Hearing from God and seeing Pastor Jones pt.3

#3-Is this idea something born out of prayer or something prayed on to be born?

Here's what I mean by this in a nut shell.

Am I experiencing intimate time with God so that I may hear and recognize His voice above all of the busy-ness and chaos that surrounds me? Or am I trying to come up with ideas that would be cool and relevant and praying that they are God's will?

God is such a creative and relevant God. He is better able to supply all we need including ideas and plans for His ministry. The question is are we still enough and quiet enough to hear Him?

#4-When you think God is telling you something is it confirmed by other believers?

First let me say this. If God wants to give you a message He'll tell you first before someone else. I had a well-meaning lady one time tell me, "God told me to tell you...". What was funny about that experience was God had not revealed to me anything like the message she was trying to convey. This is not the type of person I'm talking about here.

Here are the type of people that you want to seek out for confirmation.

a) Does this person have a track record of holy obedience to God's word?

b) Does this person have a track record of being still and quiet before God?

c) Does this person have a track record of living in and by the grace and love of God?

d) Is this someone who you find yourself submitted to in a discipling relationship?

e) Is this person coo-coo for cocoa puffs or do they tend to make sense?

Hearing from God is not an exact science and is not completely defined or described by anyone but I hope some of these things do help.

The big thing is...if you are never still you will rarely if ever hear the voice of God.

Like I said before, I don't know Pastor Jones personally so I can not speak to his ability to be still. However, I do know how still or not still I am. Now let me shut up and go listen for a while.