Sitting with the Lord and listening. As I listened the question came to my heart, Do I really believe God speaks to me? I must admit that even though I grew up in the church and in the faith, the idea of God speaking to me was a little spooky and mysterious as a young person. When people with prophetic gifts would come to our services and start speaking to people as if the Lord said it, was quite disconcerting. For years I thought that a person must be on a level that I could never aspire to. Like God wouldn’t speak directly to me like that. I believe in the prophetic gift. Prophetic words have come to me and have come to pass in my life so I’m no longer skeptical about that like I was in my younger days. I’ve seen the gift misused and abused and that saddens me because it causes disbelief that God speaks to man in modern day times.

In the OT He spoke in a lot of ways- directly to man, through prophets and angels. He still speaks that way. In the NT, He spoke in the same ways and also through Jesus, His son who walked the earth as the God Man. Immanuel, God with us. Jesus still speaks to us through scripture. When Jesus left, He said I must go, so that the Holy Spirit can come and He will lead and guide us to all truth. After Christ, we have the voice of the Holy Spirit who speaks to us.

So to the question that came to my heart, do I really believe God speaks to me? I answer with another question. Even though, I hate when ppl answer a question with a question. But I’m thankful God doesn’t have a problem with it. So my question is,

Why wouldn’t God speak to me?

The only prerequisite is that I listen. I mean if I look at the recorded instances of God speaking to people in scripture, He certainly did not discriminate. He certainly did not make people jump through hoops. He certainly did not only speak to the loftiest of individuals who had reached a certain societal or spiritual status. He spoke to ordinary individuals who had ordinary problems and issues living ordinary lives too. He did not discriminate between race, gender, or careers. Everyone whom He spoke to had not reached their pinnacle of life when all was right in their world. In fact, we are all on that journey until Jesus comes again. He spoke with a purpose! God doesn’t waste words. He doesn’t talk just to hear Himself talk. He speaks and if we listen we will find He is speaking on purpose. He loves talking to us. He wants that communion, that fellowship, that camaraderie with us. I don’t pressure myself about length of time or rituals when I sit with the Lord. However, there is something to be said for the discipline of consistency, however that works out in our lives. There’s a special connection that happens when we still ourselves long enough to listen out for Him. He has said that He’s at the door knocking and if we open it, He will come in and spend time with us. In my experience, when I open the door and listen as God speaks, it is not spooky. It is awe inspiring though. It is humbling though. There’s a comforting and settling of my soul that I don’t find anywhere else. I can have a rough day and take one moment to breath and settle down to listen out for the Holy Spirit and He always puts things in their proper perspective.

I’m wondering why He led me to even think about this question this morning? Maybe it’s to spread the word that God will speak to us if we will listen. To remove the stigma that He only speaks to certain people. I believe that God uses other believers and leaders to speak to us and to get His message to us 100%! I also believe that He speaks to us directly too and that ultimately He wants that level of communication with each of us. Maybe all is not right in our lives and that creates some fear that if God speaks to us, He is going to judge us harshly or something like that. In my experience, God always leads with love and grace even in His correction of me. Even when I haven’t been ready to receive correction. He keeps knocking. He keeps speaking because His desire is to transform my life for the better. His goal in speaking to me is to guide me to my purpose and calling. Because when I’m tracking with God, the enemy of my soul can’t hold anything against me. He has no control over the outcome or consequences of my life. God does and his goal is to work all things out for my good. Take a moment when you can, to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. He’ll tell you about yourself and how awesome you are in God’s sight. It may take some time to learn how to quiet yourself long enough to hear. I started simply by asking God to teach me to hear His voice and He did. I promise it won’t be spooky, it will be life changing for the better!

Just sharing my morning musings, in hopes that we will listen out for the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts more in 2022. This is my prayer for us.