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HOW CAN I HEAR FROM GOD? PART 1
by Segun Olumide 1. CLASSIFYING THE WILL OF GOD Romans 12:2 talks about the three types of the will of God, namely: i. Good will of God This is a good idea or intention, but which God neither ordains nor supports (1Chr 17:1-4, 11-12; 1 Chr 13:7-11). David had a good idea to build God a house, but God never supported or approved of it! Uzzah had a good intention to help the ark of covenant from falling but God neither ordained nor allowed it! He lost his life in spite of his very good idea or intention. So be careful what you call good intention, idea or initiative. I almost died prematurely in 2007 for my good intention, which was never God's intention for my life. ii. Permissive will of God This is what God did not ordain but only permits or allows (Nu 22:1- 35, 1Sam 8:6-7, 18). God gave the Israelites their requests, but sent leanness into their souls because that was merely his permissive will (Ps 106:15). Balaam went on a mission that God never sent him, but only permits him to go because of greed in his heart. He almost lost his life. Thank God for his donkey used to save his life. It is a dangerous thing to live in the permissive will of God. iii. Perfect will of God This is what God himself ordains or commands (Jer 42:6). Somebody said that Jesus' greatest armour while he was on earth was that he was at the centre of God's perfect will (at every point in time). This also is our greatest armour today which guarantees our perfect health, provision and protection. Without this, we would come under Satan's attack unnecessarily. That was why Jesus said, "WATCH and pray so that you don't fall into temptation [or Satan's trap or trouble]" (Mat 26:41). 2. WRONG NOTIONS ABOUT HEARING FROM GOD These are some of the wrong beliefs, lies or teachings about hearing from God. i. God is always talking to everybody (1 Sam 28:6, Ex 24:12, 15-16, Eccl 3:7b, Rev 8:1). God is not talkative. He knows when to speak and when to keep quiet. ii. God speaks to spiritual babes through intuition, impression or inner witness but to spiritual adults through voices and visions (Acts 9:3-6, 11-12) iii. Prayer and fasting makes God speak to you (Acts 13:1-2). No, it will only make you sensitive to hear from God. It can never compel God to speak to you. God does as he pleases. iv. God put apostles and prophets in the church to lead or guide the New Testament saints in making their decisions in life (Heb 1:1-2, Jn 16:13-15, Ro 8:14) The Holy Spirit is in us, saints, to guide into all truth. Jesus called him the Comforter. The Greek word for comforter in John 14:26 is 'paraclete' which means 'someone called alongside to help.' Remember that as many as are led by God's Spirit, not by apostles, prophets or pastors, are still the sons of God (Rom 8:14). v. God only speaks to a few luckily selected saints (Pro 20:27, 1Cor 2:9-12) vi. God does not speak to people anymore today (Heb 1:1-2, Heb 13:8) vii. Satan cannot speak to believers, only God speaks to them (Mat 16:22-23, Job 2: 8-9) viii. You, and not God, determines how He speaks to you (Num 12:6-8) ix. God speaks only to those who are close to Him (Job 33:14, Jam 4:8, Gen 3:9) 3. HINDRANCES TO HEARING FROM GOD i. Being too busy with activities which prevents us from seeking God (Jam 4:8) ii. Seared conscience due to persistent sin or disobedience (1Tim 4:2, Heb 12:1, Heb 3:7, 15) iii. Weight (Heb 12:1) This is any legitimate thing that has become a hindrance. Your child, spouse, car, work, ministry, money, handset, T.V. set, laptop, friends, parents, co-workers, rightful sex in marriage, food, water, and so on can become great weight preventing you from seeking God's face and hence hearing from HIM. iv. Not learning to listen to God speaking to you (Ps 62:11, Hab 2:1-2, 20) v. Being conformed to the world (Ro 12:2, 1Jn 2:15-16) vi. Demonic interference or obstruction (Dan 10:12-13) vii. Idols in the heart (Ez 14:4, Num 22:12-22) viii. Expecting the spectacular (1Kgs 19:9-13) Several years ago, when a prophet told me to go and seek God's face for one day because He [God] wanted to talk to me, I obeyed. And interestingly, God spoke to me. You may think I heard His thunderous voice in my ears. No, He spoke to me through the Spirit witness, not in an audible voice. It was a wonderful experience. ix. Insufficient/little faith [leading to worry, fear, unbelief or doubt] (Mat 6:28-33) A troubled mind that does not trust in God will find it difficult to hear from Him. x. Insensitive/uncharged human spirit God's word, praying in an unknown tongue, worship and fasting sensitizes and fine-tunes your human spirit to pick or discern the voice or will of God more easily and accurately (Heb 4:12,1Cor 14:4, Acts 13:2-3, NIV) RECOMMENDED BOOKS: 1. How You Can Be Led By The Spirit of God → Kenneth E. Hagin 2. How You Can Know The Will of God → Kenneth E. Hagin 3. Follow Your Heart → Kenneth Hagin Jnr 4. Seven Components of the Will of God → Sola Areogun 5. How To Hear From God → Joyce Meyer SINNER'S CONFESSION If you are not yet born-again, say this: I choose to repent today. Also I choose to believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose up for my justification. The Scripture says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom 10:9). Therefore, I believe in Jesus in my heart and confess Him as my Lord. Now I am born-again (Amen). SAY THIS ALOUD TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT Also Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). And on the day of Pentecost "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). Therefore, I receive the Holy Spirit by faith right now and I begin to speak in an unknown tongue (unlearned tongue) as He gives me the utterance. I command every foul spirit [spirit of fear, spirit of unbelief, spirit of doubt, religious spirit, unforgiving spirit] wanting to hinder me to stop in its evil operation in my life in Jesus' name. Thank you God for filling me with your Spirit in Jesus' name (Amen). 2013 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: THE NEW APOSTOLIC MOVEMENT, [email protected], [email protected], 08161297781, 08053053578, 07085951514. All rights reserved. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |