In the midst of a week of prayer and fasting, two things immediately become apparent: One, I think fasting is a ‘bad idea’ from the Lord! Just kidding! (But not at all) Somehow, God uses fasting to quiet the noise in my soul and amplify His voice. Two, how desperate I am to hear from the Lord. My life, void of the direction of God, is a train wreck. “Can I Get a Witness!!!” The older I get; my physical hearing is slowly deteriorating…. (so I have to work that much harder to hear my girls!!) However, I’ve mastered the art of appearing to hear and understand, despite the fact I didn’t catch a word of it. (Just confidently smile and nod, tends to work 90% of the time) While there is little I can do to improve my physical hearing, there is much I can do to position my life to hear from the Lord better. Author and theologian Jack Deere wrote a phenomenal book called, “Surprised by The Voice of God”. In it, he describes 3 things we can do to position our lives to hear from the Lord:
1. BE AVAILABLE: “And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” (1Samuel 3:10) The great prophet and judge Samuel had to learn to slow down and create space in his life to hear from God. Personally, this time for me is early in the morning, when my mind and soul are still quiet, is when I hear from God best.
2. BE HUMBLE: “For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. (Psalms 138:6) Moses had a unique relationship with the Lord. Exodus 33:11 states Moses spoke to the Lord “face to face”. The book of Numbers 12:3 gives us some background into what made this unique relationship possible, “Moses was the humblest man on the earth.” It should be noted Moses wrote the book of Numbers, so it seems somewhat odd to write that about yourself, LOL. Nonetheless, humility paved the way to hear directly from God.
3. BE OBEDIENT: “but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” (John 14:31) Jesus had this dynamic conversation with the Father. He did what the Father said and thus positioned Himself to continue hearing from God. Why would you want to hear God’s voice if you’re not going to listen to Him? More importantly, why would God speak if you’re not going to listen? Obey the word of God you KNOW and you will be found faithful to entrust you with more and more.