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 hearingfromGod 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?
A friend, who believes she has gifts as a prophetic seer and gifts of healing, asked some important questions. This may answer some of your questions, too. We need to practice using our Spiritual Gifts to we become more skillful; just like we need to practice playing an instrument even if you are gifted at music. Here’s our dialogue, lightly edited for clarity.
Q. Will be for Questioner, A. for Answerer.
Q. Will there be anything happening soon in my life?
A. Yes.
Q. Like?
A. You are learning to ask Jesus questions, and pay attention to Holy Spirit for answers. As you learn to do this, and to act on what you learn, your life will transformed hugely. This opens whole new worlds of doing and ministry for you. And you will be adding even more love to your ministry. The generous, God kind of love: agape. As in 1 Corinthians 13.
A. And you can ask for more of him in you. I find this makes hearing God much more practical and better. When I do this, I hear God so much more and more easily and better. Even though I don’t feel a thing – I can experience the difference, having asked for more of Holy Spirit. And I can ask for Holy Spirit to be on me more. On me for ministry for others. Holy Spirit can transform the atmosphere of where you are, the room you are in. Ask how, and do as you are shown. It’s a wonderful thing to do – for yourself as well as others.
Q. I will
A. People will gradually learn that the atmosphere is better where you are. Some people will learn more quickly, others more slowly. Yet many will learn. And this opens doors. For more ministry.
A. People who come to my house report that the atmosphere is full of peace. That’s the Presence and Spirit of God doing that.
Q. Wow.
A. You will do this, also. You will transform the atmosphere of where you live and work. The Presence of God and Holy Spirit will transform the atmosphere of places you go. People will notice and be helped. Some even heal without your doing anything, as Holy Spirit ministers in the place where you are. You get to be an active participant in all this!
Q. Glory to God!! Interesting
A. You invite more of Holy Spirit. You are transformed, and Holy Spirit will do what Holy Spirit does in that place and with the people there. Invite more of Holy Spirit. And receive with faith. So simple; easy to forget to do. Yet Holy Spirit is literally our Helper. Your Helper.
Q. Got it
A. The same Helper that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and will help you. Invite and call on and receive more of Holy Spirit.
Q. Ok
A. I find this stunning, I am amazed, and when I remember these things I want to call out to God in praise or even song. (Considering how much I love worship in silence, that’s amazing.)
A. And when you find a partner who will pray for you as you do these things or minister, ministry results will improve even more. And later, you can pray for them as they minister. And talk to each other about how it went. What you are learning. Encourage one another. Jesus always sent out his disciples in pairs. When I have no partner, I look for someone who will pray for me when asked. Then I have prayer support while ministering. They and I can talk about it afterwards, what happened, what we’re learning. It can be exhilarating and joyous. This is what I want for you; these very things.
Q. Oh how I want this for myself
A. Good! This is what our Lord wants for you.
Q. God will send me some really special A. Yes. You can copy and paste from these notes into your prayer journal, or start one. Or other notes in a file or notebook. Then start practicing these things and learn as you go. Learn as you ask your Helper to help you learn these things and to help you do these things. And give you even better ideas, from Jesus. Who knows so much more than you or I. Here’s an interesting principle, not well recognized: how much you seek God with your heart – is how much God will make himself known and present to you. And even more. He will always do the same or more, as you. (I think more; yet the more you do, the more he multiplies the grace he gives you.) If he made himself totally known to us, our brains would fry. So he is gentle and careful. And gives of himself in proportion to how much and how strongly you seek with your heart.
Q. Amazing and wonderful! . A. Yes. So just practice.Look for people who need healing, ask how to heal them, and do as Jesus tells you through Holy Spirit. You will be ministering like Jesus, who only did what he heard and saw.
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!
Jesus never taught a class. You will find no classes taught by Jesus in Scriptures. He did not teach in a linear way. What he did was something far better.
Jesus had conversations. He responded to questions or things said by people he wanted to disciple or teach. He responded to what they were interested in.
Or he showed something, told stories or parables: he gave interesting, attention grabbingexamples. Thencontinuedthe mutual conversation.
Sometimes he answered questions. Sometimes he changed the conversation – such as about not being so happy that even demons obey you – don’t lose perspective: what’s important is that your name is written in heaven. Notice that the starting point for changing a conversation or introducing a new idea begins with what the disciple, the person who is learning – what they are saying.
When I mistakenly try to teach people things, they resist – covertly, usually. Sometimes overtly. It does not work out well. And I have tried to do this too often. Too often I have been slow to learn.
But, when I respond to something that someone says or asks, I am building on what they are already interested in. Their motivation is already present. I even build on their metaphors: I use them or change them, or use them as an agent of change (when I transform a metaphor someone identifies with, they may also change.) Or I tell stories or parables or in other ways give examples, just like Jesus did.
This works out very well, I have their attention, interest and motivation: I am talking about things they are already interested in. Much more effective than talking about things I am interested in. Tremendous difference!
Have conversations. Start with where the disciple or the person who is learning already is. Build on or transform their ideas. Like Jesus does. He did it in Scripture, and he still does this in our hearts. You can join with Jesus and do this too.
Disciples and other people will learn more easily, learn better, and are more likely to remain interested and motivated.
If you want to have class outlines of what you want to teach, that’s fine for you. And you can use these powerful points in conversations, demonstrations, examples, stories and parables. Teaching more like Jesus. And teaching less like boring people who are trying to force their ideas onto someone else who is not yet ready, nor yet deeply interested.
When I pay attention, ask, listen and do as shown or told, I do extremely well in life and in ministry.
When I do things on my own, sometimes things go well. Sometimes not. Sometimes I am smart and effective. Sometimes I am, by hindsight, incapable of doing smart things on my own. So I need help.
If only I could reach Jesus and get the help I need.
My Spirit Guide tells me what Jesus has to say to me, now.
Is this wrong, do you think?
Am I misled? Is this more foolishness in my life? Or am I perhaps beginning to touch wisdom, at least a bit?
Do you have The Spirit Guide? Do you wanthim?
If you have The Spirit Guide, do you pay close attention, often?
Most frequently implicit or ignored, it can also be explicit – and when there are difficulties – just about any difficulties, an explicit Learning Contract can be an immense help.
What situations call for a good Learning Contract? Ministry, including healing and exorcism. Discipleship, including teaching and learning. Counseling. Therapy.
One of the most common problems when learning and growth are not taking place as wanted is the lack of a good Learning Contract.
So…what is a Learning Contract? First, it’s a context. Context provides an element that is likely to control or limit and what will happen. When a situation is chronic and problematical, the context is nearly always a problem. Look for the context when things are not working well.
What sort of context is a Learning Contract? It’s an agreement to learn and an agreement to teach.
Counseling, teaching or other ministry without an agreement to learn and an agreement to teach – too often goes poorly. When ministry is not going well – make a Learning Contract.
Too often a people try to minister, counsel or teach without an such an agreement.
A contract says what people involved will do, and often what will happen if they do not do as agreed. It provides a context for learning and ministry of all kinds. It is an agreed upon context – without which it is difficult to make things to happen.
Your response protects you from Satan’s attacks. (jon-tyson-mr9qc7VLnek-unsplash)
You can be a First Responder!
Our Lord cares about how you respond. While what happens to you is not always within your power to control, your response is always within your power. Why does Father care so much about your response?
It’s an opportunity for faith, which pleases God.
I hope I can learn this well and deeply, it will change my life and I believe it can change yours. And this lesson is being brought to me these days in multiple ways, and I would be foolish not to learn.
Worship is our key response. Which opens doors to so much else.
I got sick: this is a call to worship my Healer.
I had financial pressures: this is a call to worship my Provider.
I have a family member who is under tremendous pressures: this is a call to worship my Creator.
(My special thanks to Amanda Rankin who teaches such things as this and who provides timely, needed and loving reminders. May everyone be blessed to have a good friend like she is.)
See the pattern? Problems are literally a call to worship the One who provides help and everything that we need.
You could simply ask for help. Worship as a first response is better; not only is such worship an implied request, it has side effects on you: greater faith. Puts our Lord highest, instead of making idols in your heart out of what you desire.
Putting righteousness and the Kingdom first, all of these other things are added to you.
And…asking for help after you have worshipped connects you better to the One who Helps. Puts the King first instead of your need. Allows and assists you to receive help better from your Helper.
You have a calling. God has called you to be and to do. You’re calling does not go away, God does not change his mind about such things. This makes it easier to notice you’re calling, because there is a pattern in your life that can be seen. Making your calling easier to notice, perceive, and discover things about.
What do I mean, discovering things about your calling? You are called to serve and to minister to certain people, certain kinds of people. And those people are generally called to receive well from and through you. What this means is that you do better when you serve and minister to such people: they are more receptive and eager, you are more gifted and skilled. Much less frustrating than ministering to those to whom you are not called.
Have you ever noticed how some people seem to make you “dumber” than you are? I’ll bet you have; we all have. This is something that happens to all of us.
Other people bring out the best in you, help you to be better and smarter and more effective than is usual for you. These are people you are gifted for, and people who are gifted to receive from. People you are called to, and people who are called to receive from you.
It’s important that you discover who such people are, what kinds of people these are in your life. So you can recognize them and search them out. So you can serve and minister to them on purpose. So you can discover and learn how you are called to serve and minister to them.
Because God called you to this.
Because you’ll be more successful when you respond well to your calling.
Because these people-groups and individuals will receive through you what God has called you to do for them. Such people hunger and need what you can offer to them.
It is a joy to serve such people. To succeed more effectively and more often. To be received eagerly and well by these people.
It is a *joy* to serve and to do what God has called you to be and to do.
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So pray, remember things that have happened. Ruminate. Meditate. And discover more about how and to whom you have been called and created for in unique and wonderful ways. To serve.
It is a joy to be your best self. It is fun. It is wondrous and you will learn much as you serve.
Discover and learn about your calling, who you are called to serve, and how you are to serve them. Even where you are called to serve them.
Ask God to help you understand and respond well to your calling, he knows and knows well – he’s the one who called you!
Since God has called you, respond, and respond well. Be and do who and what you were *literally* created and made for.
And rejoice! Rejoice in our Lord. And follow – follow how you are called – and be filled with joy and wonder, rather than with frustration and pointlessness. This is a much better way to live, and too few do this. Too many suffer needlessly, not doing these things.
This *is* an amazing and wonderful way to be living! Do this – discover, learn and explore. You may have to experiment to discover such things – do so. It’s okay! And expect and be alert for clues and hints from Holy Spirit as you do so.
Who are you called to be? What are you called to do? With and for whom?
Be filled with so much joy you have to rejoice out loud. Rejoice!
You can call on God. You can call on the Lord. You can call on “I am”. Wow! And what can you expect to happen?
You can call on the Lord and be saved. It’s a promise. God does not change and keeps his promises. So you can call and you will be saved.
Saved as in the Greek word “salvo” which can mean saved, made whole, and healed. What a wonderful word!
You can call on “I am” to save you – from whatever you need saving.
You can call on the Lord to be made whole, and to experience your wholeness.
You can call on “I am” to help you and you will be helped.
You should experiment with this, explore and personally discover what you can discover. Learn and be surprised and filled with wonder and awe.
You have been privileged to call on God, to call on the name of the Lord, to call on “I am”. To call on Jesus. And you will be saved. That’s a promise.
I wonder about how many ways you can call on our Lord; how many ways you can use his names. How many he can save. How we may be made whole and even healed. I hope you do, too.
I hope you will join with me and explore and experiment with this. What can you and I learn about this?
Let’s share with each other what we do discover. It’ll be fun, exhilarating, and full of good surprises…I am sure of this.
Call on our Lord and be saved. Be “salvo-ed”. And discover what this means and what practical results you can experience in the real world.
I believe that when you call on a thing or a person for a response; it goes best when you do this in calling on the name of the Lord, first. Like putting the Kingdom first.
