John Bevere - Is That God Speaking? (How to Hear God)
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Welcome to another lesson on hearing God, and I’m so excited about this lesson because I’m going to talk to you about the practicals, and I’m going to share experiences I’ve had to enter the presence of God. This course is all about, number one, experiencing His presence and, number two, hearing His voice. The very first scripture I want to open this lesson with is one of my favorites from the New Testament, and that is James 4:8. James says, «Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.»
Now look at those words very carefully. Who draws first, us or Him? Yes, you’re right; we are the ones who draw first. I think there are a lot of Christians who have this concept that certain Christians, usually prominent leaders in Christianity, were born with stars over their cribs. You know, people like Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Dr. Cho, and Mother Teresa; these people have a special connection with God. No, these people are close because they’ve chosen to be close. In fact, let me say this: some of the people that have the closest walk with God that I have met personally are individuals you won’t see behind a pulpit preaching to large crowds. These are people who have chosen to draw near, and when you think about it, God is more passionate about being close to you than you are about being close to Him.
James 4:5 states, «The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously.» Now that word «yearns» is not a term we use a lot today; I don’t see many Millennials walking around saying, «Man, I’m yearning for this.» That word means to long for intensely and consistently. I love the word «consistently» because, you know, Lisa and I have been married for 37 years, and there is not a human being on the planet I love more than my wife; she’s my very best friend. But can I tell you something?
I have woken Lisa up at 2:00 in the morning, and she wasn’t yearning for me. There have been mornings before she’s had her espresso that she wasn’t yearning to talk to me. But if you look at the Holy Spirit, I have woken up in the middle of the night, and He is yearning to spend time with me. It is amazing how much He desires us, and when I think about God yearning or longing for us intensely, let’s go back to the word «consistently.» I think about what David said in Psalm 139:16. David said, «Lord, when I consider the thoughts that You have about me personally,» this is not about the church collectively; this is me as an individual. He said, «If I were able to number those thoughts, they would outnumber every grain of sand on this planet.»
Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now, how many of you know there are people that exaggerate, right? I mean, we hear it all the time. If you have a friend who is a fisherman, he might say, «Man, I caught a fish this big,» when it was really this big. What did he do? He exaggerated the size, right? So let’s be honest: that’s lying. We may call it a white lie, but it’s still lying. How many of you know that God cannot lie? If God were ever to lie, He would have to come under the father of lies, who is Satan, and that’s never going to happen.
So when God says His thoughts about you outnumber the grains of sand on this planet, let’s talk a little further about that. Scientists tell us that there are 18 billion grains of sand in one cubic square foot of beach. Eighteen billion! Do you understand that if you added up all the thoughts I’ve had about Lisa in the last 37 years, I wouldn’t even fill a shoebox full of sand? Do you understand how much God is thinking about you? And how many of you know that God does not think about people He doesn’t want to be close to? None of us think about people we don’t want to be close to. The one who fills my thoughts more than anyone else is my wife, Lisa; why? Because I want to be close to Lisa. God is truly desiring you. That’s number one. You’ve got to know that when you come into the presence of God, don’t come cowering, don’t come sheepishly, don’t come thinking, «What if He’s in a bad mood today?» He’s never in a bad mood when it comes to His children.
Now, there is a foundation we have to have in our lives, and it doesn’t matter how much God wants to be close to us or how much we want to be close to Him; if we don’t have this foundation, we can’t be close to Him. That foundation I want to introduce comes from Psalm 89:7. The psalmist says, «God is to be greatly feared in the assembly of the saints.» Now listen to the second part, as this is what I really want to focus on: «And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.»
Listen to those words: He is to be held in reverence by all those who surround Him. You will never find God in an atmosphere where He is not held with the utmost respect. The very first time I learned this experientially was when I was in Brazil. It was my first trip to Brazil in 1996 for a national conference. I walked into the building, and people were talking during praise and worship, moving around, coming in and out of the building because there were thousands present. I thought this would settle down, but they kept talking during all the praise and worship. The leader got up and began reading scripture, and people were still mumbling, still walking around, fumbling through their purses. I got really upset.
I remember when I got up on the platform, they introduced me to the national conference, and I just stared at the people; I didn’t say a word. You know when you’re the guest speaker at the Friday night national conference and you’re just staring at them? All of a sudden, everybody quieted down and looked at me as if to say, «What are you doing?» It’s almost like you’re supposed to be performing. It was such wisdom the Holy Spirit gave me. When I realized every eye was on me, I said, «I have a question. If you’re talking to someone sitting across the table, and the whole time you’re talking to them, they’re looking around disinterested, whispering to someone beside them, or fumbling through their purse or briefcase, will you continue to talk to them?» They replied, «No.»
I said, «What if every time I came to your house, you opened the door and said, 'Oh, it’s you again! Come on in! '?» They agreed, «I wouldn’t be excited to go to your house.» Then I said, «I’ve been in this auditorium for an hour, and I haven’t felt any tangible presence of God because God will never come into a place that He’s not held with the utmost respect.» After an hour and a half of preaching about reverencing God, the presence of God came into that auditorium that night in such a profound way that 20 years later, when I returned to Goiânia, Brazil, to speak to 12,500 leaders, a man opened the van and said, «Twenty years ago, I was in that meeting, and it changed my life forever, just because of the presence of God.» His presence did not come into that building; it didn’t manifest until we reverenced Him.
So God makes this statement to Aaron and Moses, which is a universal decree. In other words, this will never change; it applies to every created being. It has always been this way and always will be. It’s Leviticus 10:3, and it would be really good for you to get this scripture in your heart. God’s direct words are, «By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy.» Now, I’m going to tell you something: He’s our Father, but He’s also a King. When He came into that Brazil meeting, He came not as Daddy; He came in as King.
I remember last year I was asked to do a conference in Washington, D.C. I spoke, and then General Boykin spoke, and then Vice President Pence spoke. After Vice President Pence spoke, they introduced me to him. When I met Vice President Pence, I didn’t say, «Hey buddy, how are you doing?» I said, «It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Vice President.» I had the utmost respect for his position, and that’s what God is saying. You can come jovial, laughing, dancing, singing, but you’re not coming with a «Hey buddy» attitude. God is God and will always be God, and He must be held in reverence by those who are around Him. This has significantly helped me in my personal prayer time.
I remember years ago, it used to be hard for me to get into the presence of God. I would struggle and struggle, but in my later years, it’s been really simple, and I’ll tell you what happened to make it simple. I’m about to share with you a little secret, a nugget that has transformed my prayer life and made it easy for me to enter the manifest presence. John, you keep talking about presence. Didn’t God say He’d never leave us nor forsake us? Now, you have to understand the Bible talks about two different kinds of His presence. It talks about His omnipresence; that’s where David said, «Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go to the highest mountain, You’re there. If I make my bed in the lowest valley, You’re there.»
That is the presence of God that says, «I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.» But the other presence of God is His manifest presence. Jesus said in John 14, «I will manifest.» The word «manifest» means to bring from the unseen realm into the seen realm, the unheard into the heard, the unknown into the known. It is when God makes Himself real to our senses, and that is a very real part of Christianity. Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not. We don’t live by feelings, but God is not against feelings. He wants us to enjoy the sensation of feeling, hearing, and experiencing Him. Don’t dismiss that or say it has passed away; it is for us today.
I’m going to say it again: Jesus said, «To those who have My commandments and keep them, it is those that I will manifest Myself to.» I want that because Thomas said, «How are You going to manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?» So that’s a very real part of our Christian walk. It was a real struggle; I was having so much trouble getting into the presence of God. I remember one day I didn’t sing; I didn’t pray in English. I just came into my prayer closet one morning, and I thought about how awesome God is. Awesome—full of awe, wonderful—full of wonder. That’s why I’m careful not to use the words «wonderful» or «awesome» for movies or hamburgers or people. Those are two words that the Bible reserves for God alone and anything He does.
I remember one particular morning I went out and thought about how awesome God was. I thought, «Man, He’s my Dad. He measured the universe with the span of His hand from His thumb to His pinky; He weighed the mountains in his scales; He measured every drop of water on the planet in the palm of His hands.» I was like, «Oh my, You’re so awesome!» And all of a sudden, there was His presence! I was like, «Whoa, that’s amazing!» The next morning I tried it again, and it happened again, and the next morning I tried it again, and it happened again. I was like, «Okay, God, I used to struggle getting into Your presence; now it’s so easy.» The Holy Spirit said to me, «What did Jesus teach His disciples when He taught them to pray?» I started reciting the Lord’s Prayer: «Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.» There it is: «Hallowed be Your name.» Jesus taught His disciples the way to enter into the presence of God is through reverence—holy, awesome reverence.
That’s number one. Number two, in order to have a really strong prayer life, you have to realize Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, it is impossible—listen to this word—it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that He is and must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently—not casually, diligently—seek Him. Now, what does «diligently» mean? Does that mean I have to spend four hours a day in prayer? No, it just means you live in a state of wanting to be close to Him. I meet New England Patriot fans, and can I tell you? You just mention football, and they go on about Tom Brady, Edelman, and all these guys. They think about their favorite football team. That’s what we’re talking about here. I may have to do work, I may engage with people, but I’m still aware of His presence, longing for Him, just like I think about Lisa when she’s not around. That’s what it means to diligently seek Him.
But here’s the thing: without faith, it’s impossible to please Him. Anyone who knocks faith or says, «Oh, these people teach too much on faith,» I don’t know about you, but I want to please God. One of my prayers is, «Lord, I want to please You the best a man can.» I can’t please Him without faith; it’s impossible. My experience in ministry was this: I had a bunch of people in a large auditorium at a conference. The Holy Spirit said to me, «Son, why do you just hope?» The word «hope» He was using for me was «maybe.» Not biblical hope; biblical hope is a confident expectation. «Maybe» is how we usually use the word hope. He asked, «Why do you just hope that My presence is going to manifest? I said, `If you draw near to Me, I will draw near to you.` I didn’t say I might draw near; I said I will.» All of a sudden, it exploded in me: «Wow! No more am I going to go into my prayer closet thinking, `I sure hope God shows up.` I hope His presence manifests.»
Oh my goodness! I go in expecting to meet with God. You must have that faith that says, «I know when I call on His name and walk boldly into the throne of grace in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord, and I have cleansed myself with His blood from anything I’ve done to offend my Father, I will enter His presence.» It’s not «I might enter His presence»; it’s «I will enter His presence.» You want to come with honor, with reverence. You want to come in faith.
Now here’s where I really want to focus: prayer is not a monologue; it’s a dialogue. It’s a two-way conversation. I remember when Lisa and I were first married, I woke up every morning at 4:45 and went outside to a remote place to pray. I would pray until 6:00 or 6:30, many times until 7:00, and then get to work by 8:00. I spent 90 minutes every morning. Lisa was hearing from God a little better than I was during those years, and I was a little frustrated one day. I said, «God, I don’t get this. I spend an hour and a half at least every morning outside in my prayer closet in solitude, and my wife prays in the shower, and she’s hearing better from You than I am.» The Lord spoke to me and said, «I would like the other 22 hours of the day.» I was like, «What?»
Then He said, «Suppose Lisa said to you, `John, our time together is every afternoon between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.`? You get up in the morning, try talking to her, but she doesn’t respond. You call her at 10:00 with some really important news, and she says, `Oh honey, it’s 10:00; our time doesn’t begin for another six hours.` You even come home at lunch to tell her this important news, and she says, `Oh honey, our time is at four o’clock; we still have four more hours.` You wait until 4:00, and you’re excited to share your news, but she talks non-stop for two hours until 6:00, then looks at you and says, `It’s been great talking to you; I’ll see you tomorrow.` What kind of relationship would develop from that?» I said, «None.» He said, «You come out here every morning at 5:00 a.m. and talk non-stop until 6:30 a.m., then you basically shut Me off for the next 22 and a half hours that day. I would like all 24 hours.»
He said, «The reason your wife is hearing from Me is that Lisa keeps an open ear for 24 hours a day.» This is what changed my life: I hear from God in the strangest places. Just last night, I woke up at 2:20 in the morning and was listening to the Holy Spirit. I hear Him now while driving; I hear Him now in the shower. Why? Because my ear is turned that way—my inner ear is turned that way. I can be speaking to a group of people; just the other day, I was on a conference call about developing a platform for helping people with their soul health. While we were talking, the Holy Spirit put something in my heart, and I started sharing it with the individual, and it really touched that individual.
So prayer is not a monologue; it’s a dialogue. Now listen, you’ve got to learn how God speaks, okay? We think communication is verbal. I remember one time my son, when he was a teenager, was really struggling, and I said to him, «How many languages do you speak?» He said, «I speak one,» and then he laughed and said, «Two: I speak in tongues and I speak in English.» I said, «Okay, you really speak three languages.» He was confused and said, «What?» I explained, «You speak body language.» I said, «Body language is a very real language, and your body language is not communicating respect to the people I’m introducing you to.»
This is the thing: you’ve got to learn. When I got married to Lisa, I remember we’d be in a group of people, and I wasn’t picking up what she was saying. Now, after 37 years of marriage, I can be in a room with Lisa, and there could be 24 people in the room, and she can give me one look, and I can write three pages on what she just said. She communicated that to me with one look. This is how we’ve got to learn from God. How does He communicate with us? It’s important that we understand that God wants us to learn because He communicates with each of His children in a unique way. For Lisa, He speaks a lot to her in dreams. For me, He speaks to me while I’m reading scripture a lot of the time. For others I’ve met, He’ll speak in a different way.
If you look at when God said this to Moses, He said, «If there’s a prophet among you, I speak to him in visions and dreams, but not so with My servant Moses: I speak face to face.» If you look at Samuel, he’s a young boy, and God speaks, saying, «Samuel, Samuel.» He runs to Eli because the voice of God sounded very much like his pastor, Eli. When Eli said he didn’t speak, Samuel went back to bed. God called him again: «Samuel, Samuel.» He ran to Eli, and Eli goes, «I didn’t speak.» So he went back to bed again, and God called him again.
This time, God didn’t say, «No, Samuel, this is the Lord your God speaking to you.» He didn’t do that because God wanted Samuel to learn how He would speak to him. Let me give you an example. I’m a parent of four sons, and when they were children, if they fell while riding their bike and scraped a knee, I didn’t say, «Oh, never ride that bike again.» I put them back on knowing they might scrape their knee. Why? Because I love them. When they were learning to walk and fell down crying a little, I wouldn’t say, «Okay, you’re going to crawl the rest of your life because I don’t want you to get hurt.» No, I got them back on their feet even though I knew they could fall. Why do I do that? I wanted to see my sons mature.
This is how it is with God. You may think at times, «I’m struggling,» but God just wants you to learn how He talks to you. This is so important. Don’t take that as God rejecting you or not caring about you; that’s ridiculous. The enemy wants you to think that God’s just making you struggle because He doesn’t care. No, He’s saying, «Learn how I uniquely speak to you.» The scripture for this is 1 Thessalonians 5:16: «Rejoice always; pray without ceasing.» Now remember, God spoke to me one day: «Is prayer a monologue or dialogue?» I knew by then it was a dialogue. Of course, He said, «So if I said pray without ceasing, that means I’m willing to speak to you without ceasing.»
So look for how He speaks. Sometimes, He’ll speak to me through nature; sometimes while I’m reading scripture. Sometimes in a dream, although that’s rare. But I’ve learned to recognize it, and one thing I have found is that when He speaks to me, it’s never contrary to this book, the Bible. That’s why it’s essential to know these scriptures, and we’ll dedicate an entire lesson to that, which I am so excited about.
So let’s wrap this up: Number one, set an appointment with God. For me, it’s the morning. I don’t care if it’s just 15 minutes, but I choose the morning. My children will tell you that for all the years they’ve known me, when they walk down the stairs, they see me here in this office. Now you may not be a morning person; you may say, «But my mind is sharper late at night.» Then set it for night. You may say, «I’m a noon-time person because I’ve had my espresso, and I don’t want to wait too long before evening comes.» Set it around noon. To be honest, it would be wonderful to set 15 minutes in the morning, noon, and evening, but let’s start somewhere. Find the time when you know you can keep it and set that appointment for you and God.
Number two, keep your ear turned toward God. Number three, and this is the most important: always keep a reverent heart toward God. He’s not your buddy; He’s God, but He is your Dad, so you’ll work that one out. And number four, make sure you expect Him to manifest Himself to you. Come in faith; it’s so important that you do this. I am so excited about the adventures you and He will go on together, uniquely reserved by Him for you because just as I like unique adventures with my four sons, I do different things with each of them because I know their personalities.
I have a son who doesn’t like to play golf, so I always think, «How can I get into nature?» because he loves to hike. Yet I have another son who loves golf, so that’s my unique experience with him. God wants to have unique experiences with you; you should want the same with Him. I hope you got something out of this.