Knowing You Can Hear From God

III. KEY # 3 – ACKNOWLEDGE GOD 6 in all your ways acknowledge him… Turn over to 2 Corinthians 13:14. God wants you to know that you can hear His voice. 14May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. There are three things that are continually expected to happen in the life of a believer. 1) You’ll experience grace… 2) you’ll know the love of God… 3) you will have fellowship or communion with the Holy Spirit. That is what we need to focus on in hearing from God – He intends to have fellowship with you through the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? The Greek word for “fellowship” is koinonia. It literally means more than just fellowship or communion. It refers to a partnership. In this case it is a partnership by which the Living God can communicate His will for the lives of His people. We need to acknowledge that God desires to be in partnership with me. Everybody say, “God wants me to partner with Him.” Now, turn over to 2 Peter 1. The most basic way to hear from God comes from this passage. 16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. You remember the story of the transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain with Him and Moses and Elijah appeared to them, a cloud overwhelmed them and God spoke – What a wonderful experience. But now look at what Peter says. 19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, We have the word of the prophets made more certain… Now wait a minute. Peter was on the mountain with the others two disciples and they were seeing something that nobody else had ever seen. They heard the very voice of God speak from the cloud. They saw Jesus shining with the glory of God, and now Peter says there is something that is more certain than what they had experienced? 19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The words of the Bible are the words of the prophets given by the Holy Spirit and recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The bible says that we do not have every record of everything that Jesus said and did, but this word of God that we do have is the most sure way of hearing from God that there is. Most people would agree with that. But why is it that many people side step that truth when they get a word from God or a vision or a heavenly visitation from an angel? OH God told me this… And then they never check their experience to see if it lines up with the word of God. Now I’m not saying those things don’t happen. People do have visions, they do see angels, God does speak to them, but if their experience does not align with the word, or if the message from the experience is not biblical then it is not from God. …we have the word of the prophets made more certain… The key to acknowledging God is to acknowledge His word. You may not ever have a vision, or see an angel or hear the audible voice of God, but what God does intend for you to have is the leading of the Holy Spirit by having fellowship with the Holy Spirit. And above all the word of God revealed through the written word by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing wrong with experience. I believe that God intends for us to experience Him in our emotions, our physical bodies and through manifestations through the spirit man. But the less you know about this book the more likely you are to be deceived. Not every spiritual experience is from God and you can tell if it is or isn’t by looking at your experience against the written word. Not that everything from God is recorded but every spiritual principle is, so when we fall under the power of the Holy Spirit in a prayer line, though it may not be mentioned specifically in the bible the spiritual principle is there. In the presence of God people fell down – they couldn’t stand. If we acknowledge God then we acknowledge the things that are from God… and he will make your paths straight…How are your paths made straight? By the Word of God… Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. The more of the word of God you pour into your life the more God will speak to you. Psalm 119:11, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.