God speaks to His people!

The cry of our hearts is to draw near to the Lord. It is the yearning of every believer! Yet our fervency often cycles hot and cold, which often affects our confidence in the Lord. How can we overcome this problem?

“Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust (have confidence): cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”  (Psalm 143:8)

The word trust means "to have confidence in." It is the same word as in Proverbs 3:5-6 when it says "trust (have confidence) in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths."

How does one build such confidence in the Lord? How can we accomplish such a longing of our heart?

BUILDING CONFIDENCE THROUGH HEARING

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth (literally this means "is proceeding" as a constantly ongoing stream of living water) out of the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”  (John 10:27)

The sons of Korah sought to hear Him daily, and their confidence in God soared!  In the following psalm they write:

“For just one day of intimacy with you is like a thousand days of joy rolled into one! I’d rather stand at the threshold in front of the Gate Beautiful, ready to go in and worship my God, than to live my life without you in the most beautiful palace of the wicked. For the Lord God is brighter than the brilliance of a sunrise! Wrapping himself around me like a shield, he is so generous with his gifts of grace and glory. Those who walk along his paths with integrity will never lack one thing they need, for he provides it all!  O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what euphoria fills those who forever trust in you!”  (Psalm 84:10-12 TPT-The Passion Translation)

David's heart was precisely the same:

“Give me revelation about the meaning of your ways so I can enjoy the reward of following them fully. Give me an understanding heart so that I can passionately know and obey your truth. Guide me into the paths that please you, for I take delight in all that you say. Cause my heart to bow before your words of wisdom and not to the wealth of this world.”  (Psalm 119:33=36 TPT)

As we trust, we gain confidence in what we trust. Confidence is a function of relationship. The better we know someone, the more we trust them. The better we know God, the more we trust Him, and the way to know God more personally has everything to do with hearing His voice to us, dialoguing with Him daily in His courts. What joy and confidence is ours when we do!

AN INVITATION TO ALL

The Lord Jesus Christ invites all of us to fellowship with Him, and as a result may even invite us to sit with Him on His throne!

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”  (Revelation 3:20-21)

Let us grow in our confidence in our Heavenly Father and in our Lord Jesus Christ as we confidently seek them with all our heart. 1 John 1:3-4 shows us that the fellowship we keep with them makes us full of joy!

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.”

So may we be as Mary seeking that better thing instead of all those preoccupying busy things of Martha. May we always keep our hearts tender by diligently studying His written word, and by our learning to hear and obey His still small voice. May our joy be full as we do!

HE ALWAYS ANSWERS

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

We can so grow in our relationship with the Lord that we can have instant conversation (and answers) when we pray. Jesus gave us unrestricted access to the throne room when the veil was torn. Let us be relentless in our pursuit of Him, and let John 7:36-37 be a deeper reality every day:

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth [literally "is believing"] on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow [rheuo which means "to flow." It is from the same root word as rhema which means "speaking"] rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

As we learn in Psalm 29, God's voice is upon the waters, and Ephesians 5:26-27 tells us of the washing of the Holy Spirit's rhema-speaking word which makes the church become without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

To the same place as David in the secret place, the same place as the sons of Korah in His courts, the same place as the sheep of His pasture following His voice, the same place as the glorious church He will present to Himself, and the same throne on which He will invite you to sit as we overcome in fellowship and hearing His still small voice to us. 

The time we invest fellowshipping with the Lord, drinking from His fountain, is time invested in our eternity. Hallelujah!

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The Voice Upon the Waters

Dining at the Master’s Table: Learning to Hear the Voice of the Lord

Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ? To live, speak, and function as He did while on the earth?

What quickly comes to mind may be His many miracles, or His powerful teaching through parables. But what if we looked at His operating focus? Were there specific strategies underlying His purpose?

Can we imitate the same?

Following are 5 key points from the Scriptures that give us insight into how the Son of God operated while on the earth:

1.   Jesus did nothing of Himself. 

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19)

Nothing Jesus did originated from Himself; He only did what the Father showed Him to do. We see throughout the gospels His habit of close communion with God, by spending much time alone with the Father and in prayer. 

2.  Jesus didn’t seek to do His own will, but God’s will. 

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30)

See also: John 6:38, 8:29, Matthew 26:39.

3.  Jesus spoke not from Himself, but only what God wanted Him to.

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.”   (John 14:10)

See also: John 7:16, 8:26, 38.

4.  Jesus was mindful of who He was and where He came from.

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.’”  (John 8:42)

See also: John 16:28.

If we’re mindful of who we come from, we should be mindful of who we represent.

5.  Jesus never promoted self-glory but made sure God got glory.

“Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

See also: John 8:53-54

Jesus “emptied himself” of all His reputation and the things due Him as the Son of God. He didn’t “toot his own horn,” but remained humble, allowing God to exalt Him. 

As Christians, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth today! It is our greatest privilege, challenge and opportunity to live as He lived; to show the world the love and power of our wonderful Heavenly Father.

What if we ask the Lord how to incorporate these principles each day? How exciting our days might become!