This morning we continue our series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” In this series I want to teach on having fellowship with God and with others. I have only taught on the first part thus far. I believe the Father will release me to teach on fellowship with others soon.
Before I close the portion of the series that deals with spending time with God and getting to know Him intimately, I need to address something that comes up all the time: hearing the voice of God. When I teach on hearing the voice of God, invariably, people have questions. The first question is whether or not God’s voice is audible; meaning that you can hear it with your natural ears. I have been walking with God for 24 years now and I can only recall one situation where I believe I may have heard an audible voice. Honestly, I cannot tell whether it was audible or not. But other than that one isolated incident, I have never heard an audible voice. Some have. But to be clear, I do hear the voice of God pretty much every day now. You can talk to God the way a man talks to his friend (Ex 33:11).
Jesus made it clear that we, as His children, are supposed to hear His voice. In John 10 Jesus gave an analogy that painted the picture of Him as a shepherd, and we, as His followers, as sheep. Jesus taught that we are supposed to hear and know His voice, and that we would also be able to know the difference between His voice and the voice of a stranger. Jesus said, “But sheep will never follow someone they don’t know. They will run away from him, because they don’t know his voice… My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:5 & 27). We are supposed to follow God by actually hearing His voice.
The voice of God, in my experience, is not (like I said) an audible voice, but rather an inner knowing. It is a thought that you get, on the inside, and you must learn to discern the difference between thoughts from God, satan and yourself. This takes time and practice. While you are learning to hear the voice of God you will have to build up the confidence to actually trust the voice and do what it is saying. I will give you an example of two incidents that happened to me in 2005, just weeks apart. When these things happened to me I made the decision to trust what I was hearing and I have been doing so ever since. I don’t always get it right, but you will miss God 100% of the time if you never trust what you are hearing and you never attempt what He is saying.
The first incident happened in Walmart. I was living in Evans, GA at the time. I was in my local Walmart, by myself, getting a few things. As I walked through the Walmart to run my errand, the Holy Spirit highlighted a lady to me. I can still see her to this day. She was looking at women’s shirts. The Holy Spirit said, “Tell her that I love her. She needs to hear it. I am talking to her and she is not listening. Go tell her that I love her.” I would love to tell you that I obeyed God, but I didn’t. I responded to God, “I am from Brooklyn. I don’t know that lady. People from Brooklyn don’t do that. I am NOT going over there and saying anything to her. I don’t know how she will respond.” As you can see, I was more concerned with me and her response towards me, than the will of God. At this point I really did not question whether or not it was God. I was pretty sure it was, but I still did not want to do what He was telling me to do. So then, right in front of me, while I was still looking at the woman, a man walked up to her and said, “Excuse me. I don’t normally do this. Actually, I never do this. But I believe God wants me to tell you that He loves you. God loves you.” The woman broke down crying right there, in the women’s section at Walmart, right in front of me. I felt terrible. The Holy Spirit then said, “I had a blessing for you that you missed out on. Since you did not listen I sent someone else. That man just got your blessing.” I repented and walked away feeling terrible.
A few weeks later I was preaching a message in my church in Georgia. As I was getting to the end of the message the Holy Spirit drew my attention to a lady who was sitting in the fourth row, right in front of me. I can still see her in my mind. She was a visitor. I did not know her or know anything about her. The Holy Spirit said, “She is concerned about her daughter. Tell her that her daughter is fine and she is going to be okay. I am with her daughter.” Once again, I was pretty sure this was God, but the stakes were higher this time. I was on stage, with the mic, in front of an entire congregation. While I was preaching I had a conversation with the Holy Spirit in my mind. I basically told Him something like this: “I AM NOT SAYING THAT! Are you crazy? I am in front of all of these people. What if this lady does not even have a daughter? What if she looks at me and says, “Sorry, I don’t have a daughter?” What will I do then? I will be embarrassed. I am NOT doing that!” The Holy Spirit was persistent in His request and I was persistent in my defiance, even though I had the incident at Walmart just a few weeks prior. I never said it and when I gave my Pastor (at the time) the mic, God did what He does. Since I was defiant, He used someone else. My Pastor, Richard Peoples, received the mic from me, he walked up on the stage, and immediately turned around and said, “Daughter, you, come here please. The Lord has heard your prayers. He is with your daughter. She is alright. Don’t worry. She is just fine.” The woman broke down crying. The Lord visited this woman because one of His children had their heart open to hear from Him. I repented again and I never again allowed my concern for how I was going to look to keep me from saying what I believe God was saying to me.
So what does this mean to you today? A few quick things.
1. You are God’s sheep. As His sheep you are supposed to hear His voice. This is how He will lead, guide and direct you.
2. While you are attempting to learn the voice of God you will have to discern the difference between a thought that came from God, one that came from satan, and one that simply came from you. This will take practice. You won’t always get it right, but you will never get it right if you don’t try.
3. As you are learning to hear the voice of God you have to trust what you are hearing. Do what you believe God is telling you to do, even if you wind up missing God. I have missed God more times than I want to remember, but you will never hit a homerun if you don’t take the swing. God wants you to know Him through experiences. As you attempt to do what you believe God is leading you to do, you will gain valuable experiences with Him. You won’t always get it right. But even when you mess up, the experience will draw you closer to God. This is part of your fellowship with Him.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, You are my Good Shepherd. I am Your sheep. I hear Your voice. The voice of a stranger, I will not follow. I learn to discern the difference between thoughts that come from You, those that come from satan, and those that simply come from me. As I learn to discern Your voice, by faith I declare that I DO what I HEAR! I have the faith to trust my hearing and to perform Your will. This is how You lead, guide and direct me. This is how I walk with You and You walk with me. This is how I become the man/woman I was birthed to me. I hear and obey the voice of my God! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
