WEEK TWO FOCUS… CREATING SPACE FOR HIS VOICE

- DAY 9 | JESUS created SPACE for his FATHER to FILL

Jesus often went away to a deserted place where He could pray and hear the voice of His Father.

Luke 4:42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. NLT

We need to do the same thing, because there are many powerful and intimate experiences with God that we will only enjoy in a “isolated place.”

God is sovereign. He speaks in different ways at different times. Our faith must always be in God and not in a certain method.

… I want to challenge you and encourage you that this week you create space for God through seeking Him and hearing His voice.

Job 33:14 For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. NLT

The Bible gives us many clues to hearing God’s voice. But our ears must be tuned to Him. The Lord has many ways of speaking to us. He may use the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, His Word, prayer, circumstances or other people.

The Lord may speak to us in dreams, visions or even by His audible voice; however, don’t expect God’s audible voice to be the common way He will speak!

Jesus promised that if we listen to Him closely, we will receive more and more from Him. He said….

Mark 4:24 And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you — and more [besides] will be given to you who hear. AMP

When we take the time to listen carefully, we can know the difference between His voice and all the other voices that do not match the character of God, His nature and the history of how He has led others before us.

Jesus urges us to learn to listen like sheep…

John 10:5 They will never [on any account] follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers or recognize their call. AMP

Since we are His children, His voice becomes familiar to us as we develop a relationship with Him.

When we pray, we engage ourselves in conversation with God, and God responds.

God is sovereign. He speaks in different ways at different times. Our faith must always be in God and not in a certain method.

We have to cultivate a friendship with God.

You are in a lifetime walk with the Creator of the universe, and hearing His voice is a skill to be learned over time.

Jesus told His disciples one day that sheep follow the shepherd…

John 10:4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. NLT

How did they know his voice? Because they had learned from experience to trust the voice of their shepherd… To hear God’s voice clearly, we must have a growing love relationship with God and trust Him, it’s that simple. The better we get to know God, the better we will recognize His voice.

God’s Word is full of examples of common and ordinary people who heard the voice of a mighty God who spoke to them. The end result was lives that were changed.

  • …Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden.
  • …Noah heard God tell him to build an ark on dry ground. His obedience resulted in his family being spared the most destructive flood in all of history.
  • …God told Abram after he was ninety years of age to change his name and prophesied to him that he would be a father of many nations.
  • …The Lord startled Moses at a flaming bush in the desert when He called him to deliver the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt.
  • …God advised Joshua to be strong and courageous, and gave David fresh strategies for each battle against his enemies.
  • …Nehemiah was directed to build a wall, and God told Jonah to preach in the city of Nineveh.
  • …The Lord told Mary she will be the mother of Jesus, and revealed to the elderly Zechariah and Elizabeth that they would have a son named John.
  • …God affirmed Jesus at His baptism through a voice from heaven, and Paul was totally transformed by the Lord’s voice on the Damascus Road.
  • …God spoke to Peter about reaching out to the Gentiles through a vision of a sheet filled with unclean animals, and he instructed John to write the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos.

Men and women of the Bible heard God’s voice in times past, and those who listen continue to hear as God reveals Himself and makes Himself known throughout the ages.

God delights in revealing Himself to us. He promises to answer if we call on Him.

Jer 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ NKJV

When we pray, we engage ourselves in conversation with God, and God responds.

- Sam Hinn