Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – Hearing God’s Voice

Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – Hearing God’s Voice
Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.

Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.

In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.

[Applause]

you know feel free to take your seat you

know in Matthew 17 the three the three

close-knit disciples to Jesus Matthew

James and John and Peter they were they

were with Jesus and they had this

encounter with Jesus where Jesus was

transfigured before them he revealed

some of his glory like took a little bit

of his jacket off so that his glory

shone through and they saw it and in

that holy moment of being in the

presence of God just like we have been

in the presence of God God the Father

burst through the heavens he speaks in

that moment when their eyes were open

and they were stunned and disbelief as

they saw the very glory of Jesus Christ

revealed right before their eyes God the

Father speaks and of all the things he

could have chosen to say in this holy

moment before Peter James and John he

says this is my beloved son listen to

him

he didn’t say talk to him he didn’t say

inquire of him he didn’t even say serve

him he said listen to me yeah and I just

wondered tonight in this holy moment as

he has kind of took a little bit little

bit of its jacket off and we’ve beheld

as glory and the presence of God is here

you know there are those times where you

know God’s presence is there there are

those those other times like we have

tonight where you can feel the presence

of God I’m talking about where the hair

on the back of your neck stands up

anybody else know what I’m talking about

where your physical body responds to the

presence of God in the house and of all

the things that we could do in all the

ways that we could most honor God in a

moment like that it’s to listen to him

to open up our ears and hear what the

Spirit wants to say to the church and so

I believe that in this holy moment

tonight that if we’ll all lean in he’ll

speak to us tonight to his word in fact

I want to talk to you tonight about that

very real discipline in the Cris

can faith and that is opening our

spiritual ears to hear the voice of God

that it’s one of the privileges y’all

that we have in our relationship with

him no other so-called God little G is

alive

anybody that worships any other

so-called God they can go to a museum

and visit his body they can go and see a

statue up on a hill but I’m so glad that

when I was able to visit Israel and I

walk to the place where they believed

his body was laid there’s a sign on the

door that says he is not here he is not

here I can’t tell you how glad I was

that there was nothing for me to see

that our God is alive and he lives so

that we can hear his voice so that we

can have relationship with him so that

when he speaks we as believers can hear

the voice of God and I want you to leave

tonight knowing that not only does he

care about all of the details of your

life the things you’re trying to make

decisions on right now you’re wondering

what’s God’s will for your life I think

the reason why he’s come to us and such

fullness this evening why he’s revealed

a bit of his glory to us is so that more

than anything you will be able to begin

to hear and discern the voice of God in

your regular everyday life so that

somebody’s gonna walk out of here

knowing what God’s will is for their

life Lord Jesus thank you so much for

your word thank you that you have

allowed us the privilege as your

children to hear your voice Lord would

you now through this very simple

practical message would you teach us how

to hear you teach us how to discern

you’re leading in our lives Lord we like

Peter James and John what to see is

glory and then we want to respond in

obedience to your command to listen to

him

in Jesus name all God’s people said amen

I have an older sister Crystal’s my

older sister and she was the first

grandchild on either side of the family

for my grandparents she was the first

grandbaby and so you know how it is

grandparents with the first grandbaby

and so I remember when I was growing up

that my grand

mother on my father’s side would gather

up this big ol box of stuff that she

would get together to send for Crystal

to Crystal for Christmas and so this big

old box of stuff would come it had

crystals name on it was tied with a big

ol bow and I remember being a little

girl and standing off to the side while

crystal would unwrap this box of stuff

and she’d open it up and there’d be all

these beautiful little things that had

been specially hand-picked for her you

know none of this stuff that that you

know skinny jeans or little tennis shoes

uh-huh we’re talking about the big hoop

skirts that little girl used little

girls used to wear with the lace at the

bottom Laura the patent leather shoes

white and black anybody know what I’m

talking about the little shocks with

lace around the bottom of the socks

that’s the stuff that was in this box

for Krystal and IRA and I know what my

grandmother’s intention was her

intention was that she was gonna send

all these clothes in the bigger size and

that all the subsequent 12 children

could wear them as well and so I’d even

dig in with Krystal and I’d pull out all

the stuff from the box and we owe and

all over all of the gifts that had been

specifically chosen in her size and with

her name on it and I celebrated those

gifts

I didn’t mind hand-me-downs because I

knew at some point she was gonna grow

out all that stuff and it would all be

mine but I don’t know what happened but

I must have just been a little bit older

on one occasion because I very clearly

remember that big old box coming with

Crystal’s name on it all that stuff

inside that had been specifically chosen

in her size and with her specifically in

mind and I must have just been a little

bit more mature on that year because I

stood back and I remember I didn’t feel

good about it anymore I remember not

being particularly happy because even

though I knew that I was going to get

the hand-me-downs in the second-hand

clothes all of a sudden for some reason

I had matured enough that that what I

wanted was a box to come specifically

for me I wanted a box with my name on it

I wanted stuff inside that had been

specifically chosen with me in mind

there oughta come a time in our

relationship with Jesus Christ were

hand-me-down revelation about God

spoon-fed to us from somebody else is no

longer enough

where we celebrate the fact that God has

given us leaders and teachers and

speakers that help us to rightly discern

the the Word of God but but there ought

to be an unsettledness in your spirit

where at some point you say you know

what I appreciate God’s general word but

what I want is the box to come with my

name on it I want a specific word

straight from God

for me I want to know what job he wants

me to take I want to know which person

he wants me to marry I want to know what

part of the city he wants me to live on

I want God’s specific word and

revelation for me and the privilege that

you and I have it should not be

handicapped as believers to where we can

only hear God’s Word when somebody else

is spoon feeding it to us but where we

because of the Holy Spirit that lives

individually on the inside of each and

every one of us where our spiritual ears

are open and tuned in to hearing the

voice of God do you understand that the

people that you and I admire in the face

of folks that I so love to listen to

teacher or read their books or I listen

to him on the radio or they feed me

because of their own relationship with

the Lord we’ve got this bad y’all that

some kind of way we’ve begun to put them

up on this pedestal and we feel like

they’ve got a relationship with God that

we’re not privy to anybody ever felt

like that other than me that we just

feel like they’ve got this special

hotline connection with God where

they’re able to get revelation that

we’re not able to have access to but but

do you understand that the same Holy

Spirit that lives in them is the exact

same Holy Spirit that lives on the

inside of you and I God doesn’t play

favorites my friend in fact you are his

favorite and you have the privilege I

have the privilege to hear the voice of

God there is no better passage in

scripture that reminds us about this

privilege that we have to individually

specifically hear the voice of God than

in John chapter 10 in John chapter 10

I’m gonna read to you the first five

verses of John chapter 10 and then I’m

gonna jump down to verse 27 and I’m

gonna camp out in verse 27 because I

just want to share with you four little

simple

principles about hearing the voice of

God because I think if we can inscribe

these on our heart you know we’re gonna

leave out of here knowing beyond a

shadow of a doubt never doubting again

that we can hear God’s leading in our

lives John chapter 10 verse 1 through 5

says this truly truly I say to you he

who does not enter by the door into the

folds of the sheep but climbs up some

other way he is a thief and a robber but

he who enters by the door is the

Shepherd of the sheep to him the

doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his

voice and he calls his own sheep by name

and leads them out verse 4 when he puts

forth all of his own sheep he goes

before them and the Sheep follow him

because they know his voice verse 5 a

stranger they simply will not follow but

they will flee from him because they do

not know the voice of a stranger and

then verse 27 listen to this my sheep

hear my voice I know them and they

follow me listen to that one again

because it’s one line but it’s packed

with a whole bunch of good stuff we’re

gonna dig into for a little while

tonight he says my sheep what they do is

hear my voice I know them I know my

sheep and they follow me

now you and I oftentimes when we read

passages of Scripture like this we can

miss out on some of the the juicy

details that are unwrapped in in of the

specifics of of what Jesus might have

been talking about because oftentimes

Jesus would use terminology and context

that we’re not familiar with he talked

in terms of soil or grapes or wheat or

sheep and we have no context for that

and so if you and I can just step back a

little bit culturally if we can just

figure out what this context of the

sheep and the Shepherd’s relationship

look like back in Jesus’s day then it’s

going to give us insight into exactly

what our relationship looks like with

Jesus Christ

even right now as we’ve discerned his

leading in our lives there are four

things that I will point out to you in

this passage the fact that we are his

sheep that we can hear his voice that he

knows us and that we can follow him

there are four things a relationship a

result of that relationship a reason and

a response to that relationship the

relationship he says my sheep are the

ones who hear my voice in the Middle

Eastern sheep fold in Jesus’s day

shepherding looked a little bit

different like it might then it might

today let’s say there were ten shepherds

each of them could have upwards of 100

sheep in their fold and they would tend

their flock all throughout the day and

then when evening came all ten of these

shepherds would take all of their flocks

to one fold to stay for the night the

sheepfold was a broad vast area of land

and it had a stone wall that went all

the way around to enclose the fold there

was one entrance to the sheepfold one

opening to the sheepfold and it did not

have a gate there was no door it was

just an opening so all ten of these

Shepherds with 100 apiece would take all

of these sheep and would herd them into

the sheepfold and then of the ten

Shepherds nine of them would go back

into the city to stay for the night one

of them would stay behind and he would

become what was called the porter for

the sheepfold in other words he would be

the door of the sheepfold he would

literally lay his body across the

opening of the sheepfold and be the

protector for the 1,000 sheep that were

on the inside he was the gate he was the

door he would lay his body across the

door all across the gate all night long

so as to protect them from from harm and

in the morning the nine Shepherds they

would return to claim their sheep when

they returned that the porter that had

stayed behind for the night he would see

the Shepherd coming from the distance

and he would recognize this Shepherd as

one of the true Shepherd of love these

flocks on the inside and only when he

recognized the Shepherd as a true

Shepherd of one of these flocks he would

remove his body from the opening of the

sheep fold and let that shepherd pass in

and then listen that Shepherd would

stand in the sheepfold

and call his sheep of the 1,000 sheep

that were in the Sheep vote only one

hundred belonged to him he would call

his sheep and his

I knew his voice what mattered was not

whether or not they were black sheep or

white she it didn’t matter whether they

were tall sheep or short sheep it didn’t

matter if they were cheap sheep or

highly priced sheep it didn’t matter if

they congregated with a little bit of

sheep or congregated with a lot of she

all that mattered was who they belong to

I want to ask you a question tonight

right on the onset of the message and

then I’m gonna ask you again at the end

do you belong to the Shepherd if you

want to hear the voice of God you’ve got

to be in a relationship with him and you

do know there is only one way to have a

relationship with God and that is

through Jesus Christ and when you and I

place faith in Jesus Christ we belong to

him we are part of the family of God and

we have the privilege to be able to hear

and respond to the voice of God there

are so many people that are telling us

now in our day and age and in our

culture that there are a myriad of

different ways to have relationship with

God and to hear the voice of God but

there is only one way and it is through

the man Jesus Christ are you one of his

sheep you can be in the sheepfold and

not be one of his there were 900 others

that were also in the four walls of the

fold but there was only a handful of

them that actually had relationship with

the shepherd placing faith in Jesus

Christ is more than just attending

church and being in the four walls it’s

more than just participating in ministry

activities it’s more than just being a

good person all of those things are

honorable

but relationship only comes by placing

faith in Jesus Christ and when you do

you are now his and you have the

privilege to hear the voice of God my

family and I have our own secret

language you and your family do too I

remember when I was growing up in church

maybe you know I sang in the choir the

children’s choir at my church and I

would sit up in the choir and after we

did our little song then we had to sit

up there for the whole rest of the

service you know and we’re sitting

behind the preacher in the announcements

and all the other stuff that was taking

place and we’d start you know chewing

gum and passing notes and pokin each

other and playing around up there and

they in the choir loft

and I remember that my mom she sat 2nd

row middle section the entire time I was

growing up and she didn’t have to say

anything to me I would just look down at

her and she would give me the momma I

anybody have a mama like mine there was

a whole story that unraveled with just

one eye because we have our own little

secret language you have that too with

your spouse your kids you can maybe look

at them from afar and there’s a whole

story that unfolds just with one word or

with one facial expression maybe you and

your girlfriend are you and your friend

y’all y’all were hanging out somewhere

and you’ll have this little inside joke

that happened because of some incident

that occurred while y’all were together

and so now when you rehash that other

people can be around you and you guys

can be laughing and joking and you can

even try to explain it to the people who

are nearby about how it was the reason

why it was so funny and engaging and

they’ll sit there and go oh no I don’t

get it cuz they’re not a part of the

family there’s a secret language there

is an ability to hear the voice of God

that comes when you’re a part of the

family of God in fact Ephesians chapter

2 verse 19 and the amplified bible says

this therefore you are no longer exiled

Outsiders migrants aliens excluded from

the rights of citizens but you now share

citizenship with the Saints God’s own

people consecrated and set apart for

himself you belong to God’s own

household you are part of the family of

God when you place faith in Jesus Christ

you now have access to every single one

of the rights and privileges that come

with being a part of his family it’s a

good deal to be a part of the family of

God you can hear the voice of God Romans

chapter 1 verse 20 tells us that general

revelation is available for every human

being on the face of the earth saved or

unsaved

it says that the invisible attributes of

God are declared through the visible

creation just by looking at the Stars

the moon the Sun the mountains the

horizon the oceans the beauty of all

that has been created you have got to

know there’s got to be a god somewhere

just because the it

visible creation speaks of the glory of

our invisible God right but if you’re

anything like me you want more than

general revelation you’re appreciate

general revelation but what you want are

some details you want to know God’s will

for your life you want him to give you

direction 1st Corinthians 2:14 says that

folks who are not spiritual in other

words folks who are not Christians they

can’t understand this the truths from

God’s Spirit because they’re not in

relationship it says that all that stuff

will sound like complete foolishness to

them hearing God’s voice is impossible

for someone who has not yet been born of

the Spirit into the family of God but

when you’re in relationship with him

my sheep you can hear his voice when I

was growing up we didn’t have we

couldn’t watch a lot of television when

I was growing up we could watch only one

hour of television a week excluding the

weekends during the week the school week

we could only watch one hour of

television it was probably the same hour

of television I’m assuming over here in

New Zealand that you might have been

watching television as well because in

uh in the States on Thursdays from 7 to

8 p.m. a cot The Cosby Show came on and

then a different world do you remember a

different world that yep so those two

programs camp that was the only hour we

could watch television in fact we didn’t

even have access to a lot of television

in our home we had a couple of

televisions but we didn’t have cable we

didn’t have satellite we didn’t have all

the stations even available to us in our

house so I remember when I moved out and

I was on my own and I was getting ready

to get married so I moved into my my

very first real real apartment and the

very first thing that I do did was call

the cable man get over here as fast as

you can and hook up whatever wires

whatever you need to do to get me some

channels up in here

I’ll never forget that also glorious day

when the cable man showed up and he went

into my bedroom he moved my armoire out

from from against the wall he went

behind the television and hooked up all

the wires the cords whatever he attached

to give me access to all the stations

that were available then he put

everything back in place came back from

around the place where he was in the

corner of my room gave me a remote

control and said press the Guide button

I pressed the menu the Guide button and

I watched all these channel options that

were now available to me I was stunned

all of those channels had always been

available to me they were there the

frequency for those stations were all

there I just didn’t have the right hook

up to pick up on them same thing is true

in your relationship with the Lord God

is always speaking my friend the fact

that you can’t hear him doesn’t mean

he’s not speaking it’s me it means you

don’t have the right hook up you’re not

tapped into divine frequency so that

your spirit can pick up on hearing the

voice of God you have spiritual you have

physical senses I have physical senses

we can smell and we can see and we can

hear we can taste we can have physical

senses with which we respond to and

connect with the physical world do you

know you have spiritual senses as well

that you have spiritual eyes and

spiritual ears in fact in the scriptures

when it says he that hath an ear let him

hear what the Spirit says to the church

not referring to physical ears it’s your

spiritual ears it’s the hook-up that you

get the connection that you get when you

place faith in Jesus Christ

once you do that Ephesians chapter 1

verse 13 and 14 says the Holy Spirit

takes up residence on the inside of you

and the Holy Spirit is the hook-up the

Holy Spirit is what allows you to tap in

to divine frequency and hear the voice

of God it’s all in relationship he says

my sheep there’s the relationship

hear my voice there’s the results of the

relationship he says once you’re in

relationship with me you should begin

anticipate the result of our

relationship

he says the default position of anybody

who’s placed faith in Jesus Christ who

has made a decision to be in the family

of God who has then received the Holy

Spirit of God as a gift a sealing gift

of their faith

he says for anybody that’s one of my

sheep you ought to begin to expect the

results of your relationship it’s

automatic it’s the default position of

your relationship with God what his

sheep do is hear his voice it’s what

they do

aw Tozier is one of my favorites to read

and to to just kind of ponder some of

his thoughts and he said the one who

does not expect that God will speak will

discount every single time God does

speak they’ll say it was just their

opinion or it was just a coincidence or

it was just their own idea every single

time God speaks unless you have an

anticipation an eagerness an expectation

that you can hear the voice of God every

single time God shows up in your life

you’re going to discount it or ignore it

or neglect it as something else other

than the voice of God John 10:27 teaches

us that the results of our relationship

is that we oughta know we can hear the

voice of God Deuteronomy 30 he said the

Word of God is not so hard not so

difficult to attain that you’ve got to

send somebody else over the sea to find

it for you were under the earth to find

it for you he says the Word of God it’s

in your own heart it’s right there God’s

voice for the sheep is able to be heard

the results of your relationship is that

you can hear the voice of God when you

become a believer in Jesus Christ the

Holy Spirit is giving you the Holy

Spirit is not a ghost or a wind or a

fire or a dove he’s often symbolized by

those things but that ain’t who he is

the Holy Spirit is the third person of

the Trinity not third because he’s least

in value just third because he’s the

last to be revealed to us in the pages

of Scripture but all of the fullness all

of the glory all of the greatness all of

a grandeur all of the power of God the

Father is in the person of the Holy

Spirit

and if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit lives in you that

means all of the power all of the

greatness all the grandeur all of the

authority of God the Father is on the

inside of you the Holy Spirit takes up

residence inside your human spirit and

all things become new at the core of you

your spirit is brand-spanking-new but

there’s still a problem your spirit is

in your body in your flesh have you ever

experienced the battle between your

flesh and your spirit Romans chapter 7

Paul said the things that I want to do

right I just won’t do right I’m trying

to do right I want to do right but my

hands won’t cooperate with me my seat

won’t cooperate with me my eyes my my

ears my body just seems to be warring

against the Spirit of God with enemy

anybody know that battle other than me

the Holy Spirit takes up residence we’ve

got a brother back there that knows the

battle and if the truth be told don’t we

all we sense this warring on the inside

of us when we know the right thing to do

we joyfully like Paul says concur with

the law of God on the inner man but

there’s a different law that seems to be

at work in the members of our body

here’s the work of the Holy Spirit the

Holy Spirit of God he takes up residence

on the inside of your spirit and then he

begins the sanctification process 2nd

Thessalonians chapter 1:13 says it’s his

job oh this takes such a load off your

shoulders listen it’s his job to conform

you into the image of Christ Jesus let

me tell you what this means it means

that he starts tinkering with your soul

he starts messing with you your soul

your mind your will your emotions your

conscience it’s what you want what you

think how you feel

he gets damp down there on the inside of

you and he doesn’t just regenerate your

spirit he doesn’t just make you

born-again what he starts to do is rest

his mind on your dead rest his hand on

your dead and mind your deaden feelings

you’re dead and conscious he shakes them

awake from their spiritual slumber and

he says come join me in honoring God

so he causes you to want stuff you never

used to want he causes you to think in a

way you never used to think you used to

have ambitions to do that but now all of

a sudden for some reason you have

ambitions to do this you never thought

you would like this but now you do you

never thought you would want this but

now you do you never thought that you

would be with those girlfriends and feel

uncomfortable because of the jokes that

they’re telling the conversations

they’re having you never thought that

you would sit in a movie like that you

used to enjoy these kind of movies but

all of a sudden that movie is bothering

you because the Holy Spirit is on the

inside of you messing with your soul the

Holy Spirit will speak to you and then

he will turn your conscience turn your

mind your will and emotions until it

begins to line up with the voice the

will of God for your life so do you know

why you don’t have to worry about God’s

will because sometimes honestly let’s be

honest we’re afraid for God to actually

tell us what he wants us to do because

when we said Lord I want to do whatever

you want me to do in my life Lord I want

to go wherever you want me to go we

didn’t mean lord send me to the

backwoods of Nairobi Africa that’s not

what we meant mm-hmm we don’t want to go

to Siberia and be a missionary we don’t

like cold weather that’s not where we

want to go so we’re afraid that if we

literally say Lord whatever you want it

will go against our desires and very

often it will because we still live in

the flesh we’re still in a sin-sick

world our flesh will always need to be

conformed into the image of Jesus Christ

we won’t be perfect until we see him

face to face but we can rest upon the

fact that the Holy Spirit is in US and

right now even in this moment my friend

he is working on your soul conforming

your desires to match up with what God

wants with for you Psalm 34 14 he says

you just delight yourself in me and I’m

gonna give you the desires of your heart

that does not mean he’s going to give

you what you want

it means he’s going to actually give you

his desires so that by the time you get

around to praying for what you want

you’re just actually praying back to God

the desires he put in your heart in the

first place

so he can’t help but answer because he’s

given you his own desires this is the

work of the holy spirit to conform you

into his image conform you in this image

a part of your soul and I’m just

spending a few moments here y’all don’t

mind do you

okay a part of your soul is your

conscience every human being has a

conscience your soul is your mind will

emotions and your conscience whether

you’re saved or unsaved you have a

conscience you remember this is what

your momma told you when you were a

little girl or a teenager or a young man

if you go somewhere my mom used to say

to me if you go somewhere you end up

with your friends and you just don’t

feel good about where you are you don’t

have to know why you don’t feel good

about it you don’t have to see anything

wrong with it if something in you just

says this ain’t good call me I’ll come

pick you up that’s what she used to tell

me what she was saying to me is you’ve

got a conscience trust your conscience

here’s the deal though y’all the

conscience is not the voice of God

because your conscience has been

determined the settings of your

conscience have been determined by the

way you were raised by what you were

taught by the influences you had in your

life your conscience could tell you

something is right when the Bible

actually says it’s wrong your conscience

could tell you something is wrong when

the Bible says you have the freedom to

do it so your conscience is not the

voice of God but this is what happens

when the Holy Spirit steps on the inside

of you he used he says to your

conscience come over here and work with

me and helping her to know the voice of

God because that human already knows

what that gut level conscience feels

like you know what your conscience feels

like right when you’ve got that feeling

on the inside of you that goes oh this

ain’t good or yeah I should do this it’s

just that inner feeling you already

knows what know what that feels like

it’s like the microphone that’s on the

inside of you the Holy Spirit grabs the

microphone of your convict conscience

and says all right now let me tell you

what God’s will is for your life so now

your conscience begins to steer you in

the direction of God’s will for your

life John chapter 16 verse 13 it says

when he the spirit of truth comes he

will guide you into all truth

now because your conscience and my

conscience is constantly being

sanctified it’s not perfect thank the

Lord that we have his word because his

word are the ballots the boundaries into

which God’s words specific word to us

will fall he’ll never say anything to

you or me that contradicts the book

we’ll always know whether or not we’re

hearing God because it will fall within

the boundaries of God’s Word to us do

you know what we often wish at least I

do sometimes I read about the Old

Testament you know they had a cloud in

the middle of the day of fire by night

they had donkey speaking and stuff

dreams and visions and prophets all over

the place and sometimes you know that’s

what I want

Lord if you want me to move to that side

of town what I need is for a dove to

descend from the heavens at noon

tomorrow and rest on my shoulder and if

it rests on my left shoulder that I know

you want me to move here but if it rests

on my right shoulder then I know you

want me to go over there Lord I am

waiting on a side can I get one witness

in the house what we think is that the

folks in the Old Testament had it better

than us because they had these physical

visible signs for God’s direction and

while God surely most surely gives clear

visible direction even in our day and

age the mercy of confirmation is what I

call it when he will turn your

circumstances or perform a miracle or do

something visible to a confirm his word

to you we oftentimes desire what the

folks in the Old Testament have but

listen the people in the Old Testament

wish they had what we have the only

reason they needed the signs and wonders

is because they did not have the closed

Canon of Scripture and the indwelling

Holy Spirit that’s why you find the

psalmist praying please don’t take your

spirit from me because in the Old

Testament the Spirit was only given to

individuals for a specific task and if

they sinned or when that task was over

the Spirit of God left them I got good

news for you today my friend that once

you received the Holy Spirit of God

there is nothing that anybody else can

do or that you can do for the spirit of

from your life that’s good news which

means that in our day and age we have

the best possible way to hear the voice

of God we don’t have some second-rate

option we’ve got the best way the the

Spirit of God and the Word of God to

lead us and guide us and so we got a

relationship his sheep and the results

of that relationship is that we ought to

sit on the edge of our seat in

anticipation of the fact that we can

hear the voice of God there’s a

relationship

there’s a result and then there is a

reason for all of us he says my sheep

hear my voice and here’s the reason I

know them now I called up a friend of

mine who works with sheep and cattle cuz

I you know I don’t know if he would tell

by looking at me or not but I’m not

really a sheep and cattle kind of girl

so I called up this guy because he works

with sheep and cattle and you know I

wanted to ask his perspective on some of

these details and I asked him about this

business of knowing the sheep that verse

says I the shepherd know the Sheep so I

wanted to ask him about this very

interesting because he said to me

Priscilla I’ve got a lot of sheep but

the the art the technique of knowing the

sheep has been lost over time because it

used to be in Jesus’s day he told me

that that that they would literally sit

and spend hours upon hours days upon

days weeks upon weeks months and years

just getting to know the sheep and

allowing the Sheikh to get to know them

he says that’s a lost art today because

we don’t we don’t have time for that we

don’t make time for it now we’ve got

helicopters to hurt our sheep we’ve got

sheep dogs we’ve got electric fences we

don’t need to have intimate relationship

anymore in order to get our sheep to do

what we need them to do it’s been a lost

art over time it’s interesting to me

that it’s been a lost art over time

because aren’t you glad that the changes

in time the advances in technology

hasn’t changed our Shepherds desire to

get to know us

I want you to hear me

he knows you in other words you don’t

have to be a Seminary graduate to hear

the voice of God you don’t have to be a

preacher to hear the voice of God

you don’t have to be the worship leader

to hear the voice of God you don’t have

to be biblically astute to hear the

voice of God of course all of those

things are honorable but my friend he

knows you he knows whether you’re just a

fledgling believer or whether you’ve

been walking with the Lord for a long

time he knows how much scripture you’re

actually familiar with and and what

growth level maturity level you’re on in

your relationship with the Lord he knows

if you’re hard-headed like me and he

needs to say a few things several times

in order for you to get that it’s him

speaking he knows you because you’re one

of his sheep and do you know that this

friend of mine told me that the

Shepherd’s in Jesus’s day knew the Sheep

so well I mean if there were 100 of them

he knew them individually so well and

they knew him so personally that he

could change the tone of his call just a

little bit and call one sheep out of the

flock

that’s intimacy the change in times has

not changed our Shepherds desire to get

to know us but if we’re not careful the

change in x is going to change our

desire to get to know him the advances

in modern technology praise the Lord for

them but the busier we are the further

away we get from spending time getting

to know the voice of the Lord getting to

know who he is

a philosopher by the name of San Pasco

said something that I want to read to

you guys he said Christianity started

out in Palestine that’s the land of the

Bible as a fellowship a relationship

then it moved to Greece and became a

philosophy a way you think then it moved

to Rome and became an institution a

place you go then it moved to Europe and

became a culture a way of life then it

moved to the rest of the world and

became an enterprise a business now it’s

just what we do what if we took this

back to what it was meant to be

a relationship he died on the cross of

Calvary shed his blood not to just give

you a ticket to eternity

if he would have just wanted us to be in

heaven with him then that our

relationship would have stopped there

and listened that would have been enough

for us to celebrate the rest of our

lives

goodness gracious the fact that he gave

us a ticket to Eternity would have been

enough for us to worship Him all of our

days but if that might have been enough

for us it wasn’t enough for him he said

oh no I want to be with them every

single day of their lives so I am going

to give them me in the person of the

Holy Spirit so that I can walk with them

and talk with them and have intimate

fellowship with them do you think do you

really think that he loved you enough to

die for you but then doesn’t love you

enough to talk to you how can we say we

have a personal relationship with Jesus

Christ when there’s no communication how

personal can it actually be he died on

the cross because he loved you and

wanted to have a relationship with him

with you he knows you the question is do

you know him

do you know well I’ve got a brother his

name was Anthony his name is Anthony jr.

because my father’s name is Anthony

senior folks call them both Tony

sometimes Tony Evans senior and Tony

Evans jr. my brother looks like my daddy

he walks like my daddy he talks like my

daddy he looks like a little version of

my daddy I have seen my brother use this

to his advantage on many occasions

because I remember when we were in our

teenage years somebody would call the

house for my dad and because he sounded

so much like my dad he answered the

phone and say hello and the person

thought they were talking to Tony Evans

senior and so he would just sit there

and listen and respond and get all the

juicy details until the very end and

then say well hang on let me go get my

daddy for you

all of us really are in ministry and so

we all are on airplanes a lot and in

Dallas our our hub airline is American

Airlines in Dallas and so we have a lot

of particularly my father has a lot of

miles that he’s accumulated on American

Airlines so he’s got like executive

platinum status there are a lot of perks

that comes with and come with that kind

of status on American Airlines so

Anthony jr. walked up to the counter one

day and showed his license I mean it

said Anthony Evans so they pulled up my

father’s file upgraded my brother to

first-class and treated him like royalty

[Applause]

so he’s fooled a lot of people but I

will tell you one person they cannot

fool I have spent my life getting to

know the two Anthony’s so when either

one of them calls me in the first two

seconds of the phone conversation I know

exactly which Anthony I’m talking to and

the reason why I know even though they

sound so similar the reason why I know

is because I’ve spent my life getting to

know what their voice sounds like you

need to know that there is an enemy of

your soul this ain’t a playground y’all

this is a battlefield there is an enemy

that is trying to do everything he can

to deceive you and to cause you to not

know what God’s will is for your life

and the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians

11:14 that he disguises himself like an

angel of light he doesn’t come to you

with a red jumpsuit on in a pitchfork

and say hey it’s me he disguises himself

so that he looks and sounds as close as

he can and his will for you sounds and

looks as close as it can possibly be to

God’s will for you so what we need is

God to help us discern not just between

good and evil we need him to help us

discern between good and almost good

and the way we do that is by leaning in

to the voice of God by getting to know

the way he speaks by getting to know the

way he handled situations just like the

one we’re in right now What did he say

back then to other people what’s his

personality we get that in the

scriptures cuz you know how you have

that friend when she calls you or he

calls you the very fact that it is 6:30

in the morning lets you know that it has

got to be this particular friend because

the only one that would have the nerve

to call you at this ungodly hour has got

to be that friend and when you answer

the phone they don’t have to go into a

big explanation of who they are and

where y’all met and how long you’ve been

in a friendship together you know them

so well that just the way they’re

breathing on the phone lets you know

that it’s them because you’ve spent so

much time getting to know them the more

you know God the more clearly you can

hear God I am and I said this this

morning in Sunday worship services I am

completely stunned completely beyond

myself and beside myself that the god of

the universe wants to get to know me he

cares enough about me to know my

personality and where I am in my life

and the journey that I’m on and the

doubts that I may be having the

difficulties that I’m experiencing and

yet he still chooses to call me his

friend and to have relationship with me

I’m stunned by the fact that he knows me

do you get the fact that he is high and

lifted up but but but he chooses to be

if relationship with us he is the first

and the last the beginning in the end

he’s the keeper of creation and the

creator of all he’s the architect of the

universe and the manager of all time

he always was always is always will be

unmoved unchanged undefeated and never

undone he was bruised but brought even

he was pierced but he’s pain he was

persecuted but brought freedom he was

dead and brings life he has arisen to

bring power and he reigns to bring peace

the world can’t understand him armies

can’t defeat him leaders can’t discount

him and no one can explain him away he’s

liked he has longevity and he is the

Lord he is goodness and kindness and

faithfulness and he is God he is holy

and righteous and powerful and pure his

ways are rights his will unchanging his

word is true and his mind is on us I

can’t believe that a God that great

would have his mind on little old me and

you there’s a relationship my sheep

there’s a result they hear my voice

there’s a reason he says because I know

you and there’s a Riz a response the

response is they follow me they follow

me there’s only one appropriate response

when you hear the voice of God

listen delayed obedience is disobedience

there’s kind of not neutral ground once

you hear the voice of God you’re either

gonna move forward in obedience or

you’re not but any response other than

obedience is an inappropriate response

to the voice of God he does not speak to

be heard he speaks to be obeyed and the

reason why he speaks is because he is

like the control tower when an airplane

takes off the pilot does not just trust

in their own visibility to guide the

plane they have constant connection with

a control tower because the control

tower has the capacity to see way beyond

what it is that the pilot in their

limited scope and limited perspective is

able to see so they stay in contact with

the control tower because the control

tower is able to keep them from

disasters that they don’t even know are

possible because of their narrow view

point when the God speaks to you it’s

because he’s the control tower he sees

stuff your narrow viewpoint my narrow

viewpoint cannot see and when

respond in obedience even though it

doesn’t make sense at the time when you

respond to Nobby D&C you have no idea

the disasters that you’ve circumvented

because you just you just said yes Lord

and responded in obedience to God in

Jesus’s day when the Shepherd calls his

sheep the Sheep didn’t debate with the

shepherd

they didn’t negotiate with the shepherds

they didn’t ignore the shepherd they

just went where he led them why because

they believed that he was a good

shepherd they believe that whatever

pasture he was taking them to was better

off than the one they were in even if

the one they were in still had some

green grass that they could not there

was still some fresh pools of water

there that they could refresh their

thirst on it still looked to them like

this pasture was just fine but if the

Shepherd said let’s go they believe that

where he must be taking them was better

off than where they were so it didn’t

make sense but the Sheep would just

follow because they believed they had a

good shepherd John chapter 10 says he is

your good shepherd the book of Hebrews

takes it a step further than that and

says he ain’t just good he is your great

Shepherd that if you can’t trust any

body else you need to trust the leading

of God in your life no matter how big

the decision is or what you sense God is

telling you to do or how small and

insignificant you think it might be when

God speaks our response is to be

obedient to what it is that God is

telling us to do my sheep hear my voice

I know them and they follow me y’all

remember the late great Michael Jackson

I’m sure y’all don’t try to act holy

y’all know Michael Jackson

I was watching a documentary there have

been so many done on Michael Jackson I

was watching this documentary and the

director of the Billie Jean video y’all

remember Billie Jean the director of the

video was being interviewed about his

direction and production of the Billie

Jean video he they asked him what was it

like to work with Michael and to talk

about different scenes and different

experiences shooting that video and he

said something really interesting he

said there’s a particular scene in the

Billie Jean video where Michael Jackson

is walking up and down and dancing up

and down this pathway and every place

that Michael would step one light up on

the path you remember that the square

would light up every time he stepped on

it he said this was a real interesting

portion of the video to shoot because I

had to pull Z Michael Jackson aside and

say listen like we know you are a great

dancer

we know you can dance all over this

little pathway in fact we know you could

dance all over this entire studio you

are amazing we’ve got it but you need to

know that if you want this video to work

right I have already gone before you and

pre meant certain squares and if you

want this video to look the way we want

it to look then you’re gonna have to

rein in all of your dancing and just

step on the squares where I’ve already

put the lights otherwise all of your

energy all of your efforts are all going

to be wasted because the past will not

light up so many tons in my life and

maybe even in yours we’re expending all

of this effort and energy our gifts our

talents our abilities and we feel

frustrated and overwhelmed because the

path is not lighting up could it be

because we’ve not taken time to turn

aside to the director and say would you

please show me what you have already pre

licked the Bible says he has already

gone before you and prepared good work

so that you might walk in then when you

and I listened to the voice of God then

we have the privilege to know what he’s

already pre licked and then we can use

the gifting of God the talent of God the

energy that God has given each and every

one of us to step on the squares that

he’s gone before us to light up then

we’ll see the illumination of the favor

of God the illumination of the power of

God the presence of God the peace of

God in our path because we took time to

hear the voice of God

my sheep hear my voice I know them and

they follow me

I want you to bow your heads with me

because I asked you a very very

important question at the beginning of

the message and I’m gonna ask it to you

again because we can’t hear a message

like this and and not respond to hear

the voice of God you got to be one of

his sheep and I just wonder if there

might be anybody in the room after we’ve

experienced such a profound encounter

with the presence of God in our worship

and now we have heard him speak to us so

clearly about the privilege that we have

to hear the voice of God I just wonder

if there might be anybody in the room

who has never come into relationship

with God through Jesus Christ you want

more than anything to know God’s

direction his leading in your life you

want more than anything to hear and know

the voice of God in your existence but

you’re not in relationship with him and

you want to fix that right now you don’t

want to go one more day without being

able to have the Holy Spirit so that you

can hear God’s voice if you have never

placed faith in Jesus Christ but you

want to make that decision today while

every head is bowed and eyes are closed

would you just lift your hand and lift

your eyes so that my eyes meet yours and

I know that’s a decision that you need

to make is there anybody is there

anybody that your heart is burning right

now because you know the Lord is asking

you to respond anyone need to receive

Jesus Christ to Saviour tonight we’ll

wait for you this is the best decision

that you will ever make yes ma’am I see

you up there yes anybody else just wave

at me until I see your hand

anybody else need to receive Jesus

Christ as Savior tonight yes I see you

over there sir

yes I see you fantastic so many of you

want to receive Jesus Christ I see you

in the blue right there yes who else

needs to receive Jesus Christ as Savior

and I just wave at me I don’t want to

miss your hands

just 30 more seconds anybody else you

need to receive Jesus Christ as Savior I

see you yes I see you

fantastic anybody else you want to make

a decision to come into relationship

with Jesus Christ you want to be a part

of the family of God it’s the most

important decision you’ll ever make yes

ma’am

yes fantastic who else needs to come

into the family of God yes ma’am yes I

see you who else

wave at me ten more seconds who else

needs to receive Jesus Christ as Savior

in just a couple of minutes I am or a

couple seconds really I’m gonna ask

everybody to stand to their feet and

when I do those of you that waved at me

those of you that raised your hands I

want you don’t even think twice about

this don’t spend too much time talking

yourself out of it as soon as we all

stand to our feet

would you just race down here to the

altar we’re going to pray with you and

for you and we’re going to celebrate the

fact that you have come into the family

of God when I count to three as

everybody would stand 1 2 3 come down to

receive Jesus Christ as Savior Jesus

come on down that’s fantastic this is a

great day to come into the family of God

come on down thank you come on across

God should be embarrassed you come come

on help me to celebrate those that are

coming amen amen

even if you didn’t raise your hand but

you know the Holy Spirit is burning on

the Holy Spirit is the one that causes

you to even want to be in relationship

with God if you’re sensing a bringing in

your heart or an uneasiness and you wish

that I would just stop talking and move

on with the message then it’s you that

needs to come down to receive Jesus

Christ to save you’ve got 10 more

seconds anybody else need to run forward

run forward to become a part of the

family of God tonight

God has never loved anybody as much as

he loves you right now my friend every

single tear that falls from your eyes he

sees every single one of them you need

to know that he knows you he knew you

would be here tonight that this would be

the message he knew today was yo day my

friend and he is celebrating the fact

that today you were placing faith in Him

and when we pray this prayer it’s not

just about just about praying it with

your mouth the Bible says you you you

you pray with your mouth you confess

with your mouth but you believe it in

your heart and when you do you’re part

of the family of God in that instance

the Holy Spirit of God takes up

residence right on the inside of you and

begins the work of conforming you into

the image of Christ Jesus so I’m gonna

pray a prayer would you all just join

together in faith let’s just all prayers

pray this prayer together and a faith

filled atmosphere you all pray this and

believe it in your heart Lord Jesus I am

a sinner in need of a savior so today I

place faith in Jesus Christ as my savior

take up residence in me in the person of

the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus name

Lord I devote these that have come to

you and I pray that their lives will be

brand spanking new laughter today Lord

speak to them so clearly that they will

never doubt again that they are part of

the family of God in Jesus name