And The Lord Said: 4 Confirming the Voice Of God
Everything rises and falls on relationships.
In order for God to empower you to live your life to the full,
you need to hear his voice.
A right relationship with God involves communication; Dialogue, conversation;
talking together with God is normal.
John 10:2-4 (NIV)
The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 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.
He calls, You listen and He guides and leads, by His voice.
We’ve learned that God most often speaks to us through impressions.
An impression is a thought that you did not have before.
An inspiration, a new idea, a direction you hadn’t considered before.
You want to make the right decision.
The choices before you are important.
"How do you know if you are making the right decisions in life?"
You are impressed to do something out of your normal routine.
How do you know if that impression is from God?
You need to make a choice, you pray,
How do you know if that impression is from God?
Last time we looked at six things that help you to discern God’s voice from
all the others that vie for your attention.
We considered role of Timbre (tamber)
The combination of qualities of God’s voice that distinguishes it from
other voices
Revelation 2:7 (NIV)
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
We considered at role of Scripture
God will not contradict what He has already revealed in the Bible
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
We considered role of Love
God will never instruct you to leave the path of love
Luke 9:23 & John 15:13 (NIV)
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me…Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
We considered role of Solitude
In order to recognize the sound of God’s voice we must purposely pull
away to spend time listening.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God…"
We considered role of Peace
God will not confuse you,
there will be a sense of peace concerning what God has spoken
to you about.
John 14:27 (NIV)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
We considered the role of Reason
God will not require you to disengage your brain.
Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
Now you have discerned that God has spoken to you.
You have a new impression, a thought, a guidance and
you are pretty sure its from God.
Today we need to explore how to confirm God’s Word to you.
I am going to share with you the guidelines that I use to confirm what I believe is
God’s communication with me.
But before we launch into the guidelines,
I’ve got to ask you a question, then I have to give you an observation:
First the question: Can you hear a No or Wait or Nothing at all from God?
“In learning to hear the voice of God, one thing is certain—
if you cannot hear a ‘no,’ you will have a hard time hearing God at all or
believing that what you think you’ve heard is in fact from God.
…hearing God requires surrender, giving all things over into
his hands.” (John Eldredge , Walking with God, p. 123)
We can be lead astray by our own desires,
Even our desires for good things.
I hate to confess to you the times I was doing what God wanted,
But doing it my way.
That’s why I have so much empathy for Judas Iscariot.
He goes down in history as the betrayer of Christ.
But in his story I see a lot of me.
Knowing what God wants done,
And then instead of listening for instructions on how to
accomplish what God wants,
I push ahead and do what makes sense to me.
If I can not hear no,
If I can not hear Wait,
And If I can not bear a “no answer,” silence,
Then I am on shaky ground when it comes to hearing the
voice of God.
“We have to be careful that our earnest hope and desire don’t cause us to claim a
promise God has not given.” (John Elderedge Walking with God, p 123)
First the question now the observation:
Do not be surprised that after hearing from God,
and then in the process of doing what God has told you to do,
that you will face opposition,
frustration and challenges that are too big for you to
overcome on your own.
All hell might be breaking lose against you to try to stop you,
To discourage you, to delay you, from getting done what God
wants you to do.
Don’t be shocked if some of your opposition comes from other
believers.
Nobody likes change.
The Bible warns us about quarrels and arguments and divisions in the
faith family because those are some of Satan’s weapons used to
prevent God’s children from doing God’s will.
Don’t be surprised if discouragement comes from
people that are supposed to be on your team.
Let’s discover How to Confirm that an Impression is from God.
You have heard from the Lord,
You can say to someone, what the Lord said to me was.
Now How do you make sure you heard right?
How do you confirm your impression?
There are seven questions that I use to confirm that my impression is from God;
that I have heard correctly the speaking voice of God.
I’ll ask them of you
First: Does this impression guide you to righteousness?
Righteousness means right relationship.
Right relationships leads to living your life to the full.
God’s voice will always direct you to creating, maintain and building right
relationships.
Recall I have taught you that there are four relationships that you
constantly need to be improving in and strengthening:
A right relationship with God,
Grown through obedience to His commands.
A right relationship with Self,
Grown by partnering with God in discipleship.
A right relationship with Others
Grown by meeting their needs.
A right relationship with the Earth
Grown by wise stewardship of your possession.
God’s voice will instruct you on how to grow in these relationships
If an impression leads you to righteousness, You I can confirm it as God’s voice.
Second: Does this impression lead you to freedom?
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Freedom is conforming to the truth.
The truth is Jesus.
God leads me to be His child,
to be like Jesus.
If an impression leads me to be more like Jesus,
You can confirm it as God’s voice.
You might ask “what is Jesus like?”
Jesus is like: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Jesus is like: Galatians 5:22-23
Jesus is like: Matthew 26:39
Jesus is like: John 15:13
Read those verses, study them, mediate upon them and
you will gain an idea of what Jesus is like.
If your impression is in harmony with Christ-likeness then you can confirm
that impression as God’s voice.
Third: Is the impression free of an internal argument?
E. Stanley Jones, missionary to India during the first decades of the last century,
Made it his practice to spend 30 minutes a day in silence before God,
listening. That has always astonished me.
He counsels that one way you can determine if an impression is from God
or is from your own desires, is an argument.
“Perhaps the rough distinction is this:
The voice of the [counterfeit impression] argues with you,
tries to convince you;
but the inner voice of God does not argue,
does not try to convince you.
E. Stanley Jones from In Search of Guidance: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God by Dallas Willard (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984), 203.
God does not confuse, He clarifies.
God does not condemn, He convicts
God does not drive, He leads
God does not tear down people, He builds them up
God is not impulsive, He is persistent
God does demand, He woos
http://www.meccanewlife.org/Sermons_paper/Recognizing%20the%20Voice%20of%20God.doc.
When God speaks to you, there will be no internal argument.
You will know what is required of you,
Your choice will be to do it or not do it.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God’s voice bring peace that transcends all understanding,
An impression that creates a battle within you
Battle of, “is it right or wrong?”
Is not from God.
Fourth: Does the impression line up with the wise counsel in my life?
Proverbs 12:15 (NCV)
Fools think they are doing right, but the wise listen to advice.
Wise counsel, wise advice.
When you need to confirm the directions the Lord has given you,
Ask those people in your life who are wise in the ways of God.
This is why belonging to faith community is so important.
First you have the tradition of your faith community.
God has placed you in congregation that has a history and a
tradition,
It might be that the practical teachings of that faith
community will help you confirm what the Lord
said to you.
In that faith community God has assigned Pastors and teachers
and those with way more experience than you.
Use the resources God has given,
Its part of being a good steward.
Conversation might go something like this—
Oh wise and learned sage of the faith,
I feel that God spoke to me and said…..
What do you think?
In that faith community God has given you an opportunity to be
involved in a home group.
A place where you have shared life together.
A home group is a place of intimacy.
Where people “in-to-me-see.”
Spiritual brothers and sisters may just
help you see a self blinding spot.
In your faith community you may have found the blessing of
A spiritual companion.
One who is an encourager,
Who sharpens you in spirit.
Who guards your heart.
If you are fortunate you have a spouse as a spiritual
companion.
If you are fortunate you have two or three friends that are
spiritual companions.
Spiritual companions can help you confirm God’s
message to you.
You are certain that the Lord has given you a specific guidance.
You are certain that the God has spoken to you,
Before you act on something major
Take that impression to wise counselors
Their advice can help you confirm it as God’s voice.
Five: Does the impression line up with the calling God has placed on your life?
Every believer in Christ is called to ministry.
There are no exceptions.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT) & 1 Peter 4:10 (NCV)
A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other... Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that God has called you to nothing.
That somehow you are exempt.
If you don’t know what your calling is,
Then find out, we are all waiting on you to do your part.
What can you do the meet the need of someone else that you
are passionate about?
What breaks your heart so much that you are compelled to
change things for someone else?
More than likely you’ll discover your calling in the answer to
those two questions.
God will nudge you and guide you in the area of your calling.
If an impression is in harmony with what God has already called you
to do you can confirm it as God’s voice.
Does this impression guide you to righteousness?
Does this impression lead you to freedom?
Is the impression free of an internal argument?
Does the impression line up with the wise counsel in my life?
Does the impression line up with the calling God has placed on your life?
The last two questions don’t stand alone.
In other words in order to confirm that you have heard the speaking voice of
God,
not only will you have to answer yes to these questions,
you’ll also have to back up your yes with the answers to
the other five.
Six: Is this impression persistent?
God wants us to hear Him.
If you aren’t sure that you have heard God correctly,
God will send you the message again.
Jeremiah 11:7 (NIV)
From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, "Obey me."
Again and again—persistence.
Does it seem like your impression keeps popping up?
Are you seeing signs of God urging you to heed what He has
told you?
Persistency is a clue that an impression is from God.
Seven: Is God providing?
Deuteronomy 2:7 (NCV)
The Lord your God has blessed everything you have done; he has protected you while you traveled through this great desert. The Lord your God has been with you for the past forty years, and you have had everything you needed.
The spiritual adage: Where God guides, God provides.
Is based in part on this verse of scripture.
Your impression will be accompanied by provision for you to do what
the Lord has told you to do.
You will see doors opening,
allowing you to access resources,
Giving you opportunity, to accomplish God’s will.
Provision is a clue that an impression is from God.
Discerning the voice of God is an art form.
Confirming God’s word to you is more pragmatic.
You can confirm that you heard from the Lord by asking
Seven questions of your impression:
Does this impression guide you to righteousness?
Does this impression lead you to freedom?
Is the impression free of an internal argument?
Does the impression line up with the wise counsel in my life?
Does the impression line up with the calling God has placed on your life?
Is this impression persistent?
Is God providing?
You have an encounter with God and leave that encounter with the first hand
experience of God speaking to you.
You believe that Lord has spoken to you.
You have confirmed the Word of the Lord by asking those 7
questions.
Now here is the most amazing part—
In a time of prayer tell God how you are going to act upon what He has told
you to do.
Here’s the amazing promise:
Proverbs 3:5-6 & Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight…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."