Be encouraged and inspired as Priscilla Shirer gives practical tips on how to dive deep into God’s Word and hear His voice in your life! This video was brought to you by TBN Networks®. SUBSCRIBE here and never miss an upload! https://www.youtube.com/c/PraiseTBN/?… WATCH full Praise episodes for free on the TBN app: https://watch.tbn.org/praise
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I know you’ve got a tangled mess all
around you and your family and in the
culture and in your marriage with your
children and on your job and in your
finances and your health and your aging
parents or whatever it is that you’ve
got going on I know it’s a whole big
Tangled mess but if you will just get
back to the one thing you’ll find that
focusing on that one thing
tangles
I want to share with you
what I call
the five P’s of Bible study like the
letter P so you know if you like to take
notes I want you to get the notes out
app on your phone or get a pen or a
pencil I want you to write these five
P’s down these P’s have changed the way
that I relate to God through his word
and I say the word relate specifically
because it’s not just about reading a
book y’all this this just ain’t no book
it’s not just a regular
book filled with pages and papers and
bound by leather it’s so much more than
that this book is alive the holy spirit
makes it so that he shines a spotlight
in the place where we most need to be
fed where we need guidance and Direction
so that God’s present word leaps up off
the page and gives us exactly what we
need for the circumstances that we are
facing right now don’t know regular book
do that this book is alive
and so as we engage in it we can relate
to God through it because he speaks to
us through his word
so
these five peace have transformed my
relationship with the Bible and with the
with God himself and I want to share
them with you because what this means is
that after today on a regular Monday
regular Tuesday
on a regular old Wednesday or Thursday
or Friday or Saturday you’re not sitting
around twiddling your thumbs waiting
until the next time a pastor preaches to
you or a spiritual Mentor helps to give
you opportunity to rightly divide the
word of Truth you thank God for those
Shepherds but you’re not twiddling your
thumbs waiting on them you know that you
can have the privilege to go to God in
his word and hear him for yourself
the first P of Bible study is to
position yourself to hear from God real
simple in fact all five P’s are
position yourself to hear from God
I’m going to say it again
position yourself
to hear from God
there is power
in your positioning in your posture
okay I mean this in a spiritual sense
but I also mean it in a physical sense I
want to tell you about both
when you come to God through his word
that you’re going to meet with him
through the pages of scripture so this
is your own personal quiet time you know
you maybe have just sat up in bed and
you’re going to have 10 or 15 minutes
that you’re spending with the Lord or
you’re going to come out of your room
into the kitchen table maybe in the
quietness of the morning or in the
quietness of the evening when all the
activity in your house has died down
just a little bit you’re going to
position yourself over a portion of
scripture and I’ll tell you in just a
few moments how you can choose a portion
of scripture to dive into but when you
make that commitment to posture yourself
to position yourself I mean that in a
spiritual way meaning the position of
your heart has to be in a perspective
and a frame of reference that is eager
to hear and expects to hear the voice of
God speaking to you it’s A.W tozier a
great Theologian that put it this way
the person that does not expect to hear
God won’t
because every single time God speaks
they’ll just discount it as their own
idea they’ll think that it was just a
coincidence they will attribute it to
anything and anybody else except what it
is God’s breathed word coming to life
through the power of the Holy Spirit to
speak to you to give you guidance and
direction in your own personal life and
so you have to have a heart I have to
have a heart that is filled with
expectation that I am one of the sheep
of God’s fold and I can hear the voice
of God
John chapter 10 Jesus said
my sheep hear my voice listen to that
again he basically says the default
position for anybody who’s a part of the
fold the flock the family of God what my
sheep do
is hear my voice
it’s one of the schemes of the enemy to
get you to think that you need to be
something more be something else have a
different perspective or a different
personality or be someone other than you
are to have excelled in some way to not
have made the mistakes that you’ve made
it’s the scheme of the enemy to get us
to think that we have to be anything
other than a son or daughter to have
this right this privilege to hear God
speaking to us through the word so we
have to pray and say Lord would you
carve away anything in my heart that is
a roadblock that’s keeping me from
having an expectation that in my own
regular quiet time while I’m in my
pajamas or in my jogging suit while I’m
in my house shoes whatever I’m doing and
no matter what I look like I have the
privilege to keep company with you that
you want to cultivate Lord Jesus thank
you a friendship with me that you want
to speak with me that you gave me a love
letter so that I can hear your voice and
know you and know who you are thank you
Lord for that privilege and if my heart
doesn’t expect it would you begin to
mold in me a holy expectation that
desires and anticipates that I have the
privilege to hear the voice of God
posture your heart with expectation
the psalmist put it this way in psalm
27. it’s one of my favorite verses verse
13 and 14. he says I would have
despaired
unless I believed that I would see the
hand of the Lord in the land of the
living did you see that expectation
there he says I would have despaired I
would have been hopeless I would have
been down my countenance would have been
downcast man accept that
I expect that I’m going to see God I
expect that I’m going to hear God so I
can wait patiently on him because I have
an anticipation an expectation that God
is going to come through on my behalf
the prophet habakkuk spoke to this as
well if you look at his little book that
is named after him in the Old Testament
you’ll see that the entire first chapter
of habakkuk is habakkuk calling out to
God mostly him calling out to God and
saying Lord how long are you going to
let this go on he’s looking around him
at the destruction that he is seeing
happening in his culture in his Nation
man if that don’t speak to us right now
I don’t know what is you and I can’t
flip past all that’s happening on our
Twitter feeds our Instagram feeds the
news channels that we’re watching and
not see the vortex of chaos that is
swirling all around us habakkuk knows
exactly how you feel and he calls out to
God and says how long Lord it seems like
you’re just sitting back idly letting
all this go on and so Lord I’m going to
vocalize my concerns to you my cares to
you I’m going to be authentic I’m not
going to hold back and that’s the
privilege we have in relationship with
God he lets us ask our questions voice
our CERN he knows that in our Humanity
we have some worries and some issues and
some fears and he lets us come to hear
him and bear it all
but after habakkuk Bears it all chapter
2. he says now I’m going to climb up on
the Watchtower and I’m going to wait to
see what it is that my king is going to
say to me how God is going to respond to
me do you see that he positions himself
to hear from God
he says I’m going to climb up on a
watchtower back in biblical days there
was a stronghold or a citadel that would
sit at the front of a of a city and it
was designed so that a soldier or a
Watchman could climb up to the top of
this Watchtower position himself above
ground level circumstances in other
words he was saying there’s too much
chaos swirling around down here I’m
going to be distracted if I keep myself
positioned here so I’m going to climb up
on the Watchtower where I’m up above
ground level distractions and I’m going
to position myself here because from
this vantage point I’ll have a clear
view to the Horizon and I expect that
God is coming I have expectation that
there is someone coming who’s going to
deliver an answer for me and so because
of that expectation I’m gonna position
myself in a place and in a posture where
I can hear God where I can see his hand
where I have clear view and there’s
nothing to distract me
position yourself
spiritual expectation and anticipation
but not just spiritually like habakkuk
position yourself physically
do you see that he climbed up somewhere
he went to a place where there was some
silence and some solitude
there’s a whole lot of noise in life
isn’t it
you’ve got your to-do list and I’ve got
mine we’re trying to check the things
off that we got to do on our list when
it comes to our kids and our marriage
and what we’re cooking for dinner
tonight and the demands of the job that
we have and the ministry assignments
that are before us and all of the things
that we have to do that go into the
regular rhythms of a 24-hour day there
are so many ground level circumstances
that aren’t unnecessary they’re critical
we’ve got to keep going from day to day
but there’s got to be a moment of time
where you decide I’m gonna climb up on
the Watchtower and have some space where
there’s silence
and Solitude so that for just a few
moments there is nothing standing in the
way of me seeing the king who is coming
to respond to me of me hearing clearly
what it is that God has to say to me now
this can be difficult I know it because
your house is probably busy like mine is
many of you or you’ve got you know your
phone buzzing and ringing and beeping
and all the things that all of our
devices do so this is going to take some
intentionality on your part it’s going
to take you being proactive it’s going
to take you you know setting your alarm
to get up a little bit early or when
you’re in your car deciding that at this
particular hour because I’m running
errands all the time then I’m going to
turn off talk radio or I’m going to turn
down the music just a little while and
I’m going to use that opportunity while
I’m sitting outside of my kids soccer
practice I’m going to use that as the 10
or 15 minutes or half hour that I’m
going to devote to having some silence
and Solitude pushing aside in my mind’s
eye all of the demands that I have so
that I can have an opportunity to have a
clear perspective on what it is that God
wants to say to me so we position
ourselves not just spiritually in
expectation but we position ourselves by
prioritizing some space
in our life where we can actually have a
clear opportunity more clear opportunity
to hear the voice of God I want to
encourage you before we move on to the
next p of Bible study to know that this
does not mean that you have to have a
specific place in your home that you go
that is just devoted to prayer sometimes
you know we can look at people’s
Instagram feeds and man their quiet time
Looks So Perfect don’t it they’ve got
their little white couch and their
little white coffee cup and everything
is so beautiful and amazing and
immaculate it looks like the most
beautiful photo shoot you have ever seen
in your life that could be discouraging
to regular folk who have you know like
dinner dishes sitting over there from
last night that we didn’t get to or
we’ve got all the toys from all of our
toddlers sitting around it or all the
homework papers from our teenagers that
are still scattered across the kitchen
table from all the online schooling or
we got the laundry sitting over there
every single load that you know we
washed and dried but we dumped it out on
the floor hoping that somebody was going
don’t come folded at some point but
there it still sits still waiting on us
and we look at the chaos of our life and
we think
can I really have quiet time in here can
I really expect God to speak to me in a
space like this the answer is yes
the enemy always wants you to think and
me to think we’ve got to have something
different about our space or different
about our lives in order to actually
meet with God intimately and personally
ourselves but listen if the bathroom is
the only place where you can find some
silence and some Solitude I gotta be
honest with you and tell you that for
many years when my children were younger
I would sit on the edge of the bathtub I
would close the bathroom door I would
lock that door and I would sit there and
that’s where I would have time with the
Lord I have a friend when her children
were young she used to tell me that she
would go into her closet like she made
her actual closet her prayer closet and
she said listen I would sit right under
the blouses where the blouses were with
a flashlight that’s the only space that
I could find to have a little silence
and a little Solitude for many of you
it’s it’s in your car I mean you’re in
your car anyway why not make that car a
sanctuary a place where you can meet
with God because you’re in that car
anyway and you’re buy yourself there why
not make that an opportunity where you
can make that space a Sacred Space to
meet with God
you’ve seen people who are doing that
you know they’re driving down the
freeway and you just see them worshiping
God and you see their hands outstretched
and you see they’re having a whole
prayer meeting a whole church service by
themselves in the car they have made
their car a place that can be a
watchtower where they can meet with God
around his word
position yourself
oh more now than ever brothers and
sisters we’re gonna have to prioritize
positioning ourselves we’re getting a
word from everybody else from the
newscasters from the media from the
politicians from our friends from
opinion makers we’re getting news from
everybody else we’ve got to position
ourselves not just to hear them but
we’ve got to prioritize positioning
ourselves to hear a word from God
so once you position yourself and you’ve
got your Bible or you know you’ve got
your electronic Bible in front of you
and you’re looking at a particular
passage of scripture I want to encourage
you to choose a passage not just you
know one verse here one verse there here
a verse there verse everywhere verse
verse it taking little verses out of
context like that can be incredibly
dangerous but what you can do is take a
whole book of the Bible
started verse one and go all the way
through
took me about two years to go through
the Book of John like this I would take
one verse or two verses a day and I
would make sure that I read right
through so as to not take anything out
of the context not only of the chapter
that it’s in but the book that it is in
because the story that God is telling is
linear meaning not only is every word
and every verse God breathed but the way
it is located in the scriptures is also
God breathed so take a whole book of the
Bible maybe one that stood out to you
recently that your pastor preached from
and it was from the book of Ephesians or
the Book of John or the book of habakkuk
and just decide you’re going to start
right at the beginning
and the second P actually has two P’s in
it I want you to pour over the passage
and paraphrase the major principles
pour over the passage and paraphrase the
major principles when I say poor over
the passage I mean that real
specifically I mean that as in
opposition to scan the passage when I
say poor I mean to meditate on it to
read it not just once but to read it
twice to read it in two or three
different translations so that you can
see different nuances of words that
maybe need to stand out to you in a
different way I mean that you open up
opportunity for you to have space and
time to think through what it would be
like if you were the woman that was
caught in adultery in that passage that
you just read see how it would feel to
have God speak over you Jesus say to you
go and sin no more it means you mull
over it for just a little while
now what this means at least what it
means for me is that if I’m really going
to pour over a passage not just scan it
but meditate on it and think about it
and wait for the Lord to speak to me
through it that means that I can’t do
that with a chapter or two at a time it
means I can’t be more interested in
quantity than I am with just quality
time with God remember it’s not about
finishing this is about you having a
friendship with God so that you can be
in sustained and encouraged and sense
the presence of God in a practical way
not in theory but no a friendship with
God where you feel and know that he is
speaking to you through his words so
most of the time that means one verse or
two verses and I read those two verses
and then I read them again and then I
might underline whatever words seem to
LEAP up off the page then I might look
those words up and I might think through
the scenario that is surrounding them
the context around them for example in
Joshua chapter 1. when Moses has just
died and the children of Israel are now
being led by Joshua into the promised
land God says to Joshua over and over
again be strong and courageous he says
be strong and courageous be strong and
courageous and then he says
be careful not to let the word leave
your mouth but keep it close to your
heart and close to your mind and
meditate on it day and night meditate
means to ponder it meditate actually
means to press your mind upon it to
think through it to evaluate it
do whatever you have to do to spend a
little time not just saying well I read
a verse a day and you know a verse a day
keeps the devil away this ain’t a
checklist
this is you developing a friendship with
God who is longing to speak to you
once I pour over a passage a verse or
two then I’ll paraphrase the major
principles I usually just have a
notebook that’s sitting nearby or I’ve
got the notes app on my phone or however
you want to do it and I just for each
verse write down a sentence or two that
paraphrases exactly what that verse said
now I want you to resist the urge to try
to be deeper to try to make it Rhyme or
sound clever you’re not trying to be
clever you are literally just taking the
words right out of the verse and writing
down a paraphrase of what that verse
says
usually when I get to this point in the
five PS I will close my Bible and I’ll
put it aside and now I’m just sitting
and I’m looking at the paraphrased
rendition of what the verse actually
says that takes me to the third p
pull out the spiritual principles
this is where I prayerfully look at
those paraphrases
and I look to see what spiritual
principles are hidden in the paraphrase
I asked God to show me
is there something he’s revealing about
his character
is there a promise here that I’m
supposed to heed is there a directive
I’m supposed to follow
is there Insight that I’m supposed to
uncover what is it that the verse says
that’s the paraphrase but now I’m asking
what does this verse mean
you will often find that there are
spiritual principles that are hidden you
would not have uncovered this is the way
God begins to speak you won’t uncover it
until you ask yourself what does this
mean
is there a direction that I’m being
given is there something about God’s
character that I’m supposed to believe
and that I’m supposed to trust in
prayerfully pray and ask the holy spirit
this is what the old preachers used to
call illumine the word ask the Holy
Spirit to illumine it and you will find
that there are spiritual principles
tucked there that begin to direct you
and I want to tell you really quickly
here on this third p
I want you to be encouraged to know that
every single time I sit down to have my
quiet time which by the way as much as I
want it to happen every single day
sometimes it doesn’t because you know
life happens
but every time I do sit down I want you
to know that each time it doesn’t mean
that I just find
um God’s word spoken over my life just
leaping up off the page every single
time and it feels vibrant and fresh and
on fire every time no sometimes I’m
reading along and it’s about the
jebusites who were fighting the
hebusites and the amorites and the
Canaanites and the otherites ate those
ice and it just seems like a waste of
time what in the world does this have to
do with my personal life right now the
crisis that I’m facing or God what you
want me to do with what I’m dealing with
my child or my financial situation or my
health or the grief or the longing in my
heart what does this have to do with
that but I find that even Those portions
of scripture
are vital to us because if nothing else
you’re still going to ask yourself
what does this teach me about the
character of God
what did he do what did he not do
what did he say what did he not say what
did he allow what did he not allow
it shows you who your God is and getting
to know his character is what this is
all about a friendship develops intimacy
develops the more we know think about
your regular friends the more you know
that person the more you know the
nuances of who they are and how they
think and what they say and what they
wouldn’t say
then remember in John chapter 10 when
Jesus said the Sheep know my voice he
says they do not respond to the voice of
a stranger the only way to be able to
detect the voice of a stranger is if you
know God well enough that when the enemy
chooses to speak fear over your life or
when your ego tries to get a word in
edgewise or when your pride is trying to
sneak in there or when the opinions of
the culture in the world sound true
the only way you’re gonna know if it
ain’t God is if you’ve come to know his
character so well that you can detect
the voice of a stranger a mile away you
know my God would never say or do that
my brother Anthony is named after my dad
so I got Anthony senior and Anthony Jr
and they walk alike they talk alike
there’s so much alike about the two
Anthonys and I’ve seen my brother use
this to his advantage and kind of fool
people I remember when we were growing
up people would call the house and so
he’d answer the phone people thought
they were talking to Pastor Evans and so
they’d give him the whole story of
whatever they were calling for he’d get
all the juicy details before saying dad
somebody’s on the phone for you
I remember one time he went up to the
ticket counter at American Airlines so
that he could get his ticket to get on
the airplane and he said well my name is
Anthony T Evans and he showed the
license it said that he was Anthony
Evans
so they pulled up my father’s profile
and my father had executive Platinum
Status because he flies so much so
immediately they upgraded Anthony gave
him first class treatment put him in
first class let him eat the meal that
first class gets he got all of that
because he was able to confuse people
because they are so similar to each
other but let me tell you who he can’t
confuse me and other members of the
family if the phone rings in the first
two minutes of the conversation or two
seconds rather of the conversation I’m
having with either Anthony I can tell
you exactly which Anthony I’m talking to
because no matter how similar they sound
I have known them for so many years and
been a part of their life and them a
part of my life in so many specific ways
that they cannot confuse me because I
know the two anthonies
do you see the more you know God
the more clearly and easily you’re going
to be able to put a finger on the voice
of the enemy when he comes by trying to
play you for the fool
so you pull out the spiritual principles
Once you pull out the spiritual
principles here’s the fourth p
ose the question
okay this is where you turn the
spiritual principle you just pulled out
you turn it into the form of a
personally directed question
man this is where the rubber meets the
road this is when the Holy Spirit starts
speaking because you say to yourself am
I living in a way that’s congruent with
that spiritual principle that I just
wrote down am I heeding that promise am
I behaving in that way is my attitude
adjusted to that have i forgiven that
person
have I been committed in my tithes
have I submitted to that Authority
maybe that verse said that I need to be
still and see the salvation of the Lord
have I been still or have I frantically
been trying to figure out everything on
my own Lord what is it that you’re
asking me to do ask yourself a
personally directed question and when
you start asking honest and authentic
questions of the text you will find that
the Holy Spirit starts giving you the
answers
start shining a spotlight on the areas
of your life and mine that I didn’t even
know existed that I need to get right
with God that I need to line up so that
I am in line for the favor and Promises
of God to be experienced in my life so
that I have fresh revelation of God’s
truth so that I can see clearly where in
the culture or in the opinion of my
friends actually that is antithetical to
what it is that God is saying in his
word and listen there are two answers to
every question God’s answer
and everybody else’s
and everybody else is wrong when they
are in contradiction to what it is that
God has said
so as the Holy Spirit starts answering
in your spiral notebook you write down
what it is that he’s been saying in your
notes write down the parts of your life
that are coming to life like the Salman
psalmist said search me o God and know
me
find out if there’s any way in me that
ain’t like you so that I can get back to
being in right relationship with you and
having the opportunity Lord to
experience everything you have for me
and after you pose the question
plan obedience
and pin down a date to obey
now the reason why that’s critical
is because we seem to plan for
everything else except
obeying God
we got a plan for our physical health
we’ve enlisted a trainer we’ve got our
meals planned out for the week
we’ve got a membership at a gym
we plan for our financial security we’ve
got a financial advisor to make sure
that we can retire at the age that we
want to so that we can save the way we
want to
we’ve planned for the project that’s due
at our job to make sure that we are
working incrementally and progressively
to make sure that the segments of the
project are each done well we plan for
everything
accept
honoring God
as God makes clearly what he’s asking
you to do forgive that person or write
that blog post that was on your heart to
write or move forward in starting that
business or stepping out in faith from
the place that you’ve been employed
whatever it is God’s asked you to do
make a plan
I mean on paper
be obedient to God intentionally and
deliberately and then enlist
accountability so that you can have some
people around you this is what church
and family the family of God is all
about put some people around you who
will challenge you and ask you and get
all up in your business and say did you
do what God has asked you to do
make a plan to be obedient to God