Week 3: Obeying the Voice of God

Contributed by Joshua Fletcher

Monday 2/18

During week 1 we talked about attending to God’s Presence. Then, last week Craig taught us about hearing the voice of God. This week is about obeying the voice of God. We will take last week’s verses and ask ourselves some challenging questions. God speaks not only so that we will listen but so that we will obey as well.

Reading: Song of Solomon 5:2,
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice! My beloved was knocking; open to me.”

Hearing the voice of God is a spiritual discipline that takes time to develop, but if one’s heart is awake then a knock is sure to come. The Lord will speak when you open the door to Him. Are you prepared for the knock? Sit with this question a while. Test your motives for listening. Are you waiting for your beloved or are you waiting for a deliveryman bearing gifts?
What is the lord saying to you? Is there an invitation to deeper intimacy? What does that look like for you? Perhaps what you are asking of Him is not of first importance. What is He asking of you? Will you obey Him when He speaks?

Tuesday 2/19

Reading: Matthew 5:8
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

How much do you want to see God?
When I go grocery shopping I am constantly comparing the cost versus the benefit of purchasing this item or that item, preparing this meal of that meal, and then there are those items I splurge on because I simply want a treat. I am also training for a triathlon and often those treats are little barriers to my training. Little by little they keep me from my goals.
What barriers are keeping you from seeing Jesus? What do you need to eliminate from your life for the sake of your relationship with Jesus? What things cost more than the benefit? What things do you need to eliminate from your diet? Are you willing to deal ruthlessly with sin in your life? The promise to see God goes to the pure in heart!

Wednesday 2/20

Reading: I Chronicles 11: 10-19

“…oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”

Last week Craig discussed the radical and risky behavior of David’s men when they heard David’s desire for home. Despite their tiredness, they risked their lives to get him a drink from the wells of Jerusalem to cure his homesickness.
What would you risk to please the Lord? If we earnestly seek to hear the voice of God it is likely that we will draw near to the Lord’s deepest desires for us and for others. The Lord reveals His heart for a purpose. Often God is inviting us to join Him.
What type of attitude will you bring when you draw near to Jesus? Will you let courageous obedience be a defining mark of your character or something much less? Are you willing to bolt through enemy territory to bring the King a cup of cold water?

Thursday 2/21

Reading: Psalm 46: 10

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

This verse is often quoted in times of distress and worry. It is comforting to hear the Lord’s command to be still and the sure statement that God will be “exalted” even amidst difficult circumstances. But perhaps there is another way to read this verse. Perhaps stillness brings exaltation.
When we are still, when we stop to hear His voice and believe in Jesus, something incredible happens! The noise, the din of the world, is silenced and we hear the God of the universe speak to us. Our souls respond to God with exaltation. We exalt Him right in the middle of our circumstances and then things don’t seem so overwhelming anymore. Perhaps the first and most immediate response of our hearts to the voice of God should be worship.
What is your first and most immediate response to God’s Word? Are you overcoming the din with stillness? Are you worshiping God through your present circumstances?

Friday 2/22

Reading: Ephesians 1: 17-19

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

An amazing prayer for us from the pen of a man who knew God’s Spirit of wisdom and revelation and experienced God’s power in his life. What would you do if you began to receive the Spirit Paul asks God to send on His people?

Make a list of your hearts deepest desires? Share that list with a spiritual companion and pray together about these dreams. Ask the Lord to align your heart with His heart then have your spiritual friend begin to pray Paul’s prayer above for you regularly.

God has a plan for us all, a calling. We are His children and none of us are here without a purpose. It may be a long journey, but God has somewhere to take you. The first steps of obedience are always to believe and surrender. How are you taking these steps?