Experiencing God at Home (9 page)

Reality 4. God Speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, and the Church to Reveal Himself, His Purposes, and His Ways

This particular truth has proven difficult for many believers. That’s because they have never been taught to recognize God’s voice. Many new converts were informed that once they became Christians, they were to attend church each Sunday and to try and be good people. One day when they died, they would go to heaven and God would finally become “real” to them. As a result of such anaemic teaching, many sincere believers are unaware that God
wants
to communicate with them, to say nothing of being able to discern His voice. Consequently, many Christians have never heard God speak to them, even though they claim to have a personal relationship with Him.

Some Christian leaders argue that God has
already
spoken (as recorded in the Bible), and there is nothing more He needs to say. Some people equate God speaking to His people today as equal to God dispensing new revelation, so they are wary of any active role the Holy Spirit might play today in
applying
Scripture to people’s lives. These same people typically struggle with the concept of a
personal relationship
with God because any meaningful relationship between two people requires two-way communication. God is not a mute observer, sitting passively in the backseat of our life while we take the wheel. He is almighty God who will relate to us in the same manner in which Jesus related to His disciples (John 14:16). Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). This verse certainly applies to our salvation, but it also encompasses our entire relationship with the Good Shepherd.

The moment you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit enters your life and assumes the same role Jesus exercised with His disciples (John 16:7). Just as Jesus guided His disciples to know what to do and believe, so the Holy Spirit will lead you to experience the fullness of the Christian life. Depending on your particular need, the Holy Spirit will be your Guide, Comforter, Advocate, Defender, and Friend. The Spirit will direct you in the path you should take (Ps. 25:4–5; John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13) and what you should say (Luke 12:2). The issue is not whether or not God is speaking to you; the question is whether or not you are hearing what He is saying. There are four primary ways the Holy Spirit communicates with people. These are the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and other believers. Let’s look at those.

God’s Spirit will speak to you through the pages of the Bible.

God’s Word is living and active (Heb. 4:12). The Holy Spirit uses it to provide guidance, convict of sin, reveal truth, and address the needs of your heart. If you do not spend time reading and meditating on God’s Word, you remove the primary instrument through which God guides His people. It is essential for Christians to regularly submit their lives to God’s Word so He can address any area of their life that is not in alignment with Him (Eph. 5:26). This involves more than merely pausing for a moment to collect a comforting devotional thought for the day. This includes allowing God’s Word to wash over your heart and mind so it transforms your thinking and behavior. Every time you open your Bible, be prepared for God to speak directly into your life.

God will speak to you as you pray.

Prayer is a conversation between God and people. We relate to God in prayer as children relate to their father (Matt. 6:9). Through prayer we share our concerns, joys, love, fears, and questions with Him. Sometimes we simply bask in His presence (Ps. 63:1). However, while many Christians have been taught to present their petitions to God, they are not always aware that prayer is a
conversation
. If we chatted with our friends like we talk with God, we wouldn’t have friends for long! No one likes to have friends who do all of the talking!

This is God’s invitation: “Call to Me, and I will answer” (Jer. 33:3). The Bible says, “The L
ord
spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend” (Exod. 33:11
hcsb
). The most important thing that is said in prayer is not what
you
state but what
God
declares! He already knows what you are going to tell Him. On the other hand, you have no idea what He might say to you. Prayer is not primarily a time for you to convince God to do something about your concerns. Rather, it is a sacred moment when God impresses upon your heart that which is on His heart. It is when God opens your understanding to what He knows is important and when He guides your life into the direction He intends for you to go. Prayer is not a boring religious exercise, nor is it a self-indulgent litany of our concerns. It is an opportunity to draw near to God and to hear His thoughts. What an amazing invitation!

God speaks through the circumstances of life.

God is capable of speaking to you through any circumstance in your life. At times we can neglect to read our Bible or to pray, but it is more difficult to avoid our life’s circumstances! God does not necessarily
cause
every situation in our life, but He certainly will
use
them.

For example, a job offer and a chance encounter with a friend are circumstances. So is being downsized at work or being diagnosed with a tumor. Apart from hearing from God, these situations can appear to be wonderful or devastating. However, only as we hear from God can we truly understand our life’s circumstances. For example, losing our job typically appears to be negative: how will I make my house payment? Where will I find another job? But God may intend to use that experience to build humility and faith into your life to a degree you never knew before. Perhaps God wants to demonstrate the extremely practical ways He can provide for your needs. Losing your job could be one of the greatest things to ever happen in your Christian life. That is why it is crucial for you to hear God’s voice in the midst of your life’s circumstances.

Sometimes it may appear as if doors of opportunity are closing before you. Yet, you cannot know that for sure unless you hear from God. Likewise, just because a door appears “open,” it does not mean you should walk through it. You must seek a word from God.

There are many circumstances you may face for which there is no Scripture verse that speaks directly to the issue. That is when you must rely on the Holy Spirit to take Scripture and apply it specifically to your situation. When you learn to live with your spiritual eyes wide open, you will see the mighty hand of God at work all around you.

God speaks through the church body.

We are individuals, but we were not designed to live a solitary life. God did not create us to be independent but interdependent. God intends for every Christian to join a body of believers called the Church (1 Cor. 12:12–31). If you were designed to be an eye, then you need to share what you are seeing with the other members of the body. If you were made to be an ear, you must heed what the eye tells you it is seeing. You cannot know fully God’s will for your life if you are not relating closely to other believers.

Jesus said we must be careful how we treat other Christians because He resides within each one (John 13:20). Because Christ resides within every believer, it is possible to hear from Christ every time you talk to another Christian. At times you can become so enmeshed in the circumstances of your life that you no longer have a clear perspective. God may send another believer to share a clear word with you that helps you know God’s view of your situation (2 Sam. 12:7). Be certain you maintain close relationships with other believers through whom God can send you a clear, timely message.

Reality 5. God’s Invitation for You to Work with Him Always Leads You to a Crisis of Belief That Requires Faith and Action

When almighty God shares His heart with a creature of dust, it is going to cause a crisis! However, a “crisis of belief” is not identical to a
crisis
. We typically view
crises
as something negative. No one but a masochist wants one of those! Everyone will face difficult moments in their life whether they are Christians or not. A
crisis of belief
, however, is a moment when you are confronted with a decision of whether or not you will trust God and obey what He says. God initiates God-sized endeavors! When God invites us to join Him in what He is doing, it is naturally going to stretch us in our human frailty and weakness. This is why it is called a crisis of
belief
.
Scripture indicates that apart from faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Therefore, God will ask you to do things that require faith. When you face a
crisis of belief,
you must believe God is who He says He is. The way you prove your belief is by stepping out in obedience. Notice what this looked like in the lives of people in the Bible:

• Childless Abraham may have believed God was powerful, but he faced a crisis of belief when God told him at age seventy-five that he was going to become the father of a multitude (Gen. 15:1–6).
  
• Moses might have believed God could use anyone for His purposes; however, he faced a crisis of belief when God told him—someone who wasn’t a good public speaker or leader—to be His spokesman (Exod. 4:10).
  
• Joshua might have believed God was all-powerful. But he faced a crisis of belief when he stood outside the formidable walls of Jericho without any siege equipment (Josh. 6).
  
• Peter, Andrew, James, and John might have been God-fearing fishermen, but they faced a crisis of belief when Jesus told them to leave their business and to follow Him (Mark 1:16–20).
  

Our faith will be constantly tested by the situations and people we encounter each day. As Christians, our faith is based on what we know to be true about God. Each step of faith we take builds on the foundation of the previous steps we have taken. Joshua could trust God to defeat Jericho because he had seen God do amazing things previously in the desert. Moses could trust God to deal with the Red Sea because He had already seen God produce ten plagues in Egypt. Elijah could trust God to send fire down upon Mount Carmel because he had experienced God’s faithfulness throughout his years as a prophet (1 Kings 18:20–39). As we experience more of God, we will be able to trust Him with increasingly difficult circumstances. However, we will never become immune to crises of belief because God is always prepared to accomplish still greater things in our life than we have previously known!

Reality 6. You Must Make Major Adjustments in Your Life to Join God in What He Is Doing

We cannot stay where we are and go with God at the same time. When God asks us to follow Him, we must get up from where we are and move to where He is going. We must adjust whatever it is in our life that prevents us from obeying God’s instructions. It could mean:

• changing our schedule,
  
• adjusting our routines,
  
• moving to a new city,
  
• giving up a job,
  
• becoming involved in a new ministry,
  
• adjusting our finances to support a mission cause,
  
• adopting a child or taking in foster children, or
  
• a thousand other things.
  

Most people dislike change. They would rather keep what they know than step out into the unknown. But if you are going to move from where you are to where God wants you to be, you must make adjustments. Your problem will be that your way of doing things is not God’s way (Isa. 55:8–9). Every time you join God in His activity, you must set aside your ways and adopt God’s ways. Too many Christians are trying to accomplish God’s work using
their
methods! That doesn’t work! (Just ask Abraham or Moses! [Gen. 16; Exod. 2:11–15]). That’s why you must make adjustments. God will align your thinking, methods, and finances so you can do His work His way, for His glory.

Reality 7. You Come to Know God by Experience as You Obey Him and He Accomplishes His Work through You

This is our ultimate aim: to experience God in new and profound ways. This involves infinitely more than attending church on Sundays! Knowing God experientially was the apostle Paul’s driving ambition (Phil. 3:7–10). His wish for every Christian was “that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Eph. 1:18–19). Anything less than knowing Christ in this manner is to shortchange your Christian life.

The key to experiencing God this way is obedience. Some people claim to believe God, but they don’t obey Him. This is impossible. Jesus asked: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Obedience is the doorway to experiencing God. Every time you do what God tells you, you will move into a deeper walk with Him. Each time you disobey, your Christian walk will stagnate. If you are faithful in the little God asks of you, He will give you more (Matt. 25:14–30). You can experience as much of God as you want. You just have to obey Him.

A Mother’s Plea

One mother had a particularly challenging teenager who was rebelling against the faith and morals he had been taught at church. The woman felt deeply burdened for her wayward son, yet everything she tried ended in failure. Even as she carried a heavy load herself, the woman became aware that there were other mothers in her church who were having a similar experience. Their teenagers refused to attend church and were getting into trouble at school and with the law. These women grieved over their children and had begun to lose hope. God led this mother to contact the others and invite them to join together to pray each week for their children. The mothers bonded together as they pled with God to perform miracles in the lives of their children. Over the next year they began to witness the seemingly impossible occurring. One by one, these rebellious teens began to experience a heart change. They started to apply themselves in school. Each of them graduated, some going on to higher education. They all turned from the destructive path they had been racing down and began attending church once more. God’s invitation to a solitary mother had not been earth-shattering. No seas parted. No passports were required. She simply believed that with God all things are possible. Then she started making whatever adjustments God asked of her. When she did, families all over her church were gloriously restored. Only heaven will know the eternal impact of one woman’s obedience.