Key #1 - God's voice in our hearts sounds like a flow of spontaneous
thoughts. Therefore, when I tune to God, I tune to spontaneity.
The Bible says that the Lord answered me and said...(Hab. 2:2).
Habakkuk knew the sound of God's voice. Elijah described it as a
still, small voice. I had always listened for an inner audible voice,
and surely God can and does speak that way at times. However, I have
found that for most of us, most of the time, God's inner voice comes
to us as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions. For
example, haven't each of us had the experience of driving down the
road and having a thought come to us to pray for a certain person? We
generally acknowledge this to be the voice of God callus to pray for
that individual. My question to you is, "What did God's voice sound
like as you drove in your car? Was it an inner, audible voice, or was
it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?" Most of you would
say that God's voice came to you as a spontaneous thought.
So I thought to myself, "Maybe when I listen for God's voice, I
should be listening for a flow of spontaneous thoughts. Maybe spirit-
level communication is received as spontaneous thoughts, impressions,
feelings, and visions." Through experimentation and feedback from
thousands of others, I am now convinced that this is so.
The Bible confirms this in many ways. The definition of paga, the
Hebrew word for intercession, is "a chance encounter or an accidental
intersecting." When God lays people on our hearts for intercession,
He does it through paga, a chance encounter thought, accidentally
intersecting our thought processes. Therefore, when I tune to God, I
tune to chance encounter thoughts or spontaneous thoughts. When I am
poised quietly before God in prayer, I have found that the flow of
spontaneous thoughts that comes is quite definitely from God.
Key #2 - I must learn to still my own thoughts and emotions, so that
I can sense God's flow of thoughts and emotions within me.
Habakkuk said, "I will stand on my guard post and station myself on
the rampart..." (Hab. 2:1). Habakkuk knew that in order to hear God's
quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet
place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages
us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner
knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirit that each of us can
experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds.
I have found several simple ways to quiet myself so that I can more
readily pick up God's spontaneous flow. Loving God through a quiet
worship song is a most effective means for me (note II Kings 3:15).
It is as I become still (thoughts, will, and emotions) and am poised
before God that the divine flow is realized. Therefore, after I
worship quietly and then become still, I open myself for that
spontaneous flow. If thoughts come to me of things I have forgotten
to do, I write them down and then dismiss them. If thoughts of guilt
or unworthiness come to my mind, I repent thoroughly, receive the
washing of the blood of the Lamb, and put on His robe of
righteousness, seeing myself spotless before the presence of God.
As I fix my gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), becoming quiet in His
presence, and sharing with Him what is on my heart, I find that two-
way dialogue begins to flow. Spontaneous thoughts flow from the
throne of God to me, and I find that I am actually conversing with
the King of Kings.
It is very important that you become still and properly focused if
you are going to receive the pure word of God. If you are not still,
you will simply be receiving your own thoughts. If you are not
properly focused on Jesus, you will receive an impure flow, because
the intuitive flow comes out of that upon which you have fixed your
eyes. Therefore, if you fix your eyes upon Jesus, the intuitive flow
comes from Jesus. If you fix your gaze upon some desire of your
heart, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire of your heart. To
have a pure flow you must first of all become still, and secondly,
you must carefully fix your eyes upon Jesus. Again I will say, this
is quite easily accomplished by quietly worshiping the King, and then
receiving out of the stillness that follows.
Key #3 - As I pray, I fix the eyes of my heart upon Jesus, seeing in
the spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.
We have already alluded to this principle in the previous paragraphs;
however, we need to develop it a bit further. Habakkuk said, "I will
keep watch to see," and God said, "Record the vision" (Hab. 2:1,2).
It is very interesting that Habakkuk was going to actually start
looking for vision as he prayed. He was going to open the eyes of his
heart, and look into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show
him. This is an intriguing idea.
I had never thought of opening the eyes of my heart and looking for
vision. However, the more I thought of it, the more I realized this
was exactly what God intends me to do. He gave me eyes in my heart.
They are to be used to see in the spirit world the vision and
movement of Almighty God. I believe there is an active spirit world
functioning all around me. This world is full of angels, demons, the
Holy Spirit, the omnipresent God, and His omnipresent Son, Jesus.
There is no reason for me not to see it, other than my rational
culture, which tells me not to believe it is even there and provides
no instructions on how to become open to seeing this spirit world.
The most obvious prerequisite to seeing is that we need to look.
Daniel was seeing a vision in his mind and he said, "I was
looking...I kept looking...I kept looking" (Dan. 7:1,9,13). Now as I
pray, I look for Jesus present with me, and I watch Him as He speaks
to me, doing and saying the things that are on His heart. Many
Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see.
Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. It is as simple as that. You will see
a spontaneous inner vision in a manner similar to receiving
spontaneous inner thoughts. You can see Christ present with you in a
comfortable setting, because Christ is present with you in a
comfortable setting. Actually, you will probably discover that inner
vision comes so easily you will have a tendency to reject it,
thinking that it is just you. (Doubt is satan's most effective weapon
against the Church.) However, if you will persist in recording these
visions, your doubt will soon be overcome by faith as you recognize
that the content of them could only be birthed in Almighty God.
God continually revealed Himself to His covenant people using dream
and vision. He did so from Genesis to Revelation and said that, since
the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts 2, we should expect to receive
a continuing flow of dreams and visions (Acts 2:1-4). Jesus, our
perfect example, demonstrated this ability of living out of ongoing
contact with Almighty God. He said that He did nothing on His own
initiative, but only that which he saw the Father doing, and heard
the Father saying (Jn. 5:19,20,30). What an incredible way to live!
Is it actually possible for us to live out of the divine initiative
as Jesus did? A major purpose of Jesus' death and resurrection was
that the veil be torn from top to bottom, giving us access into the
immediate presence of God, and we are commanded to draw near (Heb.
l0:19-22). Therefore, even though what I am describing seems a bit
unusual to a rational twentieth century culture, it is demonstrated
and described as being a central biblical teaching and experience. It
is time to restore to the Church all that belongs to the Church.
Because of their intensely rational nature and existence in an overly
rational culture, some will need more assistance and understanding of
these truths before they can move into them. They will find this help
in the book How to Hear God's Voice by the same author.
Key #4 - Journaling, the writing out of our prayers and God's
answers, provides a great new freedom in hearing God's voice.
God told Habakkuk to record the vision and inscribe it on tablets...
(Hab. 2:2). It had never crossed my mind to write out my prayers and
God's answers as Habakkuk did at God's command. If you begin to
search Scripture for this idea, you will find hundreds of chapters
demonstrating it (Psalms, many of the prophets, Revelation). Why then
hadn't I ever thought of it?
I called the process "journaling," and I began experimenting with it.
I discovered it to be a fabulous facilitator to clearly discerning
God's inner, spontaneous flow, because as I journaled I was able to
write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing it was God.
I did not have to test it as I was receiving it, (which jams one's
receiver), because I knew that when the flow was over I could go back
and test and examine it carefully, making sure that it lined up with
Scripture.
You will be amazed when you attempt journaling. Doubt may hinder you
at first, but throw it off, reminding yourself that it is a biblical
concept, and that God is present, speaking to His children. Don't
take yourself too seriously. When you do, you become tense and get in
the way of the Holy Spirit's movement. It is when we cease our labors
and enter His rest that God is free to flow (Heb. 4:10). Therefore,
put a smile on your face, sit back comfortably, get out your pen and
paper, and turn your attention toward God in praise and worship,
seeking His face. As you write out your question to God and become
still, fixing your gaze on Jesus, who is present with you, you will
suddenly have a very good thought in response to your question. Don't
doubt it, simply write it down. Later, as you read your journaling,
you, too, will be amazed to discover that you are indeed dialoguing
with God.
Some final notes: No one should attempt this without having first
read through at least the New Testament (preferably, the entire
Bible), nor should one attempt this unless he is submitted to solid,
spiritual leadership. All major directional moves that come through
journaling should be submitted before being acted upon.
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