Hearing from God

An attitude of gratitude

My prayer life turned the corner one evening when I was teaching a series or listen on prayer to a group of college students

I was basing my messages on an old book about prayer. The last chapter was entitled how to pray in the spirit I read the first half of the book and thought it was theologically sound so I advertised the titles of each chapter in the book to be subjects of my lessons that summer.

Not too creative the typical young pastors whose reservoir of wisdom is quite shallow I didn't even read the last chapter of the book until the night before I was going to teach college students how they were to surprise to pray by the spirit. After reading that last chapter, I didn't have the foggiest idea how to pray by the spirit reflection on the author of the book! I was hours away from giving a message I had not incorporated into my own life. I felt spiritually bankrupt.

If you have never being in a spiritual state, let me say that those times have the potential of being great moments with God for! I had all but given up trying to prepare a talk on how to pray by the spirit and given in to playing be... which was to show a movie I had saved for such moments.

Then Jesus came it was approaching midnight when the Lord began to direct my thoughts. My journey through the Bible that evening turned out to be one of the most impactful experiences of my life. I began to reason if I'm going to try in the spirit and I must be filled with the Spirit so I turned my Bible to Ephesians chapter 5:18-20 which states do not get drunk with wine, for that he is dissipation it be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ even the father.

Then I turned to a parallel passage in Colossians chapter 3:15-17 that tells us this let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with it Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of Lord Jesus, give thanks to him to God the father.

As a seminary student, I had already observed that being “filled with the Spirit” and “letting the word of Christ richly dwell” within us have the same results. That I hadn't previously observed that both were connected to giving thanks. I turned the page in my Bible to Colossians 4:2 Devote yourself to prayer, keep alert in it with an attitude of Thanksgiving. Then I read Philippians 4:6 be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving...this discovery was making me excited and I leafed over 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5: 17-18 pray without ceasing; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Prayer and thanksgiving seem to be inseparable.

Like a little child finding another package under the Christmas tree and another, and another, I started to examine Paul's own personal practice in the epistles and this is what I found:

I... do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers Ephesians 1:15-16.

I thank my God in all of my remembrance of you, always offering prayer Philippians 1:3-4

we give thanks to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you Colossians 1:3

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers 1Thessalonians 1:2

first of all, then, I edge that into treaties in prayer, petitions and thanksgiving, being made on behalf of all men 1 Timothy 2:1

I thank God, blessed with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, and I consistently remember you in my prayers night and day 2 Timothy 1:3

I thank my God always making mention of you in my prayer Philemon 1:4

I began to wonder if there was any connection between prayer and thanksgiving in the Old Testament.

So the Lord reminded me of Psalm 95:1-7 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to rock of r salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving stop for us shout joyfully to him with the Psalms. For the Lord is a great God and the great King above all gods, in whose hands are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are his also. The sea is his but for it was he who made it, and his hands formed the dry is land. Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture in the shape of his hand. Today, if you would hear his voice

Hearing God's voice

We should come before his presence with thanksgiving because he is a great God and he has done great things for us.

We all deserve eternal damnation, but God has given us eternal life.
That evening as I was reading the Scriptures, the seven last words in the above passage got my attention “today if you want to hear his voice”
I remember thinking, I would love to hear your voice!

Maybe I wasn't hearing his voice because I wasn't coming before his presence with thanksgiving.

Then again, maybe I wasn't hearing his voice because I wasn't really listening.
People in the Old Testament discovered that the hard way that complaining from the does not bring God's blessing. In Psalm 95:7 the word hear is the Hebrew word shema which means “to hear and obey” verse eight of Psalm 95 reads, “do not harden your hearts.”

I turned to Hebrews 4:7 which quotes Psalm 95 and read again, “today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts.” It is an exhortation to cease trusting in your own works and begin to trust in God's works.

Resting in the finished work of Christ did not typify my prayer life. “In the name of Jesus” was just a phrase I tagged onto the end of myself originated prayers.
I confessed to God that my prayer life was mostly a work of the flesh, and that I didn't always come before him with an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.
God directed prayer

The Lord had a lot more for me that night. I turned to Romans 8:26-27 in the same way the Spirit also helps our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with writings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts know what the mind of the spirit is, because he intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God.

Humbly speaking, we really don't know how to pray or what to pray for, the holy spirit does and he will help us in our weakness. “Help” (synantilambanomai) is a fascinating word in Greek. It has two prefixes in front of a word that is often translated as take.

In other words, the sense of the word “helps” in Romans 8:26 is that the Holy Spirit comes along side us, bears us up, and takes us over the other side. The Holy Spirit connects us with God.

He intercedes for us on our behalf.

A prayer that the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray is the prayer that God the father will always answer.

Active listening

How does the Holy Spirit help us in our weakness?

I wasn't sure, but I tried something that evening.

I prayed okay Lord I'm setting aside my list and I'm going to assume that whatever comes to my mind during this time of prayer is from you or what is allowed by you. I'm going to let you be my time of prayer.

Whatever came to my mind that evening was what I prayed about.
If it was a tempting thought, I talked to God about that area of weakness. If the busyness of the day clambered for my attention, I discussed my planes with God. I actively dealt with whatever came to my mind.

I wasn't passively letting thoughts control me. I put up the shield of faith, which stands against Satan's flaming arrows, and I was actively “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5. If you don't share the responsibility of your thoughts you might end up paying attention to a deceiving spirit, as Paul warns us “the spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the fight and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” 1 Timothy 4:1NIV

Paul also wrote, “I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your mind will be led astray from the simplicity and the purity of the devotion to Christ” 2 Corinthians 11:3.

If my thoughts weren't true or if they were evil (blasphemous, deceiving, accusing, or tempting) I don't believe them.

I brought those thoughts to the Lord and exposed them to the light of his word. In one sense, it doesn't make any difference whether our thoughts come from an external source, or from our memories, or from a deceiving spirit, we are responsible to take every captive to the obedience of Christ.

That meant, if my thoughts were coming from Satan, God would allow it.
In my experience, this typically identified an area of weakness or sin that I have not previously been honest with God about.

In fact God may allow us to get buffeted around by Satan until we bring our struggles before him, the only one that can result when.


Been honest with God

In the past, I would try to shovel evil thoughts away without much success.
When I began to bring them to the light, I was amazed how liberating that was all the issues I was trying to ignore during prayer God wanted me to deal with.
He wanted to make me aware of matters that were affecting our relationship.
Now when I have tempting or accusing thoughts, I share them honestly with God and don't try to hide my human frailty.

If you try praying like this, you will soon discover how personal God really is. “Today if you would hear his voice,” is followed by the warning, “do not harden your heart” when a thought that is hard to face comes into your mind, you will be tempted to change the subject and the go back to your old prayer list.

But why do you think God is allowing you to struggle with those thoughts?

There may be many personal issues that we feel uncomfortable sharing with God, but that is part of the deception we experience.

After all, God already knows our thoughts. For it is said in Hebrews 4:12-13 the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no creature hidden from sight, that all things are naked and open to the eyes of whom we must give an account.

So why not be honest with him?

If God were to prioritize our prayer list, he would begin with the personal issues that affect our relationships with him.

I want to challenge us all in doing something that maybe is new to us all let me encourage you to start by thanking God for all he has done for us.

May I suggest you take the Bible's and just read it if nothing comes to mind.
Let me encourage you to deal honestly with any issues that come to your mind.
If nothing comes to mind, let me encourage you to reflect upon God's goodness and phoned him for what he is done for you.

For myself as I began to practice this, I found a new freedom just sitting in the presence of God. I didn't feel like I had to say anything or keep a one sided conversation going.

It was actually refreshing to and I would simply sit in silence for an hour or more.
I also discovered that my prayer time didn't end when I got up to do else.
I was learning to pray without ceasing into practice the presence of God.
Since I rode my bicycle to church I started to pray for the people who lived in the houses along the way. The omnipresent God was always with me, and I was becoming more aware of it

God desires an intimate relationship with us
Fellowship with God is not an abstract theological concept it is a living relationship.

John wrote, “if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanse us from all our sin.” (1 John 1:7)

walking in the light does not mean model perfection, but the next verse reads “if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves.” (1 John 1:8)

Rather, walking in the light is living in conscious and moral agreement with God
Confession to God literally means to agree with God.

We don't confess our sin in order to be forgiven. We are already forgiven. We are forgiven because Christ died for our sins on the cross, and therefore we confess our sins in order to have an intimate relationship with God.

In fact, what makes it possible to be this open with him about our present moral condition is the fact that we already are his forgiving children.
In the matter of confession, our eternal destiny is not at stake, but our daily victory is.

We don't have to pretend with God, having a false hope that he will accept us in our hypocrisy. As his children, we already are accepted, so we are free to be honest with him.

Why is it so difficult to be honest with God?

God demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners Jesus died for us. Romans 5:8. His love and forgiveness are unconditional.
However, God is our father and like any good parent, he doesn't appreciate grumbling, complaining children, especially since he sacrificed his only begotten son for every one of them.

He will not be interested in our prayer list if we are not trusting and obeying him.
In Psalm 66:18 we are told that if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

He is not going to help us develop our own kingdoms when we are called to establish his kingdom.

Those who seek to build his kingdom and come before his presence with thanksgiving will find grace and mercy in time of need, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne grace, so that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in the time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

let us join the with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. (Hebrews 10:22)


Hearing from God Questions

1. List reason why you find it difficult to pray in your personal life, with your spouse, and in small group ministry?

2. In Paul’s life, what attitude accompanied prayer?

3. Why does an attitude of gratitude open our hearts to hear God’s voice?

4. What Kind of prayers will God the Father always answer? Why is this encouraging?

5. Why should you take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ during times of prayer.

6. What is the potential danger of passively believing your thoughts 1 Timothy 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3

7. What happens to our prayer life when we fail to be honest with God?

8. Why can we be totally honest with our heavenly Father without feeling condemned by Him?