Hearing from God 7/87

Hearing from God 7/87

Abraham heard from God. If there was one notable trait in his life, it was that he heard from God-and believed what he heard.
The Lord said to Abraham, "Go forth from your country, your relatives, your father's house, to the land which I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and curse the one who curses you. In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

One of the first secrets to a happy life is to learn to hear from God for yourself. What you need is a promise from God, so that no matter what happens in your life you can say, "I've heard from God, and I know what God is going to do in my life."
Every Christian needs to receive God's dream or vision for their life. Then they can say, "I know where I'm going and I know what I'm doing, and I know who's leading me, I know who gave me the promise and I know that I am going to get there, because I have heard from God."

Sadly, many people have no dream. Their lives are boring and routine. "It's now 9:00. I've got to get to work," they say, or "Now it's 5:00. Time to go home" or "Now it's vacation time." They are literally moved along by circumstances, but not by a dream or vision, not by something they have heard from God.

The story of Abraham is so important for us today, not simply because he is the father of our faith, but because he became the father of our faith-he heard from God. Abraham might remain a distant historical figure, unless we realize that what happened to him can happen to you and me. The great things God did through Abraham, or for that matter through David or Samuel or Hannah, can be done through us today.

The Bible says these things were written for our learning and admonition, so you and I can say, "If I do what they did, this is what can happen to me." And that is what will happen to you.

If you seek God as they sought God, and give your heart to God as they gave their hearts to God, then the very same things that happened to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the others can happen to you. God will come to you and speak to you. He will guide you personally. He will direct you. He will show you what to do in your life. And as a result your accomplishments will increase greatly, and the result of your life will be a tremendous impact upon your generation for Christ. You will impact your city. You will impact your neighborhood, and you will be part of those who have an impact on the entire world.

You do not know when you will be doing what seems to be a very normal thing and the Lord will speak to you. He will give you a word of direction or wisdom or insight that will literally change your life. I think about the men and women who went down to Guatemala several years ago from our church in Eureka. They had no idea they would impact their nation in such a dramatic way. They had no idea that they would see a church grow to thousands of people with outreach churches in several other nations. They only knew that it was God's will for them to go to Guatemala to do two things.

One, they had a vision of preaching the gospel in all the world. Second, they wanted to help those who had been hurt or displaced by the February 1976 earthquake. They felt God had said, "Go down there and help those people rebuild."
Before they left, I told them to keep their eyes open. "Maybe you're going down there just to help and show a little compassion," I remember saying to them. "But maybe you are down there for a much greater reason. Keep your eyes open and see what God will do." And what God did for them was to impact the entire nation with the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's not finished yet. From out of there, churches are being sent out and people are going out in all directions to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You never know what will happen if you let God speak to you, if you let God's dream or vision enter your heart. That's all Abraham did. If he had not listened, not sought God, not heard His voice, all you would have heard about Abraham was that he was a nice guy, born in a certain city, and he married Sarah. They grew old together, and they died. And they were nice people. Instead, what you hear about Abraham is that he was a father of a multitude of nations. And what was the only difference in him? He heard God; he believed God; and he acted upon what he knew to be the truth.

Many of us do not spend time developing our ability to hear God. We have not learned how to do it. No one has ever taught us. But by the grace of God we can learn how to hear God, how to believe and confess His Word, how to act upon His Word. God wants to speak to us and give us dreams and visions that will revolutionize this world.

You are meant to hear God's voice. You are meant to hear God's Word. You are meant to change the world by what you hear and receive from God.

But how desperately we need the Holy Spirit to come and illuminate our minds and open our eyes. The Bible often talks about how the eyes of God's people were opened. In one place the Scripture talks of God giving men a spirit of slumber. They heard but they didn't hear. They saw but they didn't see. They didn't understand. They couldn't comprehend. The Word of God was not alive for them. Therefore, it did nothing for them.

How much we need our eyes and our ears opened. Otherwise, God will speak and we'll simply go our own way, blind and deaf.

When Abraham heard God speak, it changed his entire life and it changed the future course of the world, all because he received a word from God. It was a specific, personal word that came to him because he knew God. It was alive in his spirit. He acted upon it and transformed the world. You and I need to hear God's Word for ourselves.

We need more than sermons. Good sermons teach you and illuminate your mind and help you. But the life-changing word comes when you go to God for yourself and hear His Word for you. God needs to speak to you. You need to hear it. And if you do, you'll be like Abraham. Your life will be changed as a result.

What is, was and will always be the mark of every great man and woman of God? You read about it in the Bible. Once your eyes are opened you can see it everywhere. Here are the words that describe the great men and women of God: They sought the Lord. They cried out to the Lord. They waited upon the Lord. They waited patiently for the Lord. They arose and prayed. They prayed over, they prayed for, and they believed God's Word.

Consider Nehemiah, who at one point in his life was just an ordinary cupbearer. I believe that he was a successful person, a diligent man, a good man. But basically he was just a cupbearer. Now to the king that was an important job. When food or drink was brought to the king, Nehemiah would taste it. If it was poisoned, Nehemiah would die so that the king could live. This was a noble job, but Nehemiah certainly wasn't impacting his generation.

One day, however, some people came back from Nehemiah's homeland. He was a captive in a foreign land, Babylon. He heard that the people there were in great distress. And when he heard that something moved on his heart. Others may have heard that same word and said, "That's too bad." But when Nehemiah heard it, something came alive in his heart and he could no longer rest. He fell on his face and cried to God for his brethren and began to seek the Lord.

As he sought the Lord, the Word of God became more alive. God began to reveal something to him. "Nehemiah, the reason this burden is so strong upon your heart," the Lord would say to him, "is that I want you to do something about it."

"But Lord, what will I do? I'm a cupbearer to the king."

"You go to him and ask him to release you that you may go. I'm going to use you. I'm going to change the lives of those people through you, Nehemiah. Seek My face."

When Nehemiah heard from God something completely changed. He was no longer just Nehemiah the cupbearer. He had heard from God Almighty.

"I'm going to use you Nehemiah. Seek my face. Cry out to me. Intercede for your people."

Then the Bible says that with fear and trembling Nehemiah went to the king. And the king asked, "Why is your face sad?"

Nehemiah answered, "Because of my brothers. O King, could you allow me to go and..."

The king gave him permission. From that time on the course of history was changed. Why? Not because some man had a great idea. Not because some courageous person went up and said, "I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a good work on this earth." No, what took place is simply that a man heard from God. A man opened himself to hear. A man sought God. A man waited for a word. Then he heard from God, and hearing from God he responded to what God told him to do.
Do you know what this world needs today? Do you know what your city needs? Your city needs a church full of people who have heard from God, who understand the times and know what God wants done.

Do you know what this world needs? It needs someone. I don't know if it needs 100,000 people to do good things or even a billion. I don't think it does. I think it just needs a few people who really hear from God, and hearing from God begin to do what God tells them to do.

Remember, Abraham impacted the entire world. But notice the promise made to him, "In you, Abraham, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Out of you will come kings and rulers and a multitude of nations." Do you understand? It doesn't take many. It takes just someone who has heard from God, who will give themselves to hear from God, who will learn to listen.
Abraham's secret and the secret of every great man and woman of God is that they sought Him. They cried out to Him. They waited upon Him. They prayed. They prayed until the Word of God came alive in them. Then they believed, and believing they confessed and acted upon it.

A lot of us once practiced the principle of believe, confess and act. But we did it like this: "Give me a promise, O God... Aha, there it is. Okay God, I believe the promise. I confess the promise. I act upon the promise." And then we would go out and fall flat on our faces and say, "Wow, that didn't work at all. I guess that doesn't work. We need some new formula now."
But what I'm talking about is not a formula. It's a reality. In order to believe God's Word, it must first come alive in you. Then when God says, "This is My promise to you; this is what I want done, and I'm giving you My infinite power to carry it out..." then you won't fall flat on your face. No, you will walk in the power of the Spirit until all that God has promised is fulfilled.

I will tell you what God has ahead for you. If you will do as men like Abraham and Nehemiah and others did, you will become a history-changer. Seek God, cry out to Him, wait upon Him and wait patiently for Him. Let these things be the mark of your life. You cannot even imagine what God will then do for you, the promises that He will give you if you give your life to Him in this way.

You are not here by your own will. You are here by the ordination of God. You are not just the product of two humans who came together to marry and have kids. The Bible says that nothing like that at all.

The Bible says that you are here by the ordination of God, that there is a plan that God has for you, a high calling on your life, that He wants to use you to impact your generation for Jesus Christ. If you learn how to hear Him, how to seek Him, how to know Him, then He will speak to you as surely as He spoke to Abraham, as surely as He spoke to Nehemiah.
Give yourself to God. Give your time to God. Open your heart to hear Him speak. Be patient. Persevere. He will change you. And He will speak. And when He does, you will change the world.

back to Articles, Teachings, Etc. by Jim Durkin