Are You Willing to Hear the Voice of the Lord?

Podcast: Light on Life Season Seven Episode Forty-Three

Are You Willing to Hear the Voice of the Lord?

One of the great areas of interest for many followers of Jesus is ‘hearing God.’ In his book When You’re All Out of Noodles, Ken Jones writes about a lesson he learned one day at the office on this subject.

Ken writes, ‘when I walked into my office, I noticed something I had never seen before. It was round, about the size of a dessert plate, and plugged into the wall, giving out constant noise. It wasn’t a loud noise, just constant. What in the world is that thing? I thought as I stopped to stare. I finally asked the receptionist about it. She said, “It’s an ambient noise generator. If it’s too quiet in here, we can distinguish the voices in the counseling offices, and we want to protect their privacy. So we bought the noise generator to cover the voices.” Her explanation made perfect sense to me but didn’t it have to be louder to mask the conversations, I asked. “No,” she said. “The constancy of the sound tricks the ear so that what is being said can’t be distinguished.” Interesting, I thought. Very interesting. One kind of noise to cover the sound of another. It made me think and pray. No wonder, Lord. No wonder I strain to hear what you have to say to me.… The constancy of sound—little noises, soft, inward, ambient thoughts, and fears and attitudes—tricks the ears of my inner man and masks your still, small voice. God isn’t silent. We just have trouble hearing him.1 In the ministry of Jesus, there came a day when this trouble in hearing God came to the forefront. We can learn some things about the subject of hearing God, and that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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#S2-001: Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Listening? [Podcast]

[Tweet “God speaks in many different ways. That’s the record of scripture.”]

Why Successful People Allow God to Build Their Life Via Prayer [Podcast]

Podcast: Light on Life Season 7 Episode 24

Why Successful People Allow God to Build Their Life Via Prayer

In 1787, successful prayer helped determine the future of our country in a significant way. The Constitutional Convention was on the verge of total failure over the issue of whether small states should have the same representation as large states. In this hopeless situation, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin offered a suggestion. He was convinced Scripture is right when it states, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1), so he said: “Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? I move that prayer imploring the assistance of Heaven to be held every morning before we proceed to business.”

The motion carried. From then on, prayer was offered each morning. The change after prayer was introduced was so dramatic that in a short while, a compromise was reached, which is still in effect today. 1 Successfully praying for the President and our nation’s leaders have several key elements. We begin to examine these elements in today’s Light on Life podcast.

Listen to the Audio

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#S3-027: How Do You Pray for A President You Don’t Agree With? [Podcast]

[Tweet “If you want to live a Holy Ghost empowered life, get used to the concept of waiting on God in prayer.”]

#S4-029: How God Uses Dreams to Direct His People [Encore Podcast]

Secrets to Hearing God

God Can and Does Direct His Children Through Dreams

Dreams played an important part in the lives of God’s people. Of the 116 references to dreams listed in Young’s Concordance, 52 come in Genesis during the early patriarchal period and 29 in the Book of Daniel 1. The book of  Zechariah is about eight special dreams that God gave to the prophet Zechariah, so he can tell God’s people what they mean. The dreams are all about God’s people rebuilding the temple, staying away from sin, and loving God with all their hearts2 Are you open to the Lord speaking to you in this way?

This is Part Six of the Series ‘Secrets to Hearing God’. You can find Part 1 by clicking ‘Are You Listening?‘,’Part Two by clicking ‘Are You Waiting?‘, Part Three ‘Are You Sensitive‘, Part Four ‘What’s the Number One Way God Leads You?‘, and Part Five ‘Dreams and Visions.

[Tweet “The Bible calls dreams night visions in Genesis 46:1-4.”]

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#S4-028: How God Communicates By Dreams And Visions [Encore Podcast]

Secrets to Hearing God

God Can Communicate with You by Dreams and Visions

While on vacation, Bethany was speeding down a California freeway with three teenage friends. One of them, Jody, said she had dreamed the night before that they were in a serious wreck and that she, the only one with a fastened seatbelt on, had survived. Hearing that, everyone fastened their seat belts. Later, their car swerved into the grass median and rolled. The investigating officer looked at the car and said, “If you hadn’t had your seat belts on, the outcome would have been a lot different.” Where did Jody’s dream come from? 1. In this week’s podcast, we will take a look at some of the other ways God communicates through His use of dreams and visions.

This is Part Three of the Series Secrets to Hearing God. You can find Part One by clicking “Are You Listening? and Part Two by clicking “Are You Waiting?” Part Three ‘Are You Sensitive‘, and Part Four ‘What’s the Number One Way God Leads You?

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[Tweet “There are many ways the Lord will lead you. He is not limited in His approach towards you.”]

#S4-025: Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Waiting? [Encore Podcast]

Waiting on God Helps You Hear God

In close connection with listening to God is the idea of waiting on God. People are hindered from receiving direction from God simply because they are not waiting around long enough to hear what He has to say. We are religiously praying instead of spiritually listening. Waiting to hear is part of the prayer discipline.

This is Part Two of the Series Secrets to Hearing God. You can find Part One by clicking “Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Listening? [Podcast]

[Tweet “Calmness, understanding, and strength are never the companions of hurry.”]

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A Startling Fact about Security and Following Jesus

Discipleship Principles

At the University of Oklahoma, for many years a project was underway to teach a fifteen-year-old female chimpanzee named Washoe to talk by combining sign language with simple recognition. Since 1966, this chimpanzee learned 140 signs. Finally, the project directors decided that Washoe was prepared to “conceptualize.” This meant that instead of merely imitating some human’s words, the chimp would express thoughts of her own. Now, understand, Washoe was a pampered animal in the university’s laboratory—well fed, physically comfortable, safe from harm. She had security. And yet, when she was able to put words together on her own into a phrase, these were the first three—and she has said them again, repeatedly—“Let me out.” 1 Even a chimp knows that security is not everything in life.

[Tweet “Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razor’s edge.”]

#S3-027: How Do You Pray for A President You Don’t Agree With? [Podcast]

How to Increase the Presence of God in Your Everyday Life

Praying for your President, or the leader of your nation is the obligation of every child of God. In the area of prayer, there are many good Bible principles to learn and incorporate like Matthew 5:44. One of these principles is praying for people as opposed to praying against them. What we often do is they bring our sense of what we think is right, politically, into the Throne Room. Our sense, at times, is incorrect. We are not the standard of right. Jesus is.  Unless we have scripture for what we say we believe, then all we have is opinion. Be careful in these areas. How do you know that God holds your viewpoint? You just assumed that God is Republican. He’s not. You assumed God is Democrat. He’s not. He’s nineteen thousand billion miles above all of that. So, when praying for your president learn to pray the Plan not your Passions. We are workers together with God. Find out from Him what you should pray for. That’s where the hearing part comes in. God wants to hear His word in your mouth.

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[Tweet “We have incorrectly thought if we pray ‘for a wicked ruler’ we are condoning their behavior.”]

#S3-026: Why Successful People Allow the Lord to Build Their Life [Podcast]

How to Increase the Presence of God in Your Everyday Life

In 1787, prayer helped determine the future of our country in a significant way. The Constitutional Convention was on the verge of total failure over the issue of whether small states should have the same representation as large states. In this hopeless situation, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin offered a suggestion. He was convinced Scripture is right when it states, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1), so he said: “Gentlemen, I have lived a long time and am convinced that God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? I move that prayer imploring the assistance of Heaven to be held every morning before we proceed to business.” p 1046 The motion carried. From then on prayer was offered each morning. The change after prayer was introduced was so dramatic that in a short while a compromise was reached which is still in effect today. 1 Successfully praying for the President and our nation’s leaders have several key elements. We begin to examine these elements in today’s Light on Life podcast.

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

[Tweet “If you want to live a Holy Ghost empowered life, get used to the concept of waiting on the Lord.”]

#S3-002: Why It’s Important to Slow Yourself Down [Podcast]

Soul Power for Your Present Hour

It’s important to shut down certain voices like sinful thoughts.  You don’t argue with those thoughts. You don’t examine those thoughts, you just cut them off in Jesus name. It is scriptural to talk to your soul.  David, if you remember, told his soul to bless the Lord (Psalm 103:1).  In last week’s podcast, we also talked about the multitude of arrows hitting the soul. The point being, we often live overloaded lives. How many irons in the fire can you have before it affects your ability to divide spirit and soul? How much mental angst can we have before our heads are roaring so much we can’t hear our hearts?  For this series finale, let’s go down two separate tracks as we look at the important idea of slowing ourselves down so we can better hear our hearts.

This is part two of the Series entitled, ‘Soul Power for Your Present Hour’. You can find Part One ‘Why Renewing the Mind is Important for Soul Development’ here, Part 2 “Why Renewing the Mind is Important for Soul Development” here, Part 3 “More of Why Renewing the Mind is Important for Soul Development“, and “How to Keep Your Soul from Going Tilt“.

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Secrets to Hearing God: Are You Listening?

This story on listening is an appropriate intro into our new series on learning to hear God’s voice.

Barbara, five, had disobeyed me and was sent to her room. After a few minutes, I went in to talk with her about what she had done. Teary-eyed, she asked, “Why do we do wrong things, Mommy?” “Sometimes the Devil tells us to do something wrong, and we listen to him,” I said. “We need to listen to God instead.” “But God doesn’t talk loud enough!” she wailed 1.

How loud God speaks is not the determining factor in hearing Him. Knowing how to listen is so much more vital. Here are some tips to helping you hear your Father God in your everyday life.

#S2-006: Secrets to Hearing God: More on Dreams and Visions [Podcast]

Secrets to Hearing God

Dreams played an important part in the lives of God’s people. Of the 116 references to dreams listed in Young’s Concordance, 52 come in Genesis during the early patriarchal period and 29 in the Book of Daniel 1. Are you open to the Lord speaking to you in this way?

This is Part Six of the Series ‘Secrets to Hearing God’. You can find Part 1 by clicking ‘Are You Listening?‘,’Part Two by clicking ‘Are You Waiting?‘, Part Three ‘Are You Sensitive‘, Part Four ‘What’s the Number One Way God Leads You?‘, and Part Five ‘Dreams and Visions.

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes

#S2-005: Secrets to Hearing God: Dreams and Visions [Podcast]

Secrets to Hearing God

While on vacation, Bethany was speeding down a California freeway with three teenage friends. One of them, Jody, said she had dreamed the night before that they were in a serious wreck and that she, the only one with a fastened seat belt on, had survived. Hearing that, everyone fastened their seat belts. Later, their car swerved into the grass median and rolled. The investigating officer looked at the car and said, “If you hadn’t had your seat belts on, the outcome would have been a lot different.” Where did Jody’s dream come from? 1. In this weeks podcast, we will take a look at some of the other ways God communicates through His use of dreams and visions.

This is Part Five of the Series ‘Secrets to Hearing God’. You can find Part One by clicking ‘Are You Listening?‘, Part Two by clicking ‘Are You Waiting?‘, Part Three ‘Are You Sensitive‘, and Part Four ‘What’s the Number One Way God Leads You?

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in iTunes