“The one who does not expect that God will speak will discount every single time when God does speak.”  -A. W. TOZER

Just as we have physical ears, we, too have spiritual ears.   Many people think it is impossible to hear God speaks.  Well, I for one was in that list previously, until I came to know in His Word that He does speak.  Truly what we don’t know we cannot function.  If ignorance to the rules of driving of a particular country costs, how much more the price of ignorance to His Word.  God said, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).”

It is not for God nor for us to condemn someone who is unknowledgeable or unaware of His precepts, but see it as an invitation for us to hunger and thirst for more knowledge and revelations.  Holy Spirit is always ready to reveal to us what has already been freely given but we also take our role in seeking Him first for He never fails to reward those who diligently seek Him.

Yes, GOD SPEAKS!  How?  He has a million and one ways how He communicates to us.  Most often than not, it is custom-made according to how He created us.  Our ability to hear is in a very personalized manner though we may learn from other people’s testimony on hearing God’s voice.

Many of us believe that He speaks to us in a still small voice.  Yes, He does because He expects us to be so close to Him that even His whisper would sound magnified in our hearts.  Intimacy is the key.  Proximity matters.  Come to think of this, that when we speak to someone sitting very close to us in a quiet place, we don’t need to shout to relay a message across.

But, intimacy isn’t just being  so near and close to Him.  It also involves our full attention and awareness of Him.  Our being present in His presence matters.  With all our gateways in tuned to the frequency of His voice, it is easy to hear Him.

Another aspect to be considered is the place.  The secret place is always the best place, for it is in the secret place where His secrets are revealed.  🙂  Even if we speak directly to the ear of the one next to us but in a very noisy place, it is unlikely for us to be heard easily let alone clearly.

But then again, even with all the things that we may consider what we need to do to INTENTIONALLY HEAR HIM SPEAK, God is still God.  He is sovereign Who can override all the things that we take into consideration.  We don’t limit Him.  Instead, we create and cultivate an atmosphere where we can learn and discern to hear Him speak that will take us deeper into the glory realms of our relationship with Him.

Every day is a learning day for me to hear His voice.  I always ask Him to open my ears and be sensitive to the deep promptings in my heart.

One day, I was thinking of one of the bizarre things I thought of while waiting for the elevator door to open in my office building.  I was thinking of the simplest things people collect.  Some have refrigerator magnets of each place they’ve been.  Some have key chains, spoons, mugs, etc etc.  Then I thought, “how come I don’t have any collection?”  Every time I travel I always bring those things to give away but I never had an inkling to collect for myself.  Then, I had a very strong impression in my heart, “Lay up treasures in heaven.”  I was stunned and yes, I stood still for a moment.

While walking, I asked, “What does this mean?  What are these treasures?”  He said, “No one can ever bring ANY THING to heaven.  You can only bring people.  My treasures are people.  If you open My heart, it is full of people.”  Hmmmm … I was silenced for a moment and my religious thinking dug into the confirmation of what His word says about treasures and this is what Holy Spirit brought into my remembrance:

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, HIS TREASURED POSSESSION.”  Deuteronomy 7:6 NIV

Where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also (Matthew 6:21).  When we see what He sees, we see differently.  When we come to know who His treasures are, then we get privileged to treat these treasures the very way He does to them.  As He is, so are we in this world (1John 4:17)

We have been commissioned, positioned and provisioned to carry His love to the ends of the earth.  We have been called beyond our limits, beyond our comfort zones, even beyond what we can think or imagine to touch other people’s lives by the power of His presence in our lives.  He has a BIG DREAM and that is for the whole earth to be filled with His glory and He has chosen each one of us to take part of this dream.  He desires to touch the world with THE TRUTH of His goodness, His faithfulness, His peace and His love, BUT HE DESIRES HIS DREAM TO BE CHANNELED THROUGH YOU AND ME.  He desires His people to know that He is the GOD Who doesn’t demand or require but He is the GOD WHO LOVES US and in His love, He graces us to obey and walk in the way He desires us to walk.

TODAY, when we hear His voice, let’s take the step, then HE STEPS WITH US.  Our faith is what takes us to believe that we hear Him speak and that when we hear Him, we obey Him.  His voice will always take us to places we’ve never been, do things we’ve never done before and say things we’ve never said.  It is a place of complete trust on the One Who knows EVERYTHING for “BLESSED are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence (Jeremiah 17:7 NLT).

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Prayer:  Father, thank You for opening my ears to hear you speak.  Thank You for giving me the Holy Spirit Who abides in me, forever gracing me to walk where You desire me to walk and empowering me to talk to whomever you’ll send me to, to touch their hearts by Your words that bring life and wholeness into their lives, in Jesus’ mighty name.  Amen!