1. Pursuit - God speaks and He wants to talk to YOU.
God is a communicative God. The Bible clearly describes God as a speaking God. Begins in Genesis with God speaking the earth into existence and talking with Adam and Eve, and ends in Revelation with God talking to John on the island of Patmos.
John 16:-15 NKJV
“A silent God suddenly began to speak in a book and when the book was finished lapsed back into silence again forever. Now we read the book as the record of what God said when He was for a brief time in a speaking mood. With notions like that in our heads how can we believe? The facts are that God is not silent, has never been silent. It is the nature of God to speak. The second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Word. The Bible is the inevitable outcome of God’s continuous speech.” AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God
2. Presence - We were created to hear God and for fellowship with Him.
We learn to Recognize God’s voice through Relationship.
Romans 5:10 NLT
John 15:13-15 NKJV
When we are born again our ability to hear God is—
1.Innate 2.Learned 3.Matured
3. Passion —We have to Value His Word
Proverbs 2:1-3 TPT
Proverbs 3:5-8 TPT
Psalms 27:4
4. Position — We position ourselves to hear & listen
1. Set an appointment Exodus 19:10-11
2. Be Still and worship Psalms 100
3. Pray and Read Psalm 119:147
4. Listen and Write Proverbs 2:1-3; Habakkuk 2:2
5. Proof. God speaks in different ways and God confirms His word.
1. Through the Bible
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” 2 Tim. 3:16
2. Through people/ wise counsel — Proverbs 12:15; 19:20
3. Through Peace— Colossians 3:15
4. Through dreams and visions — Acts 2:16-18
5. Through supernatural manifestations — Exodus 3:1-4; Numbers 22; Acts 9:1-5
6. Through circumstances — Jonah
7. Through your thoughts — Proverbs 16:3
Be careful— 3 places our thoughts can come from— our carnal mind, God’s Spirit, the devil
Is it in line with the Bible? 2 Tim 3:16
Is it in line with the nature/character of God? God is love. 1 John 4:8; 1 Cor 13
Does is bring peace? Col 3:15
Confirmation— Judges 6
What may hinder us from going to God or hearing His voice?
“That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.”
Hebrews 3:7-12 NLT