5 Steps to Making Decisions with God
Did you know that you are designed to hear God's voice?
You are designed to hear God, feel God, sense God, follow God.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me"
Having a PERSONAL relationship with God is kinda hard when it's a one way conversation.
Have you ever had a BEST friend not talk to you?
Have you ever had a BEST friend who refused to say a word and only used hand motions instead?
That's kinda what we assume of God.
Most my life I didn't know that all Jesus followers, aka Christians, should expect to hear God.
Only in the closed door, open door sort of way,
But not in a way where you can ask God a question and EXPECT an answer.
That was unheard of.
First, let me clarify what "hearing" God is.
It's not the audible voice of God (although that can happen but is less frequent as of now),
It can be a seed of a thought,
It can be an impressions,
It can be a knowing,
It can be a bible verse,
It can be conviction in your heart.
God can speak in many different way to you.
Be open of any of it.
But mainly, be open to God's voice in your thoughts.
You can easily mistake it for your own.
You can easily mistake it for a passing thought.
You can easily almost ignore it.
But if you start EXPECTING to hear from God,
You will.
Ok, let's go back to what GOD says about hearing His voice...
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
God is saying that your FAITH grows as you talk to Him and hear from Him. He never expected us to arrive at super faith without hearing His voice.
Isn't that just like us humans?
Making things more difficult than it should be?
Can you believe that God made it WAAAY easier to believe Him,
And here we are trying to do it deaf and blind.
Then God goes on to say...
"Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."
So does that mean if you're not hearing from God right now you're not of Him?
Look at it the other way.
God is making a STRONG point that you SHOULD hear from Him because you are of Him.
Change your expections.
Correct your thinking.
Flip your mindset from "I hope I hear from God" to "I expect to hear from God".
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
God is with you always guiding your path.
God is speaking,
You just need to learn to listen.
Here is a simple tool that has helped me learn to hear God.
In fact, it's a way to ask God questions and get answers so you can actually make decisions with God.
I lovingly challenge you to do it for 1 week and see what you think.
It can be different and awkward at first but think of it as a new muscle you are exercising. Until you get used to the new exercise and it's movements, it will feel weird.
That's ok.
It's perfectly normal.
5 Steps to Making Decisions with God
Step 1) Quiet Place
- Find a quiet place where you have privacy and can hear yourself think without interruption.
- This means get away from your phone. Turn it off, silent, no vibrating, face down.
Step 2) Quiet Your Mind
- You can be in a quiet place but still have a noise mind.
- Take a huge deep breathes all the way to your belly and hold it for 3 seconds. Then exhale slowly imagining all the noise in your head draining like a swimming pool. Feel your shoulders relax and your mind clear out.
- Do this at least 3 times. Notice your head space and shoulders relax each time.
Step 3) Read Scripture
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
- Reading God's word helps your mind clear. It is a spiritual weapon that makes the enemy flee and brings peace to your mind.
- I recommend 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. Read each verse slowly and soak in the meaning of each. You can pick any scripture you like.
- As you read, let God's peace rest on you and lift off any heaviness or noise in your mind.
4) Ask a Question.
- Ask God a single simple question. It can be about anything - work, finances, health, relationships. Keep the question simple. Ask God the question and WAIT. LISTEN for a response. This can come in the form of a thought, impressions, memory, image, anything. Whatever comes to mind, just write it down with CHILD-like faith. Do as a 5 year old would do with this instruction. Literally just write down the first thing that comes to mind.
5) Ask Follow-up Questions.
- Then ask follow-up question like "What do you mean? Can you tell me more? Anything else? Can you be more specific? What else?". Ask at least 2 follow-up questions to get some meat. Ask as many follow-up questions as you want.
Rinse and repeat Steps 4 & 5 with as many quesitons as you want.
I lovingly challenge you to do this for 1 week. I want you to do a couple specific things. Pick 3 questions that are the most important and ask those same questions everyday for 1 week. Yes, it may seem repetitive but it's worth it. You'll be pleasantly surprised. God is amazing.
Preparation: Make a list of ALL questions you would like ot ask God. It could be in business, finances, health, relationship, spirituality, etc. Look at this list to pick questions to ask in Step 4. This will help you ask questions efficiently without forgetting.
"Dear Heavenly Father,
I want to hear Your voice,
I want to hear it clearly,
I want to make BUSINESS decisions with You.
Open my spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear,
Let my heart feel Your guiding hand.
Teach me how to EARNESTLY seek Your voice.
Give me a holy hunger for you,
To thirst for you as if in a parched dry land.
In Jesus name, Amen."
