Introduction: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing From God

It was Sunday, July 1, 2018. I had been struggling in my writing session for hours in my living room, so I knew I had to leave the house. Starbucks was my refuge.

When I got into my good writing groove at Starbucks, I opened my Bible to search out scriptures to include in my writing. I flipped and flipped and was getting pretty excited because the Lord was showing me exactly where to go to grab what I needed. I was looking to make one more point before my writing session would be over for the day, and I eventually landed in the book of John, chapter 15, where my eyes went directly to a scripture that I've read a kazillion times. In the latter part of verse 15, Jesus says, "...for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

It was like the words jumped off of the page and began to speak. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, "There are so many who don't know that I am speaking to them. There are so many who want to hear my voice, but they need to know that they CAN hear my voice. There are so many who don't know if it's my voice they're hearing or if it's that of a stranger. I've just said, clearly, that what I hear from the Father, I make known to them (those who are mine)."

He told me to go on Facebook and ask if there was anyone who wanted to hear God's voice. He told me to ask if there was anyone who wanted to hear His voice more clearly. The post was already written in my head before I could even close my Bible! He told me to invite those who were interested to a 14-Day Class/Workshop/Whatever We Want To Call This Thing of learning to hear His voice.

I didn't know how He was going to structure it. I didn't know how it was gonna be done. All I knew was that if I did what He said to do, He'd show me how to get it done.

And He did!

For 14 days, the Lord gave me specific scriptures, messages, videos, and studies to share with the participants. We had an amazing time, and those who gave themselves completely over to the Lord in those 14 days proclaimed that they were closer to Him at the end of the journey than they were when we started!

And here we are again! 

And if you know me, you know there's nothing I love more than allowing God to use me to help others know Him better. I'm honored to be on this journey with you, and I'm SO GLAD you're here.

So, today I'm going to challenge you to push past your feelings and MAKE TIME in your schedule to hear from the God who created you, who loves you like crazy, and who WANTS you to hear Him because He DESIRES to speak to you.

I'm telling you now that you're not always going to feel like setting the time aside to meet with God. There are going to be so many things vying for your attention because the enemy doesn't want you closer to God.

You will need to push past those feelings. Our feelings get us in trouble, so ignore them! Shut them down! (Read Galatians 2:20)

You will need to push past those distractions--social media, answering e-mails, the television, family requests that aren't life or death and don't need your immediate attention... Do what you need to do to get to God! He DESIRES to speak to you!

For the journey, you will need:

A Bible  - You need a bible that is easy for you to understand. I suggest the NLT or the AMP version. I'm going to ask that you not use your cell phone as your Bible because you WILL BE distracted. I don't care how strong you are or how determined you are in these 14 days, your phone will distract you when it's time to read and study. You'll actually need to write things in your Bible, so having actual pages is a plus. And there really is just something about "talking back to" the Word while you're reading it, writing on those pages and responding to the Lord as He talks to you.

A Journal - This doesn't have to be fancy. You don't need to go and purchase a $10 journal. You can get a spiral notebook. You can use a composition notebook. Shoot...you can get some loose leaf paper and staple it together, but you need a "notebook" of some kind that will be used specifically for this 14-day journey.

A Pen and/or Highlighter - You will be writing in your Bible. You will be writing in your journal. You can highlight where you feel is necessary, if you feel it's necessary, because you may want to remember certain scriptures to revisit later. You may feel the need to highlight in your journal too, if there's something you want to revisit there.

Internet Access - You will access your daily assignments here on my blog. There may be videos to watch that are linked to YouTube or Facebook or some other site online. You may need to visit an online Bible to look at a verse in another version, but again, try not to use an online Bible as your main study tool.

Join the Private Facebook Group - Everyone who is on the 14-day journey will receive encouragement and daily reminders about assignments through the Facebook group. And can I just say... THERE IS POWER IN ACCOUNTABILITY! I don't know how people live their lives without it.

Something about being on the journey with others will push you when you don't feel like pushing through. Deciding to partner with someone to help you on days when it's tough is a blessing. Let the Facebook group be that for you.

In the event that there is a glitch in the blog system or I need to reroute us for the day (the Holy Spirit will have His way), I can make an announcement to the group. If ever He wants to say anything LIVE, the capability is there. This is also a good tool because should you have any questions, you can ask me (or others in the group), directly.

***You will get a personal invite to the group.***

I'm excited about this journey with you.
I will be stretching with you.
I will be making time with you.

I want to hear God's voice more clearly for myself, but more importantly, for the 14-day journey, I want to hear His voice FOR YOU! I want to guide you by His leading. It's my prayer that you will hear Him more clearly than you ever have, and that you won't stop communing with Him after the 14th day. I pray your conversations never cease!

Let's get ready to dive in! I'm SO ready to hear all He has to say!

-Iantha

Day 14: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

It's our last day together, so I wanted to close out the journey talking about the very last item on our list of ways we hear from God.

How Do We Hear from God ?

1. spoken word from preachers and teachers of the Word / church
2. reading and studying God's Word
3. talking to God and quieting ourselves to let Him talk to us (prayer)
4. convictions (the tugging at our hearts, the push and pull in our spirits)
5. fellowship with other believers
6. warning and foresight, spoken directly to our spirits 

Essentially, in many cases, warning and foresight end up going hand in hand, and to be clear, before we move on, let's define warning and foresight. Dictionary.com defines the two this way:

warning - something that serves to give notice or caution
foresight - knowledge or insight gained by or as by looking forward; a view of the future

Keeping those definitions in mind, let's open up this installment with a story from the Bible. Read Genesis 40.

You don't have to write the answers to the following questions in your journal, but before we move on, think through each of the questions to make sure you understand what we just read. 

1. Who had the dream?
2. Who interpreted the dream?
3. Was the dream a warning? A foretelling? Both?
4. What, specifically, did Joseph say in verse 8 about interpretations of dreams?

God gave warnings and foresight through dreams in Bible days, and He's still doing it today. I know because I'm a dreamer, and God has been VERY clear with me in most of the interpretations of those dreams. Sometimes I know the moment I wake up what He's saying to me, and other times, it takes time for it to be revealed. One thing is for sure though: When He gives me the dream and I earnestly pray and seek Him for its meaning, He reveals.

Just as Joseph said in the text, all interpretation is from God. When God sends a dream, He's the interpreter. He's the giver of the dream, so He'll be the giver of its meaning. There are stories upon stories in the Bible of God speaking to His people through dreams, and there are stories upon stories of people today who are hearing from the Lord through dreams. And this, in my eyes, is one of the coolest ways God speaks to our hearts. He has our full attention when we're asleep because we're not engaged in the hustle and bustle of our days. And sometimes, because we are so busy with the hustle and bustle, God has to speak to us this way because He is determined to have us hear what He wants to say to our hearts. (If that's not love, I don't know what is!)

I learned a lot (and am learning a lot) about dreams and the way God gives warning and foresight through dreams from Dr. Joe Ibojie. If you're a dreamer and your dreams tell stories in a sense, meaning you can recall the events rather clearly, no matter how weird those events are or how fragmented they may be, 9 times out a 10, those dreams came from the Lord. (I've been in a flying bus before that landed on water and everyone who was on the bus had to swim out into the water that was a wall leading up to the sky kind of like an aquarium, but with no walls. CRAZY! But the Lord was speaking a VERY CLEAR message.)

Dr. Ibojie helped me understand the symbolism that God uses when He speaks through dreams because God still speaks in parables and illustrations like He did through Jesus in Bible days. When I take the dreams to the Lord with a clearer understanding of how He speaks through the symbols and illustrations, I can pray a little more boldly and thoughtfully for Him to show me what He's saying.

God can send a warning or give foresight directly to your spirit too. It doesn't have to come through a dream. When we are in constant communication with the Lord through prayer and the reading and studying of His word, He speaks to us in the quiet of our spirits.

I was in college and I had been saved maybe a year. I was in God's face for hours at a time every day because I was hungry to learn of Him. I remember one day having to leave my quiet time with the Lord to go and have my car serviced. If I didn't get up and go soon, I would miss the window of time for them to take my car that day. If I missed that window of time, I would have to wait until the next day, but the next day I would be leaving town, so I had to get up. 

On my way to the Wal-Mart Auto Department, I remember getting words in my thoughts to tell a man if he asked me if I was dating anyone. It was the weirdest thing because it literally came out of nowhere. I had a rundown of what to say if I was asked and what to say if his response to my answer was "this", or if his response to my answer was "that". I didn't think anything of it. I just kept it in my "back pocket". 

While my car was being serviced, I walked the Wal-Mart aisles to pick up a few things, and while on one aisle, I was approached by a guy. He made small talk about what I had picked up from one of the shelves, and in almost the same breath, he asked me if I was dating anyone. I was cool, calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside I was about to die of shock! This was one of the first times I had received foresight from the Lord spoken directly to my spirit! He had literally prepared me, minutes prior, for that encounter. He had told me what would be asked of me and He told me how to respond. Y'all, it literally blew my mind!

I had another instance not long after that one when the Lord told me I would be getting a check in the mail. I didn't know who it would be from or that it would be for $1,000 to go toward the tuition for my post-graduate intern studies, but everything in me knew when I was walking to that mailbox that there was a check in there for me. I wasn't even expecting anyone to send me anything because I was already done with gathering all of my funds for the internship and had already determined with my parents what we would have left to pay since all of the contributions had already come in. I was so sure that there was a check in the mail that day that I was already in tears by the time I made it to the mailbox. He had made me so sure of it and told me to expect it! I was more in awe of His foresight than I was the check. He had blown my mind yet again! 

God can give you a warning or give you foresight through a dream, or He can speak directly to your spirit. The same way you "heard" God through the push and pull of conviction in your spirit is the same way you'll "hear" from God when He wants to warn you or give you foresight of something to come. Don't ignore it. It's so important that you hear what He has to say. If you have dreams, write them down. When you go back to look at the patterns of how God speaks to you in dreams, that can help with interpretation down the line. It has certainly helped me. 

The Assignment

1. Grab and date your journal.
2. Answer the following questions, knowing that it's God who's asking you. When you respond, respond like you're talking to God.
• After doing today's installment, do you believe I've ever spoken to you in a dream?
• If so, what was one of those dreams? Write it down.
• Do you remember a time when I sent you a warning or foresight directly to your spirit?
• If so, give me an example.
• Now, stop writing and let's talk. Do you desire for me to speak to you in dreams and/or more clearly directly to your spirit? You're no different from Joseph or Iantha or anyone else I speak to in these ways. If this is what you desire, ask me, and I will do it. If you desire to hear my voice, learn of me (in prayer and through my word), and you will learn my voice. I'm always talking. I'm looking forward to having your ear. 

I know this is our final installment, but I will have one last word for you all tomorrow just to kinda close things up. It's been quite a journey!

I'm praying for you.

-Iantha

Day 13: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

We've been talking for 12 days about the blessing that's ours as a result of being in relationship with Jesus. We get to hear directly from God by way of the Holy Spirit. We've talked about the different ways we hear from God, and we've even seen some practical ways to tune our ears to His voice, so now, before we talk about the last way to hear from God, let's take time to practice applying what we've learned. The journey was designed for us  to hear His voice, so now let’s  MAKE the time and put ourselves in the position for Him to speak to our hearts. 

The Assignment

1. Grab your Bible. Date your journal.
2. Pray and ask God to open your spiritual eyes to see His Word like you've never seen it before. Ask Him to illuminate your understanding. Thank Him for living in you and speaking to you. Thank Him for this time that's dedicated to just you and Him, and thank Him for being completely tuned into you.
3. Take this time to pray about what's on your heart. Just talk to the Lord like you would talk to your significant other or a friend. Let it all out. 
4. Then, read Proverbs 10:4, 12:24, 12:27, 18:9, and  6:6-11(use verses 10 and 11 for the 'S' in SOAP).
5. Follow the SOAP method to interact with God's Word today. This is you TALKING to Him. You're in conversation with Him when you're responding to His Word.
6. After you've prayed (the 'P' in SOAP), set a timer for 7 minutes, and sit in silence, but keep your mind focused on what you just studied. Keep your journal open. Should anything come to you, write it down. 

I'm praying for you.

-Iantha

Day 12: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

How Do We Hear from God ?

1. spoken word from preachers and teachers of the Word / church
2. reading and studying God's Word
3. talking to God and quieting ourselves to let Him talk to us (prayer)
4. convictions (the tugging at our hearts, the push and pull in our spirits)
5. fellowship with other believers
6. warning and foresight, spoken directly to our spirits 

Some years ago, I was the first to admit that I heard from God least in fellowship. And it's not because He doesn't speak when I'm in fellowship with other believers. He DEFINITELY does. But I didn't hear from Him because I didn't fellowship with other believers as often as I probably could have, or as often as I should have. It was an area that the Lord was showing me needed to change. 

He was showing me how vital relationships are and how necessary community is. He challenged me in my Godly relationships so I can grow, and since then, I have grown TREMENDOUSLY and have gained some relationships that have changed me and push me closer to Him. 

And I'm convinced that no matter where you stand with your comfort level in close Godly relationships and Godly community, you can definitely still grow. As I shared with you all at the top of the journey, God is still stretching and developing me in this area. Every day I'm learning and growing.

Often, when God and I are talking about relationships, He reminds me of the early church in the book of Acts (we visited this earlier in the journey). He has shown me, on many occasions, how powerful it is when we have others to lean on and when we can learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)

And when He speaks to me about fellowship and community, He always reminds me of Hebrews 10:25. It reads, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Many think that that only means meeting together at church to get instruction and to grow in our knowledge of God's Word, but it doesn't. It means gathering together with believers, period. Whenever we can get together to encourage one another or to simply just hang out and love on one another, that is the "meeting together" this verse implies.  And we all need it.

*****

God has shown me how much we miss out on when we don't fellowship with other believers. I know when I'm just hanging out with my sisters, they make me want to be better. I see them walking it out for the Lord and it makes me want to walk stronger. I hear their stories of how they've overcome challenges and obstacles, and it reminds me that I can overcome. God uses fellowship with other believers to speak to us and build us, so don't forsake it. We need each other. We really, really do.

You've probably heard the saying, "No man is an island (entirely of itself)." It's true. We hurt ourselves when we try to live outside of community. 

When we are in relationship with others, we become mirrors to one another. They can sometimes see things that we don't see until we "look into them". They're God's agents to help us, and you're His agent to help them. Close, Godly relationships and Godly community are NECESSARY.

This is an area that I feel least qualified to speak on, but I want to share with you who has helped me better understand Godly relationships and community, and who has challenged me like nobody's business to step up my game in making myself more present in my community (close Godly relationships).

The Assignment

1. Grab your Bible. Date your journal.
2. Watch this message: The Roller Coaster of Godly Relationships
3. Take notes while you watch.
4. Talk back to the Lord in your journal. What is the Lord saying to you and your heart about fellowship and community?

Some Practical Ways to Build Relationships / Foster Community

1. Push yourself to invite one of your friends out to do something that neither of you has done. This way you have a memory of a new experience to share.
2. If you have a church home that has cell groups, small groups, or an equivalent, GET INVOLVED and intentionally get to know people who you've never talked to.
3. If you have a church home that has women's fellowship activities or men's fellowship activities, commit to attending at least one a month. While at the events, strike up conversation with someone you don't know well.
4. Invite a friend over to your home for dinner.
5. Invite a friend on a day trip to do something you both will enjoy.

Testimony (I wrote this 5 years ago, but it's still relevant.) 
I was planning to go to dinner alone because honestly, that's how I like to roll. I enjoy my quiet. I was planning to bring some papers to grade and just relax at one of the restaurant's outside tables. And the Holy Spirit stopped me in my tracks with that plan. He told me to invite some of my sisters to join me.

I'm in a group chat with about 10 of my sisters from church, and can I tell you that, generally, I abhor group texts! OH MY GOD! I don't even know who put me in the group, and at first, I almost asked whoever included me to remove me, but I decided to stay. And I thank God I did! Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that I needed it, and every day--STILL--I'm grateful to be in communication with them.

I listened to the Holy Spirit and offered to have dinner with anyone in the group chat who could come. Only one was able to come (and another one met us at the very end of the dinner), but God knew just what He was doing. It was time well spent that opened up the door to a girls' trip.

More relational opportunities will blossom from the times you spend with the people you were intentional about engaging, and before you know it, you will have people in your life who will be there consistently enough to be the iron that sharpens your iron, and vice versa. And that's what the Lord desires. 

We NEED fellowship with other believers.
We NEED fellowship with other believers.
We NEED fellowship with other believers.
We NEED fellowship with other believers.

I'm praying for you.

-Iantha

Day 10 (and 11): A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

In your journal on Day 2, you wrote what was keeping you from spending daily quality time with the Lord and why that thing (those things) was keeping you from Him. You were real when you looked into your own heart. You were raw, and you were specific. 

Now... take a look today on Day 10. Is it still keeping you away?

If it isn't, GREAT!

If it is, still GREAT! You know why? 

Because our God is a loving God, and He sent me today to remind you that your time on this journey IS NOT over! He sent me to remind you to PUUUUUUSH! Push through to the end and shake shame, guilt, and condemnation right off of you! 

Shame, guilt and condemnation ARE NOT His desire for you! His desire is for you to desire Him!

If you're getting a little weary with the day-to-day routine, PUSH!
If you're feeling like you've missed too much, PUSH!
If you're feeling ashamed for not being consistent, PUSH!
If you're feeling like you're not hearing from Him, PUSH!
If you've been enjoying every day and getting what you need, PUSH!


Testimony
I know the cycle all too well. Trust me. I know what it is to feel like the scum of the earth for letting "it" (whatever "it" is) stand between me and God. I'd tell myself that there really should be nothing that stands in the way of me MAKING TIME to be with the Lord, and I would feel bad every time I looked up and realized I hadn't been talking to Him, or that I hadn't been looking into His word to hear from Him. 

Every time I was away for a while, I struggled with going back because I was ashamed about going to Him to "start all over again."

I've been there time and time again in my walk with the Lord, y'all, so I can tell you that it's not worth it to stay away because you feel like you've hurt the heart of God (because essentially, that's what's happening within you). You don't feel worthy to sit at His feet to receive from Him. You don't feel worthy to bring your cares before Him because "who am I to come crying to you with my issues and my stuff when I haven't even so much as spoken to you for weeks?"

Mmmm hmmm... I know. I'm telling you, I know.

But trust me when I say that it's a trick of the enemy! If the enemy can make you think that you don't deserve to go to the Lord, or that the Lord won't hear you or speak to you because you've been away, then you'll stay away and that only ends up hurting you in the end.

When you realize that you've been away too long, PUUUUUUUUSH and RUN TO HIM! 

If that's you today, run to Him. 

And if you find yourself there in the future, forsake all and run to Him.

MAKE TIME to sit with Him. Talk to Him. Dig into His word to hear from Him. Those are the times that He wants to hear from you most because He wants to love you back to Him. He's so good!

If you get nothing else out of today's installment, get this:

DON'T BE ASHAMED TO "START OVER", start fresh, begin again with Him. The shame should come in NOT starting over at all. There's honor in going before the Lord, with a spirit that's naked and unashamed and there's nothing better than a clean slate.

******

When I took this 14-Day Journey a few years ago and talked to that group about shaking off condemnation, God took me back to what I experienced in my own life and told me to write about it in a blog. I shared it with them, and I want to share it with you. 


The Assignment

1. Read the blog here: My Best Friend's Wedding
2. After you've read the blog, grab your bible and date your journal.
3. Read the following passage.
• Psalm 103:8-14
4. After you've read the passage, write a letter to yourself. You, the writer, are God, and you're talking to YOU. In the letter, summarize the thoughts and overall idea from the passage and encourage your child (you). Be sure to open the letter by addressing yourself by name.
5. For Day 11, check the Facebook group. You have an assignment that has to be completed tomorrow when you go to church.

I'm praying for you.

-Iantha

Day 9: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

I pray you're staying committed to not only checking in on the installments every day of the journey, but to completing your assignments as well. 

Consistency is key! Even if you take your time through the assignments, like two days to complete one assignment, just be consistent in showing up those two days.

The Lord created the assignments with you in mind and wants to meet you at the desire of your heart (the desire HE placed in your heart) to hear from Him. Be sure to show up to receive from Him.  Don't miss what He has for you on the journey. 

• Push past your feelings. 
• Fight to get to that secret place every day, and MAKE the time to sit at His feet. 
• He really, really wants to meet you there. 

Let's continue dissecting the ways we hear from God.

How Do We Hear from God ?

1. spoken word from preachers and teachers of the Word / church
2. reading and studying God's Word
3. talking to God and quieting ourselves to let Him talk to us (prayer)
4. convictions (the tugging at our hearts, the push and pull in our spirits)
5. fellowship with other believers
6. warning and foresight, spoken directly to our spirits 

Today's focus will be convictions.

When I was preparing for today's installment I asked the Lord to give me a clear explanation of what a conviction is, and He said, "When our flesh wants what our spirit does not agree with, and the Lord reminds us that what we want in that moment is no good for us, we have what's called conviction in our hearts." This is that push and pull in our spirits that our sister, Priscilla Shirer, explained in the video on our first day of the journey. It's that tug of war we experience when our flesh wants to do what we know doesn't please God.

Paul explains it well in Romans 7, and before we move on, we need to give that passage a look.

Assignment, Part 1

1. Grab your Bible. Date your journal.
2. Read Romans 7:15-25.
3. In your own words, summarize what Paul is saying in this passage.
4. Explain the most recent time you experienced what Paul is describing. Did your flesh win, or did your spirit win?

All Believers Experience Conviction
When we did our personal inventories on the first day of the journey, 100% of you said that you've experienced the push and pull in your spirit, which is evidence of the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you (not to be confused with your conscience). Anyone who is in relationship with Jesus Christ has the awesome privilege of having God speak to our hearts through conviction. His convictions warn us that we're about to enter into something that does not line up with His Word (that doesn't always happen with our conscience). We ALL (Spirit-filled believers) experience the battle that Paul described, and as long as we're living, we will. Every one of us.

Those times when we're feeling convicted, we really want to do the right thing because His Spirit living in us is perfect. The Holy Spirit wants us to do what God wants, but then our flesh wants to do something else because our flesh is not in relationship with Jesus. Our flesh never gave its life to the Lord; our spirit gave itself to the Lord. Our flesh is not saved, so it will constantly be in battle with the Holy Spirit. When you're feeling conviction, know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is God speaking to you.

Did you hear me? Read that last sentence again.


How is that so?

You have knowledge of His Word hidden in your heart (no matter how little or how much; you will experience conviction based on what you know of His word). You have knowledge of Him and His ways from the teaching you've been sitting under. God's Word has been made known to you, and so now, when that Word/knowledge of Him is being challenged, or when you face opposing situations where it's time to put that Word into action, God will speak to you through that tug in your heart and tell you to stand on His word. That tug in your heart is God telling you to silence the flesh and obey His Spirit (His Word).


When God Speaks to You Through Convictions...
Go in the opposite direction of the flesh! Go in the way of the Spirit! And you know what's flesh and what's spirit when you feel it. Every time I have gone the way of the flesh, I have been disappointed in myself because I know I hurt the heart of God. 

I've cried. 
I've lost money. 
I've lost time. 
I've lost sanity. 
Every time I have gone the way of the flesh, I have suffered some type of loss. 

His convictions do not lie! God wouldn't waste time tugging at your heart; He's talking to you for your own good. Don't waste time, don't lose money, don't give yourself an unnecessary headache for giving into your flesh. God is speaking to protect you. He is speaking to warn you. He is speaking to reward you. If you follow the flesh, you will regret it EVERY TIME. Heed the conviction, and be grateful that the Lord loves you enough to speak to your heart with that tug. He ain't speakin' to everybody. #blessed

Assignment, Part 2

1. Continuing in your journal entry for today, read Romans 8:5-14.
2. In your own words, summarize what this passage is saying. 
3. Then, "talk back to the Lord" and tell Him what you believe this passage AND the Romans 7 passage are saying to you for YOUR life.
   

Assignment, Part 3

Yesterday, Nicole gave us a very practical way to practice hearing from God in silence. I've found that I hear more from Him in the silence after I've studied the Word. So, since you have spent time in Romans 7 and 8 today and you've talked back to the Lord in your journal, now is the time to lift up a final prayer, maybe about today's lesson, or whatever may be on your heart. Then, set a timer for 7 minutes and sit in silence to have Him talk back to you. 

I'm praying for you.

-Iantha

Day 8: A 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God

Whew! This journey is GOOD!

We are smack dab in the middle of talking about specific ways to hear from God. I want to provide you with as much practicality as I can to show you how to tune your ear to His voice. We're learning that we hear from God through...

1. spoken (taught) word from preachers and teachers of the Word / church
2. reading and studying God's Word
3. talking to God and quieting ourselves to let Him talk to us (prayer)
4. convictions (the tugging at our hearts, the push and pull in our spirits)
5. fellowship with other believers
6. warning and foresight, spoken directly to our spirits 

Today's focus will be talking to God and quieting ourselves to let Him talk to us.

This is PRAYER.

In an earlier installment, I shared a couple devotionals that I use (and have used) in my quiet time. When I shared Drawing Close to God: 365 Days of Daily Devotionals & Prayer by my sister-friend, Nicole Atkinson, immediately, God told me to ask her to be our special guest blogger today to talk about prayer. I didn't hesitate! 

My sister prays! 

And I know her. I know her life. I know she sits before the Lord. I know He speaks to her and through her. And I trust her to hear from Him to share with us today.

Help me welcome Nicole!

My, my, my! I could say so much about prayer because I just love it so! Our big brother Jesus tells us “my temple will be called a house of prayer” (Mark 11:17). We are the temple of God. Therefore, we should be a house of prayer, meaning prayer should be a natural part of our daily routine. I often say prayer is the gateway to heaven.  It gives us direct access to God. We have to think about the original intent God had for mankind. When God thought to create the earth and place humans in the earth, He did it in a manner where we would have open access to Him. Just like with any human relationship, without communication there is no relationship.

The very first thing God taught me to do as a young Christian was to PRAY. He literally would tell me to turn off the radio every time I was in the car and He would say, “Open your mouth and speak to me.” Of course, I obeyed, and what a benefit it has been even until this day.

Prayer is a gift from God.

Just think about it like this: God knows every day of our lives before any of them appear. He has predestined us for greatness. How, then, are we supposed to know what is on the heart of God if we don’t commune with Him? I'm so happy you asked. The bible commands that we pray. My pastor says all the time, "God is not going to waste His time in telling us to do something that is not beneficial." (God doesn’t waste time).

There are benefits in prayer, like I stated before. God isolated me and literally taught me how to pray. There is something special about getting quiet before God. You’re going to have to set aside time to just sit and talk with God.

SILENCE is key.

I know, I know... We are all busy, but as the saying goes, “We make time for what we want.” So ask yourself, "Do I want what God has for me, which yields kingdom purpose, or do I want what my flesh wants, which yields vain things?" Prayer will have to become a choice that you make on a daily basis. I believe you want to know how to pray and to pray effectively, hence the journey you are taking to hear from God.

To begin your journey in hearing more clearly from God through prayer is to follow the example Jesus gave in the Bible. 

Did you know that Jesus' disciples asked Him many questions but they only asked Him to teach them one thing, and that was how to PRAY?

I believe they saw the power associated with prayer and wanted to be like Jesus, and so they asked. When Jesus walked the earth He prayed at times for 40 days straight, all night and in seclusion.  (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 6:12; Luke 5:16).

When Jesus would come out of prayer, miracles would take place. He stated, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19). Jesus was so focused on kingdom business, and He knew apart from talking to God on a consistent basis, He could not fulfill His kingdom purpose. This is the call for each of us, to commune with God for our kingdom purpose.

Here’s how Jesus taught His disciples to pray: 

Matthew 6:9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

(v9) Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

·         Always open your prayer with honor and thanksgiving to God as our Father and ruler of the universe. This shows reverence (respect) and it acknowledges Him as Supreme ruler of all things (keeps us humble).

(v10) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

·        God’s will is perfect for our lives. He tells us to pray daily at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:17). When we ask Him for His will to be done in the earth as it is in heaven, we are saying “God, do what you have already planned for my life this day.” That’s a perfect place to be, as we know His plans for us are for our good. We are dying to ourselves and allowing God to have full control and use us for His glory (our reason for living).

(v11) Give us this day our daily bread.

·         We are asking God to prepare us for the day ahead. Spending time in God’s presence through prayer will allow God to reveal things to us that will equip us for the day. For instance, God knows the challenges we’ll face day to day. So, if on a particular day He knows we are going to get fired from our job, He will have us to study and read about faith. When we receive news of being fired we are anchored in the Lord because we would have spent time with God. Through our communion, He revealed to us that our faith is in Him and the blow of being fired is not devastating. Our faith will sustain us. He loads us daily with benefits (Psalm 68:19.) If we don’t ask, we miss out.  (DON’T MISS OUT!!)

(v12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

·        This keeps us humble before the throne of grace. None of use are perfect in the sense that we will never make a mistake. God is loving, kind, and patient and willing and waiting to forgive us of all of our sins. It is imperative that we come and ask Him for forgiveness and to give us the will power to forgive others.

(v13a) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

·         We know evil is all around us. We need God to keep us from the evil one. He will do it as we seek Him and put on His entire armor daily (Ephesians 6:11-18). The devil looks for opportunities to trick God’s people, and one of the ways he has easy access is in the lives of believers who don’t commune with God. God has delivered us from the snares of the enemy. We have to accept it and talk with God daily to know what lies ahead, and we must use our spiritual weapons to combat the enemy's tactics. One of these weapons is prayer. 

(13b) For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

·         We close out the prayer believing God has all power, and we receive what we ask in prayer.  God created us for His glory and made a covenant with us which includes over 6,000 promises in the bible (not to mention the things He reveals to us during our secret time with Him.) He intends for us to walk out our purpose in life and we do this through believing and receiving His divine Word. Amen by definition means “So be it.”

The Lord’s Prayer, found in Matthew 6 and Luke 11, is a guide for praying and hearing from God. Everything we will ever pray can be summed up in the manner in which Jesus teaches us to pray:

1.      Give Honor to God.

2.      Seek His will. (LISTEN TO HIS VOICE)

3.      Ask for provision, supplication, make requests.

4.      Ask for forgiveness/forgive others.

5.      Pray for protection to be kept from evil/ preparation for the day.

6.      Believe God’s will, will be done/ Receive what you have asked for.

Testimony
God has answered EVERY prayer I have ever prayed. This is not because I have some kind of special power. I follow the commands and principles taught in the Bible. God wants to commune with us. Just as in any relationship without communication, the relationship will lack tremendously. We have to spend time with God.  As I was learning to pray and hear from God, I would attend every prayer service there was at my local church. This taught me how much God loved me and wanted to hear from me. The more I prayed, the more God revealed Himself to me, and I found delight in being in His presence.

Some Practical Was to Hear from God in Prayer

1.      Pray the Word in faith.
      God’s Word will never return to Him void (Isaiah 55:10-11). There is a scripture for every situation we will ever encounter in life. We live in the age of Google. If I am dealing with a challenge in finances I will Google scriptures for finances and pray those scriptures. openbibleinfo.com and biblegateway.com are great resources for topic-based scriptural references. Have faith that what you pray for God will provide according to His will.

2.      Listen to the Spirit.

The Spirit sounds like your voice. When you hear that pull on your heart that something is out of balance, it's time to talk to God. It doesn’t matter if it's 2 seconds or 2 hours! Open your mouth and pour your heart out to God. Jeremiah 12:1 tells us that God is righteous when we plead our cause to Him. It doesn’t matter how big or minute the concern may be. God is available to listen and will provide insight.

3.      Study the life of Jesus.

When Jesus prayed, He got results. Countless miracles took place. He was determined and consistent in prayer. He went to God and received God’s plan and then walked it out in the earth. We are no different. There are things God wants to get us to do in this earth and the only way to know what those plans are requires us to talk to God through prayer. Prayer is a lifestyle. Just think about it, you are praying to the God who created all things. What a privilege and honor! There is nothing too hard for Him.

4.      Incline your ear to hear.

Isaiah 55:3 says,  "Incline your ear, come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isaiah 55 talks about the blessing that is promised for those who seek God.  Incline in Hebrew means to listen, or pay attention. That means as we listen and pay attention to the voice of God, we will be blessed. This requires us to sit before God in silence and listen to what He is pouring out. (There is something so special about silence.)

5. Talk to God like the friend He is.

For me, I talk to God in a personal manner. For instance, if I’m having a bad day I’ll say, “ God I need you right now. This person is getting on my nerves,” or I tell God exactly how I am feeling. No formalities, just open communication. When we cultivate this type of relationship, prayer becomes natural. God is not looking for formality; He is looking for intimacy. We must be open and honest. The great thing about this is God does not condemn us. He listens with care and then responds with the best possible guidance to help us in every one of our cares.

Communicating openly with God (talking to Him and expecting Him to respond) gives you a new perspective. For example one time I was faced with an issue with someone whom I felt disrespected me and I was completely in my feelings and ready to do things that were unholy. I’m not talking about years ago, but recently. Thank God I knew how to pray. Instead of responding in my flesh, I kneeled down and said, “God you see this situation. I am about to react in my flesh. I am hurt and I want to act out of character.” 

Immediately He lead me to a specific scripture in Jeremiah 12:5 NIV "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?  In that moment God was saying, “Nicole you are tripping.” Hahahaha!! I immediately felt His peace. This scripture was telling me that if the insignificant things in life overwhelm me, how would I be able to handle the real issues of life? I was focused on something minute when there is more to life than worrying. We have power!! Jesus died so we can have victory over our emotions. Giving our cares to God in prayer helps us deal with life’s challenges with a God perspective.

The Assignment

1. For 5 days, set aside 7 minutes of uninterrupted time to spend in silence listening for the voice of God. You can maybe use the first or last 7 minutes of the time you set aside each day for this 14-Day Journey to Hearing from God. Literally set your stopwatch for seven minutes and sit in complete silence. Listen for the voice of God to tell you what to do. This will help you learn how to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He’ll show you what to do next.
2. After 5 days, increase your time adding in time for prayer and watch God move.
3. Forget not the personal concern that you have before the Lord. Talk to Him about it. Pray His word back to Him about it.

This intentional time set aside to hear from God will be so beneficial that it will become natural for you to spend more time with God in prayer, where you listen to His prompting. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear anything at first. Just wait. God is perfect and supreme. I know for me, if I don’t hear from God right away, He’ll show Himself through nature or through other forms of revelations throughout the day. God is near and He desires to speak to each of us DAILY.

Lastly, this is how important prayer is to God. Before we even form our lips to pray God has an answer. Isaiah 65:24 Even before they finish praying to me, I will answer their prayers. WOW!!! How awesome is that? Now image all of the things God has stored up for His children who are too busy to pray or who make excuses. God wants to bless us and it comes through relationship. We cannot have intimacy with God without prayer. Prayer requires that we listen and obey His commands. God has you on His mind. Seek Him daily. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I'm praying for you too.

-Nicole