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