Ephesians 3:14-15 King James Version

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Discerning The Voice Of God by: Priscilla Shirer

Day 2: Today my oldest two sons tower over me, both of them nearly six feet tall. Every time I hug them and notice how my head plants firmly against their chests (instead of theirs against mine), I’m reminded how growth is an inevitable indicator of life and health.

The same is true for our spiritual lives. If we’re walking with Christ and our spiritual lives are healthy, we should expect to see growth and changes in perspective simply as a natural progression. Now, I see clearly that the best way to begin a study on hearing God is where I originally ended it.

Hearing Him starts with our commitment to humble obedience. We won’t do it perfectly—we can’t always obey flawlessly—but we must do it purposefully, with ears primed to hear and discern God’s voice.

We’re not likely to hear anything from God until we’ve abandoned our tug of war with Him, between our wills and His. We may struggle to detect one syllable of divine dialogue, much less receive any clarity in discerning what He means, until we’ve first opened the floodgates of surrender so He can start piping the volume through.

Drawing a clear connection between obedience and hearing God is a critical piece of discerning God’s will and His ways.

We’ll quell the resounding voice and conviction of God’s Spirit within us the more we ignore or disregard it. He will not long waste His words on those who aren’t postured to obey. The tender, submissive heart is the one sensitive enough to continually detect God’s leading and to pinpoint the strange, alternative voices of the enemy, fear, and ego that seek to lead us astray.

So I’ve gotta ask you a tough question: Do you intend to obey God, to obey His Word? Do you really want to do His will? Or have you already decided to follow your own way despite what God’s Spirit will say? Be honest. (He already knows your answer.) I’m challenging you to allow the Lord to soften your heart and to become vigilant in laying down your own ambitions, elevating His will above your own. It would be such a waste to engage in all this study together, if in the end, we keep allowing our stubborn old hearts to stand in the way of hearing from Him.

Please tell me you’re not going to do that.

Me either.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.14.21.KJV

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jhn.7.17.KJV

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Psalms 25:14 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.25.14.KJV

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/rom.10.10.KJV

On the authority of the Holy Word
I rise up and take my stand
I’m a blood bought child of the living God
Who is the Great I Am
I’m an heir to all that heaven holds
And no principality
Can ever take away my royal crown
Given on His authority

Once you are a child of God no one can take that away from you. Nothing can separate you from God wants you are His. The only thing that currently separates you from God is SIN. Your unblief in Him. Until that has been reconciled you are forever separated from Him. You decide if you will follow Him or not. You decide that you believe in Him or not. All we can do is plant the seed. Which means we tell you like I am doing we say what He has done for us and changes brought about. None of it matters but your heart and your choice in believing what we say to be true.

Discerning the Voice of God by: Priscilla Shirer

Day 1: My family has enjoyed a long history with the Dallas Cowboys. I was a very young child when their legendary coach, Tom Landry, asked my father—then a young, 30-year-old preacher—to be the team’s first-ever chaplain.

So every now and then as I was growing up, Dad would take me along to some of their football games. I remember walking out onto that vast field at Texas Stadium. From ground level, the turf stretched out in all directions like an enormous green carpet, and the bleachers seemed to extend to the heavens. Mostly, though, I remember Coach Landry. He seemed a giant to me—his trademark fedora perched above kind, thoughtful, smiling eyes, exuding a quiet strength. Everyone honored him.

If anyone else personified Cowboys football, it was Roger Staubach, the quarterback who led the Boys to two Super Bowl championships in the 1970s. That was a little before my time, of course, but I still remember him and his friendship with Coach Landry. They were both Christians, and they appeared to be almost like father and son. But things weren’t always so close between them. Staubach admitted, as a player, he often bristled against submission to his coach’s leadership.

Despite his respect for Landry’s genius in football strategy, Staubach wanted the freedom to call his own plays on the field, to lead the team with his own approach. He thought he knew how best to run the Cowboys offense. His way.

Staubach finally came to the point where he realized he needed to decide. Would he rebel against his coach’s authority? Or would he get on board with the direction his coach wanted him to go? “I faced up to the issue of obedience,” Staubach later said. “Once I learned to obey, there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” Yes, lots of victories.

So there it is. The one word upon which freedom, fulfillment, and victory hinges for all of us.

Will we . . . Obey?

If it seems we’re starting this journey at the wrong end of the action plan, putting the obedience cart before the “hearing God” horse, let me just say what I’ve learned to be true. Facing up to this issue of obedience is the alpha and omega of how we hear from God. Obedience isn’t just one of the keys. It is the key that unlocks all of the blessings God intends for us.

To read more of Discerning the Voice of God, visit LifeWay.com/DiscerningTheVoiceofGod. There you’ll also find teaching videos and other resources from Priscilla Shirer.