Creflo Dollar - How to Hear From God
Let's begin tonight in Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 27, as we deal with what I believe is a vital series concerning hearing from God. Imagine some of the things that you could accomplish because you can hear from God. Imagine some of the traps that you would avoid, if you would hear from God. Imagine some of the decisions that you would make if you could hear from God. Now, the problem is not God. God's speaking, but the issue is are we picking up the transmission? He's saying stuff, but what is it on our part? It's not on his part. It's not, "Oh, God, say something, please say something. I can't hear you". Well, the problem is you can't hear him. You know, it's not he's not talking.
And so, we'll begin tonight, I want to show these two Scriptures, and we'll move on. Proverbs 20 and verse 27, and in Proverbs 20 and verse 27 he says, "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly". So, the spirit of man... now let's go back to the triune part of man. Man is a spirit being. He possesses a soul. He lives in a body. Man does not have a spirit. You don't have a spirit. You are spirit beings. You possess a soul. That's your mind, will, emotions, your thinker, your feeler, your chooser. And you live in a physical body. Now, what this Scripture says is that God is going to use your spirit man just like you and I would use a candle.
Now, just think for a moment. If the power were to go off in the house, and you would get a candle and light that candle, that candle would provide what? Guidance for you. So, likewise, God says, "The way that I am going to provide guidance for you is through your spirit. I'm going to use your spirit and guide you through your spirit". Now, you've gotta understand that your spirit is sealed with the Holy Ghost, praise God, and the Holy Ghost begins to instruct your spirit, and then from your spirit that which the Holy Spirit and your spirit has agreed upon. It comes to your conscience, and your conscious mind is the voice of your spirit. Your conscious mind is the voice of your spirit. So, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. And so, you understand that, and praise God, it'll take you far.
Now go to John chapter 10 and verse 27, John 10:27. Notice what he says here. He says, "My sheep hear my voice". Oh, glory to God. So, if you're born again, you're in the sheepfold, and he says, "My sheep hear my voice," and he says what? "And I know them," and what? "And they follow me". So, now, if you're not hearing God's voice, and he just said, "My sheep hear my voice," then what's the problem? What's the issue here? "My sheep hear my voice". You and I should be hearing God's voice.
Now, before I dig into this a little bit more, I want to do something. I thought about the banking system, and there are certain safeguards that the banking system puts up to be able to protect your money, as far as other people coming and get it. There's certain things you have to do that will safeguard your account. Well, there are some safeguards in hearing from God. In other words, how do you know that you've heard from God? You know, somebody says, "I heard from God". What are some safeguards to protect you from all of those other voices, some safeguards that'll protect you from the voice of the enemy?
So, here are five safeguards to help you know that what I heard, that came from God. All right, five of them. Can you use these? Five of them. Number one, when God speaks, number one, it will go against reasons and rationalizations of the world. When God speaks, it will go against reasons and rationalizations of the world. So, you don't have to be surprised if God is saying something to you and it's going against the reasoning of the world, number one.
Number two, when God speaks, it lines up with the written Word of God. When God speaks, it lines up with the written Word of God. God is never going to say anything to you, and it be totally opposite of what he's allowed to be written in the Word of God. God's written Word and God's rhema Word are the same. So, literally, when you hear something, the next thing you need to be doing is going searching the Scripture and see if you can find it in the Scripture, amen.
Here's number three, here's the third safeguard, the third safeguard. When God speaks, it requires faith. God will never say anything to you that doesn't require faith in order to take possession of it. Everything that God will ever speak is going to require faith. So, if you think for some reason you heard God say something, and you're just gonna sit there, and it's just gonna voila, no. Everything that God speaks requires faith. I mean, when God spoke to me about, you know, this church, it required faith in order to come to pass. Sometimes people miss it 'cause a prophet will come and actually be right on with what he said to you. Well, how do you know? I'mma go check it in the Word. And if it is, it's still gonna require faith on your part to walk it out. So, don't be so quick to say he a false prophet versus saying you a lazy Christian, and you wouldn't walk it out in faith, amen?
Number four, number four, the fourth safeguard. When God speaks, now this is something that really got me years ago, it will require courage. It requires courage. Be strong and of good courage. I mean, to be able to have enough courage to actually step out in your faith and believe it, when God says something to you, it's going to require courage. You've gotta ask yourself, do I have the courage to, you know, put myself in a position to hear what he says and to know that was God? If it requires courage, it came from God. If it requires faith, it came from God. If it lines up with his written word, it came from him. If it goes against reason and rationalization, it came from him.
But here's one of the most important ones. When God speaks, there will be peace. Peace will rule as an umpire. In fact, the Scripture says, "Let peace rule as an umpire in your heart". If you hear something, and it brings confusion, and it brings fear, most likely that did not come from God. It might've come from the back part of your mind, but it didn't come from God because when God speaks there's a peace that's with it. And listen, when God told me to do several things at one time, there still was peace there. Now, I might've had some weird things going on in my head, but I had peace in my heart. How many of you know you can have doubt in your head and faith in your heart? You understand what I'm saying? And so, when God speaks, there's peace. The umpire of peace will be there and call that thing safe, all right?
So, these are things you carry with you, as you begin to learn how to hear from God, and it's vital. It's vital to hear from God. I mean, I don't know if there's been a day that I haven't heard from him in some aspect of something. You know, I was asking the Lord the other day, I said, "you know, God, I'm sitting here reading about Tabitha. And, you know, she died. She was a disciple of yours. And Peter happened to be around, and they went and got Peter, and Peter put everybody out of the room, and he just simply said to Tabitha, you know, 'Wake up,' and she got up. And the Bible said they heard about it and many believed, many believed". And I'm like, "God, you know that's my heart". I said, "I want to do things that'll cause people that don't believe to believe". And I said, "So, here it is, God. There's signs and wonders, and the signs and wonders caused them to believe". And I said, "So, God, tell me what I need to do," watch this, "so that I can do the signs and wonders".
Now, what I really, what I was really saying was, "Show me what I need to do so I can deserve the signs and wonders". And he spoke it to me. You know, he told me two weeks ago, prior to this conversation, he says, "I already told you". And I thought, "Oh, yeah, you did". And what he told me was, "You don't need to look to do something to deserve signs and wonders". He says, "I am the one that's responsible for signs and wonders. You practice in the presence of God, and you're taking my presence with you every, when you show up, I show up, signs and wonders show up". And then he told me, he said, "There are signs and wonders taking place over the stream that you don't even know about". And the next day I went in the office, and there were some testimonies of some signs and wonders that I didn't know.
See, what we need to do is just practice the presence of the Holy Spirit. What we need to do is to get to know him and to fellowship with him and show up with him; and when you show up with him, the signs and wonders will be there, and they'll believe because of who you're with, okay? All right, so real quick, I want to really get this in your heart and really build your faith up, where hearing from God is concerned. So, let's look at some Scriptures in the Old Testament. I want to prove a point. God spoke to man in the Old Testament. Go with me through these Scriptures real quick, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 16 and 17. God spoke to men in the Old Testament.
Now, verse 16, he says, "And the Lord God commanded the man," he commanded the man, watch this, he was saying to the man, here's what, "saying, 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat it: For in the day that thou eateth thereof thou shalt surely die.'" God said that to man. Shouldn't have been no confusion at all in the garden. They're up there talking to the devil. Why are you talking to the devil? God said what he said to man. So, God is speaking to man even here in the book of Genesis. Now, look at Genesis chapter 6, verses 12 through 16. Let's look at Noah.
So, God speaks to man in Genesis 2:16, Genesis 6:12-16. Now, something very specific and interesting about Noah. He didn't talk to Noah in vague impressions. He talked to Noah in specific details. And this is to show you that God can tell you where to go, what time to go, when to go, when to turn, what to do when you get there, amen? You don't have to show up, you know, not knowing what's happening. Look at this, verse 12, "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, 'The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood,'" God's talking to Noah. "Make an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without", he's talking to him.
Go to the next, yeah, we're gonna go to verse 15, "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits," what? "The breadth of it fifty cubits, the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shall thou set in the side thereof; with the lower, second, and third stories shalt thy make it". And you're talking about you heard from the Lord. What did he say? "I don't know". Not only can God speak, you see God speaking here in specific details, in specific details, and you can believe God to speak to you in specific details.
There's some times I'm like, "Well, you know, Lord, I hear you loud and clear, but it's so specific, it's so specific". I'll never forget when I was riding on the plane one time, and the Lord said, "All right, son, keep your emotions together. Something is getting ready to happen with the plane. I'll protect your life". And in three seconds, there it is. I'm already ready to go. Specific details God will begin to speak to you. All right, let's travel a little bit more into Genesis. Genesis 22, let's look at verse 10 through 12 and then verse 15 through 18, Genesis 22:10-12 and then 15-18. See, you've gotta understand, he did not talk to Noah in vague impressions. He spoke to him in specific details. I believe that there's some of you, both here and over the stream, you need to hear from God, and he'll talk to you in specific details.
Verses 10-12 says, "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord", I wish I had time to talk to you. This was not just an angel of the Lord. This was the angel of the Lord, okay? I'm gonna say this, I don't have time to teach on it, but I'll deal with it later, hopefully. This was Jesus before he came to the earth in a physical body. This was the angel of the Lord. That's how he referred to Jesus before he to the body. "In the beginning, let us", he was a part of that "us" in the beginning. "And so the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, 'Abraham, Abraham.' And he said, 'Here I am.' And he said", now, notice now, he's talking, right, "'Here I am.' And he said, 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.'" He's talking to him.
Had he not spoken to him, he would've killed his son. I'm telling you, God will talk to you about daily things that are happening around your life. God will talk to you. "Hey, don't go there". I was on my way to a part of Africa, and I landed in London for a layover, and I went to bed that night, and I heard God. He said, "Do not proceed on this journey. There is danger there". I said, "What"?
This is a real wild story. I don't have time to tell all of it, but we called the guy to see what was going on there. And the phone rang, and then we called him back, and then the guy picked up. Well, no, somebody picked up the phone the first time we called, and it said, "Don't come here," and hung the phone up. And then we called back 'cause, you know, he kind of hung the phone up, and the guy who owned the phone answered the phone. He said, "Hello". And then the guy that was with me said, "Hey, who was that just picked the phone up and was rude like that and hung up on me"? He says, "I don't know what you're talking about". He said, "Well, I just called". "I don't know what you're talking about. The phone was locked up. I just unlocked it 'cause I saw the light going on, and I picked it up, and I answered it". And he told me that, I'm like, "We ain't going nowhere. We ain't going nowhere".
God will speak to you about everyday situations, amen? Look at verse 15 through 18. He says, "And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time". Look at there. "And said, 'By myself have I sworn,' saith the Lord, 'for because thou hast done this thing, and thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessings I will bless you, in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemy,'" verse 18, he says, "'and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.'" You've obeyed my voice. That's the voice of the Jesus before he got his body. Angels don't speak with this kind of authority, amen.
So, Abraham could hear God in crucial times because he had been hearing him all along. He'd been hearing him all along. So, in crucial times, where he's getting ready to kill his son, he could hear. You might need to make sure you learn how to hear from God now. So, when a crucial time comes up, you can hear from him then. Don't wait to try to hear from God in a bad situation, when you've been ignoring him all along. Let's practice hearing from God in our day to day, amen? Look at this, 1 Samuel chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. Love this, 1 Samuel chapter 3, verse 1 through 10. And I'm showing you this because, first of all, I want you to see he's talking to these people in the Old Testament. Oh, my goodness.
1 Samuel chapter 3, verse 1 through 10, "And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision". 2, "And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; And ere the lamp of God went out into the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, 'Here am I.'" Must have been so clear that when he called him, he said, "Here I am". "Samuel". "Here I am". You ever been somewhere and you thought somebody called you? You know, when people tell me, "Did you say something"? You say, "No, that must've been the Lord. You'd better answer". "'Here I am.' And he ran unto Eli, and said, 'Here I am; for thou calleth me.' And he said, 'I called not, I ain't call you, lie down again.' And he went, and he lay down. And the Lord called yet again, 'Samuel.' And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.'" He answered, "I ain't called you". Or "I called not, I called not, my son".
Call upon... I ain't call you. Go on and go back to bed. Lay down. "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, 'Here am I; for thou didst call me.' And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, 'Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth".'" Oh, glory. Now, first of all, I want you to know servants heareth. Servants heareth. "So Samuel went, and he laid down in his place". And then 10, "And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, 'Samuel, Samuel.' Then Samuel answered, 'Speak; for thy servant heareth.'" I mean, how do you deny that God wants to speak to us? And yet, when you say that, it used to be just with unsaved people, but when you say that around saved people, they think something must be wrong with you.
All right? Look at Jeremiah chapter 1, 4 and 5. Jeremiah chapter 1, 4 and 5. God longs to communicate your purpose of your life to you. God wants to talk to you about what you're supposed to do. He wants you, he's not trying to, check it out, He's God; he's not trying to not say what you need to hear. He said this, Jeremiah 1:4-5, he said, "Then the word of the Lord came unto me," Jeremiah, "saying, 'Before I formed thee in the belly'". God is saying this to him. God is speaking this to him. We read the Scripture, but I want you to see it in context. God is talking to Jeremiah. "Before I formed you in the belly I knew thee; before thou cameth forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations". God wants to tell you about the will of God for your life. But you've got to believe, first of all, that he speaks, and he wants to speak to you. Now, here's my point. Now, if God spoke to people in the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant, then under the New Covenant, we should enjoy at least equal privileges. But Hebrews says that we have a better covenant, and we've got a better covenant and can't hear from God?