God speaks to us constantly, if we’d only listen. He speaks through His word, through our times in prayer, through circumstances and trials, through the encouragement of friends and even through nature itself. Unfortunately it’s rare for most Christians to acknowledge that God has spoken at all, taking everything that happens as mere coincidence.
How many great sermons have you heard, and then forgot them by the time you left the church parking lot? We’re quick to accuse God of abandoning us, of never listening, of being distant and silent, but we’re the ones not listening. We dismiss His voice so often, we become deaf and numb to Him.
To be effective in spiritual warfare, we have to be quick to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. None of us are listening as we should. Our ears are so used to the over-the-top drama of the devil manipulating our emotions, that we miss the still small voice of God in our spirits. Our normal mode is going with the flow of bad moods and negative assumptions, self-pity and self-indulgence, and we justify it all very convincingly. But much like the wind and the earthquake and the fire in Elijah’s time (see 1 Kings 19 for the story) God doesn’t speak through any of that.
When God speaks, it’s usually just a thought. No drama, no soundtrack, no light from heaven, just a simple thought. And what’s our typical response? “Yeah, but I’m too busy for that…” or, “That would never work…” The devil wins when we treat God like an annoyance that interferes with our important routine. And we do it all the time. Every one of us has disrespected God’s voice today without even realizing it.
But what if we all started attuning our ears to God’s voice and actually act on it every day? Major things would change. God knows how the devil is plotting and planning to defeat and harm you, and will give you the promptings to start fighting in prayer right now. Start praying about the situations you are going through or upcoming events that any number of problems could derail. Stop with the generic, “Lord, bless my meeting, help me do well on that test,” kind of prayers. It’s time to be specific and to zero in on what the devil might try to do against you and launch a preemptive strike. Begin rebuking the demons that are being sent ahead of you to throw a wrench in the works before you even get there, rebuke how they want to work in the minds and attitudes of the people who you’ll be dealing with, rebuke the subtle fears and dread that is building up inside of you. Rebuke them with authority, with holy anger. As you get into the “zone” of faith and warfare, the Holy Spirit will begin praying through you, giving power and direction to your prayers. Instead of being weak and hesitant, you’ll have the courage to walk into any situation with the peace and conviction of God’s presence with you.
The more often you enter into that zone of faith, the more you’ll sense the Holy Spirit leading and confirming your faith. You’ll sense His proddings more often throughout you day, and if you respond quickly to Him, your spiritual ears become more attuned to Him, and you’ll become more obedient to do what’s right. Problems that looked like mountains will crumble, and ordinary events will become extraordinary because you chose to exalt God as Lord over those situations. 1 John 3 says that Jesus was revealed to the world so that he could destroy, or undo, the works of the devil. Today He needs us to be His instruments of warfare, but if we don’t listen to Him, we won’t act. Imagine what the world would be like if each one of us lived in that zone of faith? We would block so much evil and open doors for so many miracles. It starts with you and me today.
Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 MEV)
I learned when I listen to God's voice, I become more obedient to do what's right and that God wants me to be an instrument . By listening all the time when He is speaking to me not only listening when I want God to do something for me and end up accusing Him when things in my life do not go the way I want.
ReplyDeleteThis is so powerful. So often we give way to our emotions and start to exalt our problems instead of using our faith in every circumstance to ensure that God is glorified in that situation. Faith is action, without actions our faith is dead. I have learned so much from this and really needed to read this. Thank you.
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