Are We Listening?

Luke 1:13-15 “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” KJV

Luke 1:28-31 “And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” KJV

These verses excite me for many reasons! Announcing the coming birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, being the first and foremost! But I also get excited because this is a reminder to me that God speaks to His people. We are always grumbling, “Why doesn’t God speak to me like He did others in the Bible days?” My sister and I always say, “Why doesn’t He give us neon signs!” He does!

Malachi 3:6a “For I am the LORD, I change not;…” KJV

Think about it, God wants us to know His will so why would He try to hide it from us. He is not hiding from us, but often we are (or think we are) hiding from Him.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” KJV

He is not hiding it from us. If you belong to Him and have accepted the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, His will is with you through the Holy Spirit. The Word, He has it for us and it is near us….we do not have to go on some wild journey to find it.

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” KJV

Philippians 3:15 “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” KJV

Before the Holy Spirit came, God spoke to His people in many external ways: angels, dreams, visions, signs, and prophets. But we have it even better! He speaks to us internally through the indwelling Holy Spirit who is on duty 24 hours a day! So why is it so hard for us to hear Him?

Could it be the things we are asking Him are things we already have our mind made up about? Often, we say we are seeking His will, but we have already decided yes or no to something and are really just wanting Him to sign off on it. Won’t work that way! Trust me I know. Been there done that. When will we learn we cannot play games with the Father?

Could it be the opposite? The Lord speaks and the enemy tries to tell us that it is not the Lord’s voice we hear, but our own? He does not want us to be obedient to God. He wants to stop us from growing in our relationship with the Father. One rainy night I knew my granddaughter and nephew were going to be traveling to church together. I was watching television when all the sudden the thought to pray for them was pressed on my mind. I prayed immediately. The enemy told me I was being silly that it was just in my mind because of the bad weather. I am a prayer warrior. I was not taking any chances, so I spent a little time in prayer for their safety and for them in general and sent a quick text to two fellow prayer warriors. I did not think anything else about it. I do not remember all the details but later that week in conversation, my granddaughter shared that someone had pulled out in front of them that night or that they almost did not see someone in front of them, but she thanked God that they saw him at last minute or they would have hit him. I may not have that exactly right, but you get the idea. Thank the Lord, that the enemy did not succeed that night. Do not let the enemy make you think God does not speak to us.

Often, we do not hear Him because we do not want to hear what He has to say. He is not saying what we want to hear. And we are not going to leave that comfort zone or risk any kind of possible embarrassment, so we sit with our ears plugged. Be sure to pray and listen regardless of what you want and do not move until He gives you the peace to move forward. He will speak to you if you will listen.

Sometimes you do not need to hear from Him other than to read His word. You know to do the things you know are right and stay away from the things you know are not right based on what His word says. But not only does He speak to us through His word, if you receive anything from Him it will line up with His word. He will NEVER direct you into any path that does not line up with His word, the Bible.

God still speaks through external things and miracles, because all things are possible with God, but mostly today He speaks quietly to our hearts through His word and the Holy Spirit. But He does still speak to us!

Malachi 3:6a “For I am the LORD, I change not;…” KJV

God does not change! He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is still speaking to us. But are we listening? What is blocking His voice in our lives? It is worth looking into……

Sheri