” my returns at the maximum allowed, then heaped late charges and fines on top of that until it was in the thousands. Then they placed a judgement against the property, while I lived at a different address and knew nothing about it.

It was a complete mess and it looked really bad. I called the department of revenue and they explained that the bill was so old that it had been archived and that they would have to request it to be restored from a backup, call back tomorrow. I hung up the phone and Sylvia and I prayed together about it. During the prayer I felt more than heard: “Say nothing negative.” That was very difficult because I wanted to scream at the time.

We made it through the night without saying anything negative and I called them back the next morning. They were pleasant, nice, and had already taken care of the problem. They saw that the business had been closed, they removed the estimated taxes, the fines, and the judgement. I am not sure what would have happened if we had fell into negative speaking. My guess is that we would have paid thousands in taxes that we did not actually owe.

So an impression to me is suddenly knowing something that you did not know.

Seeing Pictures: Sometimes when praying for someone, I may see a picture that has meaning to their life. In the Bible, such functions were those of a “Seer.”

The word Seer occurs about 27 times in the Bible:

To me a vision is like a movie while seeing a picture is a still image much like a painting. I know other people that often operate in this gift, and it is completely authentic and powerful. My wife Sylvia moves in this gift. When praying for someone, if I see an image, I just slow down and explain what I am seeing and they usually know what it means. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes the Holy Spirit will speak to us through them.

Audibly: In my life, one of the rarest ways that He has ever spoken to me, was audibly. This happened many times in the Bible, but as far as I know, He has spoken to me once in an audible voice and I heard it just as if someone was speaking to me through my ears.

That Still Small Voice: Many times the Lord has spoken to me through that still small voice that speaks to our inner conscience.

Circumstances: Many times the Lord will speak to us through our circumstances. Sylvia and I were looking at buying another car once and as we were on the lot, we stopped and prayed about it, but we only heard silence. Later it occurred to us that we only needed to look at our checking account for the answer. We did not have enough money in it to buy that car, and we don’t do debt. We had the answer.

Confirming His word: In Matthew 18:16 (NKJV) Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 19:15 and said “that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” No one could be tried on the word of one man, but it took two to three witnesses testifying against him. This is a good rule to go by. God is more than able to confirm His word to you, so be in no hurry. If you suddenly feel led to sell your home and move to Timbuktu, wait for a confirmation first.

Many years ago, the a prophet told me that the Lord had a calling on my life and that I would be in ministry one day, that I would be a teacher. I visited another church, and got almost the same word from the pastor there, that I would be a teacher. A prophet came through our town from out of state and he gave me a word like the first two, that I would be a teacher. Now its years later and here I am, teaching. See how it works?

About 2006, we went on a fast for seven days. On the last day of the fast, I went into my prayer room to pray for a while. Now we had already planned our breakfast for the following morning and knew just what we were going to eat. We were done, the fast was over. As I was praying, I began to hear that still small voice whisper “10 days.” I flipped open my Bible and it opened to Jeremiah 42:7 “And it happened after ten days that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.” I was stubborn, hungry, and I ignored it. I came out of my room, my wife, Sylvia, came out of hers and we sat down at the kitchen table to discuss what we had heard during our prayer time, like we did each morning. She began and said: “I think the Lord is telling me that we should fast 10 days…” My stomach growled…

We extended the fast to 10 days, and it was rough. The first 7 days had been graceful, but the last 3 became very difficult. On the 10nth day, my son who had not spoken to me in over a year, drove up in the yard to see me. The following week was Thanksgiving and the family got together at my brother’s house. It turned into a prayer meeting. Sylvia and I anointed one with oil and prayed for them, and another lined up behind them. Soon we had a prayer line going. We would touch them, and they would crumple to the floor in tears. Soon there were people laying all over the living room. I have never seen such before or since.

God longs to speak to us, to use us to bring comfort and encouragement to those around us. It is not just for Pastor’s. It is a gift for everyone. All of God’s people are supposed to hear His voice and to walk in His anointing. We are His hands and feet on the earth and people that need His touch are all around us. What are you going to do about it? I just hope to inspire you to pray and listen for Him speaking. To be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and not write off everything that you don’t yet understand.

There are so many more ways that He speaks to us, and I have just touched on the edge of it. A mentor of mine saw small bright lights. Example: He would see a light on someone’s shoulder, and the Holy Spirit would proceed to tell him that they once had surgery there and still had scar tissue that needed to be healed. Then he would touch them and pray, and they would be healed. I saw it operate a hundred times while on the road with him, in restaurants, houses, and in churches across the country. Once someone brought him a map of piece of land and wanted to know where to drill for a well. The well digger had told them there was no chance of finding water. A light appeared on the map, they drilled there and hit an underground river. That was his gift, it was the way that the Lord spoke to him.

One friend of ours sees full open visions about people. He can describe the curtains in their house, the people inside talking, and what they are talking about. That is the way that the Holy Spirit speaks to him. It is a bit of a funny story. He was once a satanist, then when he began seeking Jesus, he had mysterious dreams that he didn’t understand. So he told the Lord “If you want me to understand what You are saying, then you are going to have to do better than that!” After that he began walking right into a full-blown vision where it is like he is standing in the room with them while it is happening around him. Another friend see’s like 8mm movie clips running above people’s heads when the Holy Spirit begins speaking, and his words are right on target. Another one sees words appears on people’s shirts, and when he just reads what he sees there, they fall under the power of the Spirit.

Each of us are unique, and God has so many ways that He speaks to us. Learn to listen for the ways that He is speaking to you and grow in it.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and establish a clear line of communication with me. Reveal the gifts in my life and teach me to use them. Speak to me clearly and in a way that I understand. I want to hear You speak, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

I hope that this message has spoken to you. That is what I had to share. Thank you for being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries.