Category: Hearing God

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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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Hearing God

Hearing God can be Hard

A man listens to the sounds from above with a tin can.

“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. 

Learn more about Spiritual Direction and meet some directors at HolyListening.com

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Conversation with God Discipleship Hearing God Prayer Worship

A New Way to Pray

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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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Disciple Making Evangelize Gospel Healing Hearing God Holy Spirit Jesus Key Article Kingdom of God Ministry Miracles Success

Disciple-Making on Steroids

Miracle of Jesus Healing a Blind Man

Discipling someone, or several people, can can succeed a lot faster than most of us are used to. I call this “Disciple-Making on Steroids” because this approach is so powerful and fast.

Here’s an example to learn from, that, with variations – depending on your situation, can be done more easily and more quickly than perhaps we have ever seen.

On the street or in a supermarket or other store, or maybe a shopping mall, you see someone who obviously needs healing. Their injury or disability or pain is obvious to you.

So you walk up to them and say, “Hello. My name is ____; it looks to me like you have some” pain, difficulty, injury, disability – whatever it is. Make it easy for them to talk to you about it. Make sure you discover what it is that they cannot do or cannot easily do, because of that particular need of healing.

Ask them if it’s okay for you to pray for them. Most people will be glad for such prayer, if by then you are in rapport. If they are not willing, thank them and let them be.

You can pray for them at a distance if you like.

Keep doing this until you discover someone who is willing to be prayed for.

Pray for them, praying to Jesus, maybe something like, “Dear Jesus, help this person with ____” whatever is needed. They expected you to pray for them, and it’s easy for them to say yes to such a request. Then be sure to quietly but with authority – like when you are talking to a child or a pet and you really mean it – tell that need for healing to be healed. Be sensitive to Holy Spirit and do as seems best.

Ask them to test, to do what they could not easily do or could not do. When they succeed, give thanks to Jesus!

When that does not go well, you can be like Jesus healing the blind man who could see a bit more at first, but needed more healing and said something like, “I see men walking, but they are like trees walking”. So, like Jesus, you pray (and command with authority), healing again.

If you want to do it like Jesus did, and was so successful at healing so often (always), you can do it like this:

Keep testing the healing until it is done. Persist.

Now comes the cool part, disciple making on steroids:

Now that they have been healed, ask them something like, “Would you like to give your life to Jesus and have him as your Lord?” When they say yes, lead them in such a prayer. When they say no, just continue as if they had. Because of what happens next, they probably will.

Take the person who has now been healed and who now has Jesus (or not) in them, and go with them. Find someone else who has an obvious need of healing. Instruct them to pray for and command healing, just as they experienced. Have them heal the person in need. Pray for them and their ministry, and their good success while that do that. Help them out loud as called for and needed.

Now you have someone with you who has been healed, who has come to Jesus (or not, yet). If not yet come to Jesus, ask them if they want to make it official now, and help them accept Jesus as Lord. If not, get their contact information, pray for them, and follow up and give them encouragement and help as you are led with Holy Spirit. Just do the best you can and ask for help through Holy Spirit.

I like to ask for more of Holy Spirit before I pray for someone or minister. My prayer and ministry is more effective when I do this, and I hear God better, too.

.

I believe that this is how Jesus wants us to minister in these times. In these days. The time is short: make disciples, with Holy Spirit, on steroids!

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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!

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Conversation with God Discipleship Hearing God Jesus's Communication Prayer

The Voice of Jesus Plays “Hide & Seek”

You hear the voice of Jesus. You may not always recognize that it’s his voice. Part of the maturing process is learning to hear his voice in more ways – and recognizing that it is his voice you are hearing. That may sound a bit odd. Let me explain.

Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice. That’s us: we hear him.

The paradox is that he speaks in many ways.

And we hear his voice. And we don’t always recognize that it is Jesus who is speaking to us. And there’s more.

The more we learn to hear his voice in more ways, the more often we know we are hearing him.

A result is that we recognize we are hearing Jesus more, and we discover he is already speaking to us in more ways and more often than we had previously realized.

We are learning to recognize our Appointed Lessons.

There’s more.

He continues to surprise us, as we learn not only to hear him, but to recognize that it is him talking to us – and talking to us in more and different ways.

It’s almost like a game: There’s more.

“Hide and Go Seek” – is Jesus playing with us this way? Hiding and challenging us to find him?

Yes!!

Jesus speaks to us in a stream of surprises. His answers often surprise us. His methods of speaking and answering us often surprise us.

We are being drawn in to look and listen in more and more ways, more and more deeply. And our relationship with God is always deepening.

Always becoming…something more.

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Calling Discipleship Gifts Hearing God

Your Gifts and Calling

Where is your sphere of influence, your “metron”? It’s probably larger than you have noticed or expect. Good idea is to do a review of this and ask some good friends you trust.

Who is called to receive through you? Who makes you seem smarter? Who receives well through you – probably one or more people-groups, different kinds of people.

Who are you called to serve? Gifted to serve? Who receives really well through you? Who is smarter when you are with them?

What do people tell you that you are gifted at? (Many of us have a habit of not taking such things told to us seriously. So you can do a careful review of this, too.)

What sorts of people do you love being around? You may have similar gifts and callings or you may have ones that compliment and complete or help balance the gifts of those you serve.

What do you have energy to do? And who do you have energy to do such things with, or for?

I encourage you to experiment and explore. Make mistakes, great ones that you can learn a lot from. 

Let your audience teach you what they need that you offer. And what they want. (Wants and needs do not always overlap.)

I encourage you to review and learn from your mistakes. Especially your big ones. Painful ones. Mistakes you don’t even want to think about. Learn enough through these, and your life will change in wonderful ways.

I’d love to hear from you. And to learn what else you want or need. What I’m missing here and not saying that could be helpful. Any thoughts, ideas or musings that you will share.  

Thanks!