Do you believe that hearing God is only for the more spiritual ones, the special ones, the called ones? Do you therefore believe only they can receive kingdom assignments? Christina tells her story of being awakened to the truth that she can also hear the voice of our Father God, an ability every believer has from the first day they belong to God (like how a newborn would know his or her mother’s voice). After that awakening, she began to align and renew her mind to this truth and learnt precious keys to hearing from God. That alignment brought her on exciting adventures with God.
From Isaiah 28 to Penang
When God wants to get our attention, He knows exactly how. I vividly remember that day, on 2 June 2016, when I had read Isaiah chapters 26 to 28 as part of my daily Bible reading. The Holy Spirit then prompted me to read Isaiah 28 again. On the next two days, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to read Isaiah 28 again and I began to wonder why. Then, on 4 June 2016, I received a message from a sister-in-Christ who shared that a hailstorm had pelted Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 3 June 2016. In that same message she quoted Isaiah 28. That certainly caught my attention, having read the chapter three times in three consecutive days!
I found myself screaming within my heart, “I know these verses! Lord, what are You saying?” And the Lord spoke, “Decree these verses in the land for a year.” I wasted no time and shared the Lord’s instruction with Nigel, my husband. He sought the Lord and received confirmation that it was the Lord. We obeyed promptly. That began our kingdom assignment in Penang, Malaysia, where we lived for over a year, decreeing His word over “the land”. Hearing the Lord’s voice and obeying Him in this manner did not happen overnight.
“Have You Asked the Lord?”
For years I had believed that hearing from God was only for those who are ‘up there’ spiritually. Statements like, “If you need prayers to find out God’s direction for your life, come up to the altar area” or testimonial statements like, “I am now in a desirable workplace because God had revealed through my pastor that I should take up this job” reinforced this notion. The truth is we can also hear and know the voice of our heavenly Father for ourselves.
I had to learn this truth when I had to choose among four job offers, back in May 2010. I got no closer to a decision after weighing each option thoroughly, so I decided to seek the counsel of a leader who wisely asked me, “Have you asked the Lord?” Somehow that awakened a desperation within me. Locking myself in my room two days later, I told the Lord that I would not leave the room till I had heard from Him. God is merciful! I heard Him and that helped renew my mind regarding hearing God.
That day, I learnt these three precious keys to hearing God:
- Believe that God’s love is perfect.
- Surrender.
- Trust and obey.
Since then, besides the one-year assignment in Malaysia, the Lord has very graciously involved us in many other exciting assignments; from directing us to participate in particular gatherings and going to specific countries to carry out specific activities, to taking up certain jobs, and giving away sums of money.
Humility and Surrender
When we carried out these assignments, we constantly reminded ourselves to guard our hearts from pride and foolishness. The temptation is to think that we are special and therefore deserve these assignments, when it is solely God’s grace and kindness. Instead we are humbled by the honour to co-labour with our amazing King. Walking in alignment with the King, we strive to stay humble and surrendered, moving on kingdom assignments only as we draw power from Him. Keep us humble, Almighty God, that we are mindful never to steal Your glory.
Dear Archippus…
Have you believed in a lie that you are unable to hear His voice because you have felt unworthy? The Bible tells us that His sheep hear His voice. May God set us free from the lie and grant us grace to strengthen us to surrender continually to Him so that He can freely correct, direct and use us. God desires to speak to us. The question is, are we postured to listen to Him? Are we humble to surrender our will to Him?
Henson writes in his book Alignment Check, “If you have been challenged in this aspect of “hearing God’, this is where alignment – and communication lines – needs to be checked. This is absolutely critical, if you think about it. The very first thing that military units are taught to do is to establish communication lines with higher command. It is the only way that instructions can be given and received. How can one receive kingdom assignments if he or she is not in communication with the King?”
When we align ourselves with His kingdom purposes, we will begin to move on kingdom assignments for His glory!
About Christina
Christina is a nature lover (not applicable to leeches) who enjoys only leech-free hikes, laughs easily (hence a great encourager to poor joke-tellers), and aspires to love her God more each day.