Transcription
Father, we do come before you, and we lift up Your Word. And Your Word says, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning; the voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare. At His temple all cry, 'Glory!' The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as king forever. The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace."
Father, we come and we just declare, God, that Your voice is mighty and awesome. Father, we declare that Your voice, when You speak, breaks and shakes to the very core. God, Your voice lifts up and Your voice pulls down. God, Your voice is powerful, more mighty and powerful than all things. God, and we come, this we come today, God, and we declare that You are mighty and awesome. And it's our deepest desire, God, to hear Your voice, to tune into You, God, to press in, God, to all we hear, God, is You. Father, I thank You that Your voice is a mighty whisper, God, just a still, quiet whisper, God. Father, You can be as loud as You want, or You can be as soft as You want. But God, what we're asking for is ears to hear. We ask, Lord, that Your Spirit would lead us into truth through the sound of Your voice today. We love You and we honor You, in Jesus' name, amen.
Welcome to, um, Freedom in Christ session, um, on hearing the voice of God. And, um, I first want to say that as children of God, we were meant to live in ongoing, consistent communication with the Lord. That is God speaking and being spoken to. Jesus modeled this for us over and over in scripture. We see where Jesus did nothing apart from the voice of God. Where, in moments where it would look like a very inopportune time, Jesus would steal away so that He could have yet one more conversation with His God. So, we're on a journey in this freedom process. And one of the things that I want to say about that journey is, God's voice, hearing God's voice is vital to our freedom. We must hear the voice of God. So, as we learn to recognize God's voice in the many different ways that He speaks, our lives will be drastically changed. See, God is not like us, where we, we have very limited ways in which we can communicate. We have the God of all creation who can communicate however and whenever and wherever He desires and wants. So, when the God of all creation speaks, things shift.
Maybe you're listening to this and you aren't very confident that you hear God's voice. Maybe you don't even believe that God speaks today, or that He speaks to you. And maybe you're wondering, "If He does speak, why would He want to speak to me?" Well, scripture tells us that we are called to live according to every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. That's in Deuteronomy 8:3. "Every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." That's how we're to live and move and have our being, is out of every word that He speaks. Psalm 95:7 says, "Today, if you hear His voice." See, that scripture tells us that today, whatever today is, God is speaking, and we're to heed and to tune into and to seek after His voice. That scripture goes on to say, "If you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." And we'll talk, we'll, we'll visit that a little bit later. Isaiah 30:21 says this, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" See, that's God's desire, ongoing communication with us, fellowship with us. He started it in the very beginning with Adam and Eve. He communed with them on a daily basis. He walked with them in the garden, and He spoke with them in the garden. And that's the desire that our Father God has with us. He longs to have that connectedness and that, that fellowship, unbroken fellowship with us through communication. Revelation 3:20 says this, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." God's voice beckons us, that when He knocks, when He begins to speak, when He, when He begins to woo our hearts, that we would open up and receive what He has to say. And in doing so, we receive Him. Psalm 85:7-8 says this, "Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us salvation. I will listen to what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people." See, when God speaks, it is so drastically different than anything we've ever heard before. It literally changes everything about everything. When God speaks.
I want us to turn to a scripture in John 10, because we still may not might not be completely convinced that our God desires to speak to us. And to me, out of all the scripture, this is the scripture that, that solidifies that we have a Father in heaven that wants to speak directly to His children. It's His deepest heart desire to communicate. So, we're going to look at John 10:3-15.
"The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandaves the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am a good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."
In this scripture, we see why there is such an importance on hearing and knowing God's voice. It's the key to relationship, to knowing this shepherd, to knowing this person of God. It is intimate fellowship and understanding that He wants to be known by us, and He wants us to know Him. It was God's voice through the Spirit of God that draws us to Himself. See, it's the shepherd's voice that leads us into this relationship in the first place. So, if you've, you are in relationship with Jesus Christ, you've heard His voice. But isn't it amazing how quickly after that first initial interaction with God's voice, the enemy comes, the thief comes, the stranger comes to convince us that we can't or shouldn't hear His voice, because we are so unworthy, or we are so awful, or we are so bad, that that He tries to convince us that we can't hear the voice of the shepherd?
John 6:44 and 45 says this, "No one can come to the Father unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." It's God Himself that initiates us having conversation with Him. It's He Himself that initiates our understanding that there is a God in heaven who speaks to, to His sheep.
God, when God speaks, He speaks to accomplish a purpose. See, the God of all creation, when He spoke, He spoke into being all that is, that we see, that exists. When He speaks, things are accomplished. When He speaks to us about our identity or our destiny, things begin to happen, because in His speaking, in His voice, is purpose and destiny. See, the stranger's voice has wreaked havoc in our life. Many of us were, are, were so accustomed to the, to the stranger's voice prior to knowing Jesus, that his voice seems more comfortable and more familiar. But I'm telling you, God wants us to hear His voice.
God's voice develops faith. Romans 10:17, "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." God desires to strengthen our faith as we get in the Word of God and allow the Spirit of God to speak on that Word, to breathe on that Word, and cause that Word to literally come to life within us, and it creates faith in us. Hearing God's voice confirms for us who we belong to. You heard it in John 10. He said, "My sheep." Well, first of all, it says that God calls His sheep by name. When we know that our name has been called, and we've received Jesus as Lord and Savior, and even after that, that decision to follow the shepherd and to receive Jesus as the gatekeeper, as the gate, when we make that decision, God desires to confirm for us through His voice who we belong to. John 8:47 says this, "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." So, if we're believing, if we truly have made that decision in Christ, and we're believing the lie that we don't hear God, we're also believing the lie from the enemy that we don't belong to God. How does that work for us on a daily basis? Where does that leave us in our confidence and our security, and our security in knowing that we belong to God, and that we're children of God, that we're new creations in Christ? We have to hear the Father's voice. We were made to hear God's voice. And by faith, we are to believe that God desires to speak to us. By faith. He doesn't have to prove it to us. He doesn't have to, to, um, exhibit it. We have to. It starts. That ability to begin to hear Him starts through faith. Anything we are going to appropriate from the kingdom of God is going to be through faith. So, the first thing we have to settle in our hearts is, "I'm a child of God, and I know my Father is speaking to me." By faith, I believe God is speaking to me today. What would our days look like if we began to make that confession of faith instead of the confession of, "I don't hear God. He doesn't talk to me. He doesn't speak to me like he does so-and-so"? We, we get in this comparison thing, and we think that if God doesn't talk to us like, like some of the spiritual giants that we think hear God, like perfectly. When we get in that place of comparison, we've already set in motion some doubt and some, some mistrust in God desiring to speak to us. The reality is, He speaks. The question is, have you heard His voice? Have you heard? If you heard His voice and you chose Him, He's speaking. The good shepherd is still speaking today. I started off in the prayer before we started, "If you hear His voice today." If you hear His voice, He is speaking today. Whether we recognize it or acknowledge it does not nullify the fact that throughout scripture, God tells us that He's speaking. Why does God speak to us? Because God is a God of relationship. He desires to be in fellowship. And He still calls us, calls us by name, and desires to lead us every step of every, every path that we journey on and walk on until Jesus comes back, until His return. His desire is to call to us and lead us. Scripture says that He lights our path. He desires for us to follow the shepherd. See, in a sheep pen with a real shepherd in the natural, the shepherd goes out before the sheep and calls them. He does not stand behind the sheep and, and try to direct the sheep from behind. That'd be like herding a bunch of cats. You can't do it. The sheep need to know that what is out in front of them is safe and secure, and, and that they'll be provisioned there, that, that someone knows where they're going. Isn't that a lot like us? We desire to have that security. We desire to have that understanding that we know where we're going, we know where we're headed in life. And God's voice is that constant assurance to us that we have a good shepherd that's leading us and calling for us to follow Him.
That leads to another question: Are we listening? Do we even care to hear what the Father may be saying, or the voice that He is speaking? So, here's, here's the reality: If we're going to follow God's voice, we have to get familiar with what His voice sounds like. In verse 5 of John 10, it says that they know the voice of the shepherd so well that they won't follow, follow a stranger or another. See, a true test to how close a relationship is, is if you recognize their voice. See, I have certain friends that I know when the phone rings, I don't have to look down at a number. When I hear that voice, I know whose voice it is. See, we're, we're in a day and age now where everything has a caller ID, and so I don't have to, I don't have to rely on my ability to be so familiar with that voice to know who it is. We're kind of spoiled. But in the kingdom of God, God's desire is that we would know His voice so well that without the billboard of Him saying, "Thus saith God," that we would know and recognize just by the fruit of the sound of that voice who's speaking to us. See, God wants to encounter us. God knows how to speak to us. That is personal and individual. A perfect example of that is, um, I had a young lady, um, that I was visiting with and speaking to. And one of the things that she kept telling me was, "Well, I don't hear God's voice. I don't hear God's voice." And we, we would try to, we'd get stuck in something, and, and we'd try to ask the Lord to, to speak to her. And, and she'd bow her head, and she'd say a prayer. And two seconds later, she'd look up and she'd say, "He doesn't speak to me." And so I began to look at her and say, "You know, sometimes nothing is something." And I, I asked her, "Okay, calm down, relax. Stop trying so hard, and just tell me the first thing after we pray, what pops in your head?" And what she said was, "I see water." "But that doesn't mean anything." And I said, "Okay, well, let's, let's talk about that." Because it wasn't a direct answer to the question that she asked. What she heard was water. And so I, I just kind of, through talking with her, visiting with her, I, I said to her, "Okay, what does water mean to you?" And she goes, "Well, in the natural, water is is something very negative to her, like she would think of drowning in water, and, and she had all kinds of writings and things that she would write about that depicted water and her drowning." So I said to her, "Well, but what does water mean in scripture? What does, what does God refer to when He's talking about water?" And I didn't even have to finish my sentence, and she goes, "The wellspring of life. He says that water bubbles up. It's the wellspring of life that, that flows out of a believer." And I said, "Okay. I said, so you, in the natural, you think of water as something that is death. But in God's eyes, water is life. What does that speak to you?" And she just went, "I said, when you think of water and dying, what is water doing to you to cause death?" And she said, "Well, it consumes you." And I said, "Exactly." And she sat there, and literally, the revelation came, and she was like, "God wants to come and consume my life." And literally, from that one word, He was able to take her into a laying down her, her life, and asking Him to come and be Lord over her life, to consume her life, so that He could lead her into truth. That's amazing to me. God is a very personal God. And things that wouldn't mean anything to somebody else, as we get still before the Lord and really press in to hear His voice, He begins to speak in a very personal, real way to us.
Take the stars, for instance. There was a season in my life when I just had so many different things happening in my life, and I, I needed direction. I needed to know that I wasn't just left in this season by myself. And typically, in the mornings, early, early in the morning before the sun would come up, I would go on walks, and the stars would be out. And, and it's just a place that I would feel full of peace and, and just reassurance that the Lord was with me. And on this particular day, I had just finished crying out to the Lord and needing direction. And a shooting star shot across the sky. And I was, I was kind of taken aback by it. And I thought, "Okay, Lord, was that an answer? Was that, okay, Lord, I know we're not to put You to the test, but if that were You, could You do it again?" And another shooting star flew. Well, I'm talking, this was a very desperate, a very, um, troublesome time in my life. And we were wrestling and struggling through a major crisis with one of our children. And I needed the Lord to speak. I needed to, to have direction. So literally, in this 45-minute walk, the Lord showed me seven shooting stars. And on the last shooting star, as I, each time I would ask a question in my prayer, there would be a shooting star. And on the sixth time, I literally got on my knees in the middle of the road, in the middle of the dark, which I don't recommend. But I said, "Lord, I just have to know. Just because You love me in this season, are we doing the right thing?" And literally, the seventh shooting star flew over my head and landed behind our house. You cannot convince me that God does not speak today. I know that I know, and I am convinced to the core of my being that that was my speaking God, who, who came in fellowship, community, and love to convince His daughter, His sheep, that the shepherd is going before you, and He has it all in His hands. God is a personal God, and He wants to speak to us. The way God encounters us are vast. For me, it was stars. For my friend, it was water. For you, it may be music, or, um, dreams, or visions. But God is speaking. And the beautiful thing is, is God doesn't have to speak the same way every time He speaks to us. He's God. He's Creator. He's King. He doesn't have to answer to us how He's going to speak to us. But if we're open to listening and hearing, He is constantly giving us an invitation to hear. And not only to hear, but to respond to Him.
See, sometimes we don't, it feels like we don't hear God because in hearing Him, we don't respond. And I don't know about you, but I'm a parent, and I'll only tell my kids so many times to do something that I've told them to do a dozen times, and then I don't waste my breath telling them anymore. I expect that they will walk in obedience to what I've said, or take the advice, or stop asking me, because I'm not going to change my mind, and I'm not going to repeat myself again. Now, I think God has way more compassion and grace than I do as a mother with children. And I think God is way more, um, gracious and compassionate to us in our search and in our, our longing to, to hear and to receive from Him. But the question is, are we intentional at tuning in and connecting with this voice of God?
Here's what I know: In this journey of, of pursuing and seeking to hear God's voice, He's shown me some things. And one of the, one of the very first things that I want us to know is that He will speak to us differently. So, we don't have to try to make ourselves hear the way somebody else does. He just will. Number two, He will, we will have to position ourselves to hear His voice. So, I have a question: Do we approach God much like a boss, or a slot machine, or a master that barks out rules and orders? Or do we approach Him from a place of inadequacy? Are we approaching Him when we're desiring that He speak to us? Are we approaching Him from a place where we come in feeling like we don't deserve to hear from Him, or we don't deserve what He may have to say to us? Here's what I know: He's a good God. He's way, He's way more good than what we tend to be able to receive from Him. So, if I come in from that place of already feeling inadequate to receive, I'm going to reject what He has to say. Often. So, we have to recognize how, what is the posture we're taking as we seek to hear and listen? Because here's what I want us to remember: There is nothing that qualifies us to hear from God except Jesus Christ. I cannot be good enough to hear from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I cannot behave well enough to feel like I can earn my way into hearing His voice. Jesus is the only qualifier to where we can boldly go into that throne room, that holy of holies, and begin to cry out and receive from a speaking God. See, it's because of what Jesus did on the cross for us that we are covered in His righteousness. So, when we come forth to hear the voice of God, what God sees, and what He, He approaches, is the blood of Jesus that cleanses all of our unrighteousness.
Do we approach God fearful of what we may hear? See, if I've got my heart intent and set on hearing what my flesh wants to hear, or hearing what I demand God answer, or, or coming in from a worldly perspective, in a worldly mindset, and desiring God to line up and match up with that. Is there fear in, in my approach to Him? Maybe I fear that He's going to be angry or disappointed with me. All these things go back to identity. They go back to that place of identity and the Father's heart. If we don't know the true heart of the Father, then we'll misinterpret how and what He is speaking to us. Often. Also, if we don't have a godly perception of who we are in Christ, we can easily misinterpret what we hear. Here's what I want us to know: God's voice always speaks with love. Always, always, always. That doesn't mean that God doesn't correct or discipline, but it's always from the heart of love. His kindness leads us to repentance. See, one of the reasons why we miss His voice sometimes is because it's so unfamiliar than what we've always heard. I know for myself, when I began really tuning in and hearing that the character and the heart and the nature behind God's voice, it kind of shook me for a little bit because I wasn't used to being talked to that way. I wasn't used to the kindness that His voice speaks. I wasn't used to the love that His voice just shrouds itself in. And I wasn't used to the, to the, um, the, the privilege and the, the, um, inheritance that God speaks about as children of God. And so it took a while to begin to let down that guard.
So, here's a good test: When God speaks, if there is discipline or correction, it's going to be in conviction, not condemnation. The test is, conviction leads us to freedom, and condemnation leads us to more bondage. Condemnation leads us to more hopelessness and more self-interest, inter-perspective that we're looking at and measuring ourselves and coming up short all the time. Conviction comes and says, "Not because of what you can do, here's, here's something that we need to identify, but it's not because of what you can do to fix it, it's because of what Christ has done for you. And through faith in believing what He has done, we can walk out of this thing together." That's a huge difference in a voice, a tune, a sound. There's huge difference in that. James 3:17 says, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." See, often when God speaks to us, He's going to tell us things that are so smarter than what we ever could possibly come up with or conceive. He's going to tell us things so much grander and bigger than anything that we've ever understood or, or could possibly dream up. His voice is so much bigger.
But here's what I want us to understand: In hearing God, it requires not just ears to hear, but in God's kingdom, in His, in His economy, it's also seeing. We see the voice of God. We listen and hear the voice of God. We ex-, we tangibly experience the voice of God. It's listening and seeing. So, what are some of the ways that God speaks? We've already talked about a few. But the primary way that God is going to speak to His children is through His Word. Timothy 3:16-17 says that the scripture is profitable, profitable for everything. It equips us for everything. Dreams. God comes in dreams and speaks to us in dreams. Sometimes God will give us a God thought. You know, those thoughts that are so far beyond what you could think. What about a God picture? Sometimes, sometimes I'll just be sitting still, and I'll see a picture of something that, that was nowhere on my grid, and I'll, it may come up randomly, and just begin to press into that and ask the Lord, "Is that You speaking? If that's You, is there something that You want me to understand and know about Your character, about Your heart, about who I am, about my circumstances?" Through that picture. I've already said that oftentimes God will use music and songs. Why? Because often music and songs will bypass all the logic. It'll bypass all the reasoning, all the striving, all the stress, and it literally gets to the spirit of a man and begins to speak deeper inside of us than what words alone can do. Often times, God will speak through nature, through, through body impressions or emotions. You ever walk into a room and you weren't feeling sad before you got in that room? You weren't feeling upset, you weren't feeling angry, you weren't feeling nothing happened. You just walked in the room, and all of a sudden, this intense emotion rises up in you. Sometimes we'll, we'll mistakenly look and think, "Oh, something's wrong with me," or we'll say, "Oh, you know, somebody in the room's mad at me, or someone in the room doesn't want me here, or doesn't like me." Instead of jumping to all of those conclusions, we can seek the Lord and ask, "Lord, what is this about? I didn't have this before I walked in here. Are You trying to speak something?" And just begin to engage. It may be for you, and maybe for somebody in the room, who knows. But God is limitless in the way that He can talk to us.
So, one of the pivotal things in hearing God's voice is, we've got to learn and know how we can discern when it is really God speaking to us, or when it is either our flesh, the world, the enemy, or some other source. The first test we're going to run it through is, does it line up with the Word of God? Does it have the character, the heart, the nature, the fruit, the content of God's Word? One of the, one of a, one of the quick ways that I, I test a word that I think is from the Lord is, is it filled with humility? Because pride goes before a fall. God does not operate in a prideful, arrogant voice. He comes in humility. We recognize God because we recognize God's voice because we recognize Him. Do we know Him? Have we spent time in the Word of God to get to know His heart, to get to know His nature? Because often, that's going to be a real quick test when we start to hear thoughts in our head, or we start to hear this voice of God, or this voice, and try to determine whether it's God or not. One of the sure ways for us to recognize is, do we know God? Do we know His character and His heart? Does that voice sound like Him? We've already talked about the fact that that voice is going to be filled with love. Does it lead us? Does that voice lead us in us in a place of love? Does what we're hearing cause us to draw into that place of loving sacrifice for another? Does what we hear cause us to want to draw closer in relationship with God and others? Or is that voice trying to lead us into isolation or separation? If so, that is not the voice of God. God is a God of community and relationship. He wants us to draw near. Does the voice that we hear cause and lead us to a place of denial of self and a greater manifestation of Christ in our life? Does it cause greater dependence on Christ? Or is that voice trying to puff us up and get us to operate and distance ourselves so that we're operating out of our own giftings, our own desires, our own will?
We've talked a lot about God's voice, but I also want to take a minute to talk about when God, it seems like He's silent. Because oftentimes, we go through seasons as believers in Christ where it seems like God is silent. Here's what I want us to know: We will walk in, walk in those moments. But often, when we walk in those moments, what typically rises up is fear, anxiety, frustration, stress. God doesn't, that part of that is not from the Lord. See, in a season when it seems like God isn't saying anything, we can have the assurance through scripture, through His Word. To me, those times of silence cause us to draw into the tangible Word of God. See, God sometimes, God doesn't have to speak directly to us because He's already written down what He wants us to get. So, in those times of silence, instead of allowing the enemy to draw us to frustration and anger and, and shaking our fist at God and demanding something from God, if we'll use that to draw us into His Word, we're going to see quickly that God has not stopped speaking. I'm convinced that even in the seasons of seemingly silence from God, God is still speaking something. And in this place, I believe it's an invitation for us to seek deeper and deeper, to, to run after Him, to, to come into a deeper intimacy with Him. So, how do we recognize His voice in the seasons of silence? We have to lean in, or tune in, to our hearing, to those times. We've got to adjust how we've typically heard from Him. He may choose not to speak to us that way right now.
So, here's another, here's another key: Are we only listening for answers and direction? Because often, that's how we approach God to hear. Even in those times of silence, that's when we get frustrated because we're looking for direction and we're looking for an answer. And God may be wanting to speak to us about character, about our identity, about our destiny, not necessarily the specifics that we're desiring. The Lord loves to speak on, on, on those things. He loves to give us direction. But He also loves just to be with us. Think of a, think of a marriage relationship. How frustrating is it in a relationship where you're just being bombarded with questions? Sometimes you just want to hear about the other person, or you just want them to ask about you. It's very frustrating to be in a relationship where all you're getting is one question after another after another, when all your heart longs for is to just be in communion. And sometimes, some of the sweetest, most intimate moments in a relationship is when there's no words at all. See, I have really close friends that I adore, and there are times that we don't, we can just be in each other's presence, and we're communicating, but we're not saying a word. Those are some of the most precious times for me. And I believe that God's, that way sometimes in our relationship with Him. Sometimes He just wants to know that we're desiring and longing just to be with Him, not just to get an answer or direction, but just to be in His presence. Listen, when we approach Him that way, we're never dissatisfied. We are always filled. It's in that place, that place of silence, that He begins to wash over us with His presence and His peace and His joy, and the things that are, are part of His nature, the fruit of, of part of His nature, just begins to wash over us. And yes, He's communicating to us, just maybe not with words. See, I think in those times of silence, God's drawing us and wooing us. It's a love relationship.
Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is to, it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory or honor of kings to search out the matter." Sometimes, I think what feels like God's silence is just Him, Him just veiling something for us. It's just a thin little, just a, "Come on, a playful, will you seek this out? Will you pursue me?" Jeremiah 29:13 says this, "If that happens, if, if there is that wooing for us to come in and, and seek out that hidden thing, here's God's promise: 'And you will seek me and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.'" I love that. God never plays a hide, a hide and keep away from us. If He is, if He is hidden Himself from us for any reason whatsoever, it is for the purpose of us finding Him. He is not going to leave us hanging. His promise is, "If you seek me, I, you will find me. You will seek me out, I will reveal Myself." That's great assurance to me in those times of silence, because I don't have to fret and worry that my God is just going to leave me hanging, and I'm just going to be left up to my own device to figure out this thing called life. He wants and desires to speak to us.
Here's my question: Do you know that God has secrets? Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets." And Matthew 11:25 says, "I praise you, Lord, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." See, sometimes God hides some things from us so that we will come like innocent, pursuing children to a Father that they know is wiser, bigger, greater. Luke 8:10 says, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God have been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that those seeing they may not see, though hearing they may not understand." I love that. God calls us friends. I have some friends that I tell some secrets to that I don't tell just to everybody. And our Father God is the one that originally modeled that for us. And I love that playful, um, very deep part of God's voice for us.
So, the temptation in silence is for us to doubt. We doubt God, we doubt ourselves. Or when we, and when we do that, the enemy convinces us to stop praying and communicating with God altogether. Please don't do this. These times are not a license for us to turn our back on Him. They're a time for us to press in deeper and stronger. There are times for us to rise up in faith and trust and pursue Him. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you." We have a speaking God. Do you hear Him?
Would you pray with me right now? Father, right now, in this moment, we ask, would You break off any disbelief that You would speak to Your children, God? Just in it. Father, if there's just even a slight hint, God, of the enemy's temptation for us to disbelieve that You would speak to Your children, God, we break it off in Jesus' name. We break agreement, God, with the accuser. And we declare with our mouth, God, that You are a speaking God, and we are Your children, and we hear Your voice today. Father, if there are places in our hearts and in our lives, God, where we are more inclined to agree with the stranger's voice and what he says about us and over us, we're asking for the grace right now, God, to choose to believe You. Have you been frustrated with God in a season of seemingly silence, and you've chosen to run away? To get frustrated? Just begin to repent and to confess out to Him. God, I confess I haven't pursued You in that place. I haven't pursued Your Word. But I choose to speak to me in Your Word, God. Reveal Your heart to me. Father, we thank You that it's Your desire to be known, to be heard. And Father, I thank You that You tenaciously go after God. That voice, God, that that accuser, that condemner, God, that wants to come and, and separate us, God, from Your flock, separate us, God, from Your heart and Your, the voice of the shepherd. And God, we declare today in Jesus' name that we, we will shut the mouth of the liar. Our God, Your Word says that we can call out to You, God, and You will shut the mouth of the liar, the stranger. God, we're asking for a trained, inclined ear to hear Your voice in clear ways, in Jesus' name. Give us hearts that will seek You, God, in the name of Jesus. Amen.