Whenever I read the Old Testament, I’m always jealous of the way God spoke to the prophets. “God told Moses” or “And the Lord spoke to Elijah.” It never really says how God spoke to them, just that He did. I wonder if it was in an audible voice or a tiny whisper; if it was just a feeling they had inside or simply a “knowing.” Yet, however He spoke to them, they always knew and understood what He said.
Wouldn’t you like that ability? How many times have you pleaded with God for an answer only to receive silence in return? What I wouldn’t give for an e-mail from God laying out the plan for my life, or at the very least the answer to one of my questions!
The truth is, God does still speak to us. The problem is, we aren’t listening.
The most amazing thing happened to me yesterday morning. Every morning I spend time reading the Bible. I usually read a couple of chapters in the Old Testament and then a couple of chapters in the New. Right now I’m going through Isaiah and Revelation. I was reading in Revelation about the sevenfold Spirit of God, and it said:
The sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth (Revelation 5:6 NLT).
I remember reading this verse before and wondering, what is the sevenfold aspect of the Spirit? I know this is mentioned in other parts of the New Testament, but it never describes what these seven different characteristics of the Spirit are. I grew really curious, so I asked God. “What does this mean? I want to understand it.” Then I sat quietly, and I “heard” a voice say, “You just read about that in Isaiah.”
Now when I say I heard, I don’t mean in an audible voice but one that I heard inside me. Does that make sense? That’s all the voice said, so I flipped back to Isaiah. Now, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t usually remember details of what I’ve read, especially if it was a few days ago. But I went back a couple of chapters in Isaiah and scanned the text—and there it was!
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might. The Spirit of knowledge and the Fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord (Isaiah 11:2–3 NIV).
Seven characteristics of the Spirit of God:
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Might
Knowledge
Fear of the Lord
Delight in Obedience
I was astounded! I never would have thought to look in Isaiah. I fell on my knees, so thankful to hear from God, so humbled that He cared to answer one of my questions.
From this experience, I believe there are two keys to hearing from God:
You must be truly following Him, truly submissive to Him.
You must be quiet.
How many times do we rattle off our string of requests during prayer time, then say amen and get up and leave? I do that all the time. How many of your friends would put up with a relationship like that? Would you? Yet, God does day after day. Why don’t we give Him a chance to share with us? Be quiet. If you don’t hear anything, start reading the Bible, asking Him to show you something. If you still don’t hear anything, don’t give up. Try again each day. Believe that He will speak to you somehow. He’s your Father and He loves you. Why wouldn’t He want to speak to you? I don’t know about you, but I’m sure going to try this new approach to prayer.
Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10 NIV).
MaryLu Tyndall