HOW
TO PRAY
Chapter 3: Listen to God When You Pray
God Wants
to Talk With You
Most of us do not know it, but God is
talking to us every time we talk to Him. We must learn
to listen. When we do, we will be partners with God
in a special way. He will guide us, use us, and let
us have a part in His miracles as He answers prayer.
When you pray about something, listen to what God
says to you about it. He may show you what He wants
you to do to help answer your prayer.
There are many Bible passages that tell us to listen
to God. Most of them carry the idea that we are not
only to hear what He says but also to act on it, do
what He tells us.
“If
you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says
to the churches” ( Revelation 3:13).
For You to Do
1. Suppose that you are a father. Your son comes
running to you for help and tells you about his problem,
but he does not listen to a word you say to him. You
want to help him but he runs away before you can even
answer. How would you feel about it? What would you
do? Are your prayers ever like that? Talk with God
about it.
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How
God Speaks to You
God reveals Himself - speaks to people
and lets them know Him - in many ways.
He speaks through
nature, letting us know something of His wisdom, power,
and goodness as we look at the world He has made.
Our experience of His care brings us His message,
“I love you.”
He speaks through circumstances.
He speaks through His church and its ministries.
Sometimes
He speaks through visions, dreams, and messages spoken
under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
He speaks
through the advice and encouragement that we receive
from other Christians.
He speaks through history and
through what is happening in the world today.
We hear
Him speak silently to our conscience and inner being
that we call our spirit. He impresses His thoughts
on our mind.
And He speaks to us through His written
Word.
If
you wander off the road to the right or the left,
you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here
is the road. Follow it” ( Isaiah 30:21). Then
a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear
Son, with whom I am pleased.” ( Matthew 3:17). “This
is what I will do in the last days, God says: I will
pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters
will proclaim my message; your young men will see
visions, and your old men will have dreams”
( Acts 2:17).
Of course, we must realize that not every thought
that comes to our mind when we are praying is the
voice of God. Neither is every dream or vision. Some
of these are simply our own thoughts. Most dreams
are just a mixture of the many impressions stored
in our subconscious mind. But God does use these means
sometimes to speak to us.
For You to Do
2. Suppose you have a friend who is praying for the
Lord to lead him about whether or not to go to a certain
city to work. Every time he thinks about it, he feels
very uneasy. What answer is the Lord probably giving
him? Which Bible verse above does this illustrate?
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How
to Hear God Speak
When you talk with God about something,
expect Him to speak. Listen for the answer. Pay special
attention to the first thoughts that come to your
mind after you speak to God about a matter. Often
these thoughts are from the Lord. They may be the
words of a Bible verse and a flash of insight into
how they apply to you. Or you may feel a deep peace
about a problem you have prayed about. God is assuring
you that He has heard and will work things out. Thank
Him for it and wait silently to see if He impresses
on your mind something that you should do about it.
Pray and listen for God's voice whenever you read
the Bible. And read some in the Bible whenever you
have your daily devotions or special times of prayer.
You will often find that the promises or instructions
about what to do are found in the pages of this wonderful
book. Ask God to speak to you through His Word. Sometimes
as you think about a verse it will open up a complete
message on the subject. This may be for your benefit
or it may be a message that God wants you to share
with someone. You may want to write down some of the
thoughts God gives you. Keep thinking about them.
God will use you as His witness or messenger.
The Word of God as we find it in the Bible is our
final authority. God will not tell us something that
is contrary to His written Word. And so everything
that we might take as the voice of God must be examined
and judged in the light of what the Bible teaches.
This will help us to know the difference between our
own thoughts and the impressions or message that God
gives us.
It is good to consult with mature Christians, too,
about what we feel to be the leading of the Lord.
Those who have more experience in interpreting the
Word of God can help us. We need one another's help
through the church. God often uses a sermon, a testimony,
or someone else's advice to confirm what He has told
us personally. This is all part of the Bible pattern.
Even the apostles of Jesus consulted one another about
the will of God and looked to Him for guidance until
they could all recognize clearly what God wanted them
to do.
For You to Do
3. Name the two main ways in which God speaks to
us when we are praying.
4. What is the final authority by which we must test
any revelation or message?
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Act
on What God Tells You
When we have heard from the
Lord and He has told us what to do, our part is to
obey! This is important. Only as we obey God is He
really Lord in our lives, the One whom we serve and
obey. We honor Jesus as Lord by filling our minds
with His teachings and doing what He says. Jesus said:
“Why
do you call me, 'Lord, Lord' and yet don't do what
I tell you?” ( Luke 6:46).
The Bible emphasizes two things about what we need
to do in order to come to God with confidence and
see our prayers answered:
1) Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
2) Love everybody
This,
then, is how we know that we belong to the truth;
this is how we will be confident in God's presence.
If our conscience condemns us, we know that God is
greater than our conscience and that he knows everything.
And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not
condemn us, we have courage in God's presence. We
receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey
his commands and do what pleases him. What he commands
is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love
one another, just as Christ commanded us. Whoever
obeys God's commands lives in union with God and God
lives in union with him ( 1 John 3:19-24).
The Bible gives us the general instructions
from God about what we are to do. The Holy Spirit
shows us how these apply to our circumstances. He
brings to our mind the words we need at that particular
moment - or they may be for a situation that we will
face that day. God is speaking to us; it is our privilege
to listen to what He has to say. As we do, He will
give us special instructions.
Let's act on the special instructions that God gives
us. They may be something like this: “Be patient
and trust Me; I will work it all out.” Or, “Forgive
and forget the harsh words of your husband. Show him
that you love him by fixing something special for
him to eat.” “Remember the quarrel that
you had with your neighbor. I want you to go to him
and apologize.” “The bill that you owe
at Vincent's store is keeping me from blessing you
as much as I want to. The store has given it up as
a bad debt, but a Christian pays what he owes. You
prayed for my name to be honored. This is how you
can honor it.” “Tell your uncle John that
I love him and want to help him with his problem.”
“lnvite the Jones to dinner and tell them about
my love.”
As we listen and act on such messages from the Lord
as the above, it will be easier and easier for us
to recognize His voice in other matters too. As His
children we can talk everything over with Him in prayer
and have His guidance in all that we do.
We need both courage and humility as we learn to
act on what God tells us. We have already mentioned
that we test impressions or messages by God's written
Word. We also consult with other Christians, perhaps
with our pastor or a mature, spiritual Christian who
can pray with us and help us know for sure what God's
will is. We must be humble and ready to take advice
from others, or correction if we have made a mistake.
God wants us to work together in harmony in the church
and home. Sometimes He tells us what to do but not
when or how to do it. He leads step by step. We prepare
for what He wants us to do and then recognize the
opportunity when it comes.
And so, listen to God when you pray. Two-way conversation
is a wonderful experience that you can enjoy at any
time, wherever you are. Life becomes a series of exciting
adventures with God as you follow His instructions,
and you will see God do great things in answer to
prayer.
For You to Do
5. Write in your notebook something that you have
heard God say to you through each of these: a) nature,
b) the Bible, c) thoughts.
6. Pray and listen to God now, then write down what
He told you. Act on what He says.
Check Your Answers
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Check
Your Answers – Lesson 3
1. You would not like it, would you?
You would call, “Wait a minute! Listen to me!
How can I help you if you won't listen?” Perhaps
we are all guilty of praying and running.
2. Probably, “Don't go.” God often speaks
to us through a deep peace and assurance when something
is His will, or an uneasy and troubled feeling about
it when it is not His will. This illustrates Isaiah
30:21.
3. By thoughts that He impresses on our mind and
through something in the Bible.
4. The Bible.
5. Your answer. God has probably spoken to you through
nature, showing you His wisdom, power, and care for
His creation. If you haven't already heard God speaking
through the Bible or directly to you, begin listening
each time you read the Bible and pray. Memorizing
Bible verses will also make them available for the
Lord to bring them to your memory when He wants to
use them.
6. Your answer. These lessons will help you to the
extent that you put the truths into practice. May
God bless you as you do.
Go to Chapter
4: Use God's Word When You Pray
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