The Method of God's Communication¹

Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be another person? I read Brother Lawrence's Practicing the Presence of God during my master's work. Brother Lawrence was not rich, famous, or glamorous. He was just a simple cook. But he had something incredibly rare. This is how he described his day-to-day life:

“This is what being in His holy presence is like. My day-to-day life consists of giving God my simple, loving attention. If I'm distracted, he calls me back in tines that are supernaturally beautiful...My prayers consist of a simple continuation of this same exercise. Sometimes I imagine that I'm a piece of stone, waiting for the sculptor. When I give myself to God this way, He begins sculpting my soul into the perfect image of His beloved Son. At other times, I feel my whole mind and heart being raised up into God's presence, as if, without effort, they had always belonged there.”²

Brother Lawrence understood the practice of the presence of God. His biographer said this of him: “His soul was resting in God, having lost its awareness of everything but love of Him...Because of this, his life was full of continual joy.”

This week we have one goal: to better learn the practice of abiding in God's presence. We will focus less on the how's and why's and more on the do's. There is no better way to learn than to practice. Of course, we won't master the skill of listening to God in just five lessons. Some things just take time. However, for us to have a life “full of continual joy,” it's definitely worth all the effort and patience.

The question we want to answer today is: “Do I have what it takes to hear from God?” You may be asking, “Is He still speaking today?” Yes, he most certainly is. He loves us just as much as He loved the saints described in the Bible, and He wants to know Him as they did.

I. Ways God Speaks Today

There are four primary ways God speaks to His people today.

1) His primary method is through the Bible.

Paul urged Timothy to listen to God by studying His word when He wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives” (2 Timothy 3:16a, NLT).

Of all ways God might choose to communicate, the Bible is the final authority.

2) God speaks through other Christians.

Proverbs 11:14 tells us, “There is safety in having many advisers” (NLT). The Lord often uses God-focused men and women to encourage us and counsel us, and sometimes even chasten us (see 2 Samuel 12:12).

3) God communicates with us through circumstances.

As someone wisely said, “Circumstances drive us to our knees so the only way we can look is up!” The three armies headed for Jerusalem were enough to drive the children of Judah to their knees. The circumstances don't' have to be bad-sometimes he brings great blessings to get our attention. Paul did say, “The goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4, NKJV).

4) God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit.

Paul certainly knew this: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

You might be thinking, I know the Holy Spirit spoke then, but does He still speak now? John 14:16 and 16:13 tells us that although the Spirit doesn't actually speak out loud, it's pretty obvious Jesus wanted us to know that the Holy Spirit will keep on speaking as long as we are in this world.

Now let's deal with another question. Can I hear God speak? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes! No matter where you are in this life, even if you don't have a relationship with Christ-you can hear Him as He draws you to Him. As He did with Saul on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9), God can break through even the hardest hearts and reveal Himself to individuals.

However, for God to lead us and guide us with His still, small voice, there are certain conditions we must meet.

II. Conditions to Hear the Shepherd

1) We must accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

John 10:11 (NASB), “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

When we place our faith in the one who laid down His life for us, He becomes our Shepherd and we become His sheep.

John 10:3 (NASB), “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

In order for sheep to listen, they must have ears. The day you and I trusted Jesus as our Savior and became His sheep, we grew some spiritual ears that could clearly recognize His voice.

2) We must be sensitive to Christ's voice.

John 10:4 (NASB), “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

The sheep follow Jesus because “they know His voice” because they have heard it before. They have learned to recognize it.

We all know that the Pharisees were “dull of hearing” (see Matthew 13:15). But did you know that the disciples had a “hearing problem.” In Mark 8:14-21, the disciple's eyes failed to see and their ears failed to hear that they had all the bread they needed.

They missed the point Jesus was making because they were insensitive to spiritual matters. As leaders in the kingdom of God we cannot afford to miss such things.

We must learn to look below the surface of what we can see and hear with our physical senses. We must discern what God is up to. That kind of spiritual sensitivity takes time to develop.

Just a day or so after their failed hearing exam, Jesus gave them another opportunity. This time they passed. When Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus blessed Peter and said man had not revealed that to him. Only the Father in heaven could have shown Him such a deep spiritual truth (see Matthew 16:15-17). Likewise, only the Spirit of God can open up God's Word to us and help us understand what the Lord wants to say to and through us. Therefore, we must constantly stay sensitive to the Spirit's instructing.

Even with open ears to listen, it's possible we could still miss God's voice. There is one final condition that must be met.

3) We must surrender to Christ.

The idea here is that we have not only open, sensitive ears, but bended ears wanting to receive whatever words of instruction God has for us. Our attitude must be, “Lord, counsel me, correct me, teach me, rebuke me, direct me, just please talk to me!”

John 10:3b says, “He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.”

Today's topic is “Our Most Necessary Ability.” Being able to hear from God is at the top of our priorities as worshipers for this simple reason: If we don't hear from God, we don't know what to do. He is our leader, our Shepherd. We are dumb sheep that need Him to lead us. That means laying down our pride and self-will and allowing Him to direct us.

Jehoshaphat and the children of Judah met all three conditions that assured them they could hear from God. They were saved, in that they were His people. Thus, they had “ears to hear,” and they opened those ears to listen. They also showed they were sensitive to His voice when they said, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (2 Chronicles 20:12).

Finally, they were obviously surrendered because they ignored all human logic. What's logical about sending out the choir in front of the army? They did not question God's wisdom. They willingly did exactly what God told them to do. Considering the victorious outcome, I'd say surrendering to His voice was a wise choice for them. It always pays to obey. Just ask Judah!

My Daily Praise

Describe the last sunset you took time to notice. Write down the details: the shape of the clouds, the colors in the sky, the skyline. Decide tonight to stop this week and notice the sunset and praise God for designing it.

My Daily Surrender

We need to be willing to listen to God and not put restrictions on Him. Like Samuel, we need to say, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10b). Write down what God is speaking to you now.

1This material is taken from DeWayne Moore's, Pure Praise (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2009), 55-59.

2Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (New Kensington, PA): Whitaker House, 1982), 38.