God leads | Walking By Faith in Europe

Day Five

Often I have had people—even born-again Christians—ask me how it is that I hear God speaking to me, and how do I know it’s not just my own thoughts. If you’re following my blog, then you know that I am doing a 21 day fast, praying for understanding of the things to come, and how we can prepare. Almost everybody agrees that we are living in the End Times. The Bible speaks of many dangers to come, and one of the most dangerous is deception. We need to be tuned-in to God’s voice so that we can know truth from deception. The enemy’s deception will be so strong, supported by counterfeit miracles, that even Christians will be in grave danger of believing his lies (Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22).

With this in mind, I had come across notes from a 2010 cell group meeting a few days ago. These were notes titled How to Hear God’s Voice, and taken from Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock,” (emphasis mine). A lot of times we hear God’s voice, but for whatever reason (timidity, the instruction seems crazy, we don’t want to do it, etc.) we don’t do what He says. If we don’t do what He says, He won’t speak again—why should He?

Ask yourself: did I obey God the last time I heard His voice?

If not, then do the thing He told you to do, if possible.

Submit to His lordship and resist the devil.

James 4:7

Confess any known sin.

God is not going to share His thoughts with someone who is unrepentant or continuing in sin.

Ask specific questions and expect an answer.

I have always disliked my forehead, and felt embarrassed about it. One time I was going to get my hair cut and I looked in the mirror and said, “Lord, why is my forehead so big?” not expecting an answer, but immediately He said, “To kiss!” In my mind I saw God kiss me on the forehead. Sometimes even when you don’t expect an answer, you will get one.

Allow God to speak to you any way He chooses, and don’t limit Him.

Understand that God will never contradict His Word, the Bible. He speaks:

Audibly, often in a still, small voice, other times in a voice that sounds like your interior voice
Through the Bible, which you should be reading daily
Through other believers
Sometimes even through strangers or unbelievers

Step out in faith.

Trust God that He can and will lead you in the right direction, even when you don’t know exactly where you’re going

Don’t talk about your word too soon.

The enemy is listening, but he can’t hear your conversations with God, only with other people, so be wise.

Unless you must act immediately, wait and watch for confirmation.

Beware of counterfeits!

The devil may try to lead you in a wrong direction, but you can avoid this danger (see below).

Cultivate a relationship with God.

Spend time with Him in prayer. Pass time quietly in His presence, without making requests. Include listening when you pray. Just as you walk and talk with friends, walk and talk with God. Practice hearing His voice so that you won’t be fooled by counterfeits. This means really listening for Him to speak.

You’ve got to want to hear Him speak to you.

Don’t be surprised when God’s response is not what you expect, His thoughts are higher than your thoughts (

Isaiah 55:8-9).

Concentrate on His love for you, and you will hear His voice.

Fall deeply in love with Him, and be willing to p

ut aside the things that distract you from hearing His voice:

Turn off your cell phone, tablet, video games device, MP3 player, computer, tv—anything that prevents you from being fully present
These things are not evil, but the enemy can use them to distract you
Practice being fully present for at least an hour a day

I believe that it will become increasingly important for us to be listening to His voice. If the world’s Christians don’t willingly turn off the distracting electronic devices, then God will allow the whole internet worldwide to come crashing down. Frankly, I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened already.

I was going through my computer documents and, I came across the following piece that I had written in October 2011, while I was at the 24/7 worship celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Poland.

A theme that kept recurring during that weeklong celebration was The Table. About six months before I went to Poland I was in Alessandria, Italy, visiting a small church there. My friend, Pastor Matteo, was guest-preaching that evening, and after the sermon he gave three altar calls:

For anyone wanting to receive God’s free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ
For anyone needing healing or other prayers
For anyone wanting more from God

At that third invitation I leaped to my feet. Pastor Domenico and his wife prayed for me, and then he told me: “God says that He has put a big Table before you, and it is full of everything you could ever want or need.” Then he added, “But of course, you need to share with God’s people.” He didn’t need to add that because it is my heart to share with God’s people.

So in Poland six months later, when there were several teachings that mentioned The Table, I knew that I had to share the Word that God had given me through Pastor Domenico. And when I did, I told the people there that I believe The Table is for all of us, not just me. And the next day, the following is what I wrote:

Last night the French team was leading worship and I suddenly became overwhelmed and scared by the task ahead of me: five months of speaking to churches and at conferences all over the US about missions in Europe. And I said, “God, if You don’t help me, I’m in big trouble because I don’t know what I’m doing! I need You! I need You! I need You!” And I began to cry in my desperate need for God.

I tried to calm down a bit, but then the thought came: “If Europe’s future depends on me, then Europe is in big trouble.” Of course I know that Europe’s future does not depend on me, but such is my burden and call for Europe that I cried even harder because it wasn’t my own embarrassment and failure, but Europe and her missionaries. So I cried and cried some more. While the French team was singing songs of love and praise to God, I was weeping from a broken heart for Europe. And I continued to beg God: “I need You! I need You! I need You!”

Finally, I calmed down, remembering the table full of everything I could ever want or need. And I said, “Lord, the gifts are great, but I don’t want any gifts! I want You! I need You!” And I began to cry a third time from my desperate need for God.

Then God spoke, and in a very tender voice He said: “My child, I am in every gift! I am on the table! Every gift is simply more of Me! Why do you think I keep inviting you to take everything you need, everything you want from the table? Because I am everything that is on the table! Take all you want of Me!” And I said: “Lord, I want ALL of You!”

And I saw myself dropping all the things I had been holding onto: the desire for a home, the desire for a godly husband to share my life, the desire to spend more time with my new grandchild. These things that I had thought were so important, I just let them go. And I said, “Now I’m ready, and I want only You, and ALL of You!”

And after that I was exhausted. So when the team leader took the French team back to the hotel, I went with them. And I slept and dreamed:

Fire came down from Heaven and suddenly I clearly saw the way to go, but I held back because there was someone else there and I thought that person should lead. But that person couldn’t see the way to go, so I had to lead.

Then I woke up. There was my answer! God will lead me during my five month speaking tour in the US!

And now, four months after my speaking tour of the US has ended, I can say that it went very well, but not because of me. I spent at least an hour in prayer before each speaking engagement, yielding myself, and asking the Holy Spirit to speak through me. And from those speaking engagements, I got several more intercessors, which is a very precious gift, indeed!

God is good!