Hearing from Him

"And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever~the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know Him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by the Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:16-21

    When I had my small group of  girls, the sweet beautiful girls that are now in college, I remember they begin to wonder how to hear God's voice?  They had questions like" how do you know it is Him you are hearing....not your own wishful thinking....not our enemy....... sometimes I don't hear anything from Him as much as I pray! "  So, that led us to do a study entitled just that ~  How to Hear from God, by Joyce Meyer.   Preachers aren't the only people God speaks to.....it is just a matter of learning to recognize His voice.  I am so thankful that God led us to do that study......while He was teaching them, He was teaching me.....and being able to recognize Him anytime, but especially, in the midst of a storm, is priceless!  

      Joyce Meyer states that "God speaks to us in a number of ways. These ways include, but are not limited to: His Word ( The Bible), nature, people, circumstances, peace, wisdom, supernatural intervention, dreams, visions, and what we call the inner voice."  THE INNER VOICE IS BEST DESCRIBED AS A 'KNOWING' DEEP INSIDE.  I believe this is also the 'still, small voice' that is described in 1 Kings 19:12. "   In 1 Kings it states : "The Lord said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elija heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."  

             For me, this still, small voice is the most common way He speaks to me.  This is when it gets confusing sometimes though ~ is it my own wishful thinking or really Him?  When this happens, I look at : 1. does it align with what He says in the Bible 2. Is there a peace that comes 3.And ,  I ask a spiritual mentor or friend for their wisdom.  Once I began to hear His still, small voice, it became easier and easier to recognize it and it wasn't as difficult to know when it is truly Him.  I will say that God's voice has always been loving and peaceful.....even when He is telling me something I don't want to hear! :-) Never has it been condemning or angry.  It is such a comforting peace.
    
Joyce Meyer : " How can we know that it is God speaking to us?  Three things happen:
        1.  We are filled with faith that God is going to do something wonderful in our life~we may not fully understand what that 'something' is, but we are filled with simultaneous feelings of expectation and thanksgiving.
       2.  We have a new awareness of God's presence with us.
       3.  We are led into a new level in our relationship with God.   Our hearing from God is rooted in our having a relationship with Him.  We communicate with God through our spirit~our spirit intuitively senses God's presence and receives revelation when there is a better way to do something. Our conscience is also a part of our spirit. When our spirit is made alive to the awareness of God, we can achieve fellowship with Him and receive answers from Him through our intuition and conscience. Our spirit and soul should work together, and the body should act as a servant to both." 
        
  This last week or so, my mom has been coming in my room and praying with me every morning.  She has been asking God for his guidance and wisdom in the way that I should go for my health problems.  Although I have been praying over these years, and asking, I was getting weary.  I guess the timing was right....because once she started praying, I began to see God opening doors and confirming the path that I should take.  I am thankful that He has been so generous with bringing people into my life to show me the way.......I am thankful He taught me and my girls how to recognize Him.   I am thankful for the peace that He brings, especially in the midst of this storm.  I pray that you, too, will know this peace.  "~ The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you......" 2 Chronicles 15:2    ~"But in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them." 2 Chronicles 15:4   ~ "I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me find Me." Proverbs 7:17  ~ "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, 'declares the Lord' and will bring you back from captivity." Jeremiah 29:13-14.
    The following is a suggested prayer from Joyce Meyer.  I will try to make it my own each day, and seek Him with all my heart.  


"God, open my ears and sanctify them so that I am sensitive to Your voice. Don't let me be distracted by desires that keep me from hearing You. Help me to listen and to learn to love times of solitude with You.  Don't let me become so busy or live a life so 'noisy' that it drowns out what You desire to say to me. Amen."   Much Love to everyone!