How Often Should You Hear From God?...
It's amazing how many assumptions we have and don't realize it.
Some can be helpful, but some can hold us back.
There was an assumption I had for most my life,
I didn't think twice about it,
I thought it was perfectly normal,
To NOT expect to hear from God.
God has many different names and roles in the bible.
Lord,
Savior,
Teacher,
Comforter,
Counselor,
Advocate,
and my personal favorite...
FRIEND.
"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you FRIENDS, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
Jesus is not just any friend, but He is our BEST friend.
There is a saying that goes "If you want a friend, be a friend."
Same thing applies to Jesus.
So how often should you hear from God?
(In your heart, spirit, mind, through scripture, etc)
Let me ask you this...
How often do you talk to your spouse or best friend?
Does it take effort when you talk to them?
When something good or bad happens, who do you talk to?
If you need advice, who do you talk to?
If you need comforting, who do you talk to?
If you need help, you do you call?
Is it a chore to talk to them?
Is it hard to listen to them?
Of course not.
A healthy relationship involves,
Ongoing conversations,
Exchange of thoughts and comments,
Comforting and advising,
Listening and waiting for a response.
When you're in a relationships,
CONVERSATIONS are inevitable.
It's even been said that...
"The conversation IS the relationship".
There's a lot of truth to that.
If you don't have deep, healthy conversations with your spouse or bestie,
Are they really a spouse or bestie?
When meaningful conversations are missing,
A spouse can turn into an expensive roommate,
A bestie can turn into an acquaintance.
Having said that...
How often should you hear from God?
Daily.
Not because it's forced it or over-cooked,
Not because it's a task or a chore,
But because it's a natural thing to talk to your BESTIE everyday.
You don't have to be obsessive or weird about it,
You don't have to over think it,
Just little by little,
Bit by bit,
It will increase as your relationship develops.
If you're not talking to God that often now,
Then just talk to Him a little bit more today,
And a little bit more tomorrow,
Gently,
Gradually,
Naturally.
Does it take effort?
Yes.
But it's not aggressive.
It's more like a gentle stretch.
It's good to get stretchy.
We do it all the time with work and business.
We get outside of our comfort zone for the sake of success and self-improvement.
Getting stretchy with God is spiritual self-improvement.
Remember that Jesus wanted a relationship with us SO much that he came and died a cruel death just to RESTORE it.
It's ALL about relationship.
It always has been.
Sin caused a huge separation,
Jesus died to bridge that gap.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me"
The enemy has us convinced that,
We're NOT supposed to hear from God that well,
We shouldn't EXPECT to hear form God too frequently,
God will just bless everything we do for Him even if it's not in His timing.
In relationship terms...
We do NOT communicate with God in a healthy way.
We, the body of Christ, have forgotten that God is a person with thoughts and feelings and desires a RELATIONSHIP with us.
So the TRUTH is...
God is our BEST friend,
He wants to be our CLOSEST relationship,
He wants you to hear everything He's saying,
He wants to listen to you too.
There's nothing too big or small for God,
God wants us to talk to Him about the small, medium and large things,
God will answer,
We just need to learn how to LISTEN.
If you're not where you want to be with hearing from God,
That's ok.
If you're not sure how to hear Him,
That's ok.
If you feel awkward and goofy trying at all,
That's ok.
The most important part is that you're WILLING to be goofy,
You're WILLING to get stretchy,
You're WILLING to put yourself out there,
You're WILLING to build your RELATIONSHIP with God.
God will take care of the rest.
He will send you people,
He will provide you with resources,
He will take you step by step.
If it feels awkward and weird,
You're on the right track!
Welcome to living life with God, lol. ^_^
Seek God with your whole heart and He will surely respond to your heart's desires to be close to Him.
So make a CHOICE, right here, right now by saying...
"I CHOOSE to pursue hearing God,
I CHOOSE to WANT to hear God more,
I CHOOSE to SEEK Him daily."
That means carve out time in the morning or evening to be alone with Him,
Because you are MEANT to hear from Him DAILY.
Don't settle for less.
God's got you!
"I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. "
If you want to start practicing hearing God, do these simple 5 steps...
Step 1) Get to a quiet place with pen and paper. Set a timeblock such as 15 or 25 minutes.
Step 2) Quiet your mind with a few slow deep breathes, eyes closed.
Step 3) Write down the first question you want to ask God. Close your eyes and ask it out loud.
Step 4) Listen. Be still and know that God will answer. With CHILD-like faith, write down the first thing that comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense.
Step 5) Ask a follow-up question. "What do you mean? Can you make that clear?" Listen again and write down with CHILD-like faith what you see, sense or hear. Ask 2 more follow-up questions like "Anything else? Can you make that clear? Can you be specific?"
Have fun!
Go for it!
What do you have to lose?
If you're not listening for God anyways, it can't get any worse. ^_^
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Grant me CHILD-like faith that says,
`Of course God would answer me.`,
Help any unbelief around You speaking to me,
Help any unbelief around my ability to HEAR You,
Remove any doubt or fear of messing it up.
In Jesus name, I unleash the fullness of a RELATIONSHIP with You,
In Jesus name, I declare clarity and discernment,
In Jesus name, I declare a holy hunger to stir my soul,
That I may never be satisfied with NOT hearing and talking to You.
Change my life now and forever,
Let my hands be Your hands,
Let my feet be Your feet,
Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.
In Jesus name Amen."
You are DESIGNED to hear God's voice.
Don't you forget it.
Talk to Jesus like you never have before.
EXPECT a response and receive it with CHILD-life faith!
God is Good, all the time,
All the time, God is good! ^_-
