Bible Study

BIBLE STUDY 0701: THE VOICE OF GOD [PART II]

 

HEAR FROM GOD AND GROW

 

Text: Genesis 32

 

Introduction: Hearing from God is better as a firsthand experience than a second hand experience. By firsthand experience I mean hearing from God yourself. By second hand experience, I mean hearing from God through another person, e.g. a pastor, prophet, etc. When you begin to hear from God you begin to grow. All Christian can and should hear the voice of God. If you do not hear from God your spiritual life will be stunted.

 

The Experience of Jacob

 

Gen 32: v28; v30

 

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

 

30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

 

There is no way you will not remember something happened to you after meeting the Almighty. Jacob had this experience and his life was changed forever. Before this experience, he was known as a deceiver, his days were full of evil and these early years experience shortened his lifespan compared to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac [Gen 47:9]. Twenty years earlier in Gen 28, running from his brother Esau whom he had deceived for the birthright, he slept and put his head on a rock. He saw in a dream, angels ascending and descending from heaven. He saw the LORD and God reassured him of the Abrahamic covenant. He lived a hard life with his uncle in Haran. But for the children whom God blessed him with in Haran, he did not have anything to show for his sojourn in Haran.  In this second encounter with the Almighty, he fought with the angel until the breaking of dawn, and when the angel saw the importunity of Jacob, he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, dislocated the joint which made him to limp for the rest of his life.  He prevailed as a prince with God and man.  Hearing from God is the right of every Christian saved by the blood of Jesus. It is not for spiritual giants alone.

 

Jesus said; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.” John 10:27. Also, read John 10:4-6

 

God wants us to communication with him no matter how you think you are busy or you draw up a schedule that completely choke your time that so that you have no room for daily fellowship with God. This is the sin in the developed world when you have to crowd your time with work or work-related schedule and no time for God.

Every believer has a spiritual capacity to know God and hear God.

 

Heb 8:10-11 

10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

 

The Battlefield of the Mind

The untrained mind is bombarded by different thoughts. It is like a busy market. You might ask, how do I hear from God? For a Christian whose mind has been tempered or controlled by the Holy Spirit, God speaks to your spirit-man not your brain. The mind is in the soul –realm, and God does not speak to your soul, he speaks to your spirit.

 

Proverbs 20:27 

 

27The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

 

You need to switch off your brain rationalizing the things of God to hear clearly from God. The natural mind cannot receive the  things of God because they are spiritually discerned. You need to be ultra-sensitive to the voice and command of the Holy Spirit to receive the best from God.

 

1 Corinthians 2: 9-16

9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

 11For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

 12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 15But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

 16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

 

CONCLUSION

We have established from this study that hearing from God can be one big encounter the first time you hear it like Jacob had or it can be a daily occurrence for guidance like Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.” John 10:27.  You need to train your ears to hear his voice and do not allow the things of the world to make you deaf from hearing God’s voice. If the enemy shouts into your ear, allow the voice of God to shout louder to drown the voice of the enemy. Continue to meditate on heavenly things. This is the battlefield of the mild, and victory is yours in Jesus Name.