Creflo Dollar - Accessing The Voice Of God
Now, we're gonna spend the next few weeks talking about the importance of being able to be led by the Holy Spirit, led by the voice of God, and there are many ways that God can lead us, but if there's ever a time we need the leadership of the Holy Spirit, if there's ever a time we need access to the voice of God, it would be today. We need God's voice to guide us where to go, where not to go. We need God's voice to guide us what to do, what not to do. We need God's voice to guide us because, in our attempt to try to hurry up to get back to somethin' that's the norm, God's tryin' to take us in a new direction and down another path.
We have to have access to the voice of God. And so that's what I wanna talk to you about tonight, "Accessing the Voice of God". And when you access the voice of God, I'm talkin' about showing or giving you some tips of how to position yourself or put yourself in a position where you can access the voice of God.
Now, listen, I know that we're under grace, and God can basically choose to let us know things however he wants to let us know things, and he can choose to lead us and guide us in dreams and visions which we'll speak about that soon, but I wanna give you some tips, in other words, maybe make some suggestions to you tonight on some of the things that you can do to position yourself to hear God's voice, and I want you to hear this, at the same time, having heard me say that, as people under grace, God can choose to do things. I may say you need to do this, but then God may say, "Well, you know what? It's fine if you do that, but I'll choose to do this particular thing".
Now, let's begin in Isaiah chapter 30, in verse 21. Isaiah 30:21, he says, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left". Now, look at this in the New Living Translation. Here he says that this is the way of the Lord. He says, "Your ear will hear this". The New Living Translation says, "Your own ear will hear him". Wow, I thank God for that because the Bible says that we're his sheep, and he said, "My sheep hear my voice". And so we have access and permission to be able to hear God's voice. He says, "Your own ears will hear him". He says, "Right behind you a voice will say, 'This is the way you should go,' whether to the right or to the left".
I believe we have access to the voice of God. I believe we have access to the voice of God to direct us which way we need to go. You know, it's important that we understand that God wants to lead us in the way that we should go. He wants to guide our lives, and I believe that the best results in a man's life will be as a result of being led by the Spirit of God. The Bible says we're sons of God. We are led by the Spirit of God, but not many people are still open to being led by God. They wanna be led by their own ambitions. They wanna be led by their own desires, and, yet God knows the best path for us to take. God knows the path that will lead us to green pastures, and he also knows the path that'll lead you to a wreck.
And so I think that this is the perfect time for Christian people especially to understand what they can do to gain access to the voice of God and to have the attitude of where he leads me, then that's where I'm going to follow. And so God is willing to offer directions to as many people, as many people who are willing to be led. And so my question tonight, "Are you willing to be led"? Because that's where I believe it begins. It begins with a willingness to be led. "I want to be led by God". That's where it starts right there. "I want to be led by God," because you're a free moral agent. You can decide, "I don't want his leadership. I'm not seekin' his leadership. I don't care about his leadership," and you may end up in a wreck. But God who knows everything, who knows whether we should go right or left, it's time for us to learn how to access that.
So I believe it requires diligence. I believe it requires a business-like approach. You have to consciously program yourself to hear from God, and like I say it again, you know, God can choose to do it regardless whether or not you do that or not. You know, the Bible says that he'll give more grace to the humble. So obviously, being humble positions you for more grace. And so God's just tryin' to show us how to position ourself for the better.
Now, just as you need to be tuned to a particular frequency in order to pick up a radio signal, you need to be correctly tuned to heaven's frequency in order to hear God's voice of direction. I'm speaking specifically tonight about God's voice of direction, and I believe that this may require us, or maybe we need to get into a place where we have a very definite determination to be in a position to hear from God, and so I think this is very, very important.
So I wanna share with you three things that I think will help you to position yourself to get the voice of direction. I should've called the message this: "A voice of direction". And I believe the first thing we need to do is found in Revelations chapter 4, in 1. This is very, very interesting, and I can testify to this. Revelations chapter 4, in 1, here's the first position I think we need to be in, in order to get the voice of direction. Verse 1, says, "After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said," now watch this, "Come up hither," underline that, "Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter".
Notice, he says, "You reposition yourself, and I'll show you". "Come up hither, and I'll show you". "Get into this position, come towards me, and I will show you". Well, I believe that a climbing up is needed in order to hear from God. A repositioning is needed in order to hear from God. A coming to God, a sanctifying yourself to God, is needed in order to hear. In other words, I don't know where you may be, but where you may be might be a hindrance to you hearin' from God. You might be around a bunch of clutter, around a bunch of stress, around a bunch of drama, around a bunch of division, and God is saying, "Come up hither, and I'll show you some things. Reposition yourself, and I'll show you some things". And so, yeah, I believe this may be also saying, "Come away from all those things keeping you on the ground".
Maybe this is talking about a separation is needed, not a separation from God, but a separation unto God. That separation unto God is needed to hear from God or to receive instructions and directions, either from his Word or either from his voice, but either way, there's a repositioning here. There's a coming up to him. There is a separating yourself unto God, not from God, but separating yourself maybe from all of those distractions, separating yourself from all of the clutter, all of the worry, all of the news. I see what God is saying here. He says, you know, "Get away from all of the things that could be clogging or interfering, if you will, with the signal or the frequency," so a separation unto God.
I remember, years ago, when I felt like I needed to separate unto God to hear some things concerning, you know, the call of God on my life, what God wanted me to do, what God wanted me to preach, and so Taffi and I drove to Kiawah Island's, I'll never forget this, and we went with the sole purpose of, you know, separating ourselves unto God, come up hither, repositioning ourselves to go so we can hear what God wanted us to say. We needed some direction. I know I did. And, man, it didn't take long at all. I mean, I got in there, got on my face, determined I wasn't comin' back until we heard from God, and, man, I heard from him that night. I was probably on my fourth hour of praying, and I heard from the Lord, and I realized that it didn't take but a separation unto him.
And so Galatians 1:15 and 18, look at this. Galatians 1:15-18, this will be pretty important. It shows how Paul spent three years in Arabia, receiving insight and revelation to God. Paul separated hisself unto God, and Galatians 1:15 and 18, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace," Paul said, "to receive his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately," he says, "I conferred not with flesh and blood," 17, "neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and I returned again into Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him 15 days".
So maybe it takes time because, in that time in Arabia, Paul began to understand what he was supposed to preach. He was opposed to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was made plain because he was willin' to come up hither. He was willing to separate hisself unto God. And so a separation unto God is always going to be to your own advantage. You gotta be willin' to go up to get it. You gotta be willing to separate unto him to get it. You really want directions from the Lord? You really want God to begin to direct your path on what you should do, when you should do it, and how you should do it? Then you gotta be willin' to come up hither. You gotta be willin' to separate yourself unto God so that you can begin to do it.
I think one of the most frustrating things you can experience in life is not knowing your purpose, not knowing what you're supposed to do, not knowing the next step you're supposed to make in your life, and I'm telling you, the greatest position for you to be in is in a position where God can begin to lead and to guide you and to get you to the place where you need to be. So that's the first place I believe can really help you in getting direction from God. The second place... now, you know, when I first looked at this and thought about this, I couldn't deny what was in the Scriptures where this is concerned.
So the second adjustment I think needs to be made in your life, listen to this carefully - joy, joy. I believe that you position yourself to get directions from the Lord, based on the level of joy that is in operation in your life. Watch the Scripture. Isaiah chapter 12, and verse 3, and I'll read a few more, but this originally got my attention, Isaiah 12, verse 3. He says, "Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation". "With joy, you can draw water out of the wells of salvation". So if you're not joyful, your access to him may be hindered. Notice, "With joy you withdraw out of the wells of salvation".
I believe with joy you withdraw the directions that are needed in your life to begin to get you to the place where you need to be, and so, if you're not joyful, what's goin' on with your access? Is there a connection between the joyfulness and the gladness that's operating in your life and the directions that you have an opportunity to walk in? So I believe it takes joy to gain access into the mysteries of the kingdom of God. "The joy of the Lord," watch this, "is my strength". See, with joy, you draw revelation. I believe with joy you draw instructions from God. With joy, you draw the voice of direction in your life with the joy of the Lord.
Now, first thing, as I said, is, you know, I began to look at, all right, I don't recall, not many times where I'm just mumbling and complainin' all the time that I heard somethin' from the Lord unless it was "Stop murmuring and complaining," and I'm not necessarily saying that this is the only way or the only time God can reveal some things to ya. I'm just saying that you can, on purpose, begin to focus on that joy level in your life and withdraw some water out of the wells of salvation.
Now look at this in Isaiah chapter 30, verse 29 and 30. He adds a little bit more to this, Isaiah chapter 30, verse 29 and 30. Let's look at this. He says, "You shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty one of Israel, and the Lord"... Look what happens based on how they came. They came with song and joy and gladness. "And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard". Whoa, that got my attention. I notice in verse 29 how they approached, "And then the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, and with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones".
The part that got my attention was they showed up with joy, and God responded with glorious voice. Gladness, and God responded with a glorious voice. When will he cause his glorious voice to be heard? When you come to him with a song and with a gladness of heart. That's pretty convincing to me.
So if there is no gladness of heart, I don't know, maybe is there a temptation to become deaf if there's no gladness of heart, or are you able to potentially hear some directions that'll help you in your life? You know, I believe that happiness is not found. I believe happiness is created, and I think a lot of people in the world are still tryin' to find happiness, and I believe happiness is not found. Happiness is created, and if you're not a happy son of God, you will never be a winning son of God, and there's just something about the attitude. And you've heard the phrase, "Your attitude determines your altitude"? But we've gotta stop looking for happiness, and we've gotta learn how to create that happiness, and I believe that happiness in your life is gonna open you up to be able to have access to the voice of direction, and you'll go into being a winning son of God.
You know, I know a lot of people don't think it really matters to God whether or not you are having gladness and joy, and maybe they don't think it matters that you serve God with gladness of joy, but it does matter. It does matter. Even in the time of the law, there was even a law that was against you coming before God with no joy or no gladness, and I thought, "That's interesting". Well, look at Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 47 through 48, 28:47-48. I'm convinced that I wanna come before God with joy, and I wanna come before God with happiness, and I wanna make sure I have the attitude necessary to receive from him.
Look what he says here in verse 47, 48. He says, "Because thou serveth not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things", did you see that? So even back in the time of the law, it was understood it's important for you to serve the Lord with joyfulness and gladness. Then in verse 48, he says, "Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, in want of all things, and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck," so, "until he have destroyed thee". All because they didn't serve God with the joyfulness and gladness of heart, that they would even put a curse, in the Mosaic law, put a curse on you for not serving God with joyfulness and gladness of heart?
Thank God that we're no longer under the law. Thank God we're no longer under the curse. Thank God we're no longer in a position where, if we don't serve God with joyfulness and gladness, that God, at least, won't curse us. But is there something to serving God with joyfulness and gladness verses serving God with complaining and murmuring? And so this is somethin' we need to consider. You know, I believe that, you know, it's so important for us to destroy whatever causes sorrow around our lives. You need to identify that whatever causes sorrow around your life, you need to destroy it because I believe that those things are out to destroy your destiny. You either destroy the sorrow around your life, or the sorrow will destroy your destiny.
And I know people that are stuck in sorrow, and that sorrow is designed for destruction in your life, and you need to destroy the sorrow in your life because that sorrow is trying to destroy your destiny. It's that important. I believe it's that important. Now, one thing that generates sorrow is remembering the irreparable past that'll generate sorrow. Now, Paul said in the Scriptures, and a couple things, Paul said, "Forgetting the things that are behind". Isaiah said, "Remember not the former things," and Moses said, "Tell them to go forward".
Now, what are these three sayin'? The Bible says, "Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established". Paul said, "Forget about the things that are behind you". Isaiah said, "Remember not the former things," and Moses said, "Tell them to go forward". You see, if you don't free yourself from a failed examination, you'll never be able to pass it. And some of you are still in bondage to those failed examinations of your past, and you need to free yourself from failed examinations, the failed tests, and some people have failed tests, and it's still haunting you. It takes a song to hear a sound from heaven. It takes a good attitude, I believe. It takes that joy and that gladness. I believe it'll open up your ears and position you to hear a voice of direction in your life.
"Blessed are they that hear the joyful sound," I believe. So we've got to sing acceptable songs of praise with gladness of heart, and I believe that, when we do that, when we, you know, lift up our joy level, and when we praise God and we have a gladness of heart, then the sound from heaven will become our heritage. The sound from heaven will become our directions, and we're no longer lost, trying to figure out where to go and what to do and all that kind of stuff.
So I believe when Elijah needed direction, he said, "But now bring me a minstrel". That's 2 Kings chapter 3:15. Wow, he needed directions, and he asked for a musical instrument. What is that all about? You know, David began to exorcise demonic spirits from messin' with Saul. He had an instrument. And so he said, "Bring me the minstrel," 2 Kings 3:15. So the psalmist always heard God's voice. He said, "Seven times do I praise thee". Wow, "Seven times do I praise thee".
There is something about praise and worship. There is something about, you know, playing instruments before God and just sitting there and allowing God to minister to you. Some of my most significant times of anointing and revelation came when I sat down at the piano and was just playing and just praising God for no apparent reason. I don't even know if I was playing particular songs but just praying as the Spirit of God just kind of led my fingers to pray, and I would hear from heaven. I would hear instructions from God. I believe an addiction to praise will open you up to hear God's voice.