Does God speak to you? // HE speaks: Mackenzie's story
/Do you believe that God speaks?
How does He speak to you?
It may be through other people, through scripture, through teaching, through dreams and visions,
through prophetic words from Him or from others, through an audible voice,
or just through being still in His presence.
I don't know that I really knew God "spoke" when I was growing up.
I believed it was possible, because I did believe in His greatness.
But it wasn't until late high school that I really believed His Voice could be so powerful.
I think I thought it was something for "Charasmatic" Christians, or people who went to a certain "spirit-filled" church down the road.
It's not like I didn't think He COULD.
I just hadn't recognized that He DID and DOES.
For me. little ole me.
His Daughter.
I have really been mulling over this for a while now, about sharing this topic on here.
But I think it's the right time. I really feel like someone is going to read this that needs to.
So I am trying to be obedient now in sharing it as He leads.
I truly believe people need to know that God DOES and WILL speak.
And that He most likely HAS spoken to you.
It doesn't matter if you believe in prophecy, dreams and visions, deliverance, healing,
hearing His voice, whatever...
He DOES speak.
And it can look different for everyone, and it may look different for you day in and day out.
I am amazed at the way He speaks to me sometimes.
The way I feel things and just KNOW it is Him, His leading.
The dreams or visions that I have, the promptings I get in my heart that become reality,
the encouragement through my husband, friends, other blogs, or reading Truth.
You know what I love most about the fact the He speaks?
Because, to me, it demonstrates His desire to be near to me.
It shows His love for me that He would whisper secrets only my heart needed to hear.
It conveys His compassion for me when He uses others to encourage me, just when I need it.
It shows His goodness.
I plan to write much more about this in the coming weeks, but for now, I have asked several amazing women to share their personal stories about how God speaks or has spoken to them.
I am seriously so excited about this little "series".
{first up} :)
Mackenzie from Pint-Sized Mama is an incredible Spirit-filled woman
who I am loving getting to know.
I was SO excited when she agreed to share for this little series...
I knew it would be amazing to know how she hears from the Lord.
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My journey in learning to hear God’s voice starts in John 10. This passage has encouraged me that Jesus does speak, and that we CAN hear His voice. In this passage Jesus is telling the story of a good shepherd, who leads and protects his sheep. The sheep know the voice of the shepherd, so they follow only him. John 10:3-4 says “the gatekeeper opens the gate for him [the shepherd], and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” Jesus finishes the story by saying that He is the good shepherd.
I love what this passage communicates - that Jesus knows us “by name”, that He leads us, that He desires to speak to us, and that we can know His voice. This passage also encourages me that hearing from God isn’t something mysterious that only “special” Christians can do. If we put our trust in Jesus, we are His sheep, and His sheep know His voice. This is so grace-filled and exciting to me.
With this passage of scripture in mind, I’d love to share with you how the Lord speaks to me as an individual. I recognize that there are a variety of ways that we can hear from God, but this is how I most often hear from the Lord: through the Bible, through the quietness of my heart, and through dreams.
- Through the Bible: I believe that the Bible is God’s Word and His story of redemption for all of mankind. As I read the pages of this book, He speaks to me about who He is, who I am, and how to love others. I use the Bible as my measuring stick for any of the other ways that God speaks to me.
- In the still, quiet place in my heart: whether it’s during a sermon, a conversation with a friend, or in a silent time of prayer, there’s something that arises in my heart and I feel the need to listen. My heart agrees with whatever is being said and I feel that it’s from the Lord. A pastor friend of mine might call this “knowing it in your knower.” John 14:26 talks about the Holy Spirit reminding us of the words of Jesus. When I hear the Lord in the quietness of my heart, it’s usually a word of encouragement for a friend, a word of correction for myself, or just an agreement that what is being taught/said by another person is the truth, and that I need to listen up.
- Through dreams: This happens less often than the others, but sometimes I wake up from a dream and I just know in my heart that it was from God. I then ask the Lord to reveal to me what the dream means. Most often my dreams are a word of encouragement for a friend or for myself. Either way, I try not to get too “spooky” about the meaning - if I feel at peace about what I think the Lord is telling me through the dream, I assume it’s the correct interpretation.
Again, I run all these things through the truth of the Bible, and through the counsel of people wiser than me.
Thank you Sarah for allowing me to share on your blog, and for being an INCREDIBLE encourager of women.
You are a role model to me of an honest, humble, and Godly woman.
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Thanks friend, you are amazing!
Go get to know this girl if you don't already.
Come back next week for several more sweet friends sharing about
how the Lord speaks to them.
This is gonna be good, y'all.
