Tuning in to God

God talks to us all the time.All of us are hearing impaired.

The Holy Spirit is talking to you.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

John 16:12-15

Is it true that You are thinking of me?

17 How precious to me are your thoughts,God!

How vast is the sum of them!18 Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand—

when I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

Objectives

Find out 7 ways to hear from God (some of which you have already experienced).

Know how to recognize the voice of God. Practice asking God open-ended questions. Hear from God today.

Credits

Brad Jersak, author of CAN YOU HEAR ME?

Ministry Associate, Listening Prayer Community and Fresh Wind Ministries, Abbotsford, BC Canada

Rachel Stolberg

My Sheep Hear My Voice

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

John 10:2-5

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

God's Phone Number 33:3

2 “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name:

3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Jeremiah 33:2-3

A Hearing Heart

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

1 Kings 3:5, 8-9

Hearing Heart = Wisdom

11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

1 Kings 3:11-13

Ways We Hear from God1. INVITATION

44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.

John 6:44-47

2. SCRIPTURE

3. TEACHERS

4. WORSHIP

5. CONVICTION OF RIGHT AND WRONG

8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

John 16:8-11

6. A BURDEN FOR OTHERS

7. PROMPTING

Pay particular attention to those spontaneous thoughts that come unexpectedly.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH1. MESSENGERS

Authors Teachers Prophets Evangelists Musicians Testimonies Angels Children The occasional donkey or shrubbery

2. COINCIDENCES Matthew 9:20 Matthew 17:3 Matthew 19:16 Mark 1:23 John 4:27 Acts 10 Genesis 29:9 Numbers 11:33 1 Kings 1:22

3. SYMBOLS

4. PARABLES

5. THAT STILL SMALL VOICE

1 Samuel 3 1 Kings 19:11-13

6. An Occasional LOUD VOICE

Isaiah 8:11 Psalm 29:3-9 Matthew 3:17 Matthew 17:5 John 12:28

7. SEEING

BEHOLD – to look, to pay attention

LO – Surprise!

LO AND BEHOLD – Wow! Check it out!

Improving the Signal to Noise Ratio

God veils himself.12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then

face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

How Much Noise is in Your Life?

Clearing out the Noise

10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10

A Brad Jersak story

10:30 pm, Moonless night, transmission dead on a mountain road.

You might want to get right off the highway for the next vehicle.

All the way off?Yes, all the way off.

80 mph

Open the Door

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Revelation 3:20, 22

Open the Door

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

Revelation 4:1

PRACTICE

Ask God open-ended questions.

Being an Instrument of God

PURE Hollow resonant chamber : your heart Not sharp or harsh

RESPONSIVE Lively Not Fluttering

A LIFE-LONG PURSUIT

Stradivarius

Location: Cremona, Italy, on the Po River 140 miles upstream of Venice.

The wood: Medieval Little Ice Age Close Grained, Dense Government Controlled Slimy fungus sucked the life out of the cells. Thin cell wall Treated with Tender Loving Care Resonant on a cellular level