How God Speaks
1 Kings 17:1-10
Elijah the Tishbite, from Gilead, said to [King] Ahab, "As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (before whom I stand), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command." 2 The Lord told [Elijah]: 3 "Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there." 5 So he did as the Lord told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.
7 After a while, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 The Lord told him, 9 "Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you." 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath.
Notice the relationship between Elijah and the Lord
When we are “born again” we enter into “relationship” with Jesus Christ
What is relationship without communication?
The Lord wants to communicate with you
· Not just to give you rules
· Not just to get your list of prayer requests
He is always speaking
Sound waves are always moving… we just need help hearing them
We must learn how to listen; to tune in – ex. radio
You have His Spirit to help you tune in
Many people will lead you to believe that God spoke once and has no need to keep speaking
However, Life is dynamic & we need to know what He is saying about our today
2 Pet 1:12 – We are to be “established in present truth”
God has something to say to us relevant to our present
An example of that is the patriarch Abraham
In Beer-Sheba, God told him to offer up Isaac – the promise; but at Moriah…
Abraham could have killed the promise
We must not only know ‘that’ He speaks, but we must know ‘how’ He speaks
· By Word – logos & rhema
· By the Preacher Rom 10:14
· By the Spirit – voice & unctions or urgings
· Through Prophecy, Dreams & Visions
Acts 2:17
It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit
on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.
The enemy wants us to be deaf
He doesn’t want us to believe in the various ways God talks
We tell God how He is suppose to talk for us to listen
– wind, earthquake, fire ~vs~ a small, still voice
We actually smother the voice of the Spirit
1 Thess 5:19-20
Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies.
Extinguish, smother, suppress, put out, douse
excuses, doubt, fear, disobedience, unbelief, insecurities, procrastination
Those are the responses that extinguish the voice of the Spirit
In the end, it becomes almost impossible to hear the relational voice of the Lord
because we have smothered the ability of the Spirit to work full force in our lives
He’s still speaking – we just tune out
The Spirit has life changing things to tell us
John 16:13–14 (ESV)
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,
for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak,
and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
- this is equivalent to prophecy
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.”
“Saying what God says”
Prophetic word – 1 Cor 14:3
· Edify = to improve someone; to add to them
· Exhort = to persuade or provoke you to do something
· Comfort = to give peace and strength
The Prophetic points to the potential & destiny in you
It’s the buried treasure in you
The Prophetic Word begins to unlock your treasure
That Word has the ability to alter your direction & propel toward your purpose & His plans
Plus, give you peace during that process
The value you place on the Prophetic Word will determine
What that Word will produce in you
Heb 4:2 – The Word will not produce anything if you don’t mix it with Faith
Unbelief stops the productivity of the Word & quenches the Spirit
Let me tell you why the Prophetic is so critical in these unique times:
God deals with us according to seasons (Gen 8:22)
Different things happen in different seasons – Eccl 3 “seasons & times”
Growth, flowering, fruit-bearing, death, renewal, resurrection, seeding
Success in “due season” is determined by what we do in “this season”
The Prophetic tells you how to handle the changing seasons
We must know what to do in each season
We can’t adjust the season – we must adjust for the change in season
We need to LEARN TO LISTEN to receive wisdom & strategies
· Where to go – the prophetic keeps us fluid
· Don’t quit. Let your fishing nets down again, except in a different place this time
What I want you to know is that He is speaking – He is always speaking
· By Word – logos & rhema
· By the Preacher Rom 10:14
· By the Spirit – voice & unctions or urgings
· Through Prophecy, Dreams & Visions
Remember, God’s goal is relationship
There is no relationship without communication
“I can’t hear Him”
What I want you to do is move closer
Sometimes you’re just not close enough…
He’s saying something; you just need to be close enough to hear it
The Prophetic Produces Prosperity – 2 Chron 20:20
Believe the Lord & you will be established. Believe His prophets & you will prosper
Ezra 6:14
So the elders of the Jews built [the temple], and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it.
A. Business Plan with jars for the oil – 2 Kings 4:1-7
B. Debt Release miracle of the floating ax-head – 2 Kings 6:1-7