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How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 5

Numbers 22:28-29 (NLT) “Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam. ²⁹ “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

The story of Balaam’s donkey emphasizes how hard headed we can be when the Lord is trying to get our attention.  When king Balak sent for Balaam to come and curse God’s people, the Israelites, Balaam sought the Lord, and the Lord told him not to do it.  Later, the king sent for Balaam again and promised him great riches to come and curse the people.  Balaam again sought the Lord who then instructed him to go to the king but to only tell him what God had to say.  On the way, the angel of the Lord stood in the way and was ready to kill Balaam, but only his donkey could see it.  Three times the donkey avoided the angel of death, and three times Balaam beat the donkey for not obeying him.  If fact, Balaam was ready to kill his donkey even though the animal had never done anything like that before.  Then God gave the donkey the ability to speak.  Still, Balaam was clueless as to what was going on.  He argued with his donkey rather than realizing that God was the cause of the problems.  God had to open Balaam’s eyes to the spiritual realm before he understood God’s message.

How often do we “beat the donkey” when in fact God is trying to get our attention through difficult or uncomfortable circumstances?  Maybe the Lord’s is trying to get our attention about something in our life that needs to be healed or needs to change.  Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attention about a person to whom we need to minister.  Maybe the Lord is trying to get our attention about the fact that the world needs to know He is God alone, and He has chosen us to be His instrument.  May we learn from Balaam to recognize His voice before He needs to send a donkey to talk some sense into us.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 4

Leviticus 25:18-19 (NLT) "If you want to live securely in the land, keep my laws and obey my regulations. Then the land will yield bumper crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it."

In our land today there is not a sense of "living securely".  Even though the large majority still eat their fill, there is a sense of uneasiness and insecurity that is everywhere.  There are questions about the direction that the country is going and the reality of tougher economic times.  If, however, we were to analyze our current circumstances from the words of revelation which God gave thousands of years ago, we would understand our present situation.  Living securely comes from dependence on the Lord's provision and work on earth.  God is speaking to us today by being consistent with His word.  We would be wise to spend some time getting to know His word better.  Then we would be better able to interpret the times we live in.  Indeed, trust and obey for their is no other way to live securely in Jesus.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 3

Jeremiah 35:15 (NIV) “Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, “Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and reform your actions; do not follow other gods to serve them. Then you will live in the land I have given to you and your fathers.” But you have not paid attention or listened to me.”

There is a saying that goes, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”  When we are looking to grow in our ability to hear God’s voice, it is crucial that we learn all we can about what He has already said that is written down in the Bible.  This is where we begin to know His voice and recognize His priorities and the things that are on His heart and in His mind.  The example of Israel is a lesson that we need to learn, or we also will be doomed to repeat their hardness of heart.  How will it help us if God is speaking to us and we are so wrapped up in our own will and wicked ways that we can’t “hear” Him?  We must go to the word of God and allow the Spirit of God to teach us, convict us and transform us.

How to recognize when God is talking to you, part 2

Acts 3:1-6 (NIV) “¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

This is a little story with a lot of power!  Even the Jewish leaders who were opposed to Christ did not deny this was a miracle (see Acts 4:16).  Yet because of the incredible nature of this miracle we often don’t ask the right questions about what God was doing.  What caused Peter to respond to this beggar and not another one?  Why did Peter tell the man to walk instead of asking God to heal him?   This account doesn’t give us the answers, but we know from how Jesus interacted with the Father and how he taught his disciples to do the same that God was talking to Peter and John.  Both Peter and John’s attention were drawn to the beggar, first of all.  They had learned to recognize the leading of the Spirit.  Secondly, Peter knew that God had something else to give this man other than money because they didn’t have any!  Then, Peter simply gave the beggar what he himself had been given from the Lord.  From this we learn that when God gets our attention concerning a person, however that happens, that he has something for them.  Next, we must discern what that is and respond to the leading of the Spirit.  We will continue to look at how to discern these things in the coming weeks.

How to recognize when God is talking to you

Acts 16:6-7 (NLT) “Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.”

It is crucial for Christ-followers to learn to hear the voice of the Lord and to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Reading, understanding and obeying the written word is not enough, because we are to be “led by the Spirit.” (see Gal. 5:25)  Since the Spirit is always moving in one way or another, and since God the Father is always working, we must never again be duped by the false thinking that the written word alone guides our lives.  We must learn to recognize the Spirit’s daily conversation with us.  Then we will be able to take the next step and apply it to our situation.  We need situational awareness in the Spirit.

To begin, let us learn to recognize those things around us that stand out.  We are all wired differently and we have different experiences which predispose us to notice things differently.  However, when something stands out to us, a phrase a person has spoken, words that we are reading, the interaction of people, cars, objects, animals, or whatever, let’s take the opportunity to ask the Lord if He’s trying to get our attention.  Oftentimes the Lord is in these things and we don’t know it.  The first step is to begin to recognize God’s work. 

Time to Pray

Luke 12:15 (NIV 1984) “Then he said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”

“Time is money” goes the popular saying. If so, then time is one of our most precious possessions. The application for our lives, therefore, is to guard against greed with respect to how we spend our time. If we are to honor God with our bodies (see 1 Corinthians 6:20), then we most definitely must honor the Lord with our time. In fact, as servants of the Most High God, our time is not our own. It belongs to Him. So then, we have no excuse for our lack of prayer. Rather than focus on issues like being too busy or not having a gift of intercession, we need to get to the heart of the matter which is disobedience. The cure for sin (which is what lack of prayer is called) is repentance, and repentance is not finished until a lifestyle change is in place. Repenting for a lack of prayer does not happen overnight; however, we should not delay making the necessary changes. The Lord gave Jezebel time to repent (see Revelation 2:21), and he will give us time as well. However, we need to understand that the Lord is moving his people to a greater level of holiness. We need to heed this word and give prayer the level of importance in our lives that the Lord is asking of us. Do not delay. Make the necessary changes starting today!