Tag Archives: Religion and Spirituality

How To Pray, Part Two

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prayer.. (Photo credit: aronki)

The paraphrase Graham Cooke, the core of prayer is the relationship, not the asking. Yes, God is very interested in your need, but He is more interested in you. James 4:3 says that we ask for things and don’t get them because we’re not asking right. If Jesus is your Advocate with the Father, that means that He is interceding for you. About what? What exactly is He asking the Father for on your behalf? If you figure out what that is and pray with Him, then you have a certainty of seeing that prayer answered. He knows what you need better than you do. Quiet your spirit. Listen. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in your prayers and don’t be surprised or offended by where He takes you.

 

How To Pray, Part One

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What does God want you to pray?

I was trying to fall asleep one night when a name kept running through my head. It was the name of someone who’s been in the local news for weeks. I was sick of hearing it, but God said to pray for this man. I really wanted to go to sleep, but I sent up a quick prayer to ask God to bless the man and his marriage. God was not happy with that prayer, not because it was a bad prayer, but He wanted something else. He told me to pray for something completely different, something I never would have thought to ask for. I had to repent of being flippant with God’s request. He trusted me enough to put a situation He could move in into my hands and I wasn’t sensitive enough to realize it. I should have asked, how should I pray? I should have prayed according to His will. Not that God wouldn’t bless the man, but He had a more specific goal. Listen first, then pray.

How God Gets His Point Across

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God uses anything to get our attention.

Some time ago, I was getting ready for church on a Sunday morning and I heard a bird singing right outside my bedroom. It was a bird I’ve never seen before and it had the most amazing song. I sat and listened to it for several minutes before it flew away. Then I went to church. Now, I sing from my soul and I’m not bothered by people around me. I love to sing worship songs. That day, someone sitting near me turned and said, “God said that you are His songbird.” I was blown away because I knew immediately why He sent that bird to my backyard. He wanted me to get the full impact of what He was telling me. It was a remarkable moment that I’ll never forget. How has God shown Himself to you?

Does God Talk To Children

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hear from God

God Talks To Children Too

You would be astonished at how clearly children hear from God. Once they have been trained to listen, by understanding the concepts described in How Can I Hear From God, they hear Him with remarkable clarity. It’s easy for them because they have not learned to doubt. They don’t have the years of negative teaching the most adults have to let go of. They pick up the ability with an almost casual ease. They are not afraid to recognize silly things as the voice of God where an adult would dismiss them.

There’s a sweetness to how children relate to God and I think that God is delighted by that. They take the concept of hearing God’s voice very seriously, and adults should too. They need to be taught the guidelines of speaking prophetically, but then they love it. Some of the most stunning prophetic words I’ve ever had were given to me by children.

Training children to hear God is the best way to ensure life and health to the future church. For excellent material on training children to hear God, check out http://www.iTreasures.org/.

How Can I Hear From God? Part 7

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God Is Talking All The Time

So you have your antenna up and you’re listening carefully and you think you heard something from God. What do you do with it? When Mary saw God doing things, she pondered them in her heart. Wise move. Think about what you heard. Chances are, He will confirm it through someone or something else. Be moderate about how you see Him talking. It’s easy to be extreme and see every single thing as a message where it is not. But when it is, pay attention. Learning to hear God speak to your personally opens up realms of understanding. He makes you feel special because He’s talking directly to you. Practice it. It’s ok to make mistakes, but the more you practice listening, the sharper your reception will be. Now, what’s He telling you today?

How Can I Hear From God? Part 6

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God Speaks Through Our Dreams

Can God talk to me in my sleep? Most definitely. Dreams are a big way of communicating to you and there are lots of examples in the Bible of that. They may feel real, like your not sleeping at all. Sometimes those message dreams wake us up at night. Keep a journal by your bed and take the time to write them down before you go back to sleep. Same thing when you wake up in the morning, write down a dream that you remember that feels like a message. They don’t stay in our memory for very long. Look at everything in the dream for meaning—sound, color, numbers, order of things. Images can have special significance and there are good books to look up dream interpretation. Of course, we can get strange dreams because the pizza we ate or stress, so filter out what doesn’t feel like God. Next, making sense of it.

How Can I Hear From God? Part 5

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God Speaks Through Numbers And Colors

Remember that God is always talking to you. He is always trying to communicate how much He loves you. He will use anything to get your attention. Sometimes it’s a situation that opens up that you know hand to be His hand. It probably was. Numbers have significance in the Bible. If a number gets your attention for some reason, maybe it keeps popping up where ever you go, try to find out what it means. Colors have meaning. Blue is the color of revelation, God is definitely trying to get your attention. White-purity, red-redemption, green-new life, etc. Don’t go overboard and start seeing every single thing as a sign from God, but keep your eyes open, it could be. Next, one more way God talks to you.

How Can I Hear From God? Part 4

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God Speaks Through Our Imagination

We know that God talks to us through our thoughts, but He also uses our imagination. Think of an object that’s in a different room from where you are. You can see it in your head. You don’t have to have your eyes closed to get that picture, but it works that way too. Those pictures in your mind are a very common way for God to speak to you. While you are in prayer, you might see a picture of something you weren’t previously thinking about. Stop and consider it, there may be a message there. Think about what that picture actually means. It could be about you or someone else. Maybe He wants to use you to minister to someone. Maybe He wants to show you a gift or blessing He wants to give to you. It could be anything, so pay attention. Next, some random ways God uses to talk to you.

How Can I Hear From God? Part 3

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God Speaks Through Our Thoughts

God made you so He’s very aware of how you think and feel. He speaks through your own consciousness more than you realize. Thoughts can come to you from the enemy, yourself, or God. It’s good to recognize which is which. In fact, it’s very good to know that there are bad thoughts that don’t belong to you at all. You can just ignore them. But God gives you awesome thoughts. They may be ideas for new things, insight and revelation about situations or people, or a communication telling you how important you are to Him. God’s thoughts won’t scare you or make you feel bad about yourself. He’s plan is to always make you better and feel safe. And the cool thing is, you can have a complete conversation with Him and no one can hear it. He understands privacy. Coming up, more ways He talks to you.

How Can I Hear From God? Part 2

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God can talk through cirumstances

God has many ways of talking to us

What are other ways that God talks to us? Through other people. And that can be anybody, not just other Christians or people you think have the ear of God. Any conversation can trigger your spirit to pay attention. A random comment might confirm something that you heard before.

Pay attention if different people happen to say the same things to you. You might hear from God through something you heard on TV, an email, or a billboard. God has access to everything and He’s pretty creative about using it. It’s easy to pass off His communication as coincidence, so think before you ignore it. Change your perspective from He doesn’t talk to me to He’s always talking to me. Next post, some more ways He communicates.

More on How Can I Hear From God: How Can I Hear From God? Part 3

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