Hearing God

Peter Lord

Description

Christians often struggle with prayer because it has become a one-way conversation with the ceiling. It doesn't have to be this way! In this revised and updated edition of the classic bestseller, Peter Lord offers an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to developing a rich prayer life--moving believers from one-way communication to God to two-way communication with God. He answers such questions asCan I hear God's voice today?How can I discern the difference between God's voice and Satan's voice? How can I find God's will and direction for my life?and many moreGod still speaks today, and when believers pursue a dynamic personal relationship with him, they will learn to recognize and cherish his voice.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 février 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441262202
• Langue: English

Extrait

Hearing God
Copyright © 1988, 2011
Peter Lord
Cover design by Eric Walljasper
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, ® Copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Scripture quotations identified ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified NCV are from The Holy Bible, New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Dallas, Texas 75039. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. ® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
eISBN 978-1-4412-6220-2
Published by Chosen Books
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Chosen Books is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
To
Johnnie
wife, friend, partner,
who has demonstrated daily for sixty years the truths in this book,
whose lifestyle can be explained only by an indwelling Christ,
whom I can describe only in this way: “one heaven of a woman.”
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Acknowledgment
  1 The One Thing
Part 1 Checking Your Equipment
  2 A Hearing Ear
  3 A Pure Heart
Part 2 Understanding the Principles
  4 GPS: God’s Positioning System
  5 Recognizing How God Speaks
  6 Reasons We Don’t Hear God Speaking
Part 3 Clearing Away the Clutter
  7 The Traps
  8 The Snares
  9 The Hindrances
10 The Barrier of Tradition
Part 4 Tuning In to God’s Channels
11 Knowing God’s Voice by His Approach
12 Knowing God’s Voice by His Relevance
13 Knowing God’s Voice by Its Content, Part 1
14 Knowing God’s Voice by Its Content, Part 2
15 Knowing God’s Voice by the Results It Produces
Part 5 Receiving God’s Signals
16 Processes of the Thought World
17 The Process of Meditation
18 The Dangers in Meditation
Part 6 Fellowshiping with God through Hearing His Voice
19 Hearing God in Scripture Reading
20 Hearing God in Prayer Life
21 Hearing God in Ministry
22 Hearing God for Life
Notes
About the Author
FOREWORD
When Christians pray, most realize that they are speaking to God. But many don’t understand that God actually speaks back to them. And, since they don’t expect Him to speak, they never learn to listen for Him.
I am so grateful to Peter Lord for this book, because he does such a masterful job of correcting this tragic misconception of God as a silent Father or a God we cannot hear.
I know I hear God as clearly as I hear my wife. He doesn’t speak to me in an audible voice. He uses high-impact spiritual impressions, but the messages are as real and effective as audible words could be, and through them He gives me direction, correction and comfort.
There is really no room for debate as to whether God speaks to us. The biblical record clearly shows that God has spoken to His people since the beginning, when He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. He spoke to Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, and, of course, to all the prophets.
Referring to the Messiah’s reign, Isaiah 30:21 prophesies that God will lead His people by His voice: “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.”
In John 10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice ” (emphasis mine), and in John 16:13, He promises that the Holy Spirit will guide us by what He will speak.
God didn’t inspire the Bible to be written as only a love letter or an instruction manual, but so that we might also get to know Him personally. Hearing Him is a vital part of the intimate fellowship He desires with us. The ability to hear Him is so precious to me that I want everyone to understand and share it, and I am confident this book will help you make this present-day phenomenon a vital part of your walk with the Lord.
J AMES R OBISON
LIFE O UTREACH I NTERNATIONAL
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
With special thanks to Kent Crockett for all your work. Without you this new edition of Hearing God would not have been possible.
Only one thing is necessary.
J ESUS , L UKE 10:42
one

THE ONE THING
Jesus once entered Bethany and was welcomed into the home of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word, but Martha was distracted from listening because she was busy preparing food. Martha came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary , for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (see Luke 10:40–42).
What did Jesus mean when He said, “Only one thing is necessary”? And exactly what is that “one thing”? Here is how different translations have worded this phrase:

“One thing only is essential” (The Message).
“But one thing is needed” (New King James Version).
“But just one is needed” (Good News Translation).
“But only one thing is needed” (New International Version).
“There is only one thing worth being concerned about” (New Living Translation).
By comparing these translations, we see that only one thing is necessary, needed, essential and worth being concerned about if we are going to experience the life that Jesus came to give. But is this text an isolated word for Martha, or is this a truth for every believer?
It’s obvious that we can prove almost anything from the Bible if we handpick the verses that back up our beliefs. Literally hundreds of denominations are divided by what they think Scripture teaches. In fact, many people in those denominations won’t fellowship with other Christians unless they completely agree on every point of doctrine.
God did not write His Book to divide His family. I have found that many people who claim to believe every word of the Bible from cover to cover will take the liberty to freely interpret Scripture to fit their own particular viewpoints. They will validate their interpretations by deciding which verses are literal and which ones are figurative. They’ll claim that some verses are applicable today, while other verses were only meant for the early Church and should be ignored. Sometimes they’ll even add their own list of commandments that are never mentioned in Scripture.
It’s easy to add our own ideas to what God has revealed, which makes life more complicated than it’s supposed to be. Some well-meaning Christians tell us that “ many things are necessary” to grow spiritually. But we must remember that it was the Lord Jesus Christ who said “ only one thing is necessary.” That one thing is a living relationship with God, whereby we hear what He has to say to us.
Even Jesus Himself lived in this way, simply listening to His Father and obeying what He heard. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19, NIV ). And it was in this manner that the believers in the early Church also lived and walked. The Christian walk is allowing the Holy Spirit, who lives inside every believer, to guide us into all truth, as Jesus promised (see John 16:13).
Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. What does that look like today? It’s nothing more than setting our attention completely on the Lord and listening to what He has to say to us. Most of us believe prayer is telling God what we want instead of listening to what He wants. Prayer is more about listening than talking. If we approach God with an open heart, eagerly desiring to hear from Him, He will reveal His will to us.
But God doesn’t just want to guide and direct our paths. He also desires to have fellowship with us. The apostle John said, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ ” (1 John 1:3, emphasis mine).
I took John seriously. I believed he meant those words for all of us. I have had fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And, to paraphrase, these things I now write to you to let you know that 1 John 1:3 can be experienced in reality by anyone who is a child of God.
Our heavenly Father wants to commune and communicate with us in a true fellowship of love and enjoyment of each other. It is imperative to understand this as the focus and purpose of this book— hearing God.
This book has not been written to help us “get more from God” but to enable us to get to know Him in a more personal way. And fellowship is impossible if we cannot hear Him as well as talk with Him. “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).
SCRIPTURE AND HEARING GOD
Does Scripture teach that we can hear God speak to us today? Is this a clear, important, repeated teaching—or is it one that can be supported only by manipulating small portions of Scripture to prove a