One sure way to get yourself off of jury duty, or excused from a job interview, is to proclaim that you regularly hear from God. I'm not sure when communicating with the Lord became a red flag for mental illness but I personally have read some headlines that make me cringe at the things some people have done because they were "told." Understandable, then, that when I talk to some people about what the Lord is speaking to me or about what I have felt lead to do, there is a pretty apparent uneasiness reflected in those faces.
It's too bad. The truth is that the Holy Spirit speaks to all of us, believers and nonbelievers, all of the time. A a matter of fact the entire earth speaks to us of God's power, creativity, and authority. Unfortunately many believers spend so much time waiting for an audible voice from the clouds that they miss the blare of messages all around them.
Let me give you an example from my own life just this last summer. I was driving to Brainerd, MN, and I had hooked up my phone to the speaker jack in my car and was listening to a sermon called Walk and Pray by Bill Johnson who pastors down in California at Bethel. In the message her pointed out key passages about the significance of feet in the Bible. He laid out a simple way to bless your neighborhood, city, region but going for a walk and praying for houses and business along the way. Now I'm kind of introverted so this kind of blessing people is right up my alley. But I didn't really give it a whole lot more thought until two weeks later when a girlfriend of mine asked if I wanted to go for a walk and pray about some things at the same time. Then, I kid you not, two weeks after that I was driving from Detroit Lakes to Hawley, where we live, and a billboard up on the side of the road, that had just been put up, read "Bless Minnesota--Adopt a Street in Prayer."
I think the Good Lord might be laying down some plans for me, know what I'm sayin'? A couple key factors in this particular mix: 1) Time set aside to listen to the Lord (the sermon in the car ride) and
2) Spending time with other believers (the friend who also suggested the prayer walk).
One of my favorite Sober Sisters recently wrote a post about how the Holy Spirit went about gently but relentlessly leading her to quit drinking wine every day. It is a beautifully written story of the faithfulness of God to speak to us, to continue to speak, and still continue through all of our stubbornness, wrong turns and missteps. You can read her story here:
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| Is it God, or a radio station coming in through my braces? |
It's too bad. The truth is that the Holy Spirit speaks to all of us, believers and nonbelievers, all of the time. A a matter of fact the entire earth speaks to us of God's power, creativity, and authority. Unfortunately many believers spend so much time waiting for an audible voice from the clouds that they miss the blare of messages all around them.
Let me give you an example from my own life just this last summer. I was driving to Brainerd, MN, and I had hooked up my phone to the speaker jack in my car and was listening to a sermon called Walk and Pray by Bill Johnson who pastors down in California at Bethel. In the message her pointed out key passages about the significance of feet in the Bible. He laid out a simple way to bless your neighborhood, city, region but going for a walk and praying for houses and business along the way. Now I'm kind of introverted so this kind of blessing people is right up my alley. But I didn't really give it a whole lot more thought until two weeks later when a girlfriend of mine asked if I wanted to go for a walk and pray about some things at the same time. Then, I kid you not, two weeks after that I was driving from Detroit Lakes to Hawley, where we live, and a billboard up on the side of the road, that had just been put up, read "Bless Minnesota--Adopt a Street in Prayer."
I think the Good Lord might be laying down some plans for me, know what I'm sayin'? A couple key factors in this particular mix: 1) Time set aside to listen to the Lord (the sermon in the car ride) and
2) Spending time with other believers (the friend who also suggested the prayer walk).
And, obviously, GOD WILL NEVER DIRECT YOU TO DO SOMETHING THAT IS IN CONTRAST TO THE BIBLE!
One of my favorite Sober Sisters recently wrote a post about how the Holy Spirit went about gently but relentlessly leading her to quit drinking wine every day. It is a beautifully written story of the faithfulness of God to speak to us, to continue to speak, and still continue through all of our stubbornness, wrong turns and missteps. You can read her story here:
So I Quit Drinking by Sarah Bessey
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