Good morning everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Mighty Prevailing Prayer”
Our Bible verse for today: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Don’t let your feelings fool you”
Have you ever heard the audible voice of God? No? Neither have I. In fact, I don’t know anyone who has. God doesn’t typically speak to us audibly. “So then”, you might wonder, “what was Isaiah referring to in Isaiah 30:21 when he told the Jews that their ears would hear a voice behind them saying …” What voice were they supposedly hearing if not the voice of God?
Good question. Personally, I think it was what 1 Kings 19:12 refers to as “the still small voice of God”. Some translations refer to it as “a divine whisper”. But that doesn’t mean audible. The still small voice of God is more of a subtle awareness of thoughts being impressed upon you by the Holy Spirit. It’s the slow dawning of understanding that God is putting His thoughts in your mind. However, it is subtle and it is easily misunderstood. All too often we confuse our feelings with what we believe to be a word from God, and we then go off convinced that we have heard from God when in fact, we have only heard from ourselves.
Over time, as we grow in spiritual maturity and our relationship with God deepens, we can learn to distinguish between our feelings and God speaking to us, but we have to be careful. Our feelings and desires are devious little suckers and they will mislead us if we let them. It’s easy to conclude that because we want something, or because we think something, that something must be from God. Many times, it is not.
The way we guard against that is by utilizing the other methods of hearing from God that we considered in yesterday’s devotional. Don’t just rely on what you think you may be hearing from God in prayer. First, check it against Scripture. Remember, prayer is the primary way we speak to God, but the Bible is the primary way God speaks to us, and God will never lead us to think, do, or say anything that in any way is in conflict with His written Word to us. Also check your understanding by seeking the counsel of other Christians whose judgment and spiritual maturity you trust.
The voice of God is almost never audible to our ears. And that “still small voice” or “divine whisper” is subtle and can easily be confused with our feelings. Don’t let your feelings fool you. Ask God to confirm His word to you in one or two other ways. He does and will speak to us, but we have to understand how He speaks, and then we need to listen in those ways.
God bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 