Hearing from God: He Speaks To The Special, Chosen Ones

As you read the Bible you quickly realize God spoke to all the special, chosen ones:

And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“I am God, the God of your father,” He said.

*** ***

As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses.... The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

*** ***

Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me...”

*** ***

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

*** ***

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent...”

*** ***

God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

*** ***

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

*** ***

“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I [Paul] asked.

“‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’”

*** ***

There are so many more references of God speaking directly to His chosen people; people who responded and did notable stuff. Literally chapters of stuff for God was done by those chosen ones that He also spoke to. In fact, I don't think there was anyone who did manage to do miraculous achievements and deeds in the name of the Lord that also did not hear God speak to them.

How often then, do we say, “Well God speaks to them, but He doesn't speak to an 'average Joe/Joanne' like me. I'm not one of those chosen/special people in the Bible, that's for sure. I haven't chatted face to face with God and heard God call me His friend.”

See, we need to realize that God speaks to special people; people chosen by Him.

“If only I had a friendship like Moses did and was considered God's friend.”

“If only God considered me a man after His own heart.”

“If only, God, if only, if only, I was like one of them...if only I was special.”

I want to talk with that burning bush. I want the Lord to call my name and wake me in the midst of the night to chat. I want to have some one-on-one time with God too. Simply, I need to realize God speaks to the special, chosen ones.

Go ahead and write out all the special attributes and characteristics of David before and after becoming King. Noah was a righteous man. Look at what made Samuel special, he was dedicated to the Lord at birth and lived in the very Temple of God after all. Then there is Peter, Paul, and Mary (not the folk band). Take a serious look at the list of their characteristics, talents, and calling. Can we even come close to these special, chosen heroes of the Bible?

Did these hero's of our faith eat, sleep and struggle with the same things we do?

Did they put on their robe one arm at a time, like we do our pants; one leg at a time.

Can we walk in their slippers?

Did they ever question God?

Did they speak with pizazz and have a plethora of words and pithy phrases at their disposal?

Did they ever get upset, or misunderstand God's movement?

Did they ever ask, “why me Lord?”

Did they ever piss off God?

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

*** ***

Paul said:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

*** ***

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

*** ***

Hmm, maybe these special, chosen people were just like we are. Can you begin to realize that it is God who choses whom He will speak to? And I'd venture a good guess He'd like to include you and I on that list. After all, God calls us His treasured possession, His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.

Jesus declared:

“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Wow, we are friends of Jesus, when we do the will of God He even calls us His brother and sister.

So I hope you are beginning to see the differences between us and the heroes of the Bible can be just that...they are the heroes of the Bible and we too can be heroes.

Right here, right now, we can choose to seek Him; listen the best we can, grow in our relationship and be like sheep who know their master's voice—the voice of the Living God. See, we are His special, chosen ones.

Shhhh, Someone is speaking, listen and you'll hear from God.

Abba ROCKS!

The Lord's Fountain

In the capsule of my neglected soul,

I wade through a puddle

of brackish water darker than my past,

thick with the bloodless remains

of mosquitos and broken memories.

The Lord guides me through the sewers of society,

He yanks the veil from truth,

leaves the mask of deceit prostrate,

its interior exposed like an atoll

sullied by the polluted tide.

But life flows from a wellspring of hope,

its shower is a tonic that leaves me unstained - 

He steps into my soggy front yard

and deposits his heart

deep inside the fertile soil of my faith.

Hearing from God: The Sounds of Silence

This entry is my expounding on Jordan’s sermon: Better Left Unsaid. I’d suggest if you haven’t heard this one, go to the NightLife website and grab a listen (http://lifeatnight.org/). I’m sure it will be posted online in the next couple of days or so… He speaks better than I write…but again, this is my blog LOL.

I have been thinking, “What the heck, God, why aren’t you speaking into my life in this one area?”
“Why, Lord, am I not hearing anything from you regarding this situation and this question of mine?”

“Lord, how long must I ask for You to speak to me about this ONE thing?”

Hmm, have ya’ been there too?

Jordan says, silence is a vital part of God’s communication with us—His silence.

What is up with THAT! TALK TO ME, LORD!

Jordan then goes on to talk about one story about his own relationship with his father, back in the day… and he talks about when John the Baptist’s disciples come to Jesus asking if he’s the messiah (Matthew 11:2-11). Jordan points out some really interesting stuff!

I didn’t know that in Jesus’ answer, He mentions all the key messianic prophecies and Jewish traditions regarding the coming of the messiah except for one: “Setting the captives free”. He leaves this out on purpose as John wallows in prison. In fact, Jesus never directly answered John’s original question. Why? According to Jordan, it is better for some things to be left unsaid. As Christ’s silence really was affirming John’s faith!

What does this mean to us? Again, Jordan points out, that the Lord leaves some things unsaid for the people He respects. He is honoring us in and through our faith. WOW!

Jordan’s advice is that we “don’t worry too much about what God doesn’t say.” It is really “conversation with God [that] is vital; specific answers from God may not be.”

Jordan ends with this wonderful question for all of us: “What has the Lord not said to you lately?”

Okay, let me share a few of the things God has not said to me lately: first of all, my job. I had a prophetic word back in 2005, that I would have a change in job and position with more responsibility and money. Since that time I’ve asked God to confirm and/or reveal the manifest answers to this word of prophecy. What I hear are the sounds of silence.

I’m still at the same job, and doing well at it. I feel I am adequately paid for what I do. I am appropriately compensated for the position and the market here in Hawaii. And as with most jobs, if I did this same job in the mainland I’d get paid nearly double…probably so would you. I work a part-time job to make more money to keep things paid out, paid up, and such. I’m still looking for other freelance or better part-time job, so let me know if you hear of anything. It would be better than the sounds of silence.

I want the prophecy to manifest and I have been very specific in asking God for some kind of confirmation, answer, guidance, etc. I get the sounds of silence.

So for now, I simply get up and since, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go,” (adapted from the 7 Dwarfs’ work song).

The second sound of silence is regarding my personal future…marriage. Again, I’ve received prophetic words that I’ll be happily married, etc. And these are from people I trust and respect for their prophetic gifting. So every time I go to God, asking to hear more specifics on this…again, the sound of silence. Who is she? When will this occur? All I hear are the sounds of silence.

The third area of silence, has been slowly unveiling and I am beginning to see God’s hands and yet He still only speaks through the sounds of silence. I’ve been sensing a change is coming for me in ministry. I have been feeling for about a year now, that there is a major call AND change coming forth for me. It is only in the very recent time that I can see it better and better.

There was a time, when it seemed everyone was questioning me. Some wondering why I was remaining where I was, others saying to move on, others were saying stay. What a great time of confusion, I would pray like a fanatic for God to speak to me, I just got silence from Him, yet I always had a deeper sense to just hold my course and let things happen in His perfect time (a bit frustrated for an AROC/Control Freak personality like mine!). Some times an offer would be made, where I would just have to say “no” without being about to say why, God would impress the answer for me, but never the “why” even after fasting and praying!

Recently, I had a conversation with my close brother and friend. I was sharing about these unspoken answers from God. I told my friend, I don’t understand why God is silent, and yet, I do know I am exactly where I am supposed to be, doing what He wants, and learning the things He wants to show me. While I’m frustrated some by God’s silence to my own questions, I know He speaks volumes in other areas, through me, and to me. As for my questions, sure, it would be great to hear from a burning bush, heck, I’d take words from Balaam’s ass (King James donkey)! I get the sounds of silence.

I told my friend, I guess His silence is His answer…Wait upon the Lord. I kept coming across Scriptures, like they were in bold print just for me. I had been on a two-day fast and prayer time this weekend, seeking to hear from God, in part, over some of my unanswered questions and I had been planning to end it with communion. It was so excellent to hear Jordan explain God’s silence resonate so well with my soul and addresses my own place in time.

God has whispered through His sounds of silence…

GOD ROCKS!

Hearing from God: Day Dreams

For one of my classes, my instructor gave us these 3 words to write a research paper on:

BENZENE, KEKULE, DREAMS

Random, right?  But here's the story linking these 3 terms:

In the mid-19th century, Friedrich August Kekule, a chemistry professor, had two day dreams that led to profound scientific revelations, making him a principle founder of modern chemistry.

He describes one day dream he had in 1854: "The atoms were gamboling before my eyes!  I saw how the larger ones formed a chain, dragging the smaller ones after  them but only at the ends of the chain."

This led to the discovery of the propensity of carbon to form straight chains.

Then in 1862, he had a dream of a snake biting its tail, which revealed to him the true structure of the benzene ring.  This discovery was so significant to pure and applied chemistry that the scientific community regards him as one of the fathers of organic chemistry! 

** I thought this was a fun story worth sharing.  Amen to day dreams! 

I find this encouraging because I never remember any of the dreams I have at night-- if I even do dream.  I've been told to keep a notebook next to my bed, but still-- I wake up with nothing.  I was becoming frustrated because I keep hearing fantastic stories about what God reveals to people in their dreams.. and I've been praying almost nightly, asking God to speak to me in the same way.  So it's good to know that He speaks to us while we're at work or in class, drifting off to La La Land instead of paying attention our boss/professor!  :P

CAPTAIN OF SALVATION, YOU ROCK!

Hearing from God: Times of Prayer and Fasting

The subject of prayer and fasting is huge and I’ve not come across any one book that is definitive or all-encompassing, so please don’t think I’ve got it all covered either. Nearly every paragraph I write could be or has been expounded into chapters and books by a real author or authority. I do hope that this entry is helpful and will cause you to explore AND experience more on your own…

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for yourself
I simply LOVE prayer, I pray in different ways at different times as I am sure we all do…and some how we learn to hear God speak to us individually.

There are times where I simply find myself praising God for so much, or for something very specific. This weekend I had been on a mini-retreat of prayer and fasting From Saturday morning until Sunday evening. I broke my time of fasting, starting with communion. Last night after I came home, I felt I should finish off my weekend by watching, The Passion of the Christ. Wow, I was struck by the reality of the suffering in the physical realm, and just a tiny glimpse of what Christ must have also suffered in the spiritual realm. I found myself crying (not a usual thing for me…LOL). As I continued to watch the movie I also spent time in prayer and reading the Word of God, specifically the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ sufferings. I am so thankful for what Christ has done for me and for all of us, and I felt I was hearing from God through this movie and through my time of praise, worship, and thanksgiving that the movie sparked within me.

I set the alarm on my PDA for 4:30AM with this reminder, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” I try to just lie awake and listen for God. At 5:00AM my regular alarm clock goes off and I try to go through a list of personal prayers that I’ve marked down. I find my prayer lists are great “starting points” for my prayers and helps to keep me on track. I also find that during this time, I am a bit more conversational… “Lord, wouldn’t this be cool, if….”, or “Holy Spirit, I desire for You to come and be with me….” I also find myself asking, “Holy Spirit, how do You want me to pray about this situation.” Until this past Sunday, I was frustrated at times, when some things were left unsaid…not it is all “G” (thanks Jordan)! God can say so much in His silence...cool stuff.

I also try to maintain this same habit of prayer during the course of my day as I can and/or as the Lord leads; and before I go to sleep each night. I try to make the time to review the day’s events and my list of prayers again, covering things not addressed or "updated" in prayer some more.

I do great at talking/praying to God, and very hard thing for me, which I am training hard to get better at…and this is listening prayer. I even am reading a book by the same title…hope it helps me. It’s like trying not to think of “pink elephants”. I find myself, “okay, listen Keiger, okay, shhh, oh Lord, help me to listen, okay, shhh. Okay Lord, speak when you are ready for I am now going to start listening right now. Okay, now…this really is the start of me listening Lord. See, I’m here to listen. AHHH, I keep talking, okay, starting NOW…..” You can get the idea.

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for others. During my prayer times, I also have an intercessory prayer list that I split between my early morning time and bedtime prayers. Again, this is rather conversational and I ask God to “update” me with what/how to pray for this person. It is great when I get an impression from God. I’ll make note of this so I can continue to pray accordingly in the future. This also helps me see God’s movement for this person and through my prayer journey.

Prayer—an awesome tool to hear from God for our future relationships.
Some time ago, I heard about praying for one’s future mate, children, etc. I was intrigued by this and try to incorporate this into my prayer life. I bought Stormie OMartian’s book, Power of a Praying Husband, and I took her recommendations and modified them to have elements to pray for my future mate. It is a rather long list, so I even split them down to pray some things every time, and then the rest once a week. It has also helped me hear from God as to what He wants and to what is important to God regarding Godly attributes and critical elements of a successful marriage.

Prayer—MEN it’s time to hear from God.
One more point, this one directed to the men reading this blog. PRAY! Strive to be a prayerful leader in all aspects of your life. Too often, I find that men typically don’t pray as much as women do and that is sad. I asked one married man if he prays. His answer was, “Nah, my wife does all that praying stuff for our family.” No wonder his marriage and family were struggling. He was not taking his role as spiritual leader seriously. It is sad to think how little he thought of the power of prayer and of hearing from God. Why so many prayer groups, prayer meetings, and prayer teams are lead and filled by so many women? THANK YOU to every one of you WOMEN! It has been so many of YOUR prayers that has sustained the church and helped us men. It is time overdue for us guys to step up to the prayer mat! It just might help to also move away from the dinner table and come before the Lord, hungry and in need of spiritual food like during a fast.

A Quick Overview of Fasting
Anyone can fast, and I'll be bold and say everyone should fast in some manner. Why do I say this? There seems to be a link with those who move effectively in the spiritual realm to having developed a lifestyle of fasting. Fasting allows the human spirit to commune with the Holy Spirit in a unique and intimate way.

Fasting can be done in a variety of ways and for various lengths of time. One can abstain from all food and/or liquids, or some other way as such...

There have been people who abstain from all food and will have only water, or vegetable juice or fruit juice. Some people will fast not from all foods but from certain foods...deserts, “rich” foods and only eat plain foods (Daniel Fast). Others will fast from alcohol or soda, or something that is “sacrificial.”

I've know people to sacrifice “Monday Night Football” for a whole season and they used that time for reading the Bible and to pray over their children...so there are really no limits and no “right” way to conduct a fast.

It is important to say that JUST refraining from eating is NOT fasting...it is just starving or a diet. Prayer, worship, meditation on the Word of God, intercession...these things should be incorporated into the time in some manner.

You may be called to fast because God has placed it on your heart.

You may be called to fast because you want to press in to the heart of God and you want to develop a more intimate relationship with God.

You may be called to fast because you want to intercede on behalf of someone else or over a situation or need in your life.

You may be called to fast, just to do it and experience the sacrifice of something for God.

Try taking the time you would use to prepare your meal(s) and the time to eat to spend in prayer, worship, etc.

Whenever you feel pangs of hunger or think of food...pray, worship, etc. Jesus fasted 40 days (not recommended unless God clearly is calling you to do so). In Matthew 6:16, Jesus says, “when” you fast...not “if”.

Extended fasts should be done with great care and coming off the fast is just as important. A general rule to follow is for as many days as you have been fasting, that many days should be slowly and gently followed before going back to your regular diet. I've NOT followed that a few times and was really sick to my stomach... Ben and Jerry's after 3 days of water only is not such a great idea....even if it does taste good.

I tend to do 24 hour fasts on a regular basis. I'll skip eating anything after say, 6:00pm praying and drinking water only until after 6:00pm the following day or as I feel is right.

This is by no means a complete study and it is purposely brief...any questions?

Books:
The Hidden Power of Prayer and Fasting, by Mehesh Chavda
Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, by Richard Foster
The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives, by Dallas Willard


Jehovah Our ROCK!


Keiger

Resurrected in a Cafe

Legs crossed in a velvet arm chair

with God in my lap - 

His legacy lies open like a butterfly,

its spine balancing on my knee.

Two ancient kings

sit across from me,

facing each other in a frozen fight;

they command cold, clay bodies

across a checkered tabletop,

its surface engraved with jagged hearts:

the scars of stalwart soldiers.

A metallic cacophony

poisons my prayer for peace - 

gossip conspires with grinding beans,

the iPod pumps remixed rhymes

into the gutter of my ear.

I blow the steam from my Sumatran coffee - 

a frustrated sigh over the ceramic lip - 

the warring chessmen bend in the heated breeze

as creamy cyclones stir in the black abyss.

It spills and I bolt out of my seat - 

my kneecap splinters,

the butterfly scatters,

His pages leap into the sweltering air -

truth strikes hard

like lightning in a desert storm.

His words soar above

the sharp fragments of doubt;

I follow His spirit over the ruins,

cutting the bottoms of my bare feet.

A risen soldier -

guided by His unseen hand - 

I walk boldly in suffering

to carve my heart's broken form

onto His highest table:

the battlefield of a war already won.