Note de l’auteur: Nous souhaitons inviter nos hommes et femmes francophones à se joindre à notre deuxième groupe de formation d’enseignants de français à compter du 1er septembre. Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter la Révérende Sandra Hill, doyenne de nos études internes, à l’adresse interns@lightbearers-
Author’s note: We want to invite our French speaking men and women of God to join our second French language intern teacher training group starting September 1st. For more information please contact Reverend Sandra Hill, the dean of our intern studies, at interns@lightbearers-
LISTENING – THINKING – DECIDING – ACTING
But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. Ex 23:22 NKJV
Imagine this for a moment – God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and the earth, becomes an active, fierce Enemy to your enemies, an Adversary to your adversaries. Who are your enemies? Those who seek to destroy you and take all that you have, which does and could include men, diseases, debt, poverty, government, institutions, accidents, evil spirits in all shapes and forms, and innumerable other circumstances and situations. It’s an evil world out there! But, what if you could become so confident in God that He is then released to deal with everything that seeks to destroy you, powerfully on your behalf? Do I have your attention?
Let’s talk about four keys to hearing and obeying His voice: listening, thinking, deciding and acting.
LISTENING
Therefore give to Your servant an understanding ( Heb. SHAMA – hearing ) heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. 1 Kings 3:9 NKJV
We must ask the Lord for a hearing heart, as opposed to a cauterized heart (1 Tim. 4:1) or a slumbering heart (Romans 11:8). For believers with a cauterized heart it takes a miracle of healing for them to hear from God, while for those who are asleep it takes deliverance from a spirit of slumber. The cauterized heart results from unhealed wounds (this is many times the case of pastors who quit), while the spirit of slumber gains access through religious pride, elitism and self-centeredness. This is why you must guard your heart lest you lose the ability to hear from God.
I humbled myself with fasting; Ps 35:13 NKJV
Fasting is like taking garlic…it’s good for everything! Purposeful fasting to humble yourself, positioning yourself to hear from God, with prayer and praise allows the Lord to ascend to the throne of your life. This is the place of being positioned to hear from Him.
In your relationship with Him He wants two things: open-ended time and undivided attention. Now, this is a purely subjective observation, but I noticed in my prayer times that the Lord did not seem to like the presence of my pet dog because of the attention I had to give to him. The Lord is a jealous God. There is a time and place for smartphones, etc. I guess, but it is certainly not in the presence of God. Undivided attention is very complimentary and even romantic with your spouse…
…and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not; Acts 16:7 ASV
You are free to make your own choices. When you seek God’s will, and He tells you ’no,’ then it is either to avoid a disaster, or to open up an even better door for you. One time I completely missed God’s leading. He told me ‘no’, then proceeded to tell me exactly what would happen, and that I was to avoid the trap. Everything happened the way He said, but I still fell for the trap, and had a terrible situation. I still to this day do not know what ‘better door’ would have opened had I been faithful…but, I did learn, and, mercifully, no one died. In this case the Lord closed the door to Bithynia to open the door to Macedonia…
So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Ex 33:11 NKJV
When you listen to God, listen like a ‘head over heels in love’ lover…because you are!
THINKING
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Prov 23:7 NKJV
While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him… Acts 10:19 NKJV
Pentecostals don’t think, do they? Wrong! Some Spirit filled people don’t think, and it gets them into trouble. When you get revelation, you are responsible for what you do with it, not God. You can get right revelation and do very wrong things with it. So, you need to think!
First, the Word tells us to judge the revelation, whether it is from the Lord or not. I’ve seen poverty spirits counterfeiting genuine stewardship and religious spirits prophesying. You always judge by the written Word. Is it loving? Does it lead to righteousness, to right living? If you have the time you can watch the fruit that develops from it. You have the inward witness, which is always ‘on,’ by which to test what you are receiving. Check your inward witness, your heart!
Secondly, I’ll many times seek confirmation before I move forward on a revelation. You don’t invalidate revelation just because you ask someone about it. This works when I am praying for people as well as for personal and ministry situations, events and planning for the future. When you get clear confirmation, it establishes faith to move forward. Ananias asked the Lord about the revelation he was getting, and then he got further confirmation when he saw Paul doing exactly what the Lord had told him. The Lord understands you and I and our need for confirmation!
Remember that the written Word is revelation to us. Think about God’s Word!
DECIDING
I wrote a short piece about decision making for our house church quick start guide that I think is worth seeing here.
Once you know the will of God, then you must make the decision to obey Him, regardless of your feelings. Your feelings will align when you make the decision. A decision has three characteristics. It must be clear, it must be definable and it must be resolute. One example: I declare: “I will plant and establish a house church in my town, so help me God!” It is clear – I will. It is definable – plant and establish a house church in my town. It is resolute – so help me God! Without those three characteristics, you really have not made a decision.
There is so much failure in our lives because we do not make decisions, but rather allow circumstances to make decisions for us. Do not procrastinate. Seek the Lord, and make right decisions.
ACTING
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…1 John 4:18 NKJV
Acting on revelation can be so easy because the anointing of faith is there. One time recently with our team in Uganda I confessed that I didn’t have the victory in my soul before the event ever started. A dear man of God, a team member, said, “I got the victory this morning in prayer for this event.” So, I said, “You are leading it then!” Note to team leaders – always go with the hot hand! The event was incredible…
Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. 2 Chron 20:22 NKJV
Acting on revelation, even imperfectly, releases the Lord to become an Enemy to your enemies. I have seen God turn things around when I have taken even the smallest steps of faith and obedience. He desires to crush the things that are crushing you. But He needs a little cooperation on your part. When you listen, think, decide and act on what He is telling you, the mightiest adversary will fall before the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Love you!
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…