Transcript: 8 Ways God Communicates with Us Through His Word and Prayer

Psalm 139 verse 17 declares, How precious and weighty are your thoughts to me, O God How vast is the sum of them If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand Just think about that God's thoughts towards you are too vast and numerous to count How unspeakable and loving are the thoughts of our great God and Father towards us And honestly, dear church How cold and barren are our kindest and warmest thoughts towards God, our Creator. God lovingly has prearranged a wonderful and glorious inheritance for us along with all the saints, and we so many times stay tethered to the earth with our minds of reason, because they are bombarded every day with so many external influences and distractions. this awesome comment of King David in that God's thoughts are so numerous that they cannot be counted surely frames the fact that God's thoughts involve the perfect plan and care necessary to bring our lives to perfection to develop our lives completely to provide everything we need and to guard and defend our lives just think how many thoughts that a parent has towards their children in providing for them, in teaching them, training and counseling them, and anticipating their future needs. But dear ones, how many more thoughts are needful on the part of God in reference to each one of us? There are numberless things necessary for each one of us which God has already prearranged because he knew us before the foundation of time. God has great plans for each and every one of us. Nevertheless, the whole aim of our loving God and Father is to provide for our needs and all that is necessary to secure the salvation of our souls. If God is continually thinking kind thoughts towards us, then can we please know that he wants to communicate with us? He does this because this is part of his being. God has created us with the ability to hear his voice. And he has planted two ears on the sides of our head and given us two eyes by which we can see and perceive those things both in the natural and also in the spirit. God speaks to us individually, personally, and directly by His Holy Spirit through many and various and different means and ways. In John's Gospel, chapter 16, verse 13, the beloved Apostle declares, But when He, the Spirit of Truth, the truth-giving Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth, the whole full truth. for he will not speak his own message on his own authority but he will tell you whatever he hears from the Father and he will give the message that has been given to him and he will announce it and declare to you things that are to come that will happen in the future you see the Holy Spirit will speak to you those things that are on God's heart and he will make those things clearly known to you God has a plan and a hope and a future for you dear one God is desirous to communicate with you and unfold that future to you God has made a promise with his son Jesus Christ long before this old world was ever created and that promise involved you and me and everyone else who accepted Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins and in return will be given the promise of eternal life. Titus 1.2 says, Resting in the hope of eternal life, life which the ever-truthful God, who cannot deceive, promised before the world or the ages of time began. And since there were no human beings who were created at that time, this promise was made between the Father and the Son who was then the Word. Well, you see, we can see that through their agreement in this covenant, that there would then be a family and a church to form a covenant with. If there was a family, then God, who is our Father, was definitely going to communicate with his children. So since the promise of eternal life is our main factor to consider here, then we must know that there are promises that go along with the attainment of this high and lofty goal of living in God's glory for all of eternity. These promises are needful in aiding us in our Christian responsibilities or the support when we are under trial. And most of all, these promises lead us into deep fellowship and communion with our God and Father. Dear ones, without these promises to carry us along, eternal life could never be reached. But our loving God and Father has prearranged and worked out everything ahead of time. He left no details unattended or unconsidered when it comes to your life. But you must understand that these promises can only be enjoyed while you live now and yet for all of eternity. When you live in Christ, now while you have breath. in this awesome work and effort in the attainment of eternal life in your life. God is creating His righteousness in you. And this is the bottom line here. The great victory over Satan the devil. And this is what Satan fights and hates and tries to prevent happening in yours in my life. You see, just to remind you again, the promise of eternal life was made before the foundation of time between the Father and the Son who was then called the Word. God did not promise man a thing, but his agreement was with his Son. It is only by living in Christ that we will have the blessing and promises of God come to pass in our own lives. And this is the only way by which we will inherit the promises. Jesus Christ is our surety, and there could be no promises or blessings for any Christian believer unless they live in Christ. And I am afraid that many purporting Christians today will have a rude awakening one day as they meet their maker because they did not live in Christ but lived apart from him by doing their own thing their own way. living in Christ is a term that is stated at least 300 times in the New Testament living in Christ and eternal life are synonymous Romans 6.23 declares for the wages which sin pays is death but the bountiful free gift of God is eternal life through in union with Christ Jesus our Lord and I believe This is important for us to know, since living in Christ is the only way by which we will hear what the Spirit of the Lord is speaking to us. Living in Christ means that we will be going through the wonderful metamorphosis of change, which transforms us into the very image of Jesus Christ himself, with his wisdom, his righteousness, holiness, and purity. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30 declares, It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. The Holy Spirit lives within the heart and soul of every true believer in Jesus Christ. And he speaks to you and leads you and guides you in the way that you should go. Me too. Even this is a promised blessing for those who live in God's Son, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4, 7 declares, Today, today if you hear His voice, and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts. Today if you hear His voice, this means that God is speaking every day. God longs to communicate with you, and He has something to say to you if you will hear Him and listen to Him. God communicating with his people is quite common, dear church. This is nothing new. We can see this throughout the Old and the New Testaments. We have been coursing through the scripture in regards to this subject of hearing the voice of God when he speaks. We have three other teachings that more or less lay a foundation to this one that you will hear today. And the titles of the others are Learning to Listen for God, Hearing God's Voice, When God Speaks. And this one today is the last in our series called Ways That God Speaks to You. There is something very necessary and vital that every Christian should know when it comes to hearing from God. You need to be established in a firm foundation. This is very necessary. Hebrews 5.11 declares, We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Verse 13. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teachings about righteousness, but solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. And on down to Hebrews 6, verse 1. Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity. You see, the milk of God's word is called faith knowledge. It is like basic math. And in basic math, you need to know addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. And anyone who is not acquainted with the elementary truths of God's word does not personally know the teachings and importance of righteousness. And this is vital and necessary in hearing from God. God will not share his heart his mind and will with those who are not established in his wisdom and love and familiar with his ways it makes sense that you personally would not share your secret thoughts and plans with somebody that you do not know well and neither will God dear ones he is looking for mature people who have grown beyond the milk of the word or faith knowledge and have advanced on to what is called revelation knowledge. And revelation knowledge is like understanding higher math. Say, for instance, like geometry. And unless you have grown in understanding of these basic fundamentals for a foundation, the greater understanding will never be grasped. Well, so it is with the Word of God. Faith knowledge first, that is foundational truths and principles in God's Word, growing up in line upon line, precept upon precept, which is milk of the word, and then greater progression in revelation knowledge will be given. And this is God's progressive development and plan in yours and my growth process. And this leads us to greater faith and love and righteousness, and finally to where we love God's righteous justice in our lives. In other words, we love his correction and exhortation and are actually trained by these. And then it is with these that he can entrust his secrets and his plans and ministry to us. It is here where God will speak to you, giving you your special ministry assignments, whether it is a prayer focus, an assignment that might take you to another part of the world, special gifts such as the fivefold ministry offices or gifts of the Spirit that he will entrust to you such as those spoken of in 1 Corinthians 12.1. And now about spiritual gifts, brothers, Paul speaking, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or another you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. And therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, Jesus, be accursed. And no one can say, Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Verse 4. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Verse 7. And now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Verse 8, To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, and to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers and another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to another still the interpretation of tongues. All of these are the work of one and the same Spirit and he gives them to each one just as he determines. You see, all of these gifts and offices and special assignments bequeathed by God to mature Christians are for the purpose of building his kingdom. Jesus Christ and his Father do not send labors out into the field for sinners' sake, dear ones they are sent out for Christ's sake and Jesus deserves the glory and the reward of his suffering your part and my part is to be obedient to his precepts and his ways and practice them and this is the only way by which you will hear God's voice and will be effective for him and this is called walking in the spirit. You need to learn to hear from God at all times not just in bad times or in times of need but at all times. God is at work teaching and training his secret agents and sending them out into the field and the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. We saw that even hearing from God was necessary to attain eternal life. God did not leave us helpless because he gave us his Holy Spirit. Even Jesus learned to speak what his father had told him to say. In John 12, verse 49, I have never spoken on my own authority or of my own accord or as self-appointed, but the father who sent me has given me the orders concerning what to say and what to tell. Verse 50, I know that his commandment is eternal life. So wherever I speak, I am saying exactly what my father has told me to say in accordance with his instructions. In this scripture, it is obvious that Jesus heard what his father was speaking to him. He said, I am saying exactly what my father has told me to say. In John, the Beloved's Gospel, in John 5.19, we see that Jesus speaks about seeing what the Father is doing. John 5.19 So Jesus answered them by saying, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of himself of his own accord, but he is only able to do what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way. not only does Jesus hear what his father says but he sees what his father is doing Jesus is our all time greatest example he heard the voice of his father because he was humble obedient and his sole aim was to please his heavenly father in all that he did Jesus said I have come to this earth to please my Father in heaven and do His will. Jesus had a mission and an assignment from His Father and that the work He was given to do is defined and summed up in Isaiah 61, verse 1, the good news of salvation. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor and He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Each one of us has in some part in the Lord's ministry that is outlined in this scripture and we are to become like our Lord in his nature and character. That means that we will live and act and think like Jesus. and Jesus was pure in every way. Spiritually, we too will grow as we submit and obey and learn to walk in the Spirit, seeing and hearing the things of the Spirit so that we might be used as effective tools of the Lord as he gives us special assignments and missions and work to do for the sake of building up the kingdom of God for Christ's sake. Isaiah 11 1-5 becomes a vital part of the equipping for every true mature believer as they labor in the field of the great harvest that is so rich and plentiful just as this scripture speaks of the one who was to come and give his life is the answer for man's sin so will it be the clothing for those who are mature and receive the revelation knowledge of God directly from His Spirit as He leads and guides them to perform many wonderful miracles, signs and wonders, bringing hope and healing and deliverance to His people everywhere in every corner of the earth. Isaiah 11 verse 1 says, And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stalk of Jesse, a branch out of his root shall grow and bear fruit. and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord verse 3 and shall make him of quick understanding and his delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord and he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes neither decide by the hearing of his ears but with righteousness and justice shall he judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek the poor and downtrodden of the earth and he shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked and righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist and faithfulness the girdle of his loins you see God is busy pouring his spirit out these days just as the book of Acts declares in Acts 2.17 it shall come to pass in the last days God declares that I'm going to pour my spirit out upon all mankind and your sons and daughters shall prophesy telling forth the divine counsels and your young men shall see visions divinely granted appearances and your old men shall dream divinely suggested dreams verse 18 yes on my men servants and on my maid servants in those days I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy telling forth the divine counsels and predicting the future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom. And I will show wonders in the sky and signs on the earth beneath blood and fire and smoking vapor. And the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes. That great and notable and conspicuous and renowned day It shall be that whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, invoking, adoring, and worshiping the Lord Christ Jesus shall be saved. Our cry in response to these scriptures should be, Oh Lord, do not pass me by. Lord, give me a quickening spirit, a heart of reverential and obedient fear of you, oh God, I pray. Lord help me not to judge by the sight of my eyes nor by the hearing of my ears but with righteousness and justice that comes from you and your wisdom you see God is just waiting to speak to you dear ones this is his nature God is love and he wants to communicate with you so that you will communicate his heart his will and mind to others and we're talking about the Lord's ministry here. But I must warn you that there are other voices besides the voice of God 1 John 4 tells us and warns us to not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. And Paul warns us against the deception which comes through demonic influence in 1 Timothy 4.1. You see, Satan's voice may not be detected objectively. you need to pray and seek God in discerning the difference between the various voices that are possible that being your own voice the voice of the devil and of course the voice of God and I have been telling you that there are many and various ways that God will speak to us and some of these main ways are covered in the other teachings that we have already coursed through and were previously mentioned in this teaching today briefly these ways that God will speak to us is first and foremost by his word God's word is the chief and main way that he will speak to his people and another way is through his five fold ministry or others that he may care to speak through as he communicates his will to that individual or individuals by using them as a mouthpiece for himself God will also speak through his creation using a tree or water or storm and so on to convey his thoughts to men and women. And the book of 1 Corinthians 12.1 lays out the gifts of the Spirit which are all meant to build up and edify the body of Christ as a whole. And the body of Christ is called his church. And we covered these scriptures and these gifts and to one's gift, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. And then we covered the various gifts, the nine gifts. And according to 1 Corinthians 12.31, we are told to covet these gifts. You see, zelo in the Greek means to covet earnestly. And this means that we should have a great desire and intense hunger to see something happen as we minister these gifts to God's people. and these gifts according to 2 Timothy 1.6 are to be stirred up yes they are to be stirred up and we are told to exercise and use these gifts and as we do we grow in faith and God gives us increase to see greater results and we are told and admonished to not neglect these gifts and are also told not to despise them each and every one of us is given the mandate to minister one to another and this means that we will be manifesting these gifts and as they are manifested we will be growing in grace and favor and maturity and where these gifts and ways that God will speak to us are in operation they are meant to edify the body of Christ and love is lasting dear ones but the gift is not. They shall all pass away one day. Yes, I said, the gifts will one day pass away. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 8 declares, Love never fails, but where there are prophecies, they will cease. Where there are tongues, they will be stilled. Where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And besides the nine gifts of the Spirit we have just read about in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 1 through 11. There are other ways and means by which God will speak to you and this will be my main focus today in this teaching. God quickens your spirit to hear him as he speaks to you in these various ways which are scriptural and have been in operation since the time of the apostles. some of the ways that God speaks to us overlap with and are entwined with some of these gifts in one way or another. So we will course through some of these gifts, not all of them, but we will course through a few because they're so important to define and describe the others that we will be covering. One way that we hear God's voice is in our spirit. And it is one of the ways by which God will reveal himself to a child of God. Hearing God's voice in our spirit is one of the other main ways by which God will reveal himself to a child of God. And this is what you might have heard as a still, small voice. And hearing the small, still voice of God was a promise given to us by Jesus Christ himself in John 14, verse 26. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name in my place to represent me and act on my behalf he will teach you all things and he will cause you to recall will remind you of and bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you the Holy Spirit was promised to live with us forever and help us to understand the truth and this means that he will speak to our hearts and impart his understanding and the main requirement for this gift and all the others is called obedience. Obedience is the key to hearing from God and understanding the truth. We further verify this awesome fact and way that God will communicate with those who obey his commands. The account is found in 1 Kings 19, in verse 9. and this is where Elijah the prophet had broken down the altars killed 400 false prophets and Jezebel was in hot pursuit of his life 1 Kings 19 we'll begin in verse 6 and the angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for you so he arose and ate and drank and went through the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said, What are you doing here, Elijah? Verse 10. So he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left, and they seek to take my life. Verse 11. God's revelation to Elijah and he said to him go out and stand in the mountain before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore into the mountain and broke the rock into pieces before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind and the earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake verse 12 and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a sound of a gentle stillness and a still small voice. So it was when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said What are you doing here Elijah? He said I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone and left and they seek to take my life a small still voice came in the way of a gentle whisper to inform Elijah that God had not forsaken him and that he had 7,000 other precious saints of God whom he had tucked away and who were God-fearing Israelites whose knees had not bowed to Baal this scripture has been precious to believers down through every century who have heard God speak in His quiet, soft and tender voice rather than in grand thundering tones. As you come to learn to love the silence and train yourself to be still before the Lord, you will begin to hear Him communicating His heart, His mind and His will to your heart. Elijah needed to hear the small, still voice of God in the ministry that God had for him. each and every person is unique and special to God because he has made us that way precious ones no matter what gift or talent God has given to each one we all ought to respect and appreciate what God has given because this is his choice and it is a part of himself his very being that he has especially imparted to each one of us dear ones you must not be in a hurry with the Lord if you desire this precious gift and privilege to operate in your own life in order to serve the Lord most intimately and reverently. There are different voices that you must learn to differentiate between. Like I said before, your own voice, man's voice, the devil's voice, and God's voice. And the purpose and reason for any of these ways that God would speak to us is first of all for our own edification and equipping for fellowship and for ministry to others for Christ's sake. But dear ones, if love is not at work in any one of these purposes, God says we are only noisy gongs and clanging cymbals and we are as nothing in his eyes. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 1 If I can speak in the tongues of men and even of angels, But have not love, that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us. I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. For if I have prophetic powers, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose, and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have sufficient faith so that I can move mountains, but have not the love of God God's love in me I am nothing a useless nobody these gifts and modes of ways that we hear from God are worthless without love any spiritual gift no matter how well it is employed is worthless without agape love attached to it motivated by love then faith and hope are released in the manifestations of your ministry love is the root of faith and hope dear ones love is the very essence of God himself as I am teaching this lesson for us today in the ways that God speaks to you I will be sharing some of my own personal experiences as examples and types so that you can see more clearly this gift or method in operation and recalling an incident while traveling a few years ago on an airplane is a good example of God's small, still voice at work to speak to a heathen and astound him. I was sitting next to a young man in his early 30s who was engrossed in reading a book, and it was quite clear that he wanted to be left alone because he barely acknowledged my existence except for a few small exchanges of thank you and as a flight attendant passed our refreshments on to us and since he was sitting next to the window I had to pass his drink on to him and he acknowledged me by saying thank you. We were probably 20 minutes from our destination when the Holy Spirit spoke softly to my heart and said, Ask him if he knows a Charlie. I said Lord is that all? Is there nothing more? It doesn't seem like much to go on Lord The Holy Spirit didn't answer me because he knows that I know when you are obedient and faithful to do what he asks of you that he will give you the rest and the rest will follow We are talking again here about obedience and faith. So I leaned over to the young man and said, excuse me, do you know anyone by the name of Charlie? And he looked at me like he was shocked and started stammering and said, well, yes, I do. And why do you ask? And how did you know? And it was then that the Holy Spirit began to reveal the purpose of this conversation. Well, I said, My God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Holy Spirit, tells me to tell you that this Charlie that you know, that it is very important to his kingdom that this Charlie is special to the Lord and that he loves him very much and that he has a high call on his life. He said, How do you know all this? I said, who is Charlie? He said, Charlie is my newly adopted two-year-old son. How did you know this, he asked. How could you possibly know this? He studied me, shaking his head in amazement and still looking perplexed. I said, there is no magic involved here, Daniel. I had learned his name by now. I said, my God, the Holy Spirit speaks to the hearts of those who love him and will listen to him and be obedient to do what he tells him to do and say. It's just that simple. It's nothing more but the God of all creation speaking to the hearts of his obedient servants. I asked Daniel beforehand if he was a Christian. And he coughed a little bit and squirmed around and finally said, Oh, yes, I am. But I knew that he was not telling me the truth. and then I knew for sure he was not when he kept asking how I knew that his son's name was Charlie. He was absolutely astounded that anyone could possibly know these things. The rest of the word that the Lord had for Daniel was that he would hold him accountable and responsible for rearing his son up in the word. And I urged Daniel to allow the Lord to lead him to a church or fellowship so that he could learn God's ways and teach them to his son. God has a high call on this little two-year-old boy's life and he was awakening the father and alerting him to his responsibilities in rearing little Charlie up in the ways and admonition of the Lord. Daniel told me that this little boy was very special to them since they could not have children of their own. Charlie had formerly had a Muslim name with Mohammed being his first name. he said that they had his name changed God wanted to communicate his will to Charlie's father and he confounded this young man in that a perfect stranger could know something so personal and recent and it all began by hearing the small still voice of the Holy Spirit all glory be to God for what he will accomplish in this family's life all glory and honor be to him a second way of hearing God's voice is hearing his voice audibly in the way that he will speak to you and this way is most often in times of emergency admonishment, exhortation or when God is endeavoring to make impact and get somebody's attention and such is the case with Saul who became Paul when he heard the audible voice of Jesus when he was knocked off his horse and blinded in Acts 9 verse 3. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven and then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he trembling and admonished and said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Notice that when Paul was knocked off his horse and blinded, that he became very submissive in saying, Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord in some way apprehends us all like he did Saul who became Paul. And for most of us, it will not be that dramatic. Apostle Paul's call to serve the Lord was paramount to what most of us will ever do for kingdom's sake. Samuel the prophet was another wonderful account of the audible voice of God speaking to the young boy who would come to know the voice of God very intimately and be used powerfully in his day to speak instantly in season and out of season for the Lord whenever the Lord directed him or wherever the Lord directed him. In our other teachings, we have covered this account in depth. But I just want to say that God called out to the young boy Samuel three times. And finally the fourth time, Samuel knew that he was actually hearing the audible voice of God speaking to him and calling out his name. Hearing the audible voice of God is not as common as the other ways by which God will speak to you. and recounting an account of my own experience which took place a number of years back. I was in a particular lady's lingerie shop looking for a certain style of sleepwear. I'd never been in a store like this before and will never enter one like this again. As I was squarely in the middle of the store just perusing quickly for the particular item I was hoping to find, I heard the audible voice of God say to me, what are you doing in here? Get out now. I want to tell you that I was so shocked in hearing God's voice in this way that I jumped and immediately reacted by running out of the store. I must have had guilty written all over my face because that is exactly how I felt. I was convicted by the Spirit of God and I knew that I had overstepped my bounds and that the Lord was not pleased with me by being in a store such as this. I repented and asked my Father in heaven for his forgiveness and I have never been back since to a store such as this and learned a big lesson of purity in the Lord's eyes no matter how innocent the garment that I was looking for seemed. Well, dreams is another way by which God speaks to his people. Well, dreams is a very common way God speaks to man. There are so many accounts in Scripture from the Old Testament to the New. And I like to say that God first begins to speak to us in this way by giving us dreams where we are in the bathroom where there is great cleansing and washing that takes place. And this is called sanctification. And sanctification is being set aside from sin. That's what it means. there is much cleansing in this whole process of sanctification in the life of every believer it is ongoing in the book of Job 33 verse 15 gives clear insight as to the longing and desire of God to turn men away from their sinful ways and passions so that they might desire righteousness Job 33 verse 15 in a dream and a vision of the night when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds. He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings and to turn a man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. After the cleansing process is well underway, God begins to give revelatory dreams for the general purpose of prayer focus. In many people with a prophetic call on their lives, They may receive dreams that are important to disclose and communicate the heart of God. For some people, God shows the nations, some to a church or churches, and some to other individuals, and still others. He desires to minister to kings and presidents or important leaders. Daniel received dreams that were imperative and revelatory to know in advance the ploys and pitfalls of the enemy. Daniel was also given the divine ability to interpret the king's dreams which saved the nation of Israel in a time of drought and famine. And God showed Joseph, the husband of Mary, the plans of the enemy to destroy little baby boys through a dream. And God used dreams many times in Joseph's life to stay ahead of Satan's plan to destroy the Son of God. personally God showed me many dreams of cleansing and the things that he was asking me to change in my life and after a few years of these types of dreams and also obedience to do as God was asking and requiring of me I began to have dreams of teaching people in God's word at first I thought my imagination was running wild and these were soulish dreams I was having and the Lord then brought us among spirit-filled believers and I began to have one prophetic word after another saying that God had called me to teach and preach His word. It was then that I knew that God was truly speaking to me and it was a number of years after that though before I did step into my calling and I am now being obedient to the Lord's call on my life. another way that God speaks to us is praying in the spirit with interpretations 1 Corinthians 14 verse 4 says he who speaks in a tongue edifies himself but he who prophesies edifies the church I wish you all spoke with tongues but even more that you prophesied for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues unless indeed he interprets that the church may receive edification Interpretations of tongues is the supernatural showing forth by the Spirit of God the meaning of an utterance in other tongues. This interpretation is not an operation of the mind of the interpreter, but the mind of the Holy Spirit. The interpretation is just as much a miracle as the original utterance of the tongue. both are utterances equally direct from the mind of the Spirit of God. And most often interpretation of tongues comes mostly by way of word by word, but sometimes it comes in the form of a mental vision. In other words, you will see in the mind's eye, so to speak. In my own experience, I have not operated so much in this particular gift, but did experience a few years back in the time that I was praying and interceding in the Spirit and was feeling a great intensity and groaning in my spirit as a result of deep intercession. I asked the Holy Spirit to please give me the interpretation of this tongue and show me what I was interceding and praying for. In the next instant, the Lord unfolded and unwrapped in a vision. people from the past and people from the present in my life who needed salvation it was like a running video and I could see each face as it was presented before me and then it would move on to the next individual and on to the next and this whole scene did not take hours as the Lord moved me through this revelation of my prayer intercession but it only took a matter of minutes as he revealed what I had previously been praying into I was receiving this vision as I continued to pray. I did not stop praying in the spirit to receive this revelation, but continued to intercede and when I did, it was in this time that the Lord revealed my question. God will speak to you through a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom or discernment. And since we do not have time to go into any detail at length about each one of these gifts, I will only give you a brief explanation of them and a personal experience which will show and give you an idea of how God speaks through each one of these means a word of knowledge is a revelation to man by God's spirit of some detail of that all knowledge that belongs to him alone and the revelation could be perhaps of the existence the condition or the whereabouts of some person or place or location or of some event. And please understand that it is not called the gift of knowledge but the word of knowledge. And more exactly, it is called a word of knowledge. And the word of knowledge is not a God-sent amplification of human knowledge, but it is a divinely given fragment of divine knowledge. It is supernaturally imparted from above and independent of natural senses mental faculties and education or study and observances or years of experience. The word of knowledge is an operation in the Spirit as when John received the revelation of the condition of the seven churches when he was in the Spirit on Patmos. And the word of knowledge is like God opening a window into the secret repository of this all knowledge for the edification of the church. throughout the whole Bible. We see where God used a word of knowledge to expose a hypocrite. And that hypocrite was Gehazi who was Elisha's servant. A word of knowledge was also used to convince a sinner of the need of a savior. And that was the woman at the well who Jesus spoke to and told her that the man she was living with was not her husband. God used a word of knowledge to expose a man who was in hiding. Saul, who was to become king, ran to hide himself, but got exposed in a word of knowledge to prophet Samuel where he was to be found. And a word of knowledge was used in scripture to reveal corruption in the church, also a man in need, and also to indicate to the people a suitable place for a meeting for God's people. A word of knowledge is used to show men's thoughts. Jesus knew what was in a man's heart. And Samuel the prophet knew what was in Saul's heart when he told him in 1 Samuel 9.19 that he would tell all that was in his heart. A word of knowledge was also used to recover lost persons or even lost property. And it is used powerfully in revealing facts in private for spiritual correction or profit. A personal example of a word of knowledge in operation was a number of years ago when my husband Lee, son Aaron, and a friend of his and myself were driving to St. Augustine, Florida to sightsee for the day during a holiday and the traffic on the interstate was especially heavy because of the holiday. Aaron was driving and Lee was sitting up front with him while Aaron's friend and I were sitting in the back seat. All of a sudden, I began to feel a little nauseous. And I knew by this time in my walk, the Lord was trying to communicate something to me. I asked the young lady sitting next to me if she was feeling nauseous. And she replied, no, she wasn't. She was feeling just fine. I asked the Lord what he was trying to tell me. And he immediately said, tell everyone to pray in the spirit right now because the enemy has a death assignment on your lives. I immediately erupted Lee and Aaron's conversation and told them what the Lord just said. And like attentive soldiers, we instantly began to intercede in the spirit. It wasn't but for four to five minutes had passed before a minivan went speeding by us at top speed and hit the car in front of us and glanced off the car in front of us and rolled over three times before it ended up in the median. Erin, being an EMT, quickly pulled the car over and ran to assist the passengers in the car. And the mother of the family was driving the car and she was pinned in by the steering wheel. Her little baby was thrown to the back seat and the other children were crying and in shock. Erin carried and led all of the children away from the car and left them attended to by others who had gathered by at that time. And then he hurried over to pray with the mother until the ambulance and rescue team had been notified. Our lives were saved because of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and prompt to obey His command. Praise be to God. All glory be to Him. And something you should know is that a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom are closely related. Natural wisdom is the ability to apply, possess knowledge and experience. But supernatural wisdom and knowledge exist on a plane infinitely above their natural and human counterparts. These are God's wisdom and knowledge and not men's at all. so to explain a word of wisdom then would be that it is the supernatural revelation by the spirit giving divine purpose which is the supernatural declaration of the mind and will of God a word of wisdom is the unfolding of his plan and purposes concerning things and places and people and individuals, communities and nations in a word A word of wisdom is expressed not only in foretelling future events, but in those commands and instructions which God gives men arising out of his knowledge of those future events. It was through this gift that Moses received the Ten Commandments. It was through this gift that Jonah received his eight word decree to Nineveh. a message which at once was a prophecy it was a threat and an exhortation and this gift might also come by the way of an angelic visitation by a dream or a vision or through the spiritual gifts of prophecy or tongues and interpretation Joseph received many words of wisdom and knowledge through dreams and visions and the word of wisdom is distinct from a word of knowledge though they are closely related and often are subtly integrated in their manifestations as the rainbow colors. The word of knowledge is the revelation of past happenings or the things existing or events taking place in the present and the word of wisdom is the revelation of the purpose of God concerning people, things or events in the future or looking to the future. By the word of knowledge, John on Patmos knew the condition of the seven churches and by the word of wisdom he was able to give the mind, will and commands of God to the people that was necessary for change that he was demanding in the churches. a personal example of this gift in operation was in a word of personal prophecy to a young boy in his late teens the Lord had shown me in a vision as I noticed a certain young man in the crowd at the church that we were ministering in that I was seeing in this outward vision this teen swimming in water as I began to prophesy to the young lad I asked him if he was a swimmer and he said yes he was and then the Lord began to unfold the word and his future to him in a word of wisdom God told him that he would make him into a champion swimmer and a champion of his if every time that he would win a competition that he would give glory to the name of Jesus Christ and it was sometime later maybe a couple of years that a friend had come across a member of the church who told them that the young boy and his family had moved from Puerto Rico to Texas where he would have a better opportunity for swimming on the university's team in order to advance his gift and talent in being a champion for Jesus and also to enroll in pre-med and reach for the career goal that he had felt the Lord put in his heart as well. Another example was in ministry to a young girl in a church that we were ministering in. And the Lord showed me that this young lady was called to worship. She did not even sing in the choir. But God had called her a worshiper and she was to begin to step into her calling and that God would help her through any fears and apprehensions that she may have. and we had heard that the pastor began to make provision and provide opportunities for her to begin to sing and exercise her gift which the Lord had revealed and we had word that a friend had visited that church at a later date and had heard the young lady singing and said she had such an anointing on her life our friend was told that she was a real blessing to the church because of her obedience, her example and anointing She didn't have an outstanding or particularly beautiful voice, but God had set his approval and his seal upon her and gave her a sweet anointing for worship. Better to have that than a beautiful voice or awesome voice without God's presence. Amen? Amen. Discernment of spirits is another way that God will speak to you. the gifts of a word of knowledge and a word of wisdom and discernment are all considered the revelatory gifts discerning of spirits gives natural insight into the secret realm of the spirit it reveals the kind of spirit that is actuating or stirring up a person who is manifesting supernatural knowledge or power at that time that the miracle is actually taking place. It supernaturally conveys information that could not be had apart from this gift. Discerning of spirits must not be looked upon as a kind of spiritual thought reading. The gift of discerning of spirits is to distinguish the divine from the satanic while a miracle is being brought about without human input. So-called spirit guides are foul spirits imitating or giving the appearance of the spirits of the departed, thereby deceiving human beings. And these are called familiar spirits. Dear church, there is only one good spirit operating in the word and his name is Holy Spirit. Discerning of spirits is not a psychological insight. It is not a keen mental penetration. discerning of spirits is not the power to discover faults in others the uses of this gift are obvious and the present day uses are the same as the scripture and this gift is to help in delivering the afflicted the oppressed and the tormented the gift of discerning of spirits is helpful in discovering a servant of the devil when apostle Paul filled with the Holy Spirit set his eyes upon Elemaus the sorcerer and discern the evil spirits controlling this child of the devil. This was a simple case of discovery, not deliverance. The sin of Elimaeus was willful and determined and was subject to demon authority and therefore his terrible punishment of blindness was by the hand of the Lord. The gift of discerning of spirits is to expose air that appears believable and this gift is also used by God to unmask demon miracle workers. This gift is used to discern if demon power is the origin of any particular sickness or affliction and it can also be used to select and choose pure and honest workers for the work of the Lord and also for keeping the church free from subtle deceivers. sharing one of my personal experience was the time my husband Lee and I were invited as guest speakers by another ministry who was conducting an outreach that day and was serving lunch to a group of senior citizens the table we were sitting at was facing the door and I saw a man walk in who looked normal in most respects and he wasn't acting strange or weird the spirit of the Lord exposed the spirit within the man who had plans to bring harm to the people at this luncheon meeting and the Lord told me the man had a weapon concealed on his person and to alert the man in charge as to the enemy's scheme the man in charge was sitting at our table and I quickly interrupted the conversation and reported what the Lord had just revealed to me and we quickly prayed for God's protection and the diffusing of the devil's plan to bring harm to God's people. Charles, the minister leading the event, watched the man as he walked around the room like he was looking for a place to sit. And all of a sudden the man pulled a knife out of his boot and said, just as the Lord had spoken to me, saying that he had come to do harm to people in this place. Charles calmly approached the man while Lee and I were silently praying for God's protection in time with Charles' kind dealings with the individual he diffused the enemy's plans with the man handing the knife over to him this is the gift of the discerning of spirits at work and God preparing people to deal with the devices and schemes of the enemy through prayer and calm endurance even in the time of great and threatening adversity. And now, yet another way God will speak to you is by an inward vision. An inward vision happens within your spirit and you see this by the eyes of your spirit. An inward vision is really a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom at work but can happen in this way as an inward vision in your spirit. And this is another way that God quickens your spirit to hear and see what he is trying to convey to you, but comes in the way of a picture form within your spirit. For people who prophesy or praying for people by laying on of hands, God will quite often use this method of communication to convey his heart in the matter. Remember, it is supernatural and not a mental picture that man conjures up in his head. Jesus gives us an example of this by what he says in John 5.18 this made the Jews more determined than ever to kill him to do away with them because he not only was breaking, weakening, violating the Sabbath but he was actually speaking of God as being in special sense his own father making himself equal with God so Jesus answered them by saying I assure you most solemnly I tell you the son is able to do nothing of himself on his own accord, but he is only able to do what he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does is what the son does in the same way. The father dearly loves his son and discloses to show him everything that he himself does. And he will disclose to him, let him see, greater things yet than these, so that you may marvel and be full of wonder and astonishment. well Jesus is saying in effect in these scriptures that he can do nothing of and by himself because of his inseparable union with his father and nor can the father do anything of himself because of his infinite unity with the son verse 20 says that the father communicates to the son and when he communicates to him he shows him all things that he himself wants done the father's measures in making and ruling the world are shown to his son so that he may take the same measures in framing and governing those things that are necessary for governing the church and this work was to be a duplicate of the work of creation and providence and is therefore called the world to come or God's heavenly kingdom above Jesus says greater things will you do Jesus therefore is working with multitudes of millions of dear saints over the course of time, communicating what he will show them to do and will appoint and direct them to do these great works that need to be accomplished for kingdom's sake, for his own sake. So an inward vision is another way that God speaks to us. He speaks to us to show what needs to be done or spoken into people's lives and even in our own lives. Another method of God in communicating with you is called enlightenment or illumination of God's word. Psalms chapter 19 verse 8 declares, The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commands of the Lord are pure and bright, enlightening the eyes. In Hebrews 10 it says, But be ever mindful of the days gone by, in which after you were first spiritually enlightened, you endured a great and painful struggle. So it is enlightenment or illumination of God's word. And a personal example of this way that God speaks is one that I am not most eager to share with you. But I believe in sharing it even though it's happened 28 years ago that it might be helpful to parents with young children but also in this present day since it is a way that God speaks to his people. It was after a special day of celebration called the Feast of Tabernacles that we went out to eat with another family whom we had just met at this festival. We were sitting at the table ordering our dinner and our son Aaron was probably 10 years of age at that time. Aaron ordered beef bourgeonon and I corrected Aaron for the way that he pronounced it. I said, Aaron, you are taking French, and you can pronounce that word more correctly. Well, the man whom we had just met at this meeting was sitting across the table from me, and he lowered his reading glasses into the end of his nose, and looking over them, he looked at me squarely, and he said, he did just fine, thank you, and he went back to reading his menu. and I was left sitting there with a sudden and instant recall of the word in Ephesians 6.4 that says do not provoke your children to anger do not exasperate them to resentment but rear them tenderly in the training and discipline and counsel and admonition of the Lord right after the recollection of the word that had just hit my spirit I saw like an instant replay that was likened to the news on the television screen that continually rolls across the bottom of the screen for you a dissertation on what you are doing wrong in order to bring correction. The conviction of the Lord works just fine, thank you. Did you ever wonder when you heard people say, I felt like a rat. How does a rat feel? Well, I know how a rat must feel because I felt like one. I felt so deeply miserable by what the Lord had instantly revealed to my heart in what I had been doing to my son. I had been greatly convicted and corrected by my Lord, and rightfully so, and did not enjoy one bit of that meal In fact I could hardly wait to get home and ask my son to please forgive me And I gave him permission to bring to my attention in the future if I ever said anything that might make him feel bad by what I might say along these lines. And I knew when I'd given him permission that he was not the type of little boy who would take advantage of every opportunity to manipulate or abuse this leeway that he had just been given because he was always a very considerate, respectful and kind-hearted child. Never happened, not once. Praise God for this wonderful way that he speaks to us. Praise God for his loving kindness and mercy in our lives. thank God that he does not zap us into crispy critters when we sin or fall short in certain areas of our Christian walk or growth praise God well another way God might speak to you is by experiencing another's emotions and this awesome way of God speaking takes a little while before some will ever catch on to it remember it is a gift It is God-given. It actually is another way God uses a word of knowledge, but it is in this way through someone's emotions. And it seems many people who walk in the ministry of healing and deliverance will experience this way that God might speak to them. Experiencing another's emotions seem to come rather quickly. So you know that it is not you if you are somewhat mature in the Lord at this time in your walk. your own emotions are pretty much in control and subdued by the Spirit of God at this time. And this has happened many times to me over the course of the years. And one of these accounts happened a few years ago when we were traveling by air to visit my father in Montana. All the while as the airplane had lifted off the ground and had leveled out in the air I was feeling a sudden barrage of fear and nausea. and we had traveled a lot by air over the course of our lives because of a prior life of business and also in ministry for the Lord. And there was a lady sitting on my right. I leaned over to her and I said, Are you doing okay? And she looked at me and said, This is my first time ever flying and I am afraid and I feel sick to my stomach. And I said, Would you like me to pray for you? and ask Jesus to touch you and give you peace? Well, this accounted for the experience I was having in feeling another's emotions. You see, 1 Corinthians 12, 7 declares, Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Well, I prayed for the lady, and the Spirit of peace fell upon her, and the Lord manifested His presence. She was so thankful that she could not stop telling me how appreciative she was. I told her it was Jesus who touched her, and I was thankful for that too, because she'd experienced God's touch. And I was relieved of her symptoms, which I was feeling, and also for the fact that she did not throw up. Praise the Lord, he is so good. Well, now another experience many people have in the way God speaks is by experiencing another person's physical emotions. And this method of God is many times over given to those who walk in a ministry of healing and deliverance. And again the scripture in 1 Corinthians 12.7 says, Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. And this manifestation of God's Holy Spirit will all of a sudden bring an awareness of pain to a particular part of the body indicating that God is desirous of you to pray for that individual that you happen to be around or that you are praying for at the time. The Lord has used this wonderful means of revelation for both my husband Lee and I when we are praying for people or sometimes when we are sitting next to someone in a public place. We first of all ask each other if we're experiencing pain in that part of our bodies and after finding out that it is not us then we seek God's direction after that. An example of this personally is when praying for a lady whom the Lord revealed had arthritis in her hips we prayed for her and the Lord healed her and it wasn't maybe until a week or two later that we were invited to a church where a traveling evangelist was going to minister. And we were sitting in the audience and the lady who had been healed of arthritis stood up and gave a testimony of the healing she'd received in our healing service. She was so excited and animated that she started twirling around and lifting up her legs and said, Look, I couldn't do this before, but look what God has done. And we all gave a shout of praise and thanks to God for his mercy and his grace. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Well, quite often, God will use personal prophecy as a way that he will speak to us. And we have seen in the New Testament scriptures in 1 Corinthians 12, 7-11, where God uses this gift quite effectively to bless his church. Personal prophecy can come in the way of, thus saith the Lord, or it can be given in the form of a prayer. And the latter is more palatable way that people who are taught in the ways of the Spirit could receive hearing from God in this way. and the Lord has used both my husband Lee and I in the ministry of prophecy many times. Prophecy in its simplest form is divinely inspired an anointed utterance given by God. There is nothing quite so beautiful, dear ones, than to see the heart of an individual touched by the direct word of God given to them. God touches his people with direction, guidance and comfort and with exhortation and reproof, with healing and deliverance, and most of all, with his love and kindness. The gift of prophecy should not be confused with the office of prophet. Both of these are considered gifts, but the offices such as apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are the gifts that Jesus gives to the church, while the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now, another way God will speak to you is by a song of the Lord. And this is another way of personal prophecy, but it comes in the way of song. And the Lord God is so diverse in his ways of ministering to his people. Scripture to verify this way of God speaking to you is found in 1 Chronicles 25 verse 1. David together with the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jedutham for ministry of prophesying accompanied by harps and lyres and cymbals. Verse 5. All of these were the sons of Heman, the king's seer in the words of God to exalt his horn. For God gave Heman 14 sons and 3 daughters. And verse 7, So the number of them with their brethren who were instructed in songs of the Lord and all who were skillful was 288. The song of the Lord is sweet. And it is another way that God brings healing and deliverance and encouragement and His love into the lives and hearts of His people. an outward or external vision is another way by which God will speak to you Genesis 15 verse 1 God's covenant with Abraham after these things the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying do not be afraid Abraham I am your shield your exceedingly great reward and also we see in Joshua 5 13 where God had spoken to his man through the means of an external or outward vision in Joshua 5.13. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked and behold a man who stood opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, Are you for us or for our adversaries? So he said, No, but the commander of the army of the Lord I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, What does my Lord say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. And Joshua did so. Also, in Acts 9, verse 10, Ananias, the disciple, saw a vision of the Lord, who called out to him and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. And in a vision, Saul has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. That was verse 12. So in this account, we see where God used visions twice to speak to these men and accomplish his goal of his purpose for both and namely for the kingdom of God. I was privileged at a very early age to see an outward vision of Jesus. I was about five years old at a summer vacation school And was coloring a picture of Jesus And below the picture of Jesus with his arms outstretched Were the words, I love you As I glanced up, I saw Jesus standing at the front of the room And he was looking at me, smiling He didn't say anything to me He just smiled at me I didn't tell my mother or father or anyone about the incident and don't know why I didn't except but maybe just as a little child it seemed to be a normal thing to happen since reality still wasn't a huge realization yet another personal experience in the form of an outward vision worth mentioning that I recall is when Lee and I were in a prayer meeting it was a large room filled with many people standing in a circle as we were all standing in our place and praying I suddenly saw as clear as could be a golden figure in the size of a large man who suddenly appeared and laid down on the floor across the room from us yet still in the circle I blinked my eyes thinking that they were deceiving me and possibly I wasn't really seeing what I thought I was seeing and the golden figure rolled around the circle and ended up laying in front of Lee and I and the presence of God was very strong with this golden figure laying on