God speaks to us in all kinds of ways – through people, His Word, through signs, miracles and many more ways. This article has been developed with the intention of expanding it to a wider series on Exercising Faith.

Context

Back at the end of March, at one of the weekly life-group meetings, we had a time of worship, prayer and hearing from God, followed by DBS on the passage of Luke 10:1-2. The way the hearing from God exercise was conducted saw us writing on blank sheets of paper what God laid on our heart. Each sheet of paper had a name written on it but was hidden from sight by the paper folds. In two cases, individuals ended up writing a word given to them from God and it ended up being for themselves. Before we unveiled the names and handed the messages to the person, we first shared the contents and also guessed who the word/message was for. During this exercise we operated in silence. Sometimes silence is good; but at other times when we have run the exercise, we play instrumental music, or once, I was playing and padding as part of a worship & prayer night.

Principles

Hearing from God has been an exercise that my life-group has been practising over the last year+. At its simplest, we come together and create a conducive environment where we can spend time in connection, individually and listen to God. Having first received teaching on the topic and activity, this is a skill that has great practical application and allows us to live out out faith and thus put knowledge into action. Part of the beauty in conducting this activity in our life-group setting and environment is that it is a completely safe atmosphere where we can each explore and test what we hear. One of the teachings was that sometimes the first thought that comes to mind is God prompted and inspired. The next thought, particularly of doubt and questioning whether that first thought was from Him is our natural selves working to undo what is from God. Only with regular practice can we develop confidence and ease with which to exercise our faith, trusting that what God has laid on our hearts is indeed from Him.

Sometimes, God inspires us through a text based channel: words and verses that we write down or type up. Other times, God can operate through a visual medium – planting an image in our mind, which we may then commit to paper by reproducing and drawing what we saw. Sometimes we experience visions or are sent dreams and prophecies that contain a message from God. God will use all kinds of ways to get our attention. Sometimes, there is the danger of the mindset where we see what we want to see. However, this mindset works both ways – sometimes we do not see what God would have us see because we just do not want to believe – this mindset may sometimes be typical of pre-Christians who are very young in faith and allow their self-doubt to become a stumbling block to growing in faith.

Other ways that we can learn to hear from God include more conceptual ideas. The best example here is the peace of mind and certainty that God gives us. When we align our will with His will, there is often a feeling of security, comfort and certainty – we are living according to His perfect will. After all, Colossians 3:15 states:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

One of the first teachings from 8-10 years ago was from a sermon where our then Senior Pastor explained that God always acts consistently. This principle is important for helping us know and receive validation that a particular message is from God. At its simplest, when God speaks, via the different channels, we can receive confirmation. It is one thing to hear God’s voice and receive a word or discern a thought. When we share it with others, or read the Word, invariably God will provide confirmation. When you share with close friends, brothers or sisters of the faith, often they can help validate that God has shared the same idea with them independently. In this way, you know that God is saying something. Anyone can easily claim “God told me X” but it has to always be consistent with the teachings of the Bible and ideally be confirmed by other people. The interesting thing about this is that typically a church and small group environment will, over time, develop characteristics of homogeneous thinking; we all start to think in a similar way. This can be dangerous too because, in the worst situations, a culture of yes-men may emerge, and that may not necessarily help.

There is no real secret to hearing from God ultimately. There are some key tips, behaviours and attitudes that will make the experience more conducive and effective, but ultimately those tips are about ensuring we are allowing our hearts and minds to be still in the presence of God, and giving Him the space to speak and communicate to us. Worship, prayer and meditation all help to prepare us for the experience of hearing from God because they all focus our attention on the one true audience – God himself. Quietening our hearts helps us to put things into a heavenly and eternal perspective; one where a Godly focus on life takes over.

Maintaining the balance is also a key challenge when practicing to hear from God. Hearing from God is not, in itself the main goal. It is but part of a bigger relationship we can have with our Lord and Saviour. Developing principles of spiritual maturity and discipline help focus our attention on the bigger picture. As part of the very loving nature of God (1 Corinthians 13:4 is the key verse here: Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud), learning to hear from God builds our character with patience. Sometimes, God will be silent and that is perfectly acceptable and plausible. Sometimes the answer from God is “not yet” and we should take the opportunity to wait upon Him, fasting and being still in His Holy presence.

Balance is also reflected in the Godly characteristic of humility. Referring again to 1 Corinthians 13:4, developing a character which exudes humility ensures that we do not become boastful or prideful. Having the ability and relative ease to communion and hear from God should not be cause for us to then laud this over other believers. Indeed, we all play different roles within the Body of Christ, so at various times when God is silent to us, He may choose to speak to and through other believers in our community of faith.

Application & Meaning

It is critical that upon hearing and receiving a message or messages from God that we are in a position to discern the purpose, meaning and indeed, application from the word/message given. The following verses were the result of the experience my life-group went through in late March; verses given to me from God via a life-group member. Early on during the exercise, the word and message God laid on my heart was for one person. God also told me that that person would be reciprocating and their message/verses would be for myself.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. John 7:38

“They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its root by the stream. It does not fear… its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:8

The verse from 2 Corinthians reminds us of God’s grace. It also calls us to humility and to enthrone God in His right place. Combined with the second verse from John creates an atmosphere of encouragement, that as a believer, we can be in communion with God and close to Him. The interpretation provided as part of the verses stated:

Even when you go though the storms of life, God is with you, and His grace is sufficient for you. Do not dismay, for through your life will be an outpouring of living water and of the Holy Spirit to fill the dry lands around you!

Back in late March, early April, which was also the Easter period, I was not exactly experiencing any spiritual drought. However, it was indeed comforting and received with appreciation that these verses would tide me over during any future period of spiritual dryness. The weeks since have been a little challenging so these verses have served to be a good reminder of God’s promises and grace.

God’s grace to us is truly remarkable. Throughout 2016 I have had the opportunity to marvel at just how remarkable His grace is to us – having visited and seen the worst of humanity that is enshrined in the Cambodian history only reinforced this fact – that God’s love and grace was sufficient even for those sinners. Even though we acknowledge the extreme atrocity of those crimes and sins against humanity, it truly is mind-blowing that Jesus died even for those sinners. These verses collectively assist with focusing our attention on the loving and gracious nature of God. In order to receive God’s grace and to step into the fullness of God’s grace and forgiveness, we should also be mindful that in order to receive God’s forgiveness, we must first resolve any issues of unforgiveness.

This issue of unforgiveness will be explored in future articles as part of this series on Exercising Faith.