How to Hear God’s Voice – Week 1, Day 3 – The Gospel Truth
[Music]
welcome to gospel truth celebrating the
good news of Jesus Christ the coming of
the savior of the world
Emmanuel God with us and now here’s
gospel truth Bible teacher Andrew
Wommack
welcome to our Wednesday’s broadcast of
the gospel truth this week I’ve been
teaching about how to hear God’s voice
and I tell you this is just absolutely
indispensable to living a victorious
Christian life what a blessing that
Almighty God speaks directly to us
personally to us that he’s not just a
you know a distant far-off god but he is
our personal Savior and he will speak to
you personally he will talk to you
everyday and I’ve already shared some
really really important things on my
program yesterday I was encouraging
people to pray with me because I was
using these verses in John chapter 10
where it says his sheep hear his voice
if you are truly born again if you are a
child of God then God speaks to you in a
specific way that he doesn’t speak to
people who don’t know the Lord so I
that’s the point I was making yesterday
and I prayed a prayer with people and
asked them to pray with me and I am I
believe that there was hundreds
thousands who knows hundreds of
thousands of people all over the world
that may have committed their life to
the Lord and I’ve got a book entitled
the new you / Holy Spirit that
specifically teaches what true salvation
is and what the baptism of the Holy
Spirit is and yesterday our phone lines
were closed because of the holidays but
today I want to tell you that if you
call if you prayed with me yesterday and
made that commitment to the Lord I would
like to give you this book on the new
you / Holy Spirit because it is
essential this is just foundational
stuff so we do have our phone lines open
today and you could call in and pray
with the person get assurance of your
salvation and you can get that book as
our gift to you if you are just now
committing your life to the Lord so
going back again to John chapter 10 and
let me just point out a couple of things
in verse three John chapter 10 verse 3
this is Jesus speaking and he says to
him the porter openeth
and the sheep hear his voice and he
calleth his own sheep by name and
leadeth them out and when he put forth
his own sheep he goeth before them and
the Sheep follow him for they know his
voice so one of the points that I’ve
been making is that God is constantly
speaking and that we as born-again
believers and again I stress if you have
never truly committed your life to the
Lord you aren’t going to hear the Lord
you don’t have access to the voice of
the Lord the same as a person who has
committed their life to the Lord now he
still speaks to people who aren’t born
again but it’s differently he basically
is pointing everybody to making this
decision it’s all about have you made
Jesus your personal Lord and if you have
not made that commitment he’s going to
speak to you about receiving your
salvation why would he speak to you
about all these other things you know
Jesus said this what good is it if a man
shall gain the whole world and lose his
own soul God is going to direct you
towards dealing with him and have you
made Jesus your personal Lord so that’s
the first step but once you do that then
God begins to speak to you and the
scripture here says that his sheep those
who have received this salvation and
made Jesus their Lord they hear his
voice and again I know that there’s a
lot of people I deal with primarily
Christians I’m a teacher to the body of
Christ and in our meetings I’m teaching
people who have already made a
commitment of their life to the Lord how
to grow and how to receive from the Lord
and the vast majority of people that I
minister to would sit here and say I
just have trouble here in the voice of
God but this says that you don’t that
God speaks to you so let me start making
some points here one of the reasons that
we struggle to hear the voice is because
the clutter and the clamor
the noise of this world drowns out the
voice of God over in first Kings chapter
19 you see where God spoke to Elijah but
he spoke in a still small voice
you know God is God and God can do
anything he wants to do and there are
examples in scripture where God spoke in
an audible voice there’s an example in
numbers where he spoke through a donkey
and opened up its mouth and a donkey
literally spoke to Balaam God can
Thunder God can do all of these
miraculous things in first Kings chapter
19 there was an earthquake there was a
wind and then there was a fire and these
were dramatic spectacular things but it
says God wasn’t in any of those and the
way that he finally spoke to Elijah was
just in a still small voice the primary
way that God speaks is not through the
spectacular not through an audible voice
not through an open vision he can do all
of those things he has done it I believe
he still does miraculous things like
that but the primary way that God speaks
to us today is just in this still small
voice and it can be drowned out by other
voices around us there are so many
scriptures I’ve mentioned some of these
earlier but in proverbs chapter 4 it
talks about attend unto my words and
that Hebrew word means to prick up the
ears like a mule or like a donkey a deer
you know when they hear a sound their
ears prick up and they can turn those
ears and tune and focus on what they’re
hearing this is the word picture that we
need to tune our hearing towards God God
is speaking constantly but we have to
tune our hearing the sad fact is most of
us are tuned to the voice of this world
we spend more time listening to the
clamor the clutter the voice of the
devil that’s coming through all the
different avenues at us we spend more
time listening to that and we do God and
so the voice of God is drowned out
because of the volume of all of this
world you know I had an instance when
Jamie and I held a meeting in Richmond
Virginia and then afterwards we stayed
around and we went to the Capitol the
United States Capitol in Washington DC
and we were tour
and going around and it just so happened
that this is when Ronald Reagan died and
they had his body lying stating they had
a you know a procession of cars that
came by and we observed all of those
things so we were in Washington DC
during all of that and I remember
walking down the what they call the mall
there in Washington and if you’ve done
that there’s a lot of gravel walks and I
was walking on this gravel and I mean it
was a mile or a mile and a half from
like the Capitol building all the way
down to the Lincoln Memorial and all of
these different things and so I was
walking along there and looking at all
the sites and of course there was people
all around and I remember as I was
walking that I was walking on gravel and
I should have been able to hear my
footsteps but I couldn’t hear a single
footstep and I remember thinking about
that that this is strange I’m walking on
gravel I should be able to hear
everything every time I’m taking a step
but I couldn’t and I just I noted it I
didn’t think a lot about it but I did
note it and I thought this is strange
that I can’t hear me walking on this
gravel and then right after we got
through with that we went and spent a
couple of days in the Shenandoah
National Park that is not far from
Washington DC and I was walking on the
Appalachian Trail and there there was
nobody around it was out in the middle
of nowhere and every footstep that I
took was so loud it was like you could
nearly hear it echoing off of the hills
and things around I mean he was just
amazing the contrast that in Washington
DC I was walking on gravel and I
couldn’t hear a single thing then when I
walked on the Appalachian Trail which
was also gravel and sticks and dirt and
stuff like that I could hear every
single footstep and the Lord just spoke
to me and he says you know what your
footsteps when you were walking on that
gravel in Washington DC was just as loud
but the difference is there was so much
ambient noise out here there was people
talking there was other people walking
around there were planes flying overhead
there was traffic going by and there was
all of this other noise it just dry
two out these footsteps but I was making
noise when I walked on the lake gravel
the same as I was when on the
Appalachian Trail the difference was it
was just drowned out in Washington DC
but when I got out there by myself and
there was no other noises around I could
hear things that I couldn’t hear before
and I used that to illustrate that God
is speaking to every single person if
you are born again you are his sheep and
God is speaking to you and you do hear
his voice but it’s just drowned out by
so much stuff that goes on in our life
well that is a huge statement right
there and I don’t think that most people
are aware of this the lifestyle that we
live today is not conducive to hearing
the voice of God you know there was this
man named sadhu sundar Singh sadhu is
the name for a holy man in India so this
guy’s name was actually sundar Singh and
I read a book about him forty something
years ago and this man he lived back I
guess he was probably born in the 1800s
but he lived in the early 1900s and in
India he was just famous he saw multiple
people raised from the dead in one day
this guy saw tremendous things happen
and he was famous in India and so
because of that they set up meetings in
the United States and he had to take a
ship over this is before they flew and I
think it was in 1910 he came over by
ship to the United States took I don’t
know 20 or 30 days to make that trip
across and so because it was such a long
trip he had a year’s worth of speaking
engagements lined up in the United
States
he got off of the boat in New York City
walked around in New York City for about
30 minutes and he got back on the boat
and went back to India cancelled all of
his meetings and the reason was he says
these people their lifestyle they can’t
hear from God these people are too busy
and this was in 1910 think of what he
would have thought if he did this in
2016 2017 you know what our lifestyle
it’s just like I was talking about all
of this noise that surround us keeps us
from hearing our footstep all of the
stuff that’s coming at us it hinders us
hearing the voice of the Lord you know
the scripture says in Psalms 46:10 be
still and know that I am God and I
believe that you could actually say be
still and you will hear the voice of God
and this isn’t talking about just being
motionless but it’s talking about that
we need to quiet ourselves we need to
unplug you know I travel a lot I’m
around a lot of people in airports and
things like this and I mean literally I
have looked around and been able to see
50 or 60 people in an area and look in
every single person has their phone out
has their iPad out they’re doing
something did you know that they’re the
lifestyle that most people live today
they just are never unplugged I’ve
actually been on trips and people say
that you know we were overseas and they
got a call in the middle of the night
because people didn’t know that they
were overseas and that there was a time
difference and so they got woke up and
it disrupted their sleep and stuff and I
tell them I said you know my phone has
on and off switch and I turn the thing
off but there are some people that never
turn your phone off they are just slaves
to it I see people that will be eating
lunch or supper with somebody and they
get phone calls and they get text and
they’re just sitting there on the phone
there’s people sitting there eating and
both of them are on the phone and they
aren’t even talking to each other
they’re doing something else again I’m
not one of these that says that you know
we ought to throw our phones away man
it’s a convenience I use it to a degree
but you cannot become slaves to all of
the different things that are coming at
us today did you know previous
generations they didn’t have access to
the news the way that we do today we
hear if there’s a shooting if there
a bombing if there’s something that
happens on the opposite side of the
world we hear about it in real time live
pictures and we are just inundated with
information and it can harden your heart
towards God in mark chapter 4 it talks
about that the cares of this life the
deceitfulness of riches the lust of
other things enters in and it chokes the
word and today I believe that this
generation of Christians is more plugged
into the world than any group of
Christians that have ever lived and I
tell you this world is not reflecting
the godly values of God it’s it’s
speaking things that are contrary to God
there is hatred there’s bitterness they
focus on the negative there is depress
and depression and discouragement you
know I just had one of my students in
the Bible school come up to me yesterday
and she told me that she was fighting
depression and what’s wrong and I said
well you’re focused on something besides
what the Word of God says and I had a
class to teach and I didn’t really have
time to talk to her I just gave her that
little bit and I said something has
gained your attention and it’s taking
your attention off of the things of God
and your thinking about the things of
the world
so anyway during the next break she came
up and she had been thinking about what
I said and her husband had died so she
was a widow and she was going through a
store and she saw some albums music
albums and there was a song that her and
her husband used to sing a long time ago
and it reminded her of her husband so
she bought that album and for the last
week she had been listening to this
album that had one of her favorite songs
on there but overall you know most of it
was about these love songs and talking
about love being rejected and it was sad
and you know this person left me and all
this and she realized that through this
she had taken her attention off of the
Lord and she had got to thinking about
all of this junk and all of this you
know this country in western music
it’s all about you know leaving your
mate losing this falling off the
barstool your truck goes
way your dog bicha I mean it’s just all
this terrible sad stuff and she had been
focused on that stuff and it caused
depression and we are just inundated
there’s people that can’t when they’re
at home they always that leave the
television set on even if they aren’t
watching it they just can’t be still
they can’t be quiet the scripture
specifically says in Psalms 46:10 be
still and know that I am God if you
aren’t still and this isn’t talking
about just motionless but if you don’t
unplug if you don’t somehow or another
turn off things and give God an
opportunity to speak without all of the
volume of this world and all of these
other things coming at you
it’ll drowned out this still small voice
of God you know there was a time that I
woke up this has been a number of years
ago but in my sleep I just had this
banner come across that said Psalms
46:10 this huge banner and it just had
that scripture reference on it I’ve
quoted Psalms 46:10 hundreds thousands
of times but in my dream I just couldn’t
for the life of me remember what Psalms
46:10 said so when I got it up I mean I
went straight in I looked up some 46:10
which says be still and know that I am
God and I just felt like God was
speaking that to me specifically and
that was a day that I was going to be
able to be at home I had other things
planned that I was going to do but Jamie
she went into town she was doing
shopping and stuff I was home by myself
and I just decided that I was going to
make a deliberate attempt to be still
and again I don’t think that that’s just
talking about not moving but he’s
talking about stealing your heart not
being occupied with all of these other
things and I just I went out and sat on
our deck it was in the summer and I sat
in this chair and just to be sure I
wanted to be still physically I didn’t
move I just sat there and I think i sat
there for an hour and a half or two
hours and I didn’t even move all I did
was just breathe but I never moved I
just sat there and there
a lot of things that happen but you know
one of the things that happened was I
became aware of things that typically I
would miss when you’re busy and you’re
walking and you’re doing things and
you’ve got something to do
did you know I didn’t notice some of the
things I’ve noticed that there were
Chipmunks at our house I mean we must
had two or three dozen Chipmunks that
were just constantly going everywhere
I noticed Birds I heard Birds I could
hear the wind blowing in the tree that
you know I’m sure that it happens that
way all of the time but I just missed it
because I was busy and I didn’t focus on
those things I was so still that I had a
deer walk up not more than a foot or two
from me and I was downwind from this
deer so I guess it didn’t see me deer
have poor eyesight and this deer saw me
but I was so stationary it came up and I
mean it nearly put its nose to my nose
and because I was just so still and I
noticed the deer I noticed ants I
noticed all kinds of stuff and you know
all of that stuff was there constantly
but when I’m busy I just don’t notice it
in my point in giving that illustration
is to say that God is with us constantly
if you are his sheep you hear his voice
God is speaking constantly but we
drowned out the voice of God by being so
involved in everything else you know
today people love to talk about being
multitaskers if you ask the average
person how are you oh I’m busy and I
mean they just it seems like that that
is a badge of honor that man I can do
all of these things at the same time I’m
so busy I’m doing all of this I’m
working I’m taking my kids to all of
these practices we do this we go
constantly and we brag about it but did
you know it’s really hurtful to hearing
the voice of God if you are going to
truly hear the voice of God I’m just
getting started in this series but you
know already I’ve identified some
serious problems and one of them is that
we just are so busy that we don’t give
time to God to speak to us you know in
generations past they didn’t have to 300
television stations that they could
watch they would occupy their attention
they didn’t have phones that they carry
it in their pockets they couldn’t get
text they couldn’t be on it just looking
at YouTube and looking at the newest
thing going they didn’t have something
that occupied him there was times that
people would work hard they’d come home
and they’d eaten they had sit on the
porch and they just look out and they
would notice you know what was going on
around them they would get to thinking
about what’s my life all about they had
this time where they were still and they
heard the voice of God I’m telling you
our modern lifestyle this man sad to
sundar Singh that I was talking about if
he was to come to the United States
today I believe he had turn around and
go back again because you know what it’s
we’re just too busy you hear the voice
of God so I hadn’t actually got into
talking about the nuts and the bolts of
this yet but already I’ve uncovered a
major problem and I’m telling you as I’m
speaking to you I’m speaking to myself I
get too busy and I’m not busy with the
things of this world it’s not that I’m
plugged in to the internet and all these
kind of things and I spent I don’t spend
a lot of time on the internet and all
this I get reports and I get emails for
my assistant things like this but I
don’t spend any time on there compared
to most people I’ve heard that the
average person spends multiple hours a
day on their phone doing all of these
kind of things I don’t do that and yet
I’m still too busy and I’m doing so much
stuff that it’s not unusual like this
morning I got up at five o’clock I’ll be
going until five or six this I’ll work
12 or 15 hours today and then I’ll go
home and I’ll do certain things and I
mean it’s just I’m busy I’m too busy and
I’m praying and asking God to give me
wisdom how I could slow down how I could
spend more time every time I take time
and just you know spend the day fasting
and praying or unplug and I just focus
my attention on the Lord
I mean without exception God speaks
something to me
he gives me new direction he shows me
something that I need to fix that I need
to do and it makes me wonder why I don’t
do this more often
but the truth is that we just get busy
and we drowned out the voice of God with
all the other voices that are vying for
our attention competing for our
attention so as we talk about how to
hear God’s voice you need to recognize
if you are born again God is constantly
speaking it’s not God who’s not speaking
it’s us who haven’t attended to his
voice
we haven’t tuned our hearing to him and
it’s because we’re letting this world
drown out the voice of God so I’m going
to continue to teach on this tomorrow
and I encourage you to please get the
materials we have this series that I
taught 16 years ago but I’ve updated it
this is a brand new teaching on how to
hear God’s voice and I tell you this is
just foundational this is bottom line
you need to get this God has things to
say to you that you’re missing and I
believe that this would help you
[Music]
you