Category: Conversation with God

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Conversation with God Discipleship Discipleship, Getting Help Fire Getting Help Intercession Lessons Prayer Praying Shepherdess Spiritual Warfare

HOLY SMOKE!

(A Powerful Shifter)

By: Praying Shepherdess

Approximate read time: 3-4 minutes

No, No, No! Don’t put out this fire! Get out the firepan (for holding live coals)!

Intercession, prayer, pleading or making request before Abba (our Heavenly Father), CAN make a BIG difference! It’s one “column of clean smoke” you don’t want to snuff out! Take a look at this:

I looked for a man among them who would make up the hedge and stand in the gap before Me for the land so I would not destroy it, but I found none…Ezekiel 22:30

Check this out:

Aaron intercedes (to go or come between) for a rebellious complaining people, running through the crowd with a fire-pan that has incense burning on it. With that act, a plague, that has already killed 14,700 people is stopped! Numbers 16:46-50 (17:11-15 Hebrew Bible format)

Abraham intercedes for any righteous people who might be living in Sodom. The angels agree. There weren’t ten righteous, but before destroying the city, the angels did bring Lot and part of his family out. Genesis 18:23-33 (19:15-17 Hbf)

Moses intercedes many times for a rebellious complaining people with the effect of God averting the deserved judgment! Numbers 11:1,2, 12:11-15, 14:11-20, 21:7-9, Exodus 32:11-14 (to name a few)

Fast forward:

Time of great tribulation – we see the firepans/censers and incense again. Revelation 5:8, 8:3,4

They are mentioned before the seals are opened, and again before the trumpets are sounded.

The prayers/intercessions of the righteous are caused to ascend with the smoke of the incense to be presented to God. Revelations 8:3,4

Could we possibly make a difference in the outcome of some things?

Are the prayers of the humble remnant a part of why/how there is a shortening of the time of tribulation, and/or some other aspect of the “wrap-up?” (See Matthew 24:22, Mark 13:20) Just a thought.

Think about this:

It was prophesied, as instructed by YHWH, accounted in the book of Jonah, that Ninevah would be destroyed for its wickedness. In response the people in Ninevah turned from their wickedness. YHWH forgave them, and God’s judgment was averted.

When Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s tree stump dream, Daniel counseled Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:24) to turn from his sins and to reach out the poor and needy (signifying his heart truly was aligning with God. See Isaiah 58,🕐 1:27, 5:16, II Samuel 22:21). Daniel let him know that his turning from sin and turning to God’s ways perhaps would avert the judgment that had been revealed to him in the dream.

Think of this:

In light of Ezekial 22:30, is it possible that the prayers of Stephen, requesting, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,” “moved” God to extend His grace and invitation to Saul, a zealous murderer of the followers of Yeshua, for a life-changing redemption?! It certainly changed his life for the better, and made life easier for others! Acts 7:58,59, 9:1-22

I’m reminding us that sometimes God will avert His judgment because someone is interceding.

The plea of a righteous person is very powerful, working effectively! James/Yaacob 5:16c

(I have heard someone teach, though, that when a “Woe” is pronounced it is a sure thing; the judgment will happen.)

So, on the “other side” of the firepan, God has made mankind with a free-will, freedom of choice. He still honors that installment today.

What we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. What we bind on earth is bound in heaven. That’s why what happened to Ahab happened to him! He continually chose to follow evil (was in agreement with), and the court of heaven finally issued a “warrant for his arrest” (demise, done, dead – No more)! I Kings 16:30-33, 21:25,26, 22:19-22, II Chronicles 18:18-21, Matthew 18:18

As it says in Ezekiel 22:31, 33:20, Zechariah 1:6, Revelations 18:6 (and dozens of other places), God gives back to us according to our own choosing. He is righteous in doing so! Revelations 16:6,7, 19:2…

And yet,

He desires that each of us turn from those things in our lives that don’t line up with His heart, His mind, His will, His ways.

He encourages us to “CHOOSE LIFE!”

And, it seems that He is often open to the opportunities that come when someone chooses to intercede for those who are in danger, or heading in a dangerous direction!

We see these things in Deut 30:15-20, Ezek 22:30, 21:30,32, 18:23,32, 33:11

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says Adonai YHWH, and not that he should return from his ways and live?!…

For I have no pleasure in the death of the one who dies, says Adonai YHWH. Therefore, turn yourselves back and live!

The last part of Ezekial 22:30 is the “kicker:”

…I found no one

[to stand in the gap; to come in between the offender and the effect he has coming to him; to intercede; to pray]

therefore I have poured out My indignation upon them.

D i d y o u h e a r t h a t?!

…therefore [because no one was willing to intercede] I have poured out my indignation upon them.

Some sobering things to consider.

Would we be willing to humble ourselves before God and say, with Isaiah,

I am unclean!

And then, as God is graciously cleansing us and inviting us to serve Him in His kingdom, to say,

Here I am, Lord –

USE ME!

If we would stand in the gap, whose life might be changed for the better, and those around him?

What tremendous impact could we have for, and what delight could we bring to our deserving King?!

********************

Pass it on!

Copyright: Praying Shepherdess

This article may be shared only in entirety, or excerpts (which maintain author’s concept), changing nothing, and with entire copyright and permission notice included,

and only for free,

and is granted only to anyone wanting to share the awesomeness of our Creator, the supernatural God of the Bible, YHWH Tsebaoth!

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Conversation with God Empath HSP Intercession Key Article Spiritual Gift

HSP’s, Empaths, Intercession, & Conversations with God

Reaching Out – by Toa Heftiba, Unsplash.com

As you start reading, please read slowly to take this all in. Some parts of this may be new to you, and I have to get to key points fairly quickly. So…thanks!

HSP’s are Highly Sensitive Persons.

Empaths, all empaths, are HSP’s. Not all HSP’s are empaths.

In Christian biblical terms, we might call empaths people with a Gift of Knowledge. Specifically, the kind of knowledge about how others experience things. Such as pain or other feelings.

I am an Empath. Sometimes I feel other people’s pain and mistake it for my own. But when I try to manage it, which I can do at least to some degree with my own personal pain, I cannot change someone else’s pain by trying to manage my own. When this happens, it’s a good clue that I am empathetically experiencing someone else’s pain.

So what do I do to make things better? Pray for the person to whom the pain belongs – sometimes I will know who it is, other times I may not know, and that’s okay. I can just pray for the person whose pain this is. God knows; and in intercession, this is enough!

Intercession helps in two ways: it helps the person being prayed for. God will help them. It helps me, because I cannot pray for someone else’s pain and continue to mistake it for my own pain.

So what does this have to do with Conversations with God?

Great question.

What an Empath experiences through a Gift of Knowledge is information provided through the Holy Spirit to us – through God. So experiencing physical or emotional pain that belongs to someone else comes through Holy Spirit; comes through God, to us.

That is God speaking to us, in effect.

And how we respond is our answer or reply to God. So when an Empath prays for someone, knowing something about what they are experiencing, our response is our response to what God is, in effect, speaking to us.

Someone once said that, “English is not God’s first language.” And so we have to become used to the different ways in which God speaks to us. When we receive inspiration or information from God, that is us hearing God “speak” to us. What we do in response is our answer, our answer to God.

Empathic realization of someone else’s pain – or a Word of Knowledge, is God speaking to us, and what we do in response is our response to what God has “said” to us. It is us speaking back to God.

There is much more to learn about this sort of thing. And much more to learn about the ways God speaks to us and how we can respond. But these points are new to a lot of us. And explanations of Empaths and HSP’s are usually much longer and more detailed. This is pretty compact. (You can find books on these subjects, as well as articles on the Internet.)

God speaks to us in many ways, and our response is what we are “saying” to God.

Review your life and people you know…things you have seen, heard or read. Consider this kind of larger paradigm of what can be a two-way conversation with God.

There is so much to learn from God and through God. And learning to have good and useful two-way conversations with God is one of the most important things we can do.

You can ask Jesus how to pray, and notice what Holy Spirit “says” to you. What you see or hear – and minister more like Jesus. That’s just a start!

Follow any of the red key tags or ideas at the top of this article to see other articles that may interest you or that are related. Follow links in this article to find some articles that may be useful or helpful to you.

And ask God to guide you. Be alert for what happens. What happens next, what happens later. Some conversations with God are over a long period of time; some are very quick – more quick than we may think.

And by all means, let me know what you think, what questions you have, what you’d like to explore next.

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Conversation with God Jesus's Communication Ministry Presence of God

Manifest Presence is Relational Presence

Jesus Reaches Out to You – photograph is by Jackson David on Unslpash.com

I can ask for more of the Manifest Presence of God for healing. Help. And fellowship! This changes everything, and we know we are not alone.

Manifest Presence is relational Presence

– – – – – – – – –

Do you love to experience the Presence of God as much as I?

Why?

I hunger and want to relate to Jesus. To his Holy Spirit.

To the Presence of God.

When I experience God’s holy Presence, I am comforted. Not alone. I end up being stronger. Better able to hear from God.

It is far easier to have a good two-way conversation with God when I experience and communicate with the Living Presence of God.

How about you?

The truth is that Jesus is reaching out to you, at this very moment: now.

God is talking with you now, and you can relate. It is harder to relate when we are not experiencing the Manifest Presence of God.

There are places where this is easier to experience. Nature, a church, looking at a new-born baby or someone we love. Where is it easier for you?

Because his holy Presence is Manifest, it is easier to relate to him.

It can be hard to relate to the invisible.

Ask and seek to relate to the Manifest Presence of God. Put to use each opportunity experience or intuition opens up to you good possibilities of really relating to God. The Creator of our Universe.

When the Hebrews left Egypt they followed a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud during the day.

You know how to experience a person who is present to you. In a particular place, at a particular time. Our Lord wants to related to you. Right now.

You are loved and we learn to love because we are first loved.

The Manifest Presence of God is also the Loving Presence of God, as our Lord relates to us. This is a gift that is already given.

Receive.

I talk to Jesus and receive a response through Holy Spirit. At a particular place and time. I ask, and I receive in faith. Knowing he is so good to me, so full of love, I can hardly begin to comprehend.

You can do the same.

Ask for and receive the experience of the Manifest Presence of God. Relate to him. Talk with him. Listen to him. Enjoy his holy Presence – which is a way of how he is talking with you, a friend pointed out to me.

It is in the context of experiencing the Manifest Presence of God that conversation is easier. Ministry is easier. Confidence, trust and faith come to us more easily. Miracles happen more often.

All because you choose to relate to our Lord. Our Lord is always eager to relate to you. And his gift of the Manifest Presence of God makes all this easier for us.

Enjoy his Manifest Presence. Give thanks.

Rejoice; our Lord is near. Rejoice!

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Conversation with God Discipleship Faith Hearing God Holy Spirit Prayer

Faith is Easy When

See Jesus, Have Faith in Him

Too often we are tempted and try to make up faith, we try to “have” faith. Without realizing it, that’s sort of like having faith in faith. Which is close, but still misses the mark. When I do this, I experience great frustration because I know at a deep level that this cannot work.

Faith comes from hearing the Word of God. When you pray or minister like Jesus, doing what you are shown or what you hear – good results come easily. Faith comes easily when we are doing what we hear or what we are shown by God.

When you are doing what God says to do, faith is easier.

Faith that is real and effective grows easily out of a revelation you personally receive from our Lord.

When we recognize the goodness and power of God, it’s easy to have faith in God.

When God says something, and you hear this, having faith is wonderfully easier.

Faith is important because of what faith does. What is it that faith does? Faith has the effect of connecting the Anointing with a need. A need for healing, restoration, or to defeat the works of the devil.

Laying hands on someone is not practical when that someone is out of reach, is far away. But faith connects. Even at a distance. Like when Jesus spoke a word for the healing of the centurion’s servant. The centurion’s faith connected the Anointing of Jesus the Anointed with his servant, who needed healing.

Faith connects. Fresh revelation from Jesus transcends time and space. And when faith comes easily from hearing Jesus in a personal and real way, faith connects the Anointing with the need.

This is one reason why faith is so important.

Another reason faith is so important is that it grows out of hearing directly from our Lord, Creator of our universe. Wow….

Dwell on this. Meditate on this. Let this sink in deeply, so that you hear it from Jesus, through Holy Spirit and hear this for yourself.

Then faith is easy.

Dwell…. Meditate…. Ask Jesus to give you a personal revelation.

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Conversation with God Friendship Hearing God Holy Spirit Jesus Jesus's Communication Ministry Prayer

Hearing and Seeing What God has to Say with a Spiritual Director

Help Hearing God

A Spiritual Director or spiritual friend has a simple job: to help you hear God for yourself, with greater confidence and clarity, joining in a conversation that God is already having with you.

When you want to receive what God has to “say” (it’s not always in words), a spiritual director can sometimes be mighty helpful. I know, because I’ve been helped this way. Often.

Why and how can this be? What goes on? I’m still figuring this out, but my current understanding is something like this:

“Hearing” God can be hard, because:

-Our own opinions, beliefs, personal history and other “stuff” can sometimes make it harder to hear God by ourselves.

-A lot of us still need a lot more practice trying to hear from God. (Hearing is a metaphor that can include words, still knowing that is pre-verbal, seeing or feeling something, noticing thoughts in our mind that might be from God, and lots more. Whew! No wonder we can use help!)

-There are many ways God “speaks” to us, and the methods God uses have useful side effects to help us. For more on this, see: https://ministermorelikejesus.com/voices-of-god/

A Spiritual Director or spiritual friend can sometimes help:

-Your issues are not felt so deeply by another person, are not so personal, making hearing easier.

-Someone with practice hearing from God, and whose abilities complement yours can be a wonderful partner. Especially when

-They care. When you and they have a “heart connection”, connect well.

-Having someone who listens deeply and well, with their heart, helps us all clarify issues and be clearer and more ready for fresh insight.

A Spiritual Director of spiritual friend has a Helper, Holy Spirit, who

-Is the same Helper and Comforter who is helping you! We have Someone in common.

-The two humans can have a conversation, which is private and aimed at helping, and both of us have the same Holy Spirit who is communicating with you.

A Spiritual Director or spiritual friend has had lots of experience receiving such help. Knows what it’s like. Can be sensitive to issues about spiritual direction and to what may matter to you.

A Spiritual Director or spiritual friend has a simple job: to help you hear God for yourself, with greater confidence and clarity, joining in a conversation that God is already having with you.

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Conversation with God Discipleship Hearing God Prayer Worship

A New Way to Pray

aliane-schwartzhaupt-raeSgX3u3ZA-unsplash

For many of us, this will be a new way to pray. If not, good for you! You get to be reminded, anyway.

Jesus was asked how to pray.

11 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our[a] Father [b]in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
[c]Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
[d]But deliver us from the evil one.”

Luke 11:2-4, NKJV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+11&version=NKJV

While most of us think of prayer as first being petition, this prayer is not so much petition as it is a series of declarations of what is true. It’s a series of important and true statements that are already true, that we are being taught to affirm and declare.

Now, let us be ready to not only declare or ask, but also be ready to pause and listen, pause and hear, after each declaration. (Always a good idea, is to pause and listen for a response from God. And this also allows what we declare and say to sink in more deeply. While also giving Holy Spirit a better opportunity to work in us and through us.)

The whole prayer, made clearer as a series of declarations might be read like this:

Our Father is in heaven. (We have the same father, he is not on earth so much as he is in heaven. We are speaking this to Father. Just as Jesus prayed – to our Father; and just as Jesus taught us to pray.)

Your Name is holy. (The nature of who you are, is holiness.)

Your Kingdom is coming.

Your will is being done.

It (your will) is being done on earth as it already is in heaven.

You give us this day our daily bread. (You meet our needs each day.)

You forgive our sins in the same way that we forgive others.

You never lead us into temptation.

You deliver us from evil.

Now for the next step in learning to pray this prayer.

After you declare each idea, each line, one at a time, pause and be silent, be still in the Presence of God. Listen and pay attention.

You might not hear words, but I believe you will find it is different when you do this, and that you are transformed, so that you are different.

This can be a wonderful way to pray. After all, Jesus teaches us this. With Holy Spirit.

Let Jesus teach you, and you – you be responsive to Holy Spirit.

Let it all sink in deeply.

You will be blessed, greatly blessed.

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Conversation with God Hearing God Holy Spirit Jesus Learning Prayer

How I hear God More Easily – Not Buying Another Book.

Holy Spirit – from Unsplash.com

I’ve learned that when I think I need to buy another book about hearing God well, what it really means for me is that I am not full enough of Holy Spirit.

I have not asked to be more full of Holy Spirit and received by faith. It’s easy to do. I may not feel Holy Spirit, but the results are easy to notice.

Hearing from God is lots and lots easier for me when I am full of Holy Spirit. And all I have to do is ask, and receive by faith. No drama needed. I rarely notice more of Holy Spirit, except for the side effects, which are extremely obvious. Such as hearing God better.

(I mention that twice because it’s so important, and too easy to miss.)

When I follow Holy Spirit, Fruit of the Spirit is easy, and just flows. Love, patience, self-control, and other good Fruit.

I am operating out of my New Self instead of my Old self. New Self has no wounds or over-reactions. No traumas. No lack of access to wisdom and love and…other wonderful things.

Best of all, I am hearing from God more easily.

And I didn’t even distract myself by buying yet another book on the subject – because that wasn’t my issue. I just need to pay attention and ask for and receive more of Holy Spirit by faith.

Which is really easy. Even when I don’t feel it; but the results are easy to notice.

How does being more full of Holy Spirit help you with hearing from God better?

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Conversation with God Discipleship Father Hearing God Holy Spirit Jesus Lessons

Use All Your Senses

Hearing God

When God speaks to you, be alert with all of your senses. “Speak” is a metaphor for anything God “says”.

You might see something, sometimes quickly and when it’s surprising, its too easy to ignore. So pay close attention to what comes next after you ask a question or pause to listen and “hear”.

You might hear something. Still Small Voice may speak to you silently, before words.

A memory may come. An association – an idea. It can come in any good way.

And more. Events, people, book covers, songs, billboards, birds, forests, seas, lakes and rivers. Flowers. (Can you tell I love hearing God through nature?)

To get more used to this, learn to pay attention to the many kinds of “Voices of God“.

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Conversation with God Disciple Making Discipleship Evangelize Faith Friendship Getting Help Gospel Jesus Joy Kingdom of God Ministry Prayer

There are Multiple Biblical Ways to Salvation

John Benitez – Unsplash

Those of us who use even a somewhat Evangelical approach to salvation have a few prayers that we encourage so that someone can experience salvation.

The Bible takes a different approach. So much so that the most frequent method to attain salvation in the bible is one I’ve never seen or heard of being used with a potential convert. By hindsight, this is a bit astounding.

Yet in real life, it makes perfect sense. And the usual prayers are used for several good reasons.

It really is wise and good that we get to know more consciously about Jesus, and Jesus as our Lord. And that this be expressed clearly in our prayer.

So what is this most frequently mentioned method of achieving salvation in scriptures that is so unused for making converts? It’s actually a method frequently used by the rest of us.

A very common prayer, used by many of us when we need help, when we need and want to be saved. Just seldom used to help someone become a convert to Christianity.

What is this frequently used approach for getting help when most needed, but seldom if ever used to help someone become a convert?

It’s simply this: call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

Biblical theology is probably wider and more inclusive than our theologies. God is certainly more broad minded than we are.

And this illustrates very well how some things are taught about to us and for us in scripture from many angles, in many ways. And we tend to focus on one way, sometimes proof-texting, yet even so, we tend to focus on one very good way. But God and scriptures offers more options than we often think about and sometimes more options than we even normally trust or believe in.

Thank you, Lord, for being so broad minded, for thinking differently than we do, for being more loving and generous than we yet are able to grasp.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving us eternity to continue to get to know you and your love. We need you. And we need eternity to explore and learn about your love and your depth. Thank you, Lord!

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Conversation with God Discipleship, Getting Help Faith Father Healing Hearing God Holy Spirit Jesus Key Article Learning Prayer Spiritual Warfare Trinity

Praying for A_____ is Difficult, so….

Leap of Faith, K.B. Owen

This is from my Prayer Journal of today. I was having difficulty praying well for someone I know who needs our Lord’s help. And I was having difficulties, probably because a big part of me is aggravated. That’s not pretty, but it’s the truth. So here is what I wrote; I’ll call this person A______.

I find praying for A______ to be difficult.

So I look to Father, who already had a plan before the beginning, and who looks down on A_______ with immense love.

Then I look to Jesus, who as always is ready to heal.

Then I ask Holy Spirit to tell me how to pray for her. I am to pray with Father’s love and planning for good; pray with Jesus, who is always ready to heal and make whole. And I pray as Holy Spirit is leading me, now.

A______ has been restored and has received complete sozo. So this is how I pray.


Pray according to the nature of each Member of the Trinity, my deepest community and my most real family – who teaches me, mercifully, about how to have more and better faith.

And forgiveness, my ability to forgive and to have forgiven, was included as a free extra – pure grace!

The Trinity is my real family of faith. What a gift!