So often people send me an e-mail or stop me in a conversation and tell me how ‘lucky’ I am that God speaks to me in the way He does. I have simply replied with a smile or a knowing nod, and left the topic at that. Thinking I should elaborate, but never delving into that discussion.
Until now.
This entire week, I have been nudged by the Lord to speak about this – about the way He speaks. To all of us. Yes, every single one. All we have to do (and we aren’t) is listen.
Job 33:14-18
14 For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,
16 then he opens the ears of men
and terrifies them with warnings,
17 that he may turn man aside from his deed
and conceal pride from a man;
18 he keeps back his soul from the pit,
his life from perishing by the sword.
Why do we think that the God of the Bible isn’t the same One who reigns today? He is the same miraculous, omniscient, wonderful Guide and Counselor who spoke to Moses, Abraham, Job & Paul. He wants nothing more than to have a real, true relationship with His children – and we are His children.
Let’s take into account what prayer is. Prayer is a conversation with God -conversation means both parties speak! When you pray you come to God was thanksgiving; you come to God with requests; you come to God with concerns. But do you realize that if you only sit and listen, He answers?
You may not hear from Him in verbalized words. He may speak to you as you are reading His Word. He may speak to you through a friend or loved one. He may speak to you in the written words of another. He may speak to you within a sign in the environment. Remember that this world is His creation, and He can speak to you however He chooses.
He chooses how you will listen best.
Personally, I have asked God to be blunt with me. I need that. I will be the first to admit I am hard-headed as a brick wall! And literally, He answered that prayer for me! He is blunt
with me… As long as I listen!
Think about the nature of God. The Bible tells us that God literally is love. So what kinds of things do you think of when you think of love? What are traits that go along with love? Generosity, kindness, happiness, goodness, caring, diligence, compassion … If God is love and these traits and many others are representative of love, then wouldn’t these things be spoken to you by God?
We humans, by nature, are not filled with love and generosity and peace and goodness. We are filled with the greed, with selfishness, with anger. These things are human traits. These things are of the world – not of God.
So when you feel something deep in your bones that is good, honest and pure. That is God. That is not you; that is not the world; that is not Satan.
When the desire to do something out of the kindness of your heart comes about, that is the Lord speaking to you.
You can even test what you heard to make sure that it is of God and not yourself. You can read the Bible to see if what you feel is coming from God is biblical. You can pray about what you feel God is telling you. You can see the work of God in the lives and environment around you, and qualify that it is verifiably from God.
If you are one of a married couple, you can speak to your husband or wife and let them know what you feel God is telling you. I tell Craig when I feel God is speaking to me. We both pray about what I feel the Lord is saying or what Craig feels God is telling him.
If it is truly from God, and not of ourselves, we will both begin to feel the same way and feel without a shadow of a doubt that the message is from God. If not, we know that it is a personal desire and not of the Lord.
For example, when we first put our house on the market, we looked at another home. We both, after much prayer, felt that the Lord was leading us to humble ourselves. We felt that He was leading us to do more for His Kingdom and less for ourselves. The home we felt He was leading us to would be small and well under our budget.
We found one that fit the bill and I, for one, fell in love with it! It was way under budget, and it was the kind of house I could see us in, complete with a front porch swing! Craig did not feel the same way. Not at all. But still I really felt like this could be our house!
We both prayed about it for months! But Craig never felt God speaking to him in that way at all! In the end, I realized it was my own personal desire. I felt the house would be a quick fix for us, and I personally wanted the house. God was not leading us to that place. He was, in fact, leading us to be more humble, but not to that house.
He really does speak to all of us! We need only be still and listen to him!
The (Not-So) Newlywed Lefebvres 
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