Discerning the voice of God Reported by Joel How
09 Sep
When you have experience the reality of the spiritual world and encountering the personal God, we need to learn to listen to the prompting from God. Such a person yearns to listen God’s voice and “to work with Him and not for Him” as quoted by Bill Johnson. It’s only obeying to the voice of God and by working with His Spirit which enables us to do great exploits.
They discover, however, that discerning promptings from God is not straightforward — there are many ‘voices’ competing for our attention. These spiritual ‘voices’ are quite subtle. Perhaps we had not even been aware of them before — how do we know which voice comes from God?
God does not speak to us by an audible voice (except, perhaps, in rare circumstances). His normal way of communicating is by more subtle leadings and promptings (Romans 8:14).. He may speak through circumstances, or by an ‘inner voice’ by which we know he has communicated with us, but we have not heard words. His communication may seem like a thought to us or an idea or a realization. Yet his communications have a different quality, and as we grow in the ability to discern, we come to recognize ‘his voice’ more frequently.
Last Saturday at CKRM, a demonstration of the Power of God to shut the second entrance door. Little Joel was called to open the door. He could not even walked near the door as there was an angel guarding it (Genesis 3:24). Then, Jan Sue was asked to open the door. She struggled to go near but then suddenly ran around the congregation in the sanctuary as the power of the Lord came upon her as in 1 Kings 18:46. Next watchman Uzziah was invited to open the door. Uzziah was able to walk and open the door with ease as the door was unguarded because the angel guarding the door had left the post after the power of the Lord came on Jan Sue.
The word “discern” itself means to exercise judgment. With discernment, we are always faced with a simple choice: is it God acting or not? When Ps Paul called for a “wall of fire” to seal the door the second time, Uzziah was unable to even walk close to the door! We must work at discerning God’s voice. Discernment is the art of knowing when it is God acting upon or speaking to us, and when it is not. This art can only be learned by trial and error. Our goal, then, is a life of discernment which leads to an instinctive sensitivity to what pleases God. As we develop this habit of discerning love, the Lord’s peace, which at first is in the senses, becomes an interior peace. We quickly recognize His action in our own lives and in others.
Joel How
09 Sep
When you have experience the reality of the spiritual world and encountering the personal God, we need to learn to listen to the prompting from God. Such a person yearns to listen God’s voice and “to work with Him and not for Him” as quoted by Bill Johnson. It’s only obeying to the voice of God and by working with His Spirit which enables us to do great exploits.
They discover, however, that discerning promptings from God is not straightforward — there are many ‘voices’ competing for our attention. These spiritual ‘voices’ are quite subtle. Perhaps we had not even been aware of them before — how do we know which voice comes from God?
God does not speak to us by an audible voice (except, perhaps, in rare circumstances). His normal way of communicating is by more subtle leadings and promptings (Romans 8:14).. He may speak through circumstances, or by an ‘inner voice’ by which we know he has communicated with us, but we have not heard words. His communication may seem like a thought to us or an idea or a realization. Yet his communications have a different quality, and as we grow in the ability to discern, we come to recognize ‘his voice’ more frequently.
Last Saturday at CKRM, a demonstration of the Power of God to shut the second entrance door. Little Joel was called to open the door. He could not even walked near the door as there was an angel guarding it (Genesis 3:24). Then, Jan Sue was asked to open the door. She struggled to go near but then suddenly ran around the congregation in the sanctuary as the power of the Lord came upon her as in 1 Kings 18:46. Next watchman Uzziah was invited to open the door. Uzziah was able to walk and open the door with ease as the door was unguarded because the angel guarding the door had left the post after the power of the Lord came on Jan Sue.
The word “discern” itself means to exercise judgment. With discernment, we are always faced with a simple choice: is it God acting or not? When Ps Paul called for a “wall of fire” to seal the door the second time, Uzziah was unable to even walk close to the door! We must work at discerning God’s voice. Discernment is the art of knowing when it is God acting upon or speaking to us, and when it is not. This art can only be learned by trial and error. Our goal, then, is a life of discernment which leads to an instinctive sensitivity to what pleases God. As we develop this habit of discerning love, the Lord’s peace, which at first is in the senses, becomes an interior peace. We quickly recognize His action in our own lives and in others.
Joel How
