Hearing God
‘My God will hear me’ is a promise
made in Micah 7:7b. I love that. My
God will hear me. This is so wonderful
that it is almost incomprehensible. One
could get carried away with a continual string of requests. There is certainly no problem or request too
small to bring to God’s attention. He
wants to be involved in every moment of your life. However, what we want to remember is good manners. If God is listening to us, shouldn’t we listen
to God? Or, let’s make it more
personal. If God is hearing ME when I
pray, shouldn’t I hear God when He communicates with me?
You have undoubtedly been in close
contact with at least a few people in your life who have an ability to ‘talk
your ear off’ while having no ability to hear a word you say. Encounters with these people are not
pleasant. It is only good manners to
listen to what other people are saying as well as talk yourself. In a private conversation between two people,
both people should be able to not only speak but to be listened to by the other
person as well. It is an overwhelmingly
wonderful blessing that God will hear His children when they pray. It is an equally overwhelmingly wonderful
blessing that God speaks to His children.
It would be wise to try to listen to what He has to say!
How then do we ‘hear’ God?
The first way is obvious. We read what is written down in the Bible. The
Bible is written specifically for every individual Christian, and through it
God speaks directly to each of His children.
It is speaking directly to you personally, as well as to me personally. We have been given rules of conduct by which
we are to live in the word of God. We
have the commandments. We have the love
one another clause. We have the forgive
one another clause. We have the treat
others the way we want to be treated clause.
These things are definitely God speaking directly to every individual
believer. Once we hear what the Bible
says, we are to do what the Bible says.
This is all very straight forward and easy to understand. If we really hear what God speaks to
us, then we will follow His instructions.
After all, we want God to hear us and do the things we ask. How rude to ignore the things He asks of us. (It
is also plumb stupid.) Those wanting
God’s full attention when praying should rightly give God their full attention
when He speaks.
Hear the Lord when He says in Psalm
119:11, ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.’
Also remember James 1:22 which
instructs to not only hear the word of the Lord, but to do the things we are
instructed to do. It says, ‘But be ye
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.’ There is a stern warning in that verse. If someone calls themselves a Christian but
is able to continually habitually set aside the things God says to do, perhaps
they are deceiving themselves regarding their faith.
What then is a ‘doer of the word’
supposed to do? We have instructions in Micah
6:8 which says, ‘He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God?’
A similar verse of instruction is in Deuteronomy
10:12 which says, ‘And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee,
but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to
serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,’.
God is not first looking to see how
many souls His children point toward Him.
He is looking to see how well each one of His children obeys Him. If God’s children aren’t conforming to His
image, how are they going to point others to Him? Conforming to the image of Christ is
progressive. No one is converted one day
and a mature Christian the next day.
However true converts begin the life long process of being more
Christ-like in their actions as soon as they are born again. They should want to tell others about Jesus
and the way of salvation. However, the
true mark of a believer is that they do the things Christ says to do regarding
their own personal actions.
God also speaks to you through your
conscience. There are things you know to
be wrong. Don’t do them. How simple is that? Something to think about is that if you want
to do something, but you know it will not lead you closer to God, then you
should not do it. For instance, that
beautiful singing voice God gave Melodye Smith may get her an offer to travel
and sing with a country band. Melodye
knows the band plays in nightclubs and bars.
She really wants to do accept the offer.
But, she has misgivings. She
KNOWS her Christian life will suffer. More
money than she now earns is offered.
Melodye is tempted. What do you
think she should do? Based on the simple
truth that she will not be led closer to the Lord by accepting the offer,
Melodye should turn down the offer.
That is obviously a fanciful example,
but people face choices every day. Often
the issue is clouded by ‘more money’ or ‘more prestige’, but the question is
still the same. Will this hinder my
Christian walk? Listen to your
conscience. If it is telling you ‘not a
good idea’, listen!
Remember that God will NEVER EVER lead
you to go outside the boundaries He has set for all His children. The most important thing a child of God can
do is to be obedient to God. Through
obedience His children have an avenue to a life that is blessed by God. The boundaries set by God are for the
protection of His children. They are not
for set up to cause us grief. Jesus says
his yoke is easy and His burden is light.
I just love that passage. Matthew
11: 28-30 tells us, ’(28) Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
(29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls.
(30)
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Any child of God who would like to
lighten his or her own burden should begin with obedience to God.
It is by faith that we know ‘My God
will hear me’.
It is by faith that we know God will
help us to hear Him.
What we do with what we hear is the
measure of our Christian walk.
It is absolutely true that our
salvation is received by grace through faith.
(Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:’.)
But to show evidence or verification
of salvation, then look to the works of your own self. This is NOT to look to see if you have
completed some mighty deed that attracts the attention of the world. But rather look inside yourself.
Have you hidden God’s word in your
heart?
Are you a doer of the word as
explained in Micah 6:8 and Deuteronomy 10:12?
Strive to become a ‘Bible driven
Christian’ – someone who hears what the Lord has to say.
Come Unto Me
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeunto.htm
Hear the blessèd Savior calling the
oppressed,
“O ye heavy laden, come to Me and rest.
Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”
Refrain
Come unto Me, I will give you rest;
Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blessed.
I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might.
Come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.
Are you disappointed, wandering here
and there,
Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with
care?
Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you
rest
Refrain
Stumbling on the mountains dark with
sin and shame,
Stumbling toward the pit of hell’s consuming
flame.
By the powers of sin deluded and oppressed,
Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and
rest.”
Refrain
Have you by temptation often conquered
been,
Has a sense of weakness brought distress
within?
Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His
best.
In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest.
Refrain
