Listening for God

I'm not sure whether God speaks in dreams anymore or not, but early this morning I woke up with a picture in my head that was pretty clear. Call it a dream, call it a vision, call it what you want, but it was real and I wasn't awake at the time.

I saw myself as an electrical box with a lot of plugs around it's four sides. And plugged into each of the receptacles were cords coming from a lot of other people and places. I saw this hand reaching down and unplugging all the cords but one. Written on the side of the last plug was the word "GOD." Then I heard a voice saying, "You don't need input from anyone else but me." It wasn't this eerie, ominous voice. Nor was it a searing, condemning voice. It was more like a reassuring voice. As if God was saying to me, "There's a lot of advice out there for the valley experiencer, but right now you only need to listen to me - to my voice."

WOW!

So, how do we hear God's voice and how does he speak to us? Great questions. Over the years I have been taught and have experienced God's voice in the following manners:

1) His Word - I heard Henry Blackaby once say, "When you open the Bible you come face-to-face with God." Don't know about you, but that's powerful. I have it written in the front of almost every one of my Bibles. I found one that I hadn't written it in, but Karen had.

2) Fellow Believers - God speaks through godly people - people who take the time to listen to God. They have been a very important part of my journey.

3) Ordained Authority - If you are a member of a local church, then God has placed ordained authority over you. I know that there are some valley experiencers who have been betrayed and hurt by those in authority, while there are others who have greatly benefitted from guidance of those in authority over them. This is a tough one, but God does speak through them. Test their fruit and see if it matches what they are saying.

4) Prayer - God often speaks to us. The problem is we aren't listening or we don't want to hear what he is saying. If you want to hear from God you MUST be willing to listen.

Not one of these are viable lines of communications with God if the Holy Spirit is not present. The Holy Spirit is the connection between you and God. I have equated the Holy Spirit to the electrical cord between God and us. Just as the cord provides a conduit for the electricity to go from the source to the object - say a lamp - the Holy Spirit provides a conduit between God's voice and our lives. We must give the Holy Spirit his place in our lives.

Hey valley experiencers - in the words of Hans and Frans, "Hear me now and believe me later," (yeah SNL fans will get this one). You want to get to the other side - listen. Listen for the voice of God. It's there, but are you listening?

Listening Loud,
Mike