And good morning to each and every one of you.
Happy Tuesday.
I'm just doing a quick check.
If someone on the computer side, let me know if you can see my slides.
Sometimes I forget to click something, so can I just, maybe Earlene, let me know if
you're hearing my slides.
Those of you that want to go online, the links are posted to actually see the slides.
Those of you that want to see my face, I'm on Facebook Live.
All right, awesome, okay, well, we will get started.
This is the final week on this series.
I'm very excited to close out this series.
It's been amazing.
I hope you've enjoyed it, and I'm excited to start the new one.
I'll tell you about that at the end.
That will start next week.
So in How to Hear the Voice of God, this is lesson number seven, and we're going to
be talking about the still, small voice as one of the ways that God speaks.
I love closing with this, and I'm actually going to share six keys to be able to discern
the voice of God, and answer the question that maybe you have, which is, how do I know
if it's my thoughts, or if it's the devil or enemy's thoughts, or if it's God's thoughts,
or how do I really discern what's going on in my head?
So I'm going to give you six keys for that, and then at the end, I'm going to share a
little bonus, which is my very all-time favorite way to hear from God, and that is when I really
have a question, how can I get that answered?
So all of that.
So glad you're all here.
It's awesome to be with you every Tuesday morning, 7.30.
I'm going to start with prayer, and then we're going to dive right in, because we've got
a lot to cover in a short period of time.
So Father, I just thank you.
I thank you for a brand new day, that we were able to wake up, our heart beating and
air in our lungs.
We know, with everything going on, that that is a true gift.
Lord, I pray for everybody that is listening, both now and to this recording.
You are our good shepherd, and I pray for protection over their lives, their bodies,
their home, their families.
I pray for provision, abundant provision, of all that they need.
You have promised that, Lord God.
I pray that today, you will open our spiritual senses.
I pray that we'll hear your voice so clearly, that we'll feel your presence.
That peace was past us all understanding.
For any that are feeling anxiety or fear, I pray that will be broken.
I pray that your perfect peace, that past us all understanding, will flood their hearts
and minds, guard their hearts and minds.
I pray, Lord God, that today you will speak and meet the questions and the cries of the
hearts of everyone listening.
May the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart, be pleasing in your sight.
I ask in Jesus' name.
Well, welcome to those of you that are joining.
I see, Elen, you just came over.
Christine, I see you.
Welcome, welcome.
How to hear the voice of God.
So we have covered some total territory over the last seven weeks, and all of these recordings,
you can go back and find the previous recordings here on Facebook.
So we have talked about the Logos and the Rhema word as one way of hearing.
That is the written word and the revealed word, which is what we've been focusing on
this whole time.
We've talked about finding God in creation.
We saw a lot of examples of visions and dreams and how God would use that to give direction
or to bring people together, divine appointments.
We saw the virtual reality dream when they're awake, and we saw the sleeping dreams, and
we saw a really important one, I think, for really discerning.
And that was what was called the umpire of your heart.
The umpire of your heart.
And we learned that that's one of the ways that God speaks, which is through peace, through
peace.
And today we're going to be talking about the still small voice, and we're going to
be talking about discernment, about discerning.
God's voice. And so, plus like I said, the bonus. So let's dive right in. Super
excited. Welcome to all of you joining on Facebook Live. Welcome Gail. I see you as
well. Trying to reach over and hit my phone when it works and wave, but it
doesn't always work. Okay, there it went. Alright, so let's start with six keys to
be able to discern. Are these my thoughts? Where are these coming from? What are
they? Alright, the first thing for hearing God's voice, which is hard for some of us,
is to be still. I don't know about you, if that's easier for you. For me, to be
still. I might be able to get my, you know, my body still, but to get my mind still.
And to really listen. To really be present. You see, our tendency, so often,
with our mind and our ego, is we spend so much time either reflecting on the past
or reflecting on the future. Any of you find that? Are you, are you rehearsing? Are
you going over again something that happened? A conversation that you happen
an event that you had happen? You know, something you're concerned about that
happened? Or are you jumping forward? And you know, what if this? And what if not
that? And, and we forget to just slow down and be here now. One of the ways to do
that, when you're being still, is to just focus on your breathing. Just feel your
body. Listen to what's around you. Do you hear the birds singing? Do you, you know,
look around and see what's really happening right here, right now. Because
God is in the present moment. Your, your answer, your life, your joy, your peace is
right here, in this moment. So here's some powerful verses. Psalms 46 10. Psalms
46 10 says, be still and know. Be still and know that I am God. I will be honored
by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. So one of the keys
we glean is to be still and to come with a sense of honor. To come with a
sense that I'm really ready. You are my creator. You're the creator of the
universe. You are infinite love, infinite potentiality, infinite wisdom. And so I
come still and from a place of honor. Now I love the translation, the passion
translation. It's one of my favorite versions of the New Testament, the
passion translation. So the same verse says this, surrender your anxiety. You
want to hear the voice of God? It starts by let go. Let go. Let God. Breathe.
Surrender your anxiety. Be silent and stop your striving. And you will see that
I am God. I'm God above all the nations and I will be exalted through the whole
earth. So once again you see it. Second Timothy 1 12 says, I'm not ashamed for I
know him and I'm personally acquainted with him who I have believed with
absolute trust and confidence in him and in the truth of his deity and I'm
persuaded beyond any doubt that he is able to guard that which I have
entrusted to him. That's Second Timothy 1 12 in the Amplified. I love that verse.
It really gives us some real keys. You see one of the different things between
the Christian faith that I have found as I've traveled all over the world and
studied so many faiths, one of the biggest differences is that it is about
relationship. The difference between religion, which is external, trying to do
so many things, the difference between religion, trying to be good enough, work
hard enough, keep enough rules, enough regulations, you know, follow the rules
and relationship. It says Abba. The Bible says we're to call
Daddy, the most intimate form, Abba, Abba, the Good Shepherd, the intimacy of I want
to know you. I want to know you. And you see this with Timothy who was one of the
youngest disciples. He was like Paul's spiritual son. And you see this in that
verse. You see that that I have become personally acquainted with him. In the
book of Ephesians 1 and 3, when you read Paul's prayers, I love it because it
says to know him personally and experientially. You see, God wants us to
experience him. He wants us to experience him. And this is what what Timothy is
talking about here. And he says, I believe, I have absolute trust. And he
says, I know he's able to guard that which I have entrusted to him. I love
that. You know, those things that are making you anxious, those things that you
can't control, those things you can't figure out. Maybe there's a struggle with
family members. Maybe there's, you know, relationship problem. But can you take
that thing, maybe it's a financial worry, maybe it's a health challenge, can you
take that thing and can you entrust it? Can you let go of the fretting and the
anxiety that just makes us sick and can you entrust it to him? That's the key as
you really want to begin to hear God's voice. So number one, be still. Number two,
recognize that he speaks in different ways at different times. Now, this is
fascinating because he's the same God yesterday, today and forever, through all
eternity. And yet he chooses to reveal himself in infinite ways. I mean, just
creating each one of us and how different is how he reveals himself that
many different ways. No single snowflake the same. No thumbprint the same. I used
to, when I was teaching my kids, I used to take them outside on to a tree and I
would say, hey, find two leaves that are the same. On a tree, just on one tree,
find two leaves that are the same. You can't do it. No two people are the same,
even identical twins. And so God just infinitely has new ways to reveal
himself to us. And so we can't get in a rut. What happened, what happened
yesterday, thank you Sharon, loving you guys's comments, welcome, welcome Sonja,
all you guys. So, you know, the way that he spoke to you yesterday or the way he
spoke to one of your relatives or the way he spoke to someone in the Bible may
not necessarily be the way he's going to speak to you today. Are you ready? You
know, Isaiah 43 says, I'm doing a new thing. He said, it says, will you not be
aware? Will you not perceive it? You see, as we're being still and as we're being
aware, we can open ourselves to say, wow, what new thing is God going to do today?
Because he does it differently every single time. So watch this verse. This is
a cool verse. It's 1st Kings 19 verses 11 through 13. And this is such a
interesting verse, I find. So trying to wave at all you guys that are coming on
Facebook live. Welcome, welcome, welcome John. All right, so it says, go out and
stand before me on the mountain, the Lord told him. This is God talking to Elijah.
And so Elijah goes out there. Now he is absolutely, Elijah's at wit's end if you
know this story. Jezebel has been killing all the prophets. She's after him and has
killed almost all of the people and here he is. And so as Elijah stood there, the
Lord passed by and it says, a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such
a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the
wind. Interesting. Watch this. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the
Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord
was not in the fire. Now watch this, watch this.
After the fire there was a gentle whisper and then Elijah knew. Elijah heard
it. He wrapped his face in a cloak as a sign of worship and devotion. He knew he
was in the presence of God and he went out of his cave. He stood at the front
and then he heard what God had to say for him. What are you doing here Elijah?
And the conversation goes on where God gives them instructions for that
situation. And so it's interesting because here it says that God didn't
speak through the wind. He didn't speak through the earthquake. He didn't speak
through the fire. But if you go through the scripture there's many times he did
speak through the wind. Look at the Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit,
the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. It arrived as a wind that
came into the room. That's how the Holy Spirit arrived. It says that he wasn't
in the fire but again look at Pentecost. It said that that you know tongues of
fire landed on everybody. So what happens is that God is going to speak to you
differently in different situations. So keys to discerning God's voice is don't
expect it always to be the same. He's going to reach you differently. So this
creates a wonderful way to just be open. To wake up and say I'm open. I'm open
God. And see how he's going to reveal himself to you. You know I have sometimes
I've talked about nature. I literally have hummingbirds where they'll just fly
right here and just stay right in front of my face you know and I'm like hi hi
there you know or a butterfly that just keeps going. You know there's so many
ways. I've had I've had dreams. I've had visions. I've had signs and wonders and
miracles. But most often it's the whisper. It's just that quiet almost a thought
that you can ignore it or you can pay attention to it. You know one time I was
in New Jersey. I was in upstate and I was in a tiny tiny little country church
and I was I was there on speaking engagement. I thought well I'm just gonna
go find a little church and just pray before I speak tomorrow. So I didn't know
anybody. I didn't know anything and I I go up there and I'm on the second pew
back and I'm just listening and I I had some cash in my wallet just you know
because I was traveling and everything and the Holy Spirit says to me so
quietly give your hundred dollar bills to the man sitting in front of you. Now
this man was sitting on the on the pew and he had his arms kind of stretched
you know like a man will sometimes do just up on the pew almost like he had
his arm around someone. So his hands were up his hands were up on the on the bench
and I said but Lord I'm traveling that's my travel cash you know and the
Lord says put it in his hand right now and this is the key to hearing God's
voice is to be willing to obey even when it seems crazy and so I was like okay
and I reach in and I take out my cash and I just kind of slip it in his hand
and right after that the worship was concluded and the pastor called this man
to the front and told the story of what this man was doing for for children
sacrificing his life to the point that that he had nothing he was taking care
of so many orphans and children and asked if the church would be willing to
give to him and I thought wow Lord how wonderful that I got to have that chance
to do it without you know it being announced at the front of the church or
any fanfare but also how wonderful to get confirmation that you hear something
and you obey and then it happens afterwards. I'm experiencing that again
right now. I had that still small voice but it got louder and louder and louder
maybe some of you have had this too and that was at the beginning of this year
I was at the end of last year for the beginning of this year where God told me
to have an event for women the women like me event. I'll tell you nothing in
my flesh wanted to have that event I've done events for for decades there are a
lot of money there are a lot of work there are a lot of time and I frankly
didn't feel like doing it.
an event my life is comfortable I didn't feel like it but do you ever have that
where it just keeps coming back and coming back and coming back and my
question is will you obey so I went ahead and obeyed I did this event and
even all the way through it was the most beautiful event lives were touched so
much but even after the event as I was paying lots of bills for it and
everything I was like God what was that about why did you have me do that but I
knew I needed to obey do you know that the fruit of that event because remember
everything has a seed time in a harvest so do your prayers so do your obedience
their seeds when God speaks you obey there's a seed time and a harvest okay
and there's a gap between then you may not see what's happening during the
gestation period that's when the seed is in the deep dark soil and you don't
see any signs yet well here we are five months later after the event and the
fruit that is coming up is absolutely astounding I'll share those blessings
as time goes on so my point to all of this is are you willing to be still and
are you willing to obey when you do here and do you know that he's going to speak
differently in different situations all right number three that hearing truly
hearing from God is based on relationship knowing and experiencing
him John 17 3 eternal life means to know and experience you experience you
as the only true God and experience Jesus Christ as the son whom you've set
in John 10 27 it says my sheep listen to my voice I know them and they follow
me so this hearing is based on being still on recognizing it can come in a
multitude of forms it's based on relationship number four we need to be
able to distinguish between our thoughts because very often it just
appears as a thought the more you listen to God the more you obey the more it
will become very clear it's like the more you know somebody the more you can
recognize their voice in a crowd you can pick it up you can distinguish it from
every other voice in the room you'll hear a laughter and all of a sudden
you'll turn your head you'll go I know that laughter you can pick it out from a
crowd it's the same way with God's voice and so but in the beginning if you're
new to this we have to be able to distinguish between our thoughts and
2nd Corinthians 10 5 says we have to take every thought captive now here's
the way I look at that I like horses okay and so I like to think about
corralling a horse you've got let's say you got wild Mustangs running through
and and you get one and you corral it you have it in the corral and you can
really look at it you can see if it's a male or a female you can see you know
it's temperament you can see you know it's size you can you can really get to
know it and you can discern is this is this the horse for you is this a horse
that just let it go or give it to someone else and scripture says that
we're supposed to do that with our thoughts we are to take every thought
captive now here's here's what happens as a coach I know that the biggest
challenges happen for people when their mind runs away with them when their
thoughts control them instead of them controlling their thoughts because they
haven't learned to pause and they get a thought and it could be programming it
could be a thought like I am so unworthy I can't do anything right I'm never
gonna I'm never gonna make it just a silly thought like that okay and one of
the things I do in coaching is we take that thought and we put it under
magnifying lens we wonder where did it come from we're curious about that
thought right interesting point of view where'd that come from and here's the
key is it true can I absolutely know it's true and one of the ways is look at
the fruit every thought has a fruit so when you think that thought when you
feel that thought this is one of the ways to know if it's coming from God
when you
Think that thought. How do you feel? And I'll do this with clients a lot of times and they'll,
oh I feel depressed, I feel disgusted, I feel exhausted, I feel frustrated, I feel stuck.
Those are all very low frequency emotions. Okay? Those are not from God. Because we already know
the fruits of the Holy Spirit are high frequency emotions. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
right? So when you're feeling that, that's the first clue. Okay? And so taking every thought
captive. Look at this verse, 2 Corinthians 10 5. It says, this is from the Passion translation,
it says, we demolish, I like this version, we demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God
and break through every arrogant attitude, that's when the ego is rising up,
that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture like prisoners
of war every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the anointed one.
Other translations say we are breaking through strongholds. Strongholds. A stronghold is what
happens, you have a thought and you nurse that thought so often, you rehearse that thought so
often, that it moves from being a thought to being a belief. And it moves from being a belief
to influencing what you do. This is a stronghold. In the Bible, a stronghold was a fortress. Okay?
And so we build these thought fortresses in our mind that need to be broken down. So we
distinguish, we take the thoughts captive and anything that opposes the truth has to go. This
is why in coaching a lot of times I say, is this true? Can you absolutely know that it's true?
And usually they go, no. And so I say, okay, so you've been believing a thought, you've been
believing a lie that's not true, that makes you feel all these low frequency emotions. Then I do
something. I say, what would happen if you were willing to release that thought? What would happen?
And they think about that for a second and you should see them light up. They say, oh,
I'd be free. I'd be successful. I'd be happy. I'd be joyful. I'd be all of a sudden all the
high frequency emotions. This is when you know that what you've been believing isn't from God,
but it is something that has come in through the programming, through our own, you know, thoughts
that we're not taking captive. So number four exactly says this, distinguish between your
thoughts. A, examine the fruit. Every thought has a fruit. It says the fruit produced by the Holy
Spirit within you is divine love. This is Galatians 5.22, by the way, Galatians 5.22.
Those of you on the phone, if you could mute yourself, please, make some noise. But the fruit
produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love. And I love this translation. It's the
passion translation, love in all its varied expressions. So one of the things you're going
to look for with your thoughts is, is this fear-based or is this love-based? Is my thought,
everything is running on two tracks. Every conversation, every thought is running on
two tracks. So is this fear-based or is it love-based? And you'll know by the fruit. So it
says the fruit that comes from God, the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit speaking within you,
if that thought is love-based, it's from God. If it's fear-based, it's not. It's opposite of love.
In fact, love is the antidote. It says that perfect love, mature love casts out all fear.
Okay? So you're either walking in fear or you're walking in love. Every thought is either love-based
or fear-based. Every action that you're taking is either love-based or fear-based. So we distinguish
between the thoughts by examining the fruit. So Galatians 5.22 in the passion translation says,
but the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions.
Here's the expressions of love. Joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures,
kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that
prevails, gentleness of heart and strength of spirit. And so where it says
the fruit, the Greek word actually means harvest, okay? And so every seed that you
plant has a harvest and in this case if it's coming from love those are the
harvests, peace and joy and patience and kindness. So we distinguish between our
thoughts. Is this from God? Well, is it love-based? Yes, because God is love. Is it
fear-based? No, no. We've got to distinguish the voices coming at us
especially right now. You know, fear is being used as it always has throughout
all history. Fear has been used to control. Shame, low-frequency emotions,
shame has been used to control. I hope you never say to anyone you know ever
shame on you. Never say those words, not over yourself, not over anyone or
even the word ashamed. Don't put that after the words I am, the name of God. Do
not connect shame with God. That's the lowest. When you look at the frequencies
of emotion, the charts I showed you a few weeks back, shame is the very lowest
emotion. After shame you die. They have done this with prisoners of war. They
have taken them, separated them out and had them in front of their peers that
they respect, have them talk about something that they are so ashamed of
and have them be mocked and remove all positive reinforcement so that they're
just in a place of shame and it's been statistically shown they'll go and then
I mean you don't even have to kill them or torture, they'll put a blanket over
their head and just die. Shame is the lowest frequency but shame, fear, these
things are used to to control and so you must be aware not only to distinguish
your own thoughts and welcome to all of you joining, welcome Dawn, welcome Andrea,
to distinguish not only your own thoughts and is this coming from God, is
this love-based or fear-based? Have a discernment. All the voices that you are
allowing, what are you allowing in your eye gates, what are you allowing in your
ear gates because this is shaping your entire physiology. On Thursday I'm going
to be speaking at the summit, you can find the announcement there. I'm going to
be talking about emotions and how the emotions affect our health. Fascinating,
your entire physiology changes based on the frequency of the emotion, who you
attract, money, money is currency, it's energy, what you attract and so
distinguishing what you're allowing to come into your life both internally
through your own thoughts and externally. Who or what is your source, who or what
are you listening to and so as we distinguish, we look at the fruit
and consider the nature of it and the way I like to do that is consider
the nature of the Holy Spirit that we can see in the very names of the Holy
Spirit. If you look at the Amplified Translation, the word Paraclete, Holy
Spirit, it means helper, comforter, advocate, intercessor, counselor,
strengthener, standby, the spirit of truth, the God of all peace.
You look at the names, you look at the names of God, Jehovah Shalom, the
God of peace, Jehovah Jireh, my provider, Jehovah Rapha, my healer. So if the
thoughts that you're having, the words that you're feeling, the impression that
you're getting, if it lines up with that, is it comforting? Is it joyful? Is it
peaceful? Is it loving? Is it kind? Is it gentle? Then you know you're listening to
the Holy Spirit. You know when I got that word, hey put that money in that man's
hand, you know it's not your own thoughts because I guarantee you I wasn't
thinking out of my own volition, hmm I think I'll take my last $200 and put it
in a stranger's hands. Okay, when it's something like that, you know it's not
you and I know it's not the opposer. I know it's not the devil because the
devil doesn't make me go around doing good. The devil was never going around,
you know, encouraging you to walk in love and patience and kindness and
generosity. No! So when you examine the fruit and and when you start to consider
the nature of that thought, the nature of that voice,
The nature of that impression doesn't line up with who God is. God is love. God is peace. God is joy.
God is generous. God's so loved that he gave his only son. It says that it's the father's
good pleasure to give us the kingdom. So, you know, God is so good that if the thoughts are
lining up with that, you can be pretty sure you're hearing from the voice of God, right? But if the
thoughts are like the opposer, look at John 10 10. It says a thief has only one thing in mind,
wants to steal, slaughter, kill, and destroy. Jesus said, but I've come to give you everything
in abundance, more than you expect. Life in its fullness till you overflow. Do you see
the difference here? It's contrasted right there in John 10 10. You know, the thief comes to steal,
kill, and destroy. God comes to give you the abundant life. So, look at the thoughts,
look at the fruit, and who does it line up with? And you'll know which one to listen to
and which one to follow. Of course, number five, as we're talking about this, and by the way,
welcome all of those of you joining. Welcome, Andrea. Welcome, Chris. I'm trying to reach over
and wave a little bit there. Does the thought that you're having, does it line up with the word?
You see, God will never contradict himself. And so you see in Luke 21 33, heaven and earth will
pass away, but my words will not pass away. And then you see the power of agreement. So, Amos 3 3
says, can two walk together unless they have agreed? How can two walk together unless they agree?
Okay, so there's this power of agreement. Matthew 18 19 says this, even about people.
It says, I tell you this, if two of you agree on earth concerning anything you ask,
my father in heaven will do it for you. So, another principle is to consider the power of
agreement. Does this agree? Does this agree with the word? Does it agree with your experience of
God? Does it agree with the nature of God and what you've known? Is it creating agreement amongst
people or is it creating division? If you see something that is dividing and polarizing and
and creating going against each other, separation. Separation is the opposite of God. Scripture says
there there's one God and it says that we're all one. Jesus's prayer before he died was, Father,
I pray that they will be one even as we are one, as you are in me and I am in them and they are in
us. You see, oneness is a nature and a characteristic of God. So, when you see something that is
polarizing, then you need to look at that as well. All right, number six is just praying for discernment.
Discernment is a gift. Psalms 119 verse 169 says, O Lord, listen to my cry.
Give me the discerning mind you promised. David prayed, Lord, make me to know truth in my inward
parts. This is something I pray often. I pray for discernment. Help me to discern because sometimes
our eyes are not accurate. I know you realize that. I mean, if you look at the horizon, you
would think the earth is flat, right? You know, perception, if you look at railroad tracks at a
distance, it looks like they get closer. It looks as we go in a distance that things get smaller.
Our eyes can deceive and the lens that we look at things, the perspective that we look at things,
can deceive what we see. And so, asking to see through God's eyes and asking God, please help me
have the discerning mind. Help me to know truth. There's sometimes I just don't know. There's many
times I just don't know. And when that happens, I pause. Maybe you're trying to figure out in your
life something. I've learned that when God wants me to do something, I know that I know that I know.
It doesn't mean I'm not uncomfortable. It doesn't mean I might not fear nervous or afraid
is boy I might, you know, fear has two words in the Bible, right?
And so one is the fear from an overactive imagination, but a common fear in the Bible
which is also awe is whenever we go out of our comfort zone.
Whenever you stretch and do something, maybe you're not a public speaker like doing right
now, everybody's having to learn how to, you know, build online, I mean fortunately I've
been speaking, you know, for most of my life and I've been speaking online since 2014,
it's not as frightening to me, but, you know, as I'm coaching people and helping them, you
know, doing this for the first time, you're going to feel a fear, you're going to feel
an anxiety, that doesn't mean that it's not from God, but you will know in your inmost
being when you ask, you'll know you're supposed to do it, right?
So many times I've done things that are very, cause a little bit of anxiety or fear because
it's so out of my comfort zone, in fact I pray for that, I pray all the time that I
just break out, because the only way you can play big is to break out of your comfort zone,
especially now, with what we're going on with this pandemic, you know, I'm equipping women,
I'm equipping people to pivot and start businesses and, you know, this is not the time, like
the Bible says, to shrink back in fear, this is the time for us to be bold and so we must
be in this place of listening and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us and then we have to
boldly advance.
And so, one of the things to do is just pray for, pray for this discernment, I like, it
says this, it says 1 Thessalonians 5, 20-22, it says, don't be one who scorns prophecies,
but be faithful to examine them by putting them to the test, so this is just like thoughts,
you do the same thing with prophetic words, examine them, and it says, and afterwards
hold tightly to what is proven to be right and avoid the appearance of evil, well the
Aramaic version of that could be translated this way, regard everything seriously and
choose what is best.
Look, we're not perfect, we make mistakes, I make mistakes more often than not, okay,
but if we pray for this discernment and then based on what you have, advance forward, trust
God, choose what is best.
If it turns out that, you know, it's not perfect because we're not perfect, you get to choose
again, that's a wonderful thing, God is God of forgiveness and fresh starts and he's the
God of fresh starts.
And so, you do your best to discern, you pray for discernment, you advance forward as you
feel led and if there's something that needs to be adjusted, you know, you choose again.
I often think of, you know, like the rockets, you know, like going to the moon, the spaceships
and stuff like that, right?
It's not a straight line from earth to the moon, right?
It's this constant, a little bit here, a little bit here, adjusting to stay midline and our
life is like that, we go a little bit to the right and we come back and we go a little
bit to the left and we come back, it's not a straight line.
Your business won't be a straight line, you know, it's up and you have some downs and
then you have some ups and you have some, hopefully you create it in a way that the
trajectory is going in the direction that you want, but, you know, give yourself some
grace too.
Again, the low frequency, the shame and the doubt and the worry and all of that stuff,
that's just making you sick, that's just beating you up, that's not God, right?
So give yourself some grace.
So I love this, 1 Kings 4.29, 1 Kings.
By the way, welcome everyone, welcome Terri, welcome, I don't know how to pronounce your
name when you're here, welcome, so glad you guys are joining.
So look at this, 1 Kings 4.29, I love this verse, it says, now God gave Solomon exceptional
wisdom because he prayed for it, by the way, when he had an opportunity to pray for money
and things and everything else, he didn't pray for a new car, a new harem, a new wife,
he prayed for wisdom and God gave him the wisdom and all those things, so God gave Solomon
exceptional wisdom, it says, and look at this, and very great discernment, so God gave him
wisdom and discernment, that's a gift from God, but watch this, this is my favorite,
I had to underline this, it says God gave Solomon exceptional wisdom, very great discernment
and breadth, breadth of mind, broad mindedness.
Open-mindedness, as opposed to narrow. You see, God didn't give him a narrow
mindset. God gave him breadth, breadth of mind. For me, having lived in so many
different parts of the world and experienced so many cultures and
languages and experiences, I feel, I told my son and my kids, I feel, you know, all
my kids have traveled, I feel that it's so important to really experience and
have a breadth. We cannot go at life rigidly. We cannot be stuck because what
you have believed so far has gotten you where you are. What our people
have, whatever it is, you know, have believed so far, our nation, our world,
it's gotten us this far. And Einstein said that the same mind that created the
problem cannot solve it. The only way that we're going to advance is opening
ourselves to the wisdom of God, like Solomon had, the wisdom to pray for
discernment and to be willing to look at everything from a totally different
point of view, to have a breadth of mind, to ask God to give us new solutions, new
ways of looking at things. And so it says that God gave them that wisdom,
discernment, breadth of mind like the sand of the seashore. I love that. So the
sixth key for hearing the voice of God is discernment. All right, I'm gonna wrap
up as I promised with my favorite way to hear from God. This is something I've
done for decades. It's something I've taught and it has blessed the people
that I have taught this to, many, many people. My favorite way, when I want to
know, God, tell me your heart or God, what do you want me to know right now? What do
you, what do you desire me to understand right now about this situation or about
whatever I'm praying about? My favorite way is to journal. And I journal, I have a
whole journal template that is really a powerful way to start your day using a
journal. So I don't just, you know, write out all my thoughts. I have a whole
journal template how I lay out my journal and you can get that free on
prosperandallthings.com. But what I do is I use gel pens. I like two different
colors and so in pink, that's me, that's my voice in pink, I write a question out
to God. And so I'll talk to God, I'll write out, God, I worship you, God, I have so
much gratitude. I'll be in a high-frequency place. I'm so thankful for
everything you're doing, you know, and so I'll be writing that out and I'll say,
God, what do you want me to understand about this? What do you want me to know
about? And I'll ask the questions of my heart. Because James, the book of James
says that if you ask God for wisdom, it says if any man, James 1, if any man lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God who will give liberally and abundantly without fault
finding. So God's not sitting up there going, no, you're not good enough, I'm not
gonna give you it. It says he'll give liberally and abundantly without fault
finding. And so knowing that, I can trust that God's gonna give me the wisdom that
I need. And so I write out the question to God and then I change colors. I grab a
gel pen and I take purple for royalty and I just ask God to write through my
hands. I ask God to write. And at first, if you haven't done this, it might feel
awkward and you might, for me, when I first started, I usually only hear my
name or I hear something like my precious child. Just write whatever it is.
Now here's the key, you've got to not analyze your writing, not think about it,
just allow whatever comes to you, just write it. Whatever comes to you, just
write and write and write and write. And when you get done, say, Lord is there
more? And very often even more will come and you write. This has been the greatest
source of joy and wisdom to me. And I love my journals. I go back, I go back a
week, I go back three weeks, I go months, usually at the end of the year I review
and I read all of this and I'm like, wow, that's what you were talking about. I can
see how it was preparing me for what was coming. I didn't, when I wrote stuff
sometimes, I have to tell you, I didn't even understand it. Some of it I have to
go, huh.
Usually it's a new perspective that I haven't even thought of, but it turns out, let me show you this
in scripture and then we're going to close in prayer. Oh, here it is right here. Habakkuk 2,
Habakkuk 2 says, I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the tower. So you see Habakkuk
putting himself in a position to receive, whatever that is for you, go in your prayer closet, Jesus
talked about, or you know, go out in nature, but station yourself and look what it says,
and I will keep watch to see what he will say to me. So you come from this place of receptiveness.
You know, the Bible says, my sheep hear my voice. And so he's promised to give wisdom. So I can come
from a place of faith and expectation and I can go there and I can position myself. I remember we
started with be still and know that I am God. So here you see Habakkuk doing this. I'm going to
position myself in a place where I don't have distractions. I'm in a position myself where I pray
that God opens my spiritual senses. I'm going to position myself where I open my heart and my mind.
And it says here, I'm going to keep watch. I'm going to have expectation. God,
what are you going to say today? How are you going to show up today? Right? I'll keep watch
to see what he will say to me. And one answer that I will give as his spokesman
when I'm reproved. And then the Lord answered me. Here's what God told him.
Write. First words God gave him, write. Write the vision. Write what you hear. Now this is true if you're in business, writing the vision. This is true for your personal vision. But this is also true just as God gives you a life vision, right?
Write the vision and engrave it plainly on clay tablets. I would say use, you know, non-acidic
pens and paper that lasts, right? So that, so why are you writing? So that the one who reads it
will run. Who's the one that's going to read it? You. Me. Now you may choose to make it public so
other people can read it, but the first person that's going to read it is you. So you're writing
what God says so you can run this journey. So you can run this race. You can finish this race that
you've been called to, right? So that the one who reads it will run. Verse three, for the vision is yet
for the appointed future time. So do you remember that we said one of the roles of the Holy Spirit
at the beginning of the study? One of the roles is to guide you into all truth and show you things
to come. Scripture says God never does anything without first revealing it, okay? To the prophets,
to people, okay? We talked about the sons of Issachar who were able to understand the times
and know what their city was to do. How much we need that right now in the middle of all of this.
We need so much wisdom. We need so much love, so much compassion, so much understanding. I think
most of you are awake enough to know that everything coming through the media is not true
and it's not always in your best interest. So now more than ever we must be able to hear from God
we must have discernment and wisdom and understanding, a heart of compassion, a voice of
hope, a desire to have unity. And so as we write the vision so that we can run it says because what
you're writing is actually not necessarily for this moment, it may be, but it says it's for an
appointed future. And it says it hurries toward the goal of fulfillment and it will not fail
even though it delays. Some of you, I saw your posts on here, I'm waiting for my harvest.
Though it delays, it says wait patiently for it. God will answer. He's faithful. I can promise you
he's faithful. It says because it will certainly come. And it goes on to say you know look at the
proud one. His soul is not right within him. We must be on guard against the enemy of pride.
It's ego. It's ego that keeps us from truly enjoying the peace and the joy and the abundance
that's ours. And so it's
It says right here that as we're journaling, as we're writing, as we're trusting that this
truth is going to be revealed in us, it says guard against pride.
Pride will be the enemy.
It says basically that pride goes before the fall, right?
I'm so excited.
Look at my sister just joined.
Hey, Darla.
So this is my bonus, my favorite way to be able to just hear the voice of truth, the
voice of God, the voice of love, the voice of forgiveness, the voice of peace, the voice
of direction, the voice of wisdom is by journaling.
I ask a question and then I just write out what God reveals.
And as you go back and you review all of this, I have bookshelves of journal.
There's so much in there.
There's so much that God reveals in advance as you need it, if you trust.
So I pray that you've enjoyed this study.
I'm going to announce the next study and then I'm going to close in prayer, but I pray this
has blessed you.
Again, all seven of these studies are here on the live stream.
So you can scroll back down and catch all of the seven ones on how to hear the voice
of God.
Next week, we're starting a new series.
I'm very excited about it, God, health, and me, the Bible study.
What scriptures teach you about health?
I think you're going to be surprised.
There's so much in the Bible about health that most people don't even know that it is
there.
So I think you're going to be blown away.
All the principles to experience vibrant health, abundant life, and the principles apply to
everything, to abundance as a whole, to prospering in every area of our life, physically, financially,
relationally, spiritually.
So I'm excited to have you.
We're here every Tuesday morning, 730 Pacific Standard Time.
So we'll be here starting the new series next week, God, health, and me.
In the meantime, let me close and just pray for you, your health, your family, blessings
over your life, and then we'll close out.
So Father, I just thank you.
I thank you that you are love.
And I thank you and I pray that as we've learned that peace is our umpire, it's peace that
helps us know which way to go.
Father, I pray that your peace will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
I pray your perfect peace that passes all understanding will be with every single person
listening.
I pray that they will take their thoughts captive and that which is love-based, they
will proceed with, and that which is fear-based, that the perfect love will cast out that fear.
I pray for their families.
I pray for healing, Father God, anyone that is struggling with any health issue right
now.
You are Jehovah Rapha.
You are the God who heals.
You said by your stripes we have been healed.
So Lord, I pray that healing to flow into every body listening to this and to their
loved ones and to the homes, Father God.
I pray for healing of relationships.
I pray for healing of families.
I pray for healing of hearts.
There's been so many hard things.
Lord, may you take what the enemy meant for harm and use it for good.
I pray for our nation, Father God.
You've said if we'll humble ourselves and if we'll seek your face, that you will forgive,
you will heal our land.
Father God, I pray that you heal our land, Father.
May we return to being one nation under God, indivisible.
Father God, break up the division and bring us back to a place of oneness, Father God.
One nation under God, indivisible, Father God.
I pray that.
I pray that you speak clearly, that every person listening to this and the recording
will discern your voice and obey your voice.
I pray they'll rise boldly.
I pray they'll be a voice of hope, a voice of courage, Lord, to oppose that which sets
out to seek and destroy and kill, Father God, and that they will be hands and feet
of compassion and love for those that are hurting.
Bind us together, Father God.
Bind us together.
We love you.
We thank you.
We give you all glory and honor and praise.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, thank you so much for being part of this. We'll see you same time, same
place next week. God bless you. Bye-bye.