"Hearing the Voice of God"
Dear Friends and Family,
Have you ever had a strong impression that you were supposed to go somewhere or do something? I would imagine it has happened to you several times, but the question is, what did you do with the impression after you received it? For most people they will discard it as just their imagination.
I would like to suggest to you, could it have been something other than your imagination? Could it have been the voice of God? Too many times we disregard them, when in fact it was the voice of God.
The next thing you’re probably going to ask is how can you be sure if it is from God, or just your imagination? Well the answer is not as hard as you think it might be. You have to start by testing them, first with simple unimportant things. The ones that don’t cost you anything and won’t cause harm to yourself or anyone else. Keep doing this for awhile and you will start distinguishing between your imagination and the true voice of God. You can also see if the word you have received lines up with scripture or not. Learning the voice of God is one of the most important things for you as a Christian.
Now, after you have learned the voice of God, you can begin talking to Him and He will answer you. Many times you may have to wait upon Him. He doesn’t want us to be in a hurry. Many times He will answer you right away, and at other times He might want you to wait. It is so important that you wait upon Him and not go ahead of Him. We have found that many times God will tell us to do something, but it isn’t the right time to do it, but as we wait upon Him, He tells us more and then He tells us when the timing is right.
The next thing is to be obedient to Him. Have you been prompted to pray for someone, but didn’t? Have you been prompted to call someone on the phone to see how they were doing, but didn’t? Have you been prompted to give someone some money but didn’t? Have you discarded those promptings? Then after awhile you start feeling bad about not doing what you were prompted to do. God prompts you because He wants to work through you. When you are obedient and step out in faith, then God will use you more. The more obedient you are the more God will trust you with greater things. Yes! It might cost you something, but being obedient to God is worth the cost.
Last fall Lena’s sister called her on the phone from Detroit. During their conversation her sister mentioned that their pastor was facing surgery. He was suffering from a bulging disc in his neck that was causing him great pain in his neck and he wasn’t able to have full motion of his neck. He was also experiencing pain and numbness in his right arm and fingers. It was getting to the point where the pain medication wasn’t helping much. He really didn’t want to have surgery because the surgeon would have to go through the front of his throat to fix the disc. He was also told the surgery may affect his speech.
After Lena was finished talking to her sister, she told me about her sister’s pastor. The first thing that came to both of us was that we should go to Detroit and pray for him. Detroit is over 200 miles from us. That would mean we would have to stay there for a couple of days. Now there were a few things that entered our minds. One of the first things was that with the price of gas around four dollars a gallon, it would cost us $50 or so for gas. Then the question came to me what if we pray for him and nothing happens? The last question was easy for me to answer. If God told me to drive 200 miles and pray for someone, God was going to heal him.
We went to Lena’s sister’s home to stay for two days. Next we had her sister call the pastor of their church and tell him that God had told us to come to Detroit and pray for him, and ask when would be a good time to get with him. He said that after the Sunday morning service would be the best time for him.
After the church service we met with the pastor in his office. He couldn’t get over the fact that we would come from the other side of the state to pray for him. We then shared some of the miraculous healing testimonies God had preformed through our ministry. We wanted to first build up his faith so that he could receive his healing. As we began praying for him, he was able to turn his neck, and then the numbness left his arm and fingers, and all his pain was gone.
We went back to the church for the evening service. The pastor approached us and said that his assistant pastor was in charge of the service, but he wanted us to also minister at the end of the service.
At the close of the service the assistant pastor gave an alter call for people to come forward who needed prayer. Lena and I joined others and prayed for the people. The people had various needs, but the ones that we remember most were an elderly woman who was wearing a wrist brace. The bones in her wrist were sprained, and she was in pain. We prayed for her wrist to be healed and for all the pain to leave. She said that all the pain in her wrist went away. We prayed for a man who was suffering from depression, and the depression left him. We prayed for man who could only walk with the aid of a walker, and after praying for him, he began walking with out his walker.
When we stop and look back at what it cost us, ( traveling to Detroit and staying two days, plus the cost for gasoline for the car ) we can say yes it was well worth it.
Lena talked to her sister a couple months later and she told us that her pastor told her that he was still without pain.
I would like to encourage you to take some time to quiet yourself before the Lord, and begin talking to Him, and then listen for His voice. Ask Him if there is anything He would want you to do, then do what He tells you. It’s that easy. But you have to take the first step. God won’t disappoint you, He will always answer you.
There are great benefits in waiting before the Lord. The scripture tells us in Isa 40:31, as we wait on the Lord, our strength will be renewed. We will be like eagles, flying over life’s storms. We will gain strength and be able to run and not get tired, and when we walk we’ll not grow weary.