Building our relationship with God!

Allow God to speak with/to you:

Communication is two way traffic. You speak and when you are through, you await for a response from the other party that you are communicating with. Take an example of the telephone; we talk and the other person listens. Then they talk and we listen. Our relationship with God is similar. We talk to God through prayer and we listen to God speak through bible study, sermons and sermon tapes and other means because God is never limited in ways that He can use to speak to us. Today there is no reason not to be able to study and learn from God’s word. We have Bibles with elaborate concordances, and other Bible helps that are moderately priced like; everyday with Jesus, Daily Bread; you can as well get bible software for your computer and do all kinds of word searches and compare scriptures of different translations. There are websites on the internet that has Bible software that you can use that is free of charge; devotional websites that you can as well subscribe to get devotions and all kinds of Bible articles and literature that you can print out and read.

The Church of God in the era that we live in has advanced and we have sermon audio tapes, DVDs and CDs. There are so many audio tapes around that we could probably listen to a different tape for 24 hours a day for several years without repeating any. We have Christian channels, radio stations and podcasts allover and we have no reason to say that we have no source of materials to listen to and get to hear God speak to us. All am saying is that we are advantaged to live in such an era that not only do we have the freedom of worship, but we also have so much more to read and listen to so as to stir up the growth of our faith in God.

Even with all of the tapes and religious literature around we still need to know and read the bible in a personal way. We need to know what is in the Bible. We need to know that we know! If anyone questions us, then we can say: I have read it for myself and I know what it says! We must be ready to give an answer to every man that asks us a reason of the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). We must be like the Bereans in Paul’s day, who searched the Scriptures daily “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11). I am not saying that we should doubt what the Lord has spoken to us; all I mean is that we should make it an habbit to study the word of God, not only when we hear it, but also when we haven’t so that when it is spoken, we can have a reference that “I read this word and God spoke to me this way. And when the same word is spoken, you are sure to get a new illumination all together. 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.” (Amplified bible) We must study the Bible to show ourselves approved unto God We need to prove all things and stand fast to that which is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

How can we know or hear when God is speaking to us? How can we distinguish God’s voice and other voices? How do I hear God speaking to me? There are several aspects that we need to cultivate and have them in place before we hear God speak to us.

1.  Cleanse yourself first – Ask for forgiveness. Don’t be actively engaged in sin and expect God to speak to you.

2.  Have an attitude of submission – God is God and we are not.  He knows what He’s doing even when it doesn’t seem like it to you.  He can be absolutely trusted. 

3.  Have faith that God will speak to you – Decide that once you determine His Voice, you will follow it. James warns us of being double minded when we come before God’s presence or when we ask anything from him in prayer. “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  James 1:5-8
So how DO you hear God anyway? There are quite a few ways, but the most important way is first: 

a)       The Bible – There’s a reason why it’s called “God’s word. The Bible does not contain the Word of God; the Bible IS the Word of God. Test what it says – especially when what it says is different from what the world says.   Jesus said this, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17. The Bible is not just a collection of writings. It is alive. What happens when you read it is that; you’ll be going along and there will be a verse that just jumps off the page at you. It is like it was written exactly for you alone, for this exact moment in your life. It is amazing, and it happens over & over again. The Bible will be different every time you read it. God will speak to you through His Word. You will know it because your heart will burn within you. You will be utterly convicted. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches you and reminds you of God’s Word. Before you read the Bible, ask the Lord to open your eyes and your heart to His Word. He will speak to you through it. The Holy Spirit will convict you that they are the very words of God.  

b)       Other People – Preachers, Speakers & Friends. God clearly uses His people to help and speak to His people. Here’s the key, though. You must use a filter. BIBLE is the filter. 1 John 4:1 says “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” It does not matter how religious the person looks or talks. It does not matter how good they make you feel. It doesn’t matter if they have thousands of people lapping up their every word. It doesn’t even matter if you feel “convicted” by their words. God NEVER contradicts His Holy Word. Everything you experience and learn in this life should be filtered with the Bible.  

c)        Circumstances – Interpret what is happening to you. If something you are doing isn’t being blessed, God MAY be directing you elsewhere. Note that every problem that comes your way MAY NOT be about God trying to teach you something, or that you’ve done something wrong. Sometimes, while we’re on this planet, God allows you to go through difficulties to see your level of faith and to see how you handle it. Sometimes, too, God allows you to go through difficulties and it has NOTHING to do with you. It has to do with a huge spiritual battle that’s going on behind the scenes that INVOLVES you, but is not ABOUT you. (That’s what was really what was happening to Job in the Bible.) The important thing is that you live life with an eye toward interpreting what is happening to you. When trying to interpret circumstances, ask God to show you what He’s trying to say.   He will make it plain and He has promised to guide and direct you. 

d)       Inner urges to act – “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose”. Philippians 2:13 You get urges from 3 sources: God (The Holy Spirit), your own sinful nature & Satan. So how do you tell which is which? 

1)       The urge will NEVER be at odds with the Bible. Example: If you feel an urge to leave your wife for another lady that you met in the bus and she is pretty, no!! That’s not from God.

2)        If from God, the urge will have an obvious good benefit for someone.  For example, “you feel that you need to go talk to that guy over there, he sure looks awfully down.”  Do it.  The Holy Spirit is prompting you.

3)       Most urges are from yourself – neither good nor bad, but are NOT God specifically directing you to do something.

4)       Some strange urges MAY be from God. For example, “I once had this overwhelming urge that I needed to go to and visit a pal of mine over the weekend that I had not seen or talked to a couple of months. I went ahead and visited him and as we shared, he opened up and told me that he had lost his mother-in-law. When you feel such an urge, go ahead and do it if the urge is really strong.  You often can’t judge until after the fact that it was God telling you to do that.  

e)       Dreams, Visions, Miracles and Audible Voices – God usually reserves these methods for if He can’t get your attention any other way. It easy to be mislead by dreams, because they, too, can come from different sources.  You must filter and move cautiously on them. Usually, people want a miraculous sign so that God will prove himself. God has made it clear that He’s given us all we need to believe in Him. Now, it’s a matter of whether or not you want to follow God. He is most pleased by our faith in him. Take small steps of faith and you’ll receive all the “proof” you’ll need. “The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth; no sign will be given to it.”  Mark 8:10-12

f)        Nature – God doesn’t really speak through nature. Instead, He uses it to reveal His creative ability as an inspiration to us. Nature is a testimony as to how awesome God is. There have been innumerable times when I’ve looked up at some incredible twilight sky and have just been overwhelmed with appreciation for God’s talent. Many times I’ve exclaimed, “God, You sure can paint!”

g)        Inner voices and your conscience, an amazing secret – You can hear inner voices from 3 sources: God, Satan, Yourself. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives within you and He can and will carry on a regular dialogue with you. He will speak to your conscience, but your conscience is NOT God. MUCH inner conversation is YOU talking with yourself. God has given us a tool to HELP discern who’s talking to you.

It is an incredible privilege to be able to speak directly to God – the creator of the universe and have Him speak back to you as His child! The Lord is ready, willing and able to speak to you, but you must know how to listen and, most importantly, you must know how to be sure it’s Him. “For God does speak—now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it.” Job 33:14

Are you taking the time daily to let God talk to you?

Amen!!