WE KNOW PEOPLE to varying degrees. For example, we know the people we work with. But we may not know our coworkers as well as some of our friends. We even have friends of varying degrees. But we don’t know our friends as well as we know our spouse.
We get acquainted with people by being around them—by talking to them and spending time with them. My husband and I were married in 1965. Ken was in the army, and we wrote letters to each other for six months before he was discharged. We were married three months after he got back to Texas.
When we were first married, we didn’t know each other like we do now. It took time for our personalities to merge. But being married as long as we have been, we now know what the other one is thinking before we say anything.
Our relationship with our Heavenly Father should be that same way. His thoughts should become our thoughts. We should be able to hear His voice easily because we’ve communed with Him so much.
Why do we need to hear the Father clearly when He talks to us?
GOD ASSIGNMENTS
Daniel 11:32 says, “The people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” The word exploits means “bold or daring feats.”
God has some bold assignments for us. Are you ready to complete yours?
Our Heavenly Father doesn’t expect us to sit in church or at home and do nothing with what He has empowered us to do. We need to get up, get going, and get excited about His assignments!
The Great Commission says believers will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:17–18). Every one of us is in the healing business!
God has some bold assignments for us. Are you ready to complete yours?
GOD’S PLAN FOR YOU
Being in the ministry, my husband and I understand the importance of following God’s plan. But guess what? It’s not just ministers God has plans for. He has something for everyone to do.
Jeremiah 1:5 (MSG) says, “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you: A prophet to the nations—that’s what I had in mind for you.”
God is no respecter of persons. If He had holy plans for Jeremiah, He has holy plans for all His children.
Before we were born, God had plans for us. But how often do we consult Him and ask, “What are Your plans for me?”
What do we do? We create our own plans but never ask God about them. We make decisions because an opportunity looks good. But every good opportunity is not necessarily a God opportunity.
As Ken and I followed the Lord through the years, some things we knew God wanted us to do did not look like good opportunities. But later, when storms hit, we didn’t wonder if we had made a mistake. We knew we were on God’s path and He would bring us through those storms.
Psalm 37:23 (NLT) says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” When we look to God in everything, we grow closer to Him and more sensitive to His instructions. And our lives are happier and stress free.
Many times, people think God cares only about the big things. Do you know that He also wants to help us in the small details?
When I’m out shopping with a long list, I ask God for close parking spots. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked for His help when I’ve misplaced something. The more I concentrated on not being able to find an item, the less I could hear Him tell me where it was. But when I got quiet and prayed, I found what I was looking for! That told me God heard me, He loves me, and He will accommodate me. That’s how you develop a relationship with Him. You work with Him, and He works with you.
HEARING GOD’S VOICE
Years ago, when I was endeavoring to recognize God’s voice, I didn’t want to assume, and I didn’t want to be weird. I would hear people say, “God told me this. God told me that.” But when I listened to them, it didn’t sound to me like something God would say. It sounded more like what they wanted to do.
How do you hear God’s voice? Scripture tells us in First Peter 5:7 to bring our cares to God. And that’s what I do. Every morning, I bring my requests to Him. I say, “Father, I need an answer for this. I need direction on that.”
Usually, God never answers me right away. People often have preconceived ideas about how they want God to answer, so they assume their first inclination is from Him.
I want to be sure I’m hearing from God. So after I pray, I forget about it. Many times, days, weeks, and sometimes months later, something I had never thought of comes to my mind.
God has also answered my prayer with a question. He’s asked, “Have you ever thought about . . . ?” Since I hadn’t thought about that, it was obviously God’s thought, not mine.
When God was dealing with Kenneth E. Hagin, my father-in-law, about something, he would come into my office and say, “I’m thinking that such and such should . . . .” My first instinct would be to make that happen. But he would say, “No, no. I’m just talking it out.”
I came to understand that as Brother Hagin talked something out, the Lord would confirm to him what he should do. Sometimes he “talked it out” three times. Each time what he sensed was a little different. And usually by the third time he knew what God wanted him to do.
God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king. (See 1 Samuel 16:1–13.) Samuel saw seven of them before David came. Why didn’t God tell Samuel that David was the one? It would have saved a lot of time, but it wouldn’t have been operating in faith. And God wants us to live by faith (Rom. 1:17).
I have also learned to follow peace. I don’t make any decision until I have peace in my heart about it.
God deals with His children in different ways. But know that He will speak to you. Forget about what you think the answer should be. Just let God bring it to pass.
Author
Lynette Hagin
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