Stephanie Okafor - Jesu: Hearing & Knowing His Voice

The voice of God is not this luxury. It's not just about let me live life howeveryone I want to live it, and then let my pastor, let this prophet be the one to tell me if I'm in error, if I'm doing good. But it's like no, the voice of God is a necessity to your life. And the fact of the matter is that the Lord is speaking to you, and the problem is that oftentimes we just don't discern his voice. Welcome to plock pod with me, Stephanie Okafort And this is your invitation to return to what matters the most, and that is your relationship with the Lord Jesus. Now, the last time I was with you, we were talking about purpose, how we discover our purpose in Christ. And if you have not watched that episode or listened to it, then I encourage you to do so. But if I was to sum up that episode, I would really look at purpose like this. If you think about a seed, right, a seed has within it the potential for an abundant harvest. But that seed must be planted, and that seed must be connected to the proper source, right because it is the proper source that will sustain its ability to be fruitful. Now, when you read John fifteen, verse four, Jesus said something I love so much. He said, remain in me as I also remain in you. That no branch can beer fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. So listen to this. No branch, you cannot be fruitful by yourself. You must remain in the vine. Neither can you beer fruit unless you remain in me. And so the focus is neither the branch nor the fruit. The focus is being connected to the vine. And one of the things we talked about is that I understand there's this oftentimes this obsession about purpose, but that is looking at it wrong. The focus is not what is my purpose? Am I living my purpose? The focus is your connect and your relationship and your intimacy with Jesus. Because a branch that is connected to the vine, fruit is the outcome. It is the natural outcome for that branch to produce fruit. And so when you are connected faithfully in your walk with the Lord Jesus, the outcome of your life would be the purpose for which you were sent here. And so you know, I do encourage you to listen to that, to watch that, because you don't want to live, you know, in a way that yes, many people could applaud you. You know, it's just like trees. Let's go back to the whole tree analogy. Do you know that there are trees that could look alive, but they're dead, right, they have leaves. From a distance, you will think that, oh my gosh, like, if I get closer to this tree, I'm gonna find so much great fruit. But the tree is actually dead. It's not connected. There's no life in the tree, but it looks alive. And you don't want to be a believer that looks alive but you're dead. You know, in the Book of Revelation, when the Lord began to address churches, there was a church that was actually the dead church, and it was said of that church that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Can you imagine that that you have a reputation of something that the Lord does not recognize in you. And so you don't want to be a person that is applauded for what the world calls success. You don't want to just be applauded for doing, you know, amazing and great things, but yet in the eyes of the Lord Jesus, you are dead. Right, and so purpose, the focus of it should not be about Okay, am I living in this? Am I doing this? Am I connected to Jesus? Am I living a life that is submitted to the Lord Jesus. Am I a disciple? Am I a true follower of him? Because if I do that right, then there are things that He would reveal to me and he would empower me to walk in And so picking up from there, I want to go in to you know, our focus of today's episode, and that is really about hearing and knowing the voice of the Lord, right, Because when we talk about things like purpose, and we talk about, you know, being connected to Lord Jesus, then the question that often comes up is, but how do I know what Jesus requires of me? You know, how do I know how to walk with him? And all these things? And it really bowls down to many feeling as dough they don't hear God's voice or the Lord doesn't talk to them. And the seed of this kind of thinking is what causes a lot of spiritual manipulation in the lives of many people. It's why you would see, you know, people begin to worship their you know, leaders in a spiritual context whether it's a pastor or prophet or whatever, they worship that person as God in their lives because they feel as though, you know, the voice of the Lord is only found in this person, right, But you are creating, you are just think about it this way. You think Jesus will die for you but not talk to you. You know, he didn't die for just your leaders. No one is. There's nothing special about anyone. Really, It's just about people that have yielded to the Lord. And so what you're gonna learn from this episode is that, first of all, the voice of God is not this luxury. It's not just about let me live life however I want to live it. And then you know, let my pastor, let this prophet be the one to tell me if I'm in error, if I'm doing good. But it's like, no, the voice of God is a necessity to your life. And the fact of the matter is that the Lord is speaking to you. And the problem is that oftentimes we just don't discern his voice. And we're gonna unpack all of that today. But you see, I was thinking about this episode, and I was praying about it, and just before the Lord and it reminded me I grew up in Legos, Nigeria, and I'm the last born of my family, the only girl in my family. And so from Legos to London is literally a six hour flight. That's from I live in California. Now that's California to New York, right within the same country. And so it was it made sense for me to go to London. Every my mom's friends, people in the family were like, man, this is your only girl. She should not go all the way to California, like that is just so far from Nigeria. But the thing was, even though, and funny enough, we were even making plans towards London, right. But at that age, I was already you know, I could I could talk to the Lord. I could hear the voice of God. And when the Lord made it so clear, like you have no business, you know, moving to London, but you will go to California, to the point that the Lord even showed me what I should study while I was in school. And you know, I remember telling my mom and she just had a witness that this is what you're supposed to do, right, And California now became a land that really so many significant things were connected to in my walk with God. Now I could have gone to London, you know, and somehow still find my way rerouted to California. But would that have caused delay or would that have prolonged things? Most likely? Right? And this is not about you know, and when we get through this episode, you will see that this is not about fear, This is not about stagnancy. Dependence on the voice of the Lord is not to make you stagnant, right, It is to bring you into a place that you reverence Him to a degree that each and every day there are traces of your day that you can say, I was before the Lord. I spend time. I was sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit because I know what it is to spend time in his presence. You know, life has us so distracted and so much deception in our world where we even lose sight even with children. You know, you think that maybe on a Sunday you want to take your child to church or something, and many of us would just be okay with us being in church, the adults and the child coloring. Just give the child some a coloring book and some colors and just distract them, not realizing that child needs to redeem time right, you can just expect the child to just color in church and then somehow when they are twenty five, they should just grow in the things of God. Imagine when a child is young and that child is growing knowing the things of God, that child under you start to teach the gospel to that child and let that child have a personal encounter with the Lord. There is so much that would be redeemed. Right, the things that you started at thirty, your child could start at fifteen. Why because they're tapped in and so again, this is not about fear or this idea of like, am I have I delayed myself? What am I doing with my life? Should I do nothing? I wait for God? Just with me in this episode, and we're gonna unpack things. But what I'm talking about is to bring you to such a place that you have reverence for God, that you are not trusting in your own wisdom, but that each and every day, because you realize that the wisdom for your days is found in Christ, that you make him the priority of your life. You make Him the priority of your days. For us to go a day without prayer is pride, it is arrogance. It reveals dependency on ourselves. There are many things we would never acknowledge about ourselves, but our actions tells the true story. Right. And so if you're gonna say, Lord, I trust you, I depend on you, then I have to see it in your prayer life. I have to see it in how you study the word. I have to see it in your walk with the Lord. But let's get into this, right, because here's the beautiful thing. Jesus speaks, and he's speaking to you, right. He has given us if you're a believer. Funny enough, even when you're not a believer, because how do you become a believer? There was something you responded to. You responded to the Holy Spirit. So he is speaking. But the truth of the matter is that we have to be willing, we have to be sensitive, we have to have a posture of humility to make room for the Lord. Right. So look at this in John chapter ten, verse twenty seven, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. The fact that you are saved, the fact that you are you know, profess Jesus as Lord, is the evidence to say you hear the voice of God. Because salvation is not something that happens through carnality. Salvation is not something that happens through your reasoning and logic, like, wow, it makes sense for me, they'll be saved, you know, it makes sense for me to follow Jesus. No, there is something you responded to that is spiritual, and we have a whole episode in salvation, right, So if you want to, if you haven't watched it, I encourage you to do that. But salvation reveals the very evidence of you being saved, reveals that you hear the voice of God and you can respond to the voice of God. But the sign of a mature believer cannot just end in your salvation experience. It has to be shown through your daily life. It has to be shown that there has to be markers that while you are a person who is sensitive to the voice of God and you follow the leading of the Lord by his Holy Spirit. And so let's even look go back to that scripture when Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice. Now that what here in the Greek is a world called a kuo. And I love this word so much because it means it's when we just say here, it's like, oh, okay, Jesus is speaking. I hear you, but it actually means to attend to or consider what is or has been said. It also means to give audience. I love that because the issue is not that Jesus is not speaking. The issue is that we are not attending to what he is saying. We are not giving audience for the voice of the Lord. You see for example. I don't know how many people this happens to, but if it does and you're watching this, perhaps I want you to just put something in the comment. There are times that you would wake up in the middle of the night or maybe at your regular time, and there is a song in your heart. It's a known song, right, It's a song that maybe it's out there. Sometimes it may may even be a song that has never been written. But let's just go with the fact that it's a song. You know, it's a song. Maybe you've heard people saying the song you love or you listen to. Maybe you've hadn't heard it in a long time, right, but you wake up in the morning and there's this you just want to sing this song in your spirit, right that even right now, there's a song that comes to mind. Worthy is the Lamb and you think you feel it, but you don't engage. You're just like, oh, man, I just love that song. You wake up sometimes you might not even say anything. You just wake up and you go about your day, and you don't realize that the song is actually a prompting of the Holy Spirit that wants to engage with you in that moment. That if you woke up and began to worship God through that melody, then you would actually make room, you would give audience, because you see your relationship with Christ. It's not just about when you want to be the conversation starter. There are times that the Holy Spirit wants to start the conversation with you. Let's say, for example, your prayer time is five am. So five am every day you wake up and you pray, you are engaging. You are starting this conversation with the Lord. But what about when it's seven am and the Lord puts a melody in your heart. He wants to engage something with you. And if you begin to actually sing that melody, you're in the comfort of your home, nobody can hear the fact that you can or cannot sing, okay, And if you begin to sing of that, you would see that there is something the Holy Spirit will begin to minister to you through. There was something You might be going through a situation, and all of a sudden you wake up with a song that is about victory, while victory belongs to Jesus. If you begin to sing that song, then all of a sudden, the Lord might begin to give you strategy about the issue at hand. Right. There are times that you might have a dream and you don't understand the dream, and you're just like, well that was a pizza dream. Well that dream, you know what, Lord, If whatever it needs to happen, I pray it happens. And you just have this quick prayers about dreams you don't understand. It's like Lord just making it on to me. Amen, and you go about your day. Did you give the dream audience? Did you make room? Did you consider look at that word? Those my sheep here, they consider what is said. Did you take time to consider what that dream could have actually meant? Did you write it down? Did you actually pray about the dream and not just praying that you know what is good, let it be, what is bad, let it go away? But did you take time to consider? And we're going to go into the different ways that we experience the voice of God. And before we do that, I want you to really just pause and reflect on this. Even are there times where I felt as though the Lord was speaking to me? But did I actually take the time to consider what was said? Did I give the Voice of God audience in my life? Or am I so distracted that I've given other things audience but not the voice of God? Am I so distracted by my schedule, by my day, by whatever that even when it's when I sent a prompting of the Holy Spirit, do I take the time to consider? Wait? Why did I have that thought? Just now? Oh? What is this idea? Why did I have that dream? Why is it that when I heard this person ministry and why did it resonate with me so deeply? Why is it that when I was reading the scripture something jumped at me like the Lord was telling me to move or to do something? Did I take the time to consider? So? You see, the problem is again, it's not that Jesus is not speaking, but that we actually might not be given him audience, and so we can't discern what he's speaking to us. And now, why is it important that we actually attend to the word of God. Let's look at the scripture in Proverbs twenty five, verse two. It says, it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search it out. This honestly has to be one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible, because one when it's said is the glory of God to conceal a thing. It does not mean that God takes glory in hiding things from you, but God is more invested in the version of you, the person you become through searching it out, because the person that searches it out it reveals dependency on God. The person that searches it out it reveals humility. The person that searches it out. There there is someone you become in the Lord when you receive the wisdom connected to that revelation. Right, there is someone you become, you see, because wisdom will direct you, revelation will inform you. You can have I'll go back to using dreams. You could have a dream that is giving you an information about something, but when you search it out with the Lord, you begin to understand what to do with the meaning of the dream. You begin to understand it's just like in the times of Joseph, the pharaoh had a dream. There was information that he had, but he did not know how to decode it. And so when Joseph interpreted the dream by the spirit of God, what he did was now bringing wisdom to the information that that pharaoh had in his dream. And so when you search it out, there is a person you become, not just for your personal walk with God, but for who God is calling you to be in the times, for your family, for your community, for the people around you. This is how God raises men and women. If everything was so easy when you think about it, it's just like when you're raising up a child, right, if you do, you know I have My daughter is a toddler now, and in this toddler phase, they're learning independence. Right. They want to feed themselves, they want to do literally everything that everything you've done for them, they want to start doing it for themselves. Right. She's starting to learn how to pick what colors that she likes for her outfits and different things. And I don't know if it will change. Right now, I think her favorite color is yellow, so looking for a bunch of yellow things, right, That's not the point. The point is if we forced the fact that, no, let me do it for you, let me do it for you, we're gonna cripple her. We're gonna we're not gonna enable her to actually be someone who when she now goes into the world, can catch up if we if we force the fact that, oh no, let me feed you, because it will make it faster, right, because if I feed her, she's gonna eat quicker. She feeds herself. Wow, it's it's quite a show. But if I allow her, right and I start, you know, start handing off little by little, little by little, what it creates in her is independence. Now when she goes into when she goes to school, and when she's out in the world. There are things that she's able to do, not waiting for Oh wait, if mommy doesn't do it for me, I can't do it for myself. Can you imagine if, when as in your thirties, your parent is still trying to feed you, because that's all you've ever known. They never made room for you to say, hey, no, you do this on your own. And so with the Lord, there are things that he has to hide from you. Not because he's keeping it from you, he's actually trying to get you because you see the things of God. It's not just about oh, God told you this or God gave you this. When God gives you a word, he's given you of himself, so there is someone you become to actually even receive it. The problem is that where this scripture has been misinterpreted is because we're trying to see it from a carnal mind. We're trying to think of it like, why would a good parent keep something from their child? A lot of good parents do that actually to help the child mature. But even if let's just put it from that perspective of if I was a good parent and there's something my child needs, why would I keep it from that child? But from a God perspective, I'm not just gonna give it to you so you can have it. There is a version of you that knows how they'll handle this. And everything about God is connected to proper stewardship, so he would not give you something just for you to be a bad steward. The Bible says that the blessings of the Lord make it rich and adds no sorrow. No sorrow is not just because it's a blessing from the Lord. But when it comes from the Lord, it comes to you at the time of your maturity that you can handle it. Because the sorrow is not what comes from God. The sorrow is birth from immaturity. If you receive something that you do not have the capacity for, it will crush you. So the sorrow is not that when God blesses you, oh man, he just remembers to not act sorrow. We are the ones that act sorrow because of our immaturity, whether in character, in our walk with the Lord, whatever level. The sorrow is normally connected to how we handle the weighty things of God. There's reasons why God will take his time with a person because what another may call a blessing may actually be the reason that person is judged harshly by the Lord. If you don't know, and just being a minister, I will use this analogy. If as a pastor, for example, you don't know how to shepherd tend and you connive your way to shepherding a hundred in the eyes of the public, oh my gosh, look at that growth. This is awesome. This is a fast growing church. But in the eyes of God, you just added ninety more reasons for judgment because each life matters to God. How you shepherd each sheep matters to God. So if you don't know how to handle ten and you connive your way, you use marketing and schemes and all this stuff to attract people, and you're running ahead of your time, it's going to bring sorrow because you were never you never had the capacity for one hundred. So this scripture is so beautiful because literally telling us it is the glory of kings to search things out. Why because first of all, the Bible calls you a king and a priest, So speaking about you, if you're a believer, then you have the identity before the Lord asks kings and priests. But you see in your searching it out is when your kingship arises. David was anointed as king, but it took him years to become king. The becoming matters not just the anointing. You have to become what you've been anointed for. You have to become what you've been ordained for. You have to become what you've been appointed for, because that happened before you were even born. Before you were born, God sets you apart. But the becoming of it is where now this deals with our discipleship. How we are disciples of Christ? Do we search things out? Do we give things audience? Because if you don't know how the steward on a smaller level, you can't steward than a bigger one. So when the Lord gives you that dream and you ignore it, but then you're praying about something else, God, I just can't hear your voice. But you're not giving in him audience. You're not making room for him, right, And so consider that before you just rule out God doesn't speak to me, consider the fact that do I give the voice of the Lord audience in my life? Right? Or do I give more audience to things that really don't matter? Now, another thing, before we really dive into how we experience the voice of the Lord, I want to talk about why God speaks. Because when we recognize why he speaks, you would see that this is a necessity for every believer to hear and discern the voice of the Lord. It will you will you will start to understand that your prayer life is not optional. Your time in the world is not optional. Right. You have to be the kind of person that is confident in knowing that Lord I hear you and I know you you want to grow, You want to be committed to growing into that person. Right, because look at what Psalms thirty two, verse eight says. It says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. So what is it saying? Instruction, teaching, and counsel is available to you. And guess what? This requires communication? Right? The proof of any fellowship is communication. When you think about the marriage, for example, one of the most consistent advice that you would hear for a marriage couple is communicate clearly. Why because your spouse can't read your mind. I know we would want our spouse to read our mind, but they can't. And if you flip it, because a lot of times you might be the one arguing that why can't they just do this? How about you? Why can't you read their mind? So communication is necessary even outside of marriage, but friendship with anything? Right? So if our natural relationships require communication, then what more our relationship with the Lord? Right? It requires communication. So now, and when I talk about four primary you know reasons why God speaks. This is not the totality of it. Anything that we put the name of God on. No human being can say they have the perfect knowledge of right. But these are the things that even in the world of God we see are some of the key reasons why we need to have the voice of the Lord. So number one to direct now, Psalms one nineteen, verse one oh five says, your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light to my path. Right, God's word brings clarity, and it brings direction to our path. You know, it's so interesting when you think about the time when the Israelites where you know, when they had just been delivered out of captivity, you know, with the Egyptians and all of that, and when they were in the wilderness, and oftentimes they would complain to Moses there's no food, there's no water, and then Moses will cry out to God. And so there was a time where there was no water and he cries out to God, and the Lord says, strike the rock. Now, nobody in their right mind would say, hey, there's no water, let's just go strike in some rocks. The Lord says, strike the rock. So there is a direction that comes from God that provides resources. So when you look at this, even from a practical perspective. It's so powerful for how it applies to your life, because there are times where the information you need, the direction you need, is nothing that you can even even when you try to reason it, you can't see it. You can't see your way out of a situation. The people would complaining because clearly there was no springs of water close by. There was nothing that looked like there would be provision for water. So they start to complain. They start to murmur, and Moses doesn't even know what to do because what they're complaining about. He sees it. There's nowhere anywhere water is gonna show up. But what does he do. He speaks to the Lord, and when he speaks to the Lord, the Lord gives him an instruction of strike the rock you see. For many of you listening, you need to know the rock you need to strike. There is nothing in your natural orbit that would give you an answer or direction for the crisis you're in. That you might be facing a crisis in your personal life and you do not have a way out. But the Lord speaks to bring direction because where your resources wire flow from would not be the thing you would think to do. It would not be the thing your natural mind will be able to conceive. It will not be the thing that you know. Even the wisest counselors in your life will tell you, hey, strike the rock. But there are rocks that the Lord will begin to say, strike that. Go into this industry, go meet this person and share this story. There are things that would not come to you naturally unless the Lord tells you to do it, right. So number two he speaks to impart. Now, many of us are familiar with the story of Solomon, and in First King, chapter three, we see how God gave Solomon wisdom, I mean wisdom to the degree that in his during his in his generation and before him, Solomon was the wisest man. Right. But how did that wisdom come about? The Lord encounters him in dream and literally give Solomon a blank check, and he's like, what is it that you want? And you have to read this in your own time, right, And Solomon is literally asking for a discerning heart because he recognizes that for him to lead such great a people, he's gonna need to have some wisdom. And the Lord was so moved by this that this was a dream, right, and literally in that dream, because dreams don't hold back our ability to encounter God. Dreams are actually one of the ways that we would learn that God. Even we experience the presence of God, we experience the voice of God. But in a dream, the Lord imparts in Solomon wisdom, wisdom that I mean, it didn't even people were coming from all parts of the world just to glean from Solomon's wisdom. That happened by what an encounter with the voice of the Lord. That the moment the Lord will say, I will give you it's yours. You see, there are things that we don't have because we've not sought it in God. Because the moment the Lord says something to you, he's in parton the supernatural possibilities for that thing to be made known, for that thing to be possible, for that thing to be established in your life. Some of you know the story. When I was pregnant with my daughter. There were complications that you know, some really severe complications in the beginning, And when I began to pray and seek the Lord, there was a word I received from him. And what was that that shaped my whole pregnancy. He said, no harm will come to your child. Now, it wasn't about healing me from the infirmity in that moment, but he was showing me that the infirmity will not bring harm. And I seize that word in God. I knew that because the Lord said it. It is so that regardless of anything that would come up, any result, any whatever, my daughter will be fine because the Lord said concerning her, no harm. Until today, that word anchors me everything concerning my daughter. I'm like, the Lord has spoken about your life that there is no harm. So I speak over her all the time. I said, you have a covenant of life with God. Nothing by any means can harm you. You may experience pain, but that pain will not cause harm, because you see, harm has to do with the outcome of a thing. Pain can be in the moment, but harm has to do with what takes place, even in your soul. Sometimes that the outcome glorified the kingdom of darkness, not the kingdom of God. You might experience pain. I experience who a lot of pain. There was suffering, but the suffering was not that which let to harm. And when I secured that word in God, I knew that that word literally carried my pregnancy. That word so there are things that if you can secure what is God's saying concerning this matter, because the moment he speaks, it's yours. If Jesus says you're healed, you are healed. If whatever Jesus says concerning you, it will be established. But you have to secure that word. And so what I'm trying to explain to you is that impartation. The power of impartation is that when there are words that come to you, that brings you into a supernatural ability to do things, a supernatural ability to establish things. For example, when God will give you a name. We will see that in scripture, when sometimes the Lord would change a person's name. What he did was in part the supernatural possibility connected to that name in the person. So Abram goes from Abram to Abraham. Why Abram is limited. Abraham is the father of nations. So the moment he changes his name, what he's doing, it's an impartation of divine possibilities. So God speaks to impart and you you this is part of our walk with him, because again you're what you're doing on earth. When it comes to what is your purpose? What is your purpose is not that which is natural. It requires divine backing it requires supernatural possibilities. It's not to be confined and the natural, because the one who commissioned you is supernatural. So there are things connected to your life that requires the grace of God, that requires an impartation from the Lord, whether it's his word, whether it's who he calls you. Because you see, you could be living your life doing whatever you were doing. I don't know what you're doing, and the Lord comes to you or encounters you, or your praying and you're seeking him. You see, I was in business. I'm still in business. But when the Lord tells me. You know, I remember the day when the Lord says I would raise you as a minister of the gospel. That was the farthest thing from my mind. But you see the moment he said it, all of a sudden something began to stare up in me. So you need an impartation. Look at the beauty of this. The scripture says in John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Again, when God gives you a word, he's given you himself. He's giving you off himself. So the word of God, it carries identity and it equips you to live it out. It's not empty when God speaks to you, it's nothing you play with because just that world alone will transform your whole life. When you see it right, and even if you want to be stubborn, you can't help it becomes something in you is disturbed. Everything about your life begins to be shaken by way. What did he say about me when the Angel encountered Gideon and said, mighty man of valor is stared something in him. When you study the life of Gideon, you would be shocked that the boy who was hiding really became that mighty warrior and something he eats like in the beginning he's questioning the Lord, he's asking for multiple signs and sign upon sign upon sign upon sign. But then when he begins to yield to the supernatural possibilities, the impartation by that word being released over his life, you step and become something you've never known. Right, So you need the word of the Lord. The word is not to inform you, it's to transform you. Number three to problem solved Right, Problems three success in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will make straight your path. Now when we just look at the world we live in. We live in a fallen world, right, it is marked by brokenness, and so by reason of the world we live in, we're going to encounter a lot of problems in our lives and families, in our workplace, in our day to day just name it, You're gonna encounter problems. And sometimes there is a wisdom that goes beyond what you how you would see to address it, what you know to address it. All of that, there is a wisdom you need from God to help you problem solve right. You know, Daniel in the in the Bible was promoted in Babylon not just because he was this good looking, you know fella, but Daniel had the ability to problem solve right when no one else knew what to do. Daniel could function in a revelation and in a wisdom that would bring solution. When you look at how he was promoted even during his time there, you would see that a lot of it was connected to Daniel's ability to bring solutions. Right. Even when you think of this, even from a more practical place, some of the most successful companies are because of the problems they solve. And so even in your life, there are problems you're with encounter and obviously it's not that God orchestrated the problem, but your ability to solve it might be a means that God uses to establish you in a place right. Your ability to problem solve might be the means that God uses to raise you up in leadership. And so there are things in our lives that we're going to encounter that we need our paths to be straight because something has caused it to be crooked. And sometimes it is the default of a broken world and a broken society that we live in. And so there are things that you're going to need solutions for and the word of the Lord can carry that for your life. One of the questions that people often ask me is, Stephanie, how do I actually study the Bible? When we desire to go deeper, sometimes it can feel a little intimidating. And I'm here to tell you about an amazing Bible study too, and it's called Logos. It's an incredible app that helps you engage your scripture in a more meaningful way. So, for example, you can type in what does the Bible say about holiness and it will give you scripture scholarly insids historical background, and so much more. Logos helps you to understand what you're reading and why it matters. So, whether you're new to the faith or you've been following Jesus for some time, this is gonna help you study the world with so much confidence. And we have received such an incredible gift for every plog pod listener. You can use lagus today for free for the next sixty days. All you have to do is go to logos dot com backslide Stephanie to get started. Now, let's go back into the episode number four, Encourage Asaya for the one. Verse ten says fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, For I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. You see fear, when we talk about fear, for example, in this context, is the kind of fear that cripples us right, the kind of fear that makes us stagnant. And one of the things that the Bible shows us about this fear is that it's often connected to the lack of our revelation of how loved we are. Look at First John, chapter four, verse eighteen. It says there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. And so in other words, what is this telling us, fear grows where love is not known, right, where there's an area that we have not come into the revelation of God's love for us, then fear has the ability to take root. Now, what is so fascinating also about this is that fear is not just this emotional response. It's not always categorizing this emotional response. We would also see where you know, the scripture would also label fear like we were just talking about earlier, as the spirit of fear right, And so there is something there is an access the enemy is trying to gain. And here's the thing with you know, in the Lord, and we'll unpack this teaching on a episode. But in the Lord, the only spirit authorized to access you is the Holy Spirit. But with the Enemy, there are many things. He's always looking for ways not just to have one spirit, but that one spirit is to open the door. Now, remember if you have studied about the man who was possessed with what they called legion right, meaning there were many demons in the man. But think of it this way. If there were many demons in the man, why did only one speak? Because when he was confronted by the Lord, and then he says, you know, one demon is literally speaking, one demon is revealing that, you know, I am legion for we are many or whatever. But why is it one demon speaking but there are many in that man? Because it points us to the fact that could or maybe let me not say fact, but could it be that the one demon that is speaking is the one who first gained territory. So the one who is who gains territory now is the one who invites others in. It's just like when you when you look at the scriptures when it talks about how we restle not against flesh and blood but against you know, principalities powers, and it goes into this whole chain of command in the Kingdom of darkness. But a principality has to do with a prince who has who has you know, secured a territory, so he is the principality over a region and he cannot work alone. Then he begins to bring spiritual wickedness. Rulers of darkness, you know, all these things to keep the territory. So when the enemy works, he will do anything to gain access because the moment he gains access, whatever spirit he used to gain access would invite others. So fear is normally the easiest because if he can get you to the point where you now receive the spirit of fear, that spirit can open the door for other things unworthiness, shame, you know, pride can even sneak in there. And then what eventually starts happening. Depression, anxiety, suicide, ideation, all kinds of things starts happening. But how did it begin? Fear got scared of something, and not not the normal kind of fear like roller coaster fear. No, not that right, the fear that cripples you and you embrace it as your own. What the enemy is looking for is that access. And here is why so many times the lord will say, do not fear, because how does he gain that access? What he often looks to accuse is your identity. Now, let me let's unpack this a little bit, right, because when I say that, God speaks to encourage and courage, which might sometimes sound weak, you know, like, oh I'm good. You know, a friend could encourage me. Why would God need to encourage me or something if you're one of those people that just don't like help. I don't know. But what I'm trying to explain here is, you see, the Scripture calls Satan the accuser of the brethren, right, the accuser. And here is so interesting because even in the Bible we see when the Bible talks about putting on the armor of God. But look at this. The breastplate which protects the heart, right, your emotions, and all of that, is called the breastplate of righteousness. The helmet, you know, which protects your mind, how you think, you know, how you reason, it's called the helmet of salvation. Both things are linking to identity because everything flows from your identity. And oftentimes where where we entertain the kind of fear that cripples us is because something has been tampered with in how we see ourselves. That is why Satan when he's called the accuser of the brethren. You might have a day you didn't do something the way you thought you were supposed to, things didn't go as planned, or you just had a bad day. According to human reasoning, you woke up, you had a flat tire, something happened with your account. Then bill came in and it overdrafts. Then before the end of the day, your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you and it's just going crazy. And then the enemy begins to whisper You're no good. God has forsaken you. Do you remember when you did this? Do you remember when you called that person that? Oh? Do you remember when you did? You know? Whatever it could be that brings torments to your mind. That's why the helmet of salvation I am. When you begin to speak over yourself, no, I am in Christ. Whatever you want to bring up about my past that is no longer me. Yes I may have fallen, Yes I may have made a mistake, but I am not that person. Because you see, if you don't guard how you think, if your emotions are not governed by the fact that your righteousness are like filthy rags, it's not about your works, but it's about what Jesus did for you. Now, I encourage you to watch the episode on Salvation if you haven't, because this can be taken out of order sometimes. But the point is, if the enemy can tamper with your identity, then fear easily Cripson, because all of a sudden, you see there was one of the reasons why I think the Book of Job is so critical for every believer to read. And funny enough, it is the oldest book of the Bible, So if you're reading the Bible in chronological order, it will be the first book right after we right after Genesis one and one or one one to two, then you enter the Book of Job. Why it's so significant is because what Job dealt with in his time is what we still deal with today. The philosophy of the time was that bad things happened to bad people. It was about self righteousness. So when Job, a godly man, a man who has a beautiful record with God, starts to have all this calamity and one thing after the other after the other. Now Job has no clue the conversations had you know that they're having about him in heaven. All he's experiencing is one bad report after the other. Then when you read about what his friends were saying to him, they believe that Job there must be hidden in somewhere. There is no way all these things are happening to you and sin is not hiding or creeping or you're you're just being dishonest with us. Job, you have been a wicked man. And that was not the case. You see, when whatever their stories their lives, Job would even talk about how he would wish or something about how this was being, you know, written. He didn't even realize that his story would be in what we know today as the Bible. That really that the Lord would give insight about everything concerning his life, that they would be able to write the life of Job. But you see, it was so critical because God used the life of Job. Now think of this when when again, when you think of the chronological order of the Bible, if this was going to be the first book we read and it's about a man who went through all this suffering, yet he was upright before God. Why so that we don't even begin to make room that just because your life is going looking like chaos means God has abandoned you, God has forsaken you, God has forgotten about you. Things are not happening the way you wanted to. You know, you might not be married when you want to. You things might not be coming for you the way you see it in the world. Maybe the job, the business, the family, whatever the case might be things might be falling apart, And the first thing we start to think of, God, what did I do wrong? God? Where have I gone wrong? What we don't realize is even the thought of where have I gone wrong? Is the accuser of the brethren planting a seed because he's accusing you to feel as though there's something I did wrong for bad things to happen to me. That And so when the Lord begins to speak to encourage you when you are just down in despair, it's for you to know you are still my child. You see I encourage you. Even the scripture re read in Isaiah forty one, verse ten, when you read prior to the Lord telling them fear not, you know what he speaks to them about identity. He reminds them of who they are to him, and then he tells them fear not. And so there are times that the Lord will speak to encourage you because when your identity in Christ is guarded. Because when the Lord encourages you when you're feeling down, what does that remind you? I'm loved, I'm seen, and I'm known. It guards your identity. And when that happens, discouragement loses its power. And when discouragement loses its power say and cannot plant seeds about who you are. What would shape your identity is in Christ, not in the lives of the enemy, right, And so what am I saying with this unchecked discouragement can lead to an identity crisis, and if you have an identity crisis, it is easier for you to accept the spirit of fear and understand is that is the easiest spirit that can gain access in a person, the easiest one. And I'm not saying someone who because even when you think about trauma and everything that happens, what does that cause in the life of a believer, In the life of an individual. Fear, there's a fear of uncertainty, there's a fear to trust people. There is a fear. Whatever you categorize, is that it is fear. And these are things that we should not play with because its goal is not just to remain in your life as being crippled by fear. Its goal is to introduce other spirits. So you're confused how all of a sudden you start having suicide ideation. One moment you were just dealing with being discouraged. Then that discouragement turned to hopelessness. Then all of a sudden, that hopelessness blinded you from all the blessings in your life. Now you no longer want to live. I sense this so strongly that there are people watching this, and you don't even know. It's like you have been in this bubble of just words telling you that there's nothing left to live for. Some of you have a family. You think it's better for you to not even be there for your children. You think it's better for everyone if you would just be gone, And you don't realize this is demonic. This is the operations of demonic spirits that have gained access to you. And oftentimes when you kick out the one who gained the territory, every other one follows. And for many of you, sometimes it's not just about Lord, help me to gain back my mind, but Lord, wherever I became crippled by fear in my life, heal me, encourage me, speak to me. And sometimes the Lord speaking to you might just be fighting off that whatever has been holding you back from getting back in your word. Because sometimes you're so clouded that you just need to open up your Bible and just stay there, just begin to read. May not make sense to you just begin to read, and all of a sudden, the Spirit of God will begin to breathe on it and life will begin to flow through it to you. And for some of you, it has been so hard for you to be in the place of prayer. And you think it's random. You think it's random that you could watch a show for five hours, but you want to pray and you're falling asleep in the fifth minute. That's not random. That is what we know as the spirit of slumber. That you can sit down, you could even lose sleep, the normal cycle of your sleep. That you could be awake at three in the morning, finishing your show, but then at eight am, nine am, child, breakfast is served and you are reading your Bible and falling asleep. Fight through it, begin to declare over your life that will not be taken by this. I come out of agreement with any spirit of slumber. I come out of agreement with the spirit of fear. This is not my portion. I am a child of God. Sometimes you have to remind yourself of who you are and then let the Spirit of God be a witness with you, because sometimes the encouragement might be a response to something you said the Bible says, let the weak say, I am strong that even when you feel down, you begin to declare what the Word of God says about you, and all of a sudden it will quicken you because the Spirit of God will begin to minister through what you're even saying. And so we need the voice of God for encouragement. Now number five, we need the voice of God to warn us. Now, I found this so fascinating. Did you know that the average person makes between twenty thousand to thirty five thousand decisions a day? That this sounds unbelievable right now, but check this out. Every single day we're making decisions about what we eat, what we wear, our movement, and they're even subconscious decisions about where our feet should go on the ground, our facial expressions. Your brain is constantly making decisions. And why am I saying that? Because when you understand that, you are wired to make decisions. Right the Lord Again, you know, dependency on God does not mean stagnation. There are things that God has given you a natural wisdom for. It's not that you wake up and you say, Lord, what part of the bed should I get up from? You're making a decision where you put what feet goes down first? Right foot, left foot. That's a decision when you go into your house, when you go to the grocery store. It's not like you're saying, Lord, should I go down on right? It's not about stagnuts. It's not to cripple you. God gave you a brain, and the brain is a very beautiful work of art. Right. So, there are decisions you're making in your daily life. When you meet a random stranger and you smile at them, that's a decision. When someone says, hey, can we grab coffee and you're like, well, I'm free, let's go get some coffee. That's a decision. And if that person, you know, all of a sudden, you're like, well, this person just seems like such a great, great, great lad. You know, let me speak like the British. But it's a decision when you even allow people to get close to you. But you see, the voice of God also comes to warn us sometimes of personal decisions we made and the best intentions of heart, and the Lord is saying, hey, there's danger connected to this. It may look right, but something about it it's not right. The voice of God may come to warn you about the times living in about things to come that you must prepare for, right, And so when you just look at the average person's you know, day to day, there are things you could do. I remember, you know, for example, when I was in college, and I wasn't too mature in how I handled this revelation. But I remember I was gonna go. I needed to go to the grocery store. So I called a friend and because I knew she, I remember she was going out of something. But I called a friend. Oh no, I think she called me actually, and we were talking and I was like, oh, I need to go to the grocery store. And she was like, oh yeah, I'm about to go. We should go together. And I was like, oh yeah, sure, perfect. And the moment, no, no, no, the moment I actually was on the phone, I have a vision and I saw that when she was getting on the freeway, a car ran into there was an accident, and another car ran into hers by the passenger seat where I would be sitting because her car was a two door right, And immediately I was on the phone with her. I said, you know what, girl, I actually don't need to go. Something came up and I should have been more mature and say, hey, I just had this vision. I didn't tell her God was working on me in my mind. I was like, oh, let me stay home. Guess what. Few minutes later, she calls me and she was like, oh my gosh, I just you know, she just had an accident and this is so terrible. But I was young and foolish and I was like where and she was like right when I was about to, you know, get on the freeway, I said no, girl, Like what side of the car and she was like, no, the passenger side is like ran in. I would have been sitting there right, And so what would be a normal decision. I was hungry. I needed to get groceries. I wanted to cook. This is normal life. The Lord interven's and says, don't go anywhere because the path to what is just your normal day to day could cost you more if you go out in this moment right, And so you see how there are things in your day to day life that you need the voice. You need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. This is about sensitivity. Way he would say, you know what you want to make left? Something will tell you turn right. You don't know why you're turning. You're going with what your GPS, the normal route from office to home or you know, tennis court to home, whatever it is that you do, and all of a sudden, the Spirit of the Lord says, just, you know, drive slower, and you why you don't realize someone was just about to run a red light. And so I'm using some of the basics examples because it's not always in the profound things. It's in the simple things like oh, I want to watch a game, let me go to the you know, let me go get whatever these tickets, and the Lord is like, actually, stay home. You don't know why. And in the times that we're living in especially and just in the world, but even within the United States, we've been seeing so much happening with flights, and if you are a traveler, and even if you're not a traveler, even if you're just going home for the holidays or you're traveling to visit someone, you need the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord will begin to warn you and say, do not get on that flight. There are trips you would want to take, and the Lord will say no, no, no, find another way, an alternative route. Because there are many things that will be happening and will continue to increase in the times that we're in. And it's not for you to live in fear and say I will never travel again. No, it's to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. If I won't getting on the flight. I travel a lot. I took a break because I just had a baby. But I'm not gonna say, oh my gosh, because there's all kinds of things happening to flights, you know, plane crashes and different things. I'm never gonna travel. That's not what the Lord told me. But when you're sensitive to the Holy Spirit, then you start to incline Lord, do I need to get on that flight or do I need to stay back? And if he tells you, hey, and there's a prompt and go ahead, I'm not going on the flight in fear. The shakings are not gonna start on me and start speaking in tongues on the plane. Now, it's good to pray in tongues, but all I'm talking about is I'm not gonna do it from a place of fear. Right, And so the Lord speaks to warn us when we even talk about like different ways the Lord speaks and everything. There was something I had written. I have a book that is out called The Power of Your Dreams, which is one of the way we experience God's voice, and we're going to go into that. But even when it comes to warning, I want you to read this. Even though this was through a dream, but this is still how the Lord speaks. Now listen to what happened here. It is suggested, and this was when I was talking about warning dreams. It is suggested that President Abraham Lincoln, who served as the sixteen president of the United States, had a warning dream prior to his death. His friend Ward Hill Lamon recalled the vivid dream Lincoln had of his assassination ten days before it happened. In the dream, he walked through the White House and had mourners crying in another room. When he asks the soldier standing guard who had died, the soldier replied the president he was killed by an assassin. Now, tragically, days later, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. Now this I wanted to share this because when we don't give audience or consider what God is saying, there's danger we walk into. Literally ten days before he was assassinated, he had a warning dream. If we had reverence for the things of God and we considered the voice of God, that information would be treated as almost there's a phrase they use, but I can't remember it right now, but of high security that if this was something I regarded as could the Lord be speaking to me? I would shut down any activity at least for two weeks, especially knowing there was something that would put you in the public space in a few days. But when we don't give audience to these things, what we experience could be dangerous. Right, So now let's get into quickly how we experience the voice of God. And like I said, there are four main things I'm gonna share. I talked about that in my book as well. But this, this, this gives us a good sense. But nobody can put a cap on how God communicates, right. This is really just to help us and with reference to what we see in the world of God as well. And so number one is you know, I call it the feeler, right, And this is when you you can your your emotions are sensitive to the emotions of God concerning a matter. So look at this Genesis sixty six, the Lord was grieved that he had made man on earth, right, it shows that the Lord can be grieved or you know, relate sorrow about the matter. Right. Psalms one forty seven eleven. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him. Right, this is speaking of God's joy and delight. Zeph Andyah three seventeen. He will rejoice over you with gladness. Right. So this is speaking again of joy, affection and emotional expressions of God. Not emotional in the way we as human have emotions, but in the sense of there are emotions. And when I talk about how we as human have emotions, ours is often based on things that are happening around us. Right. But well, the Lord, when there's something he's expressing, or when when there's something the scripture is expressing that connects to emotion, it is anchored in truth. Right. And so these examples or even look at Psalm seventy eleven. God is a righteous judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day. Right, See that there is a holy anger about that can be expressed through the Lord. And so the feeler are those who can experience how God feels about the matter. So let's say, for example, and many of us have you know, might have experienced this where there is something that does not make sense, but you have peace. Nothing about what you're about to do makes sense on paper, but there is an overwhelming sense of peace. You have concern in it, and you are experiencing what the spirit of God feels concerned is connected to in the matter that go ahead, because that peace is directional. The emotions of God are to bring direction to your path. You see for some people when they're about to do something that and it's nothing that is like, oh my gosh, this is a sin. Maybe you're about to you're looking for a new place. You found something. I remember like there was a time where my husband and were like scouting out different places and everything, and there will be places that we will go to and we will literally feel discussed, the both of us. It's almost like evel want to throw up. And the place is beautiful, there's nothing wrong with it, or the location is great, the area is great, but yet there is this sense of disgust because it's directing you out of there right and so you can sense things because what is happening, and why I call it the feelers is because there is something communicated. You see the spirit of the Lord communicates with your spirit, and that communication is translated to your soul. Now, how your soul receives it could be in different capacities. Sometimes your soul could receive it as an emotion. And so you might be somewhere and everywhere everything about that area is amazing, it's great, and they're like, hey, we want you to work here, and you are disturbed. You just feel a sense of weight. It's like you just the moment you get out, you feel fine. The moment you go back in, it's like something is choking you. You feel bothered. You're just like, get me out of here. You can explain it. There is something that has been placed within your that has been translated from your spirit to your soul to give you an insight on what the Lord is telling you about where you are, or the decision you're about to make, or the person you just met. Right, and so this is when you are your emotionally sensitive to the voice of the Lord. So it's communicated to you as an emotion. And one of the most common things is really has to do with whether you experience peace on it or whether you are more burdened in a sense of I'm not supposed to do this. I'm not supposed to touch this. I'm not supposed to be connected to this. There are things that sometimes people will present to me and it looks amazing. I get excited. I'm like, oh, this is great, and the moment all of that excited, like you know, the initial reaction fades. I'm like, wait, this is not right. Something in me is really disturbed about this. I can't put my finger on it. I can't really say is this or is that? But you just have this feeling like this is not supposed to be. And you know, for those people again, I'll ask you, have you taken time to consider how you felt in certain scenarios, because when you take time to consider, you can weed out what is coming from your soul or what came from your spirit to your soul. Right, And what I mean by that is am I feeling off about this based on experiences I've had? Or am I feeling off about this because there's something the Lord is trying to speak to me? Now. If you don't take the time to consider, you will call everything God. This is why people today it's so easy. God told me. God told me. And when you actually, you know, take record of what God is telling them. There's a lot of contradiction, so it's like, did God tell you or did he not? Because it doesn't it seems like God is a little confused. Why because they don't take time to consider so that everything is God. But you have to consider what is being communicated to you because in that time, in the presence of God, you may realize what you want to say is God telling you to not do something, is actually you just feeling triggered because you've experienced something where in a scenario like that, you were disappointed. And actually, if you sat with it long enough, you will begin to experience the peace of God telling you it's okay, go ahead, right, so you can experience His voice through the things you feel. Now, there's also what I called the knower right look at John thirteen, verse one to three. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave the world and go to the Father. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. You see, this is when you have an instinctive understanding or revelation about situations about people, about certain places, about things about decisions you need to make. You just have a knowing. It's a knowing by revelation. You can't describe. It was not something you received that It was not an information you heard. It was a you received. You See, when Jesus asked who do men say that I am? And who do you say that I am? To his disciples, Peter says, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And then Jesus says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven. But there was a knowing. Peter just had that way. You are the Son. Oh, you are the Christ. You are the Son of the Living God. And then Jesus affirms him that what you're saying is not something that came from you. Peter, this is not something that just came because you're looking at me and you're like, oh, okay, Jesus did that miracle, he did this, He did that. He must be the son of God. He says this knowing you have came by revelation. There are some things you just know to do. You can't shake it off. You just know that I have to do it, and I'm supposed to do it this way. There is there is a almost like this clarity people when you when you function in this, you know, as a knower, you function with a high level of clarity about something and you can explain why because there is something that has been imparted to your spirit and how it was translated to your soul was for you to just know it. You just had a knowing of it, and then you begin to move and do things. Now, if you don't take time to consider and you think it's coming from you, your wisdom, you know what we often tend to do waste time. Someone will say, you know, I just know I'm supposed to move. I just I just know I'm supposed to you know, I'm supposed to be I'm supposed to move from this city to that city. But when you think it's just maybe because and then we start to try to rationalize, like okay, you know what this You know, my neighbor is really loud sometimes just I just it's not working out. But when you think it comes from you, then what would what would implement your your your you know, you taken action, it's on your own time, it's on your own schedule. It's like okay, I could well I mean, maybe I could wait two months and then you start to get creative about the solution. But if you considered and you realize it came from God, it's it holds a different way. Now you begin to ask the Lord, Okay, okay, I know I'm supposed to do this. I have a clarity. I'm supposed to do this, But Lord, when should I do this? So how should I go about it? Or? You know, because the truth is whatever God gives you wait, even revelation is in set form so that you come back to the source in order to get the full picture. And so there's something He puts in you, and you know you're supposed to do it. You know you're where you're supposed to go. You know the thing you're supposed to write, you know the thing you're supposed to start. But when you confuse it to just assume it's from you, you delay, delay, delay, delay, not realizing that if you understood it came from God, that there are steps you're supposed to take that favor is connected to. And in other ways, there are things you just come to know. Jesus, you would see that throughout his ministry there were things he just knew. The scripture would say, Jesus knowing their thoughts, Jesus knowing he must go here. There are things that he just you to do. Why because there was this beauty of intimacy with the Lord experiencing the part of knowing. I think it's so powerful because there are times where you have to make decisions and you're not going to have time to fast for seven days. You're not going to have time to say, hey, let me get back to you. They don't know your faith, they don't know your God, they don't understand that process. They present an opportunity, an opportunity to you, and you need to give an answer right there and then it is the knowing by revelation that will give you clarity on yes. No. There are times you have a deadline and that deadline is not going to bend to your fast. You might want to do a twenty one day fast. The deadline is in three days, and you might feel spiritual by saying I would just follow back in twenty one days. No no, no, no, no, you missed it. It is your ability to know by revelation that would give you that will cause you to have an answer in the moment. But you see to experience God's voice as a knowing. It is the fruit of intimacy. There's no way around it. It is the fruit of intimacy. He is speaking, but it is intimacy that allows you to be sensitive to his voice. Imagine being think of it this way. Imagine being in a room full of people and you're asked the question and everyone is telling you do it, do it, do it, do it. But then you hear your spouse's voice. And just imagine if you're married, if you you know, whatever, just imagine this. If you know, even if you're not married, you hear your spouse's voice, you hear your mother's voice, you hear father's voice, you hear someone that you are familiar with and you trust, and they say don't do it, that person's voice will stand out in the crowd. If I know my husband's voice, like he could be speaking from when you know, just wherever, As long as I have the range to hear, I will detect it. So if I'm in a crowd full of people and everyone is saying do it, do it, do it, and then my husband says don't, I'll pick it up immediately. I would know his voice and I could trust it, and I'm like, ah, stephaniely, don't do it. But that is because of intimacy, fellowship. If I'm in a room and everyone is saying do it, do it, don't, do it, don't and I don't know any of their voices, you know what it causes in me confusion. And that's how many of us are living our lives. We're faced with decisions that we have to make in the moment, and where he hear in the voice of God, we're hearing the enemy, We're hearing our thoughts, but we can't discern who is who. So we just stay in a state of confusion and just go based on however we just feel. It's like maybe this would be a good idea, maybe it's not. Okay. It is the fruit of intimacy. This is why your time with God is not up for negotiation. That the time you spend in prayer, the time you spend in your devotion to the Word of God, it's not up for negotiation because that is where your sensitivity to His voice begins to grow. It's something that must be cultivated. It's not something that is earned, it's not something that is gifted. You must cultivate it because even when there are many like I've shared in one of the podcasts, how when I first encountered God, it was almost like the Lord just activated me in a way that I could just I mean, the way I could flow with God was beautiful. But when I actually gave my life, when I received the life of Jesus, when I submitted and yielded and became saved, it was like a slow motion because the Lord is like, now I'm gonna teach you what it means to abide in my presence. This is not gonna come as easy. I'm gonna teach you this. I'm gonna teach you how to linger that. There are times that you know what you said, I'm gonna pray for one hour, and the hour passes, and you have this sense that the Holy Spirit is saying, stay with me, your ability to yield and cancel whatever plans you have and say, I'm just gonna stay in this place of prayer a little longer. What you don't realize is that it's actually God enlarging your capacity, is the Lord engaging with you in a way that you can be It's increasing your ability to be sensitive to His promptings. If you don't know how to do that faithfully in the secret place, you're not going to know how to call on it when you need it in urgent matters and critical things in emergencies because it's never been cultivated God. God does not respond to us emotionally, and what I mean by that is that He is not reactive. Just because you cried about something, it's not a guarantee that it moves the hand of God because your tears might not even be connected to what is what is happening in your heart. It might just be an adult tantrum, the same way we respond to children, Like when a child is having a tantrum, you know what we normally do ignore was your development because there are tantrums that if you respond to every tantrum, what you're you're encouraging is dysfunction. And there are times that what you felt like was this emotional moment was actually just you having a tantrum. Because if you are sincere that God I need you, it's not just in the place of when you have an emergency, because that's that that's a person who is a user. It will be your life because the reality is we need him each and every day. And so there is the ability to know the voice of God, you know, through or to to hear and discern his voice through your inner nowhere you just know what to do, you know where to move. But it is the fruit of intimacy. Now number three is the hearer. Right, you can hear the voice of God inwardly or outwardly. And when I talk about the knower the feeling, this is not about oh I'm a knower, I'm a feeling, I'm a hero. No, these are just the different ways we can experience the voice of God. And the beauty is that it's not about you know, don't box yourself in one thing, because all of it is available for you, right and so you know the hero you know again outwardly. Outwardly is more rare, but it happens right where you would literally hear an audible voice right of the Lord speaking to you. And sometimes he may come in a way that feels sounds familiar. You know Samuel in the Bible, when the Lord was calling him, he kept running to Eli and he was like, you know, thinking that Eli was the one calling him. So what that tells us? It sounded familiar? So you can never box God in. Right. There are times that God could speak to you audibly, but what is more common is when He speaks to you inwardly as a thought or a sin of thought. Right. Something I've learned about the spiritual realm is, you know, and in my experience and anyone who's had any you know, angelic visitations or even visitations with the Lord, if you could share in the comments, that will also be amazing. But in my experience, they never speak. It's spirit to spirit. You can you hear what they're saying. It's not said with words audibly, it's just you can hear it, and they can hear what you're saying. It was. It's just that's the only way I can explain it. You just have a It's like you're in your thoughts. Your thoughts are communicating to you what the what the angel came to say to you? Right? And so it's a spirit to spirit transaction. Now, what is interesting about this? And there are a few scriptures were gonna read. What why this is so critical that you also discern which one is the voice of God is? Because the enemy can also speak because he is a spirit. The problem is he speaks in a way to masquerade himself as you. So sometimes rather than the enemy's saying you are unworthy, it sounds like, first person, I am unworthy. Young you're thinking you're the one talking to yourself. And then you start to build on things. You know, have you ever experienced. Let me give you a perfect example. And maybe this is with family, loved ones or a friend or whatever. Things are going so well. You might be in, you know, amongst a community and things are thriving, and one day you're sitting on the couch, you're laying down, you're eating brunch, and a thought comes to you about something they did five years ago, three years ago, a month ago. And then you're like, yeah, why did she You know that's true. He never explained why he did that. Oh my god, this person never apologized to me. And the moment you engage with that thought, it builds. You know, I think they really struggle with pride. Oh my god, Am I with someone who is prideful? Oh? Lord? Now? And it continues to build, It continues to build, It continues to build. And what you don't know is that the thought you're engaging with came from the enemy. Do you know how many relationships have suffered broken simply because someone engaged with a thought that came from the enemy and thought it was their own. And then they're convinced, Oh, I need to confront this. Oh I'm not going to tolerate this. Oh, this cannot happen. You are in a whole war by yourself. And then you see the person there's smiling like they should be because the last time you guys spoke, you were on good terms. And then you're looking at them, Why are they so happy? And I am over here suffering because of their actions. And a fight starts from nowhere, no thin air, just nowhere. And you have removed yourself from positions, from places because you were engaging with a thought that came from your adversary and you thought it was your own. You see why the Word of God says in Tecod Corinthians ten to five. It says, we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets look at that, every pretension. Oh this is so powerful to me that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive everything to make it obedient to Christ. Take captive. Your thoughts are not just this place of you just in there, because man is a spirit. Man is a soul. Man is a body, and the spirit man has the ability to engage with other spirit beings, meaning the spirit of God can communicate to you through your thoughts. The demonic spirits can communicate to you. It does not mean you have it. Understand that because a demon can access your thinking does not mean you have a demon. And demonic spirits can also read your mind. They study you to predict your behavior. But they don't read your mind, but they study what it meant the last time, are pouting? Sitting down? And who you are trying to call? They study that so they know, Oh, she's sitting it's quiet, let's speak. Now. They begin to tell you things, Oh, you remember when you went out yesterday, You remember that, you know X Y and Z leg just say Shirley, Shirley didn't hug you, but she hugged the person next to you. And you're like, you know, that's right, she did not hug me. And it starts building, It starts building, It starts building. Now the next time you see Shirley, you have an attitude and then you're the one that's like, oh, I'm not even gonna talk to her. You see Shirley. She's right. You go left, now Shirley goes. Now, it goes from you to Shirley. Did you see how Beverly just walk past you? Now Shirley did not even realize she didn't hug you. Do you you see the breakdown that takes place. So the scripture tells us take every thought captive. This would heal so many marriages, This will heal so many relationships, This would heal so many things that the Lord has ordained to be in your life if you take the thought captive, because that would not You have to understand that's not how God will speak to you about Shirley. God will not entertain you in gossip of did you see how Shirley? No? No, no, no. If the Lord will speak to you about Shirley, he will challenge your ability to love her. He will not speak to you in a way that the fruit of that conversation, that inner dialogue would be Chaos would be, anger would be frustration, would be the need to be right. That will not be what it produces right. So you have to take every thought captive. Look at what Philippians for a tells us. It says, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praise worthy. Think about such things. You have to be intentional with your thoughts. Intentional when some things begin to come up and you know like, oh that cannot no, no, no, that's not the Lord. Rebuke it, don't even engage it, don't sit with it, because all you're doing is you planet. The seed came from the enemy. You cover it up, you gave it sunlight, you're giving it water. You're just allowing it to grow and grow until it causes an issue. And that's what he's looking for. Right number four, they're the seers. And that was one of the reasons I wrote this book, right the let me show you the book, all right, This book is like a year ago. But you know one of the reasons why I even wrote a book with the emphasis on dreams, which is under the realm of the seer, right, because seer is one you can see things in the natural that other peoples may not see. Because in the natural there might be angels all around this space right now, just that we have not been given permission to see them. There are times when I minister. Then the Lord will open my eyes and I will see the angels in the room. And that's when I know, Okay, what kind of what is about to happen in a few minutes or so. Right, other people may not see them, but doesn't change the fact that they're there. So this is when the Lord begins to open your eyes because there is a purpose for you to see what is in the environment. Right. You know, Halloween was not so long ago and United States, and I remember driving, we were driving past, We're in this neighborhood, and that neighborhood. All I could see in that neighborhood was just like a host of demonic activity. And I'm like, what is going on here? And then at the corner, the corner of the street, so the yeah, once you're coming out of the street, so the corner house was decorated with all kinds of monuments that just was just demonic. And that's when it dawned on me. This corner lot is literally and I believe whoever lives what I saw on that property is not just Halloween decoration. That is intentionality. They spent a lot of money to put what they put on their lawn, and I was like, this person has to be a warlock because the activity did the monic activity I saw on that street. And why did the Lord open my eye because again this was around Halloween and he was open my eyes because he showed me you need to begin to pray for this community, because if no one is praying to cancel out the activity of witchcraft, then the voice of the witches will prevail. That is why prayer again is not optional. Intercession is not optional for a believer because God has given The Bible says that the earth he has given to man. The reason why Satan also needs people, why there are such a thing as witches, is because the enemy also needs a person's vocal cords. Satan cannot curse a land because he is not the one that has authority over the earth. We have been given authority over the earth. So if a person begins to curse an environment, that's why the Bible says that life and death are in the power of the tongue right. And so if a person begins to curse an environment and there is no man or woman of God to you know, to condemn it, to nullify it, then it would be given the ability to do whatever it's bidden is if there's no believer in that area, there's no fight, because again, you don't just want it to be about Okay, I'm a believer. I have the fire of God around me. So where our home is not affected, how about others? Right where there is an intercessor there is protection in a community. And so when the Lord opened my eyes to see what is in the natural that people are not saying, they're just thinking it's Halloween, you know, let's go out, and they're not realizing that someone was setting up an altar and that altar was releasing became a host of the monic activity for a street. Right, So the Lord began to open my eyes and say, pray concerning this community, that whatever activity of witchcraft will be nullified. Isn't it interesting that the spirit will prompt you to pray. That should tell you that you have an authority over this land? Because if there is something the Lord desires to do, why not just do it? Why is it that the Lord would always raise up someone to pray in order for him to do what he desires to do, because he has integrity. If he gave you authority over something, he gave you authority over it. It's like if you do. And again I use a lot of children references, maybe because I'm a mom, you know, but I can only imagine when my kids are in college and they have you know, if they have an assignment and it's something I could do and they're like, hey, Mom, could you do this for me? I'm not helping you. If I did your homework and you submitted it under your name, that means I like integrity. I'm not an honest person because I'm helping you to lie. And so if God gave us the earth, if he has I did it over to us to say I have put you in charge, then he can only partner with us to do his bidding. That's why whenever God wants to do it, and the Bible says he will always reveal his secrets to his servants. The prophets right, and what is that about? There is a prophetic flow, There is something that has to be made known so that we may come in agreement with it for God to establish it, and so you have to be someone. Even the ability to see is important because sometimes when you step into an area, you need to know what kind of activity is happening, here and site is powerful because when you see a thing, it's almost as though you can feel it, you can know it. All the ways that we can experience God maybe the primary race rather because again you cannot limit the Lord. But some of the ways that I'm teaching, all of that can be experienced in the sea, in realm, right. And so there's the natural aspect, But there's also these spiritual sides, and these are dreams and visions, and dreams of visions are so similar a vision, you know. The main difference is that visions happen when you're awake. Dreams happen when you're asleep. But both of them there is something that is visually being shown to you. You know. Sometimes it could be so clear and direct. Sometimes it could be shown to you in like a story or like a parable. Right. One is happens when you're awake. One happens when you're asleep. But these things are so powerful. With dreams, it is so critical because even when I wrote a book on dreams, one of the things that stood out to me is how the average person literally spends twenty about twenty six of their years sleeping. Some people don't even live up to twenty six. Meanwhile, the average person in their lifespan twenty six of their years is sleeping. That means that is space that the Lord can encounter you and will because the truth of the matter is every night everyone dreams. The problem is that we don't remember, and that was the reason why the Lord had even prompted me to write that book because there are ways that we don't We have to even when you see that, wait, my dream can be a sacred space. My dreams can be a place that the Lord could give me a message or revelation or whatnot. Then how I go to bed matters, how I wake up matters, even if I remember a glimpse of it in the middle of the night. How I treat it matters right, So the book goes into all of that, but you see there are several ways that God is speaking, but it goes back to the beginning. My sheep, hear my voice, my sheep, give attention to my sheep. Give my voice audience my sheep. Consider what is said. So when I have that dream, when I have sensed this knowing, when I see something, I'm not sure if I saw it or did I not see it. All of these things did I consider, did I give audience? Am I seeking the Lord? And ultimately is this my life or is it what I run to in terms of trouble? Because what you don't really if you only run. And we serve such a loving and faithful God that even sometimes when you just run to him in times of trouble, he you know, he may speak to you, he may bail you out of trouble, but it's not even it's a disservice to you. And why I say that, because trouble is only when you perceive it. What about when you can't perceive it, when it's it's something that is literally happening underneath your feet, and you can and by the time you perceive it, it's too late. So you must live this lifestyle of intimacy with the Lord in order to fulfill his will and his counsel concern in your life. And something so critical to understand with this is, at the end of the day, how you know. One of the key ways we discern is the fruit of what it produced. Right. One of the things that was so common for me to always hear is that someone will say, oh, man, God told me this person is my spouse right, and the first thing I'll ask, But I have a series of questions. Number one, are you dating this person? The answer is no, I'm already concerned, but then I will still be a little open and curious. Number two, do you know your social media handle? Once you say yes, now I'm intrigued because number three, when was the last time you looked at it? If you tell me to day a few minutes ago, a few hours ago, something is wrong because something I always say. God will never help you to build an idol, So God will not speak to you about someone being your spouse and the fruit of what it produced in your life is you became obsessed with the person's whereabouts, what they did, what they ate for breakfast, what's on their story? You create another recount so you could watch your story, so they don't know that you saw their story. Aha, So how to know that? Okay? Is this coming from the Lord again? There's nothing that beats the time you spend with the Lord, the time and his word. In order to not fall into deception about how you experience the voice of God, you need to know him at his word. You need to know the logos. You need to know the written word of God. You need to know Jesus and the scriptures. You need to see how God moves, how God responds. There are things that you will begin to learn about God that will teach you what God does not build idols, actually he destroys them. And so this will guard you. It will safe guard you from deception. And so I want to leave you with this. Right. You have to stare up. You have to cultivate your intimacy with the Lord, because look at what Jeremiah thirty three, verse three says, Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. And look at that scripture, Call to me and I will answer right. You know, if there are many things that God wants to share with us that we may not even have the capacity to handle. So our calling to him is what invites the space to say, Lord, you can stretch me, you can increase me. Jesus will tell his disciples how there are many things I want to say to you, right, but they were not They didn't have the capacity for it. It was not things that they could handle at that time. And so even when we receive the Holy Spirit, which is also known as the Spirit of truth who will lead us into all truths. But this takes time, It requires different stages of maturity in our lives. And so when we call to the Lord, when we do this consistently, that is how you would start to see that your intimacy with the Lord will begin to thrive in ways that you could not even imagine. There are things that the Lord will begin to do with you that you would not even think possible. That you once saw yourself as a babe, and all of a sudden you will begin to start raising disciples for Christ. But none of this happens just randomly. It takes intentional effort. And so again, just like what we discussed on the Purpose episode, let the focus be about being connected to the vine. Let the focus about your connection to the source of life, your connection to the Lord Jesus, and let that be seen in your daily walk. And so join me next week on plog pod. If you haven't received the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then I want you to just wait a few minutes because I'm going to pray with you. But until then, we'll see you soon. If you're watching this, then I believe that there is a hunger in your heart. There is something that has moved you with a desire to want to make Jesus Christ your Lord and savior. Now this is not just a decision that we make out of being convinced by something, but there is a conviction of the Holy Spirit that ministers to us that I need to be saved from this path of destruction that my life has been on. I need to be saved from this sinful nature to come into life, to receive the life of God. Salvation is about and exchange. That the Lord has put that sinful nature on the cross. When we believe what Jesus did, when we believe that he died and he was raised up with all victory and all power. You see on the cross, Jesus took captivity. Captive. That's what the Word of God says. And what is that captivity Everything that has tried to keep you bound, including that sinful nature that we have received as from the fallen man. You see, when man fell, he took on the nature of sin. And that is the image that every other man has been born into. But in Jesus you have righteousness. You can be made righteous in Christ. And salvation is to be saved from death into life, to come out of bondage into freedom. And so I want to pray with you. But I want you to know that as you say yes to the Lord, you are saying yes to his life. You are saying yes to the ways of Jesus, were saying yes for Jesus to live in and through you. Your body, your life becomes a home for the Holy Spirit, and he wants to express the nature of Jesus through your life. And so just join with me in prayer because this will be the start. But salvation is a journey and we're gonna have There's gonna be a link in the description, especially if you are listening to this or you're watching this from YouTube, you're gonna see this in the description, and I want you to click on that because it's going to help guide you into things about what comes next, how to study the Bible, just little things that are going to be very beneficial to your walk with the Lord. And so I just want you to pray with me, Lord Jesus, and just repeat after me. And when I say repeat after me, it's not just for you to just use words and they're empty. Before you. After this prayer, meditate on those words, and just really have a moment of personal prayer with the Lord, and let the Holy Spirit minister to you beyond what I could do. And so just repeat after me, Lord Jesus, I confess with my mouth as I have believed in my heart in this moment, that indeed you are the son of God, that when you came to the earth and you are crucified on the cross, that you put to death my sinful nature. And as I receive you, I receive your life. I receive the righteousness, the righteous nature that you have brought to give me. I exchange the sinful nature for the righteous nature. And so, Lord, come into my life and make my life your home. Have your way in and through me. Whatever is in me that is not pleasing to you. Convict me of these things, Lord, that I will not identify with the way of the flesh, but I will come in agreement with the way of life. I choose life. I choose you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen,