Hearing And Listening
Over the last few weeks we’ve been focusing on how God speaks to us and the different ways in which he communities and reaffirms his desires for us. Today I’m going to bring you some stories from certain people who have experienced God's presence and have listened to his affirmations for them.
There are young women to whom God shows visions about their marriage. When asked about their marriages, they say ‘God has shown me a vision of the person I’m supposed to be with’. Or some say that God has revealed to me the person, their name and their physical appearance through prophecies. They say they are waiting for the right person. As years pass by, I had a lot of questions regarding this matter. If God is the one who spoke to them, shouldn’t what they saw already have happened. So the question arises, is what they saw actually from God or were they just daydreams? Did Satan bring these dreams to misguide us?
Many people cling on to these dreams and visions, hoping to finally find the one. When God called out Simon the tanner, he knew his name, his location and everything about him. God knows all these details and is revealed through the word of knowledge. However some people hold on to the dreams and visions claiming they are from God and tend to waste away their years. On the flip side there are also people who actually saw visions, or names of their spouses were prophetically revealed and their weddings took place. I have also met people who have in fact doubted if it was God who spoke to them when challenges arose.
It is important to have the Spirit of discernment to recognise God's voice. It is important to have the blessing to discern God's voice. God is always speaking to us. Our God is not dumb. God always talks to us in his ways. He talks to us in loud thunderous roars, in sweet gentle whispers and sometimes through stern upright discipline. However we hear a lot of voices on a daily basis, which includes our own thoughts and dreams, satanic thoughts etc. We line in the chaotic midst of several noises and to discern God's voice is truly a blessing.
It is important to grow up hearing God's voice. It is essential for us to understand it and absorb it. We must have the understanding, wisdom and knowledge to do so. A man of God once said, ‘hearing the voice of God is not a skill to be developed but a sense to be sharpened.’
Hearing and listening are two different things. Hearing could indicate hearing a mixture of sounds such as the noise of the bike starting while watching the news. It merely means that you are hearing a lot of noises without paying attention to a particular sound. Whereas listening indicates focus and concentration on one sound.
Acts 28:26-27 says, ‘26 “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
God despises those who hear with their ears but does not absorb his Word. While they are hearing, they are not fully understanding what is being said. When you bow down before the Lord in your personal prayer time, ask the Lord to help you listen, understand and absorb his Word. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to discern the voice of the Lord from the clutter. The voice of the Lord transformed the lives of those who listened. Abraham, Jacob and Paul are all examples of men of God who listened to his voice.
When I was in Russia, one day, half awake, I kept hearing the word ‘El Shaddai’. After a while, a clear statement came forth, which was ‘the human incapacity is replaced by the name El Shaddai’. I shared this incident with several people and as I shared I became emotional because I knew it was from God. You feel a mighty change when you listen and discern the instructions from the Lord. If you don’t listen and absorb the word of God, we might not be healed and might live as slaves to several diseases. It is truly a mighty blessing to hear and listen to the voice of God.
There are young women to whom God shows visions about their marriage. When asked about their marriages, they say ‘God has shown me a vision of the person I’m supposed to be with’. Or some say that God has revealed to me the person, their name and their physical appearance through prophecies. They say they are waiting for the right person. As years pass by, I had a lot of questions regarding this matter. If God is the one who spoke to them, shouldn’t what they saw already have happened. So the question arises, is what they saw actually from God or were they just daydreams? Did Satan bring these dreams to misguide us?
Many people cling on to these dreams and visions, hoping to finally find the one. When God called out Simon the tanner, he knew his name, his location and everything about him. God knows all these details and is revealed through the word of knowledge. However some people hold on to the dreams and visions claiming they are from God and tend to waste away their years. On the flip side there are also people who actually saw visions, or names of their spouses were prophetically revealed and their weddings took place. I have also met people who have in fact doubted if it was God who spoke to them when challenges arose.
It is important to have the Spirit of discernment to recognise God's voice. It is important to have the blessing to discern God's voice. God is always speaking to us. Our God is not dumb. God always talks to us in his ways. He talks to us in loud thunderous roars, in sweet gentle whispers and sometimes through stern upright discipline. However we hear a lot of voices on a daily basis, which includes our own thoughts and dreams, satanic thoughts etc. We line in the chaotic midst of several noises and to discern God's voice is truly a blessing.
It is important to grow up hearing God's voice. It is essential for us to understand it and absorb it. We must have the understanding, wisdom and knowledge to do so. A man of God once said, ‘hearing the voice of God is not a skill to be developed but a sense to be sharpened.’
Hearing and listening are two different things. Hearing could indicate hearing a mixture of sounds such as the noise of the bike starting while watching the news. It merely means that you are hearing a lot of noises without paying attention to a particular sound. Whereas listening indicates focus and concentration on one sound.
Acts 28:26-27 says, ‘26 “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
God despises those who hear with their ears but does not absorb his Word. While they are hearing, they are not fully understanding what is being said. When you bow down before the Lord in your personal prayer time, ask the Lord to help you listen, understand and absorb his Word. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to discern the voice of the Lord from the clutter. The voice of the Lord transformed the lives of those who listened. Abraham, Jacob and Paul are all examples of men of God who listened to his voice.
When I was in Russia, one day, half awake, I kept hearing the word ‘El Shaddai’. After a while, a clear statement came forth, which was ‘the human incapacity is replaced by the name El Shaddai’. I shared this incident with several people and as I shared I became emotional because I knew it was from God. You feel a mighty change when you listen and discern the instructions from the Lord. If you don’t listen and absorb the word of God, we might not be healed and might live as slaves to several diseases. It is truly a mighty blessing to hear and listen to the voice of God.
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