Word of Encouragement

Over the past month, we have shared a lot of principles and truths about hearing God, recognizing His voice, and acting on what He says. God wants us to know His voice because He desires relationship with us—we can be close to Him.

But what about when you cannot hear Him? What about the times when He feels so far away and so silent?

One of the most effective ways to experience an increased sensitivity to the voice of God is to develop a lifestyle of fasting. Although it’s not a particularly enjoyable discipline, spending a period of time away from a certain pleasure of life (food in particular) allows us to purposefully deny ourselves to focus on the Lord.

In part one of this article, we considered that the gift of prophecy is something that has to be cultivated deliberately and intentionally if we want to see it at work in our lives. This gift is not something reserved for an elite or super-spiritual few; it is available to every believer who will pay attention to the nudges of the Holy Spirit around them.

Growing up in the church, I really wrestled with the idea of prophecy and being prophetic. In 1 Corinthians 14, I read Paul’s admonition to eagerly desire the gift of prophecy, yet something in me resisted with a quiet, but firm “no thank you.”

Through the prophetic, it’s being revealed that 2015 will be a season of grace. Grace is commonly associated with the number five, and five appears in the numbers for both the Gregorian (2015) and the Jewish (5775) new years.

Hearing God in our lives is one of the most critical factors in developing our spirituality and impacting others. Although it may seem difficult to hear His voice, I can assure you that it is not as hard as you may think!

Many years ago, the Lord took me on an unusual spiritual journey into stillness. My normal habit was to get up early in the morning for a time of devotion and prayer. I couldn’t really call this time with the Lord a “quiet time” because my spirit was anything but quiet as I poured out my problems and the problems of people I knew before the throne of God. I had learned a couple of methods of praying and diligently followed one or the other every day. When I finished the prescribed outline, I said “amen” and went on with my day.

Although I was saved at age 10, I spent most of my life not realizing that God still speaks to people. Up until the time I was filled with the Spirit at age 43, I had never heard the voice of the Lord.

Some of the most frequently asked questions we receive at Generals are, “How do I know if it’s God speaking to me?” and “How can I hear His voice more clearly?”