Warren D. Carter

African Fellowship

Wien, Österreich

20.4.97

God Speaks

We all know the story of George Mueller, the 19th century British pastor who built four orphanages (with a capacity of 2,000 children) and distributed over $8,000,000 that had been given to him – all through the power of prayer! He didn’t send out or publish his financial needs, he just relied on the Lord to provide. (And when he died at the age of 93, he had a personal net worth of about $800!)

George Mueller mentioned these things that helped him:

č He sincerely sought God's direction.

č He waited patiently on God until he had a word from God.

č He looked for the Holy Spirit to teach him through the Word.

He knew the following things led to his making mistakes:

· Lacking honesty of heart.

· Lacking uprightness before God.

· Impatience to wait for God.

· Preferring the counsel of men over the declarations of Scripture.

Here is how he summed up the way he entered into a "heart" relationship with God, and learned to discern God's voice:

1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. 90% of the trouble with people generally is right here. 90% of the difficulties are overcome, when our hearts are ready to act on the knowledge of what His will is.

2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I leave myself open to great delusions.

3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Spirit guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures … and never contrary to them.

4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me, as He chooses.

6. Thus, a. through prayer to God,

b. the study of the Word,

c. reflection,

“I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly.”

God Speaks through Prayer

Memory verse – try to memorize this short verse right now:

He who belongs to God, hears what God says. The reason you do not hear, is that you do not belong to God. John 8:47 (NIV)

Prayer is a relationship, not just a religious activity.

If you are not keeping a spiritual journal or diary, you may want to consider starting one. If the God of the universe tells you something, you should write it down. When God speaks to you in your quiet time, immediately write down what He said before you have time to forget. Then record your prayer response. You could write down the verse of Scripture He uses, and what God has said to you about Himself from that verse. Write down the prayer response you are making; so you have in place a) the encounter with God, b) what God said, and c) how you responded to Him. You could also write out what you need to do to adjust your life to God, so you can begin to experience Him relating to you in this way.

Note: If you are not keeping a spiritual diary, you may want to use MasterLife Day by Day: Personal Devotional Guide by Avery T. Willis, Jr. It gives brief instructions on how to cultivate a daily quiet time, how to memorize Scripture, how to take sermon notes, and how to use various kinds of prayers. Using it will provide you with a day-by-day record of your spiritual life.

Truth is a Person.

Carefully read the following paragraphs and fill in the blanks in the key statements that follow.

The Holy Spirit reveals truth. Truth is not just some concept to be studied. Truth is a Person. Jesus did not say, "I will teach you the truth." He said, "I am … the truth" (John 14:6).

When God gives you eternal life, He gives you Himself (John 17:3). When the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth, He is not teaching you a theoretical concept to be thought about. He is leading you to a relationship with a Person. He is your life! When God gives you eternal life, He gives you a Person. When you became a Christian, Jesus didn't give you some thing; He gave you Himself.

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the previous paragraphs.

1. The Holy Spirit reveals _____________.

2. Truth is not just some ________________ _____________ to be studied.

3. Truth is a _______________.

4. The Holy Spirit is leading you to a __________________ with a person.

Here is a summary of how I have tried to live out my relationship to God:

· God creates in me the desire to participate in His mission to reconcile a lost world to Himself.

· I respond and come to God seeking to know His will.

· When God reveals a truth to me, I know He is trying to alert me to what He is doing in my life.

When God reveals truth to me through His Word, that doesn't lead me to an encounter with God – that is the encounter with God. When He does reveal truth to me, I sit in the presence of a living Person. He is the Author of the Scriptures. The Author is telling me what He is doing in my life, and He uses His Word to do it.

The Spirit of God knows the mind of God. He will make the will of God known to me through the Word of God. I must then take that truth and immediately adjust my life to Him. I do not adjust my life to a concept or a philosophy but to a person.

Have you ever read a Scripture you have read many times before, but suddenly you see something in it for the first time? That truth is not a concept for you to figure out how to work into your life. God is introducing you to Himself and alerting you that He is wanting to apply this truth to your life right now. When God is ready to do something in your life, the Spirit of God uses the Word to make that known to you. Then you can adjust your life to Him and what He has just revealed of Himself, His purposes, or His ways.

Prayer is a Relationship

Prayer is a two-way fellowship and communication with God. You speak to God and He speaks to you. It is not a one-way conversation. Your personal prayer life may primarily be one-way communication – you talking to God. Prayer is more important than that. Prayer includes listening as well. In fact, what God says in prayer is far more important than what you say.

Prayer is a relationship, not just a religious activity. Prayer is designed more to adjust you to God than to adjust God to you. God doesn't need your prayers, but He wants you to pray. You need to pray because of what God wants to do in and through your life during your praying. God speaks to His people by the Holy Spirit through prayer.

Here is a diagram of how God speaks through prayer.

MAN HOLY SPIRIT MAN MAN ADJUSTS MAN OBEYS

PRAYS - WORD HEARS TO GOD GOD WORKS

- TRUTH

This diagram illustrates an encounter with God. When the Holy Spirit reveals a spiritual truth to you in prayer, He is present and working actively in your life. Genuine prayer does not lead to an encounter with God. It is an encounter with God. What happens as you seek God's will in prayer? The sequence is like this:

1. God takes the initiative by causing you to want to pray.

2. The Holy Spirit takes the Word of God, and reveals to you the will of God.

3. In the Spirit you pray in agreement with the will of god.

4. You adjust your life to the truth ( to God).

5. You look and listen for confirmation or further direction from the Bible, circumstances, and the church (other believers).

6. You obey.

7. God works in you and through you to accomplish His purposes.

8. You experience Him, just as the Spirit revealed, as you pray.

Praying in the Spirit

The Spirit of God will take the Word of God to guide you in the area of your praying.

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

Romans 8: 26-27.

1. Why do we need the help of the Holy Spirit when we pray? ( v.26)

_____________________________________________________________________

2. What advantage does the Holy Spirit have that we do not have? ( v.27)

_____________________________________________________________________

3. What does the Holy Spirit do for us? _____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

We are weak and do not know how we ought to pray. The Holy Spirit has an advantage over us – He already knows the will of God. When He prays for us, He is praying absolutely in agreement with the will of God. He then helps us know the will of God as we pray.

What happens when you pray? The Holy Spirit knows what God has "at His disposal." It is already there. The Holy Spirit’s task is to get you to want it – to get you to ask for it. What will happen when you ask for things that God already wants to give to you, or to do? You will always receive it. Why? Because you have asked according to the will of God. When God answers your prayer, He gets the glory and your faith is increased.

Is it important to know when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you? Yes! How do you know what the Holy Spirit is saying? I cannot give you a formula. I can tell you that you will know His voice when He speaks (John 10:4). You must decide, however, that you only want His will. You must dismiss any selfish or fleshly desires of your own. Then, as you start to pray, the Spirit of God starts to touch your heart and cause you to pray in the direction of God's will.

"It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."

Philippians 2:13

When you pray, anticipate that the Holy Spirit already knows what God has ready for your life. He does not guide you on His own initiative; He tells you only what He hears from the Father. He guides you when you pray.

"He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come."

John 16:13

I try to write down what God is saying to me when I pray, and as I read His Word. I write down what I sense He is leading me to pray. As I begin to see what God is telling me about Himself, His purposes, and His ways, I often see a pattern begin to develop. As I watch for the direction the Spirit is leading me to pray, I begin to get a clear indication of what God is saying to me. This process calls for spiritual concentration!

You may be asking the question: But how do I know the thoughts and directions I am praying are the Spirit's leading and not my own selfish desires? Do remember what George Mueller said he does first in seeking God's directions?

Look back at item #1 on the first page. What did Mueller do in the beginning?

______________________________________________________________

Empty yourself, deny selfish desires/thoughts – first. In all honesty with yourself and before God, come to the place where you are sure that your only desire is to know God's will alone. Then check to see what the Holy Spirit is saying in other ways. Ask yourself:

* What is He saying to me through His Word?

* What is He saying to me in prayer?

* Is He confirming it through circumstances?

* Is He confirming it through the counsel of other believers?

God will never lead you in opposition to His written Word. If what you sense, in prayer, runs contrary to Scriptures, it is wrong. For instance, God will never, never lead you to commit adultery. He is always opposed to that. Watch for God to use the written Word to confirm what you are sensing in prayer. Don't play games with God, though. Don't just look for a Scripture that seems to say what you selfishly want to do, then claim it is God's will. That is very dangerous. Don't do it.

Look back at the diagram and try to summarize what it illustrates.

Write a summary of how God might speak through prayer.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Write the following key words in the correct sequence:

adjust, confirmation, Word, initiative, agreement, obey.

If you need help, look at the list following the diagram.

1. God takes the ____________________ by causing me to want to pray or need to pray.

2. The Holy Spirit takes the __________________ of God and reveals to me the Will of God.

3. I pray in the Spirit in ___________________ with the will of God.

4. I ____________________ my life to the truth.

5. I look and listen for ___________________________ or further direction from the Bible, circumstances, and the church (other believers).

6. I _________________ .

7. God works in me and through me to accomplish His purposes.

Has God spoken to you by the Holy Spirit through prayer? Yes or No

If He has, describe below what you sensed He was saying in one of the times He has spoken.

If you do not think He has spoken to you, ask Him to reveal to you the reason.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Has He given you any confirmation through the Bible, circumstances, or the church (other believers)? Yes or No

If so, what did you sense He was saying?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Review this worksheet.

Pray and ask God to identify one or more statements or Scriptures that He wants you to understand, learn, or practice.

Underline it/them. Then respond to the following:

What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response, from you to God.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

What does God want you to do, in response to this worksheet?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Review your Scripture memory verse, and be prepared to recite it to another member of the African Fellowship sometime this week.

He who belongs to God, hears what God says. The reason you do not hear, is that you do not belong to God. John 8:47 (NIV)

Summary Statements

· When the God of the universe tells me something important, I should write it down.

· Truth is a person.

· Prayer is two-way communication with God.

· Prayer is a relationship, not just a religious activity.

· I need to make sure that my only desire is to know God's will.

This study was excerpted from:

Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, by Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King; LifeWay Press, Nashville, TN (revised 1993); ISBN 0-8054-9954-7

God Speaks

19.4.97<srun: yes"> by Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King; LifeWay Press, Nashville, TN (revised 1993); ISBN 0-8054-9954-7

God Speaks

19.4.97