Hearing His voice in prayer
Category: Holy Spirit
Key Passage: Romans 8
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: October 9, 2024
Romans chapter number eight. We have been discussing this subject of prayer for a bit on Wednesday nights.
I want to talk tonight, or preach tonight, just a bit on hearing His voice in prayer. One of the best places for you to hear His voice is in prayer. And I hope your prayer life is not just you talking and going through a ritual or list. I hope it is more. I hope it is communion.
We will talk about that just a bit tonight and ask God to challenge us in that. Romans chapter number 8. And we will start in verse number 26. Romans 8, verse number 26. Y’all seem alive a little bit tonight for a Wednesday night. I like that. That is a good thing. Praise the Lord for that. That is a good, good thing. Praise the Lord. Would you please stand if you are able, just to honor God’s Word? We try to show it glory and the honor it deserves—not a little, but a whole lot. It deserves that.
So these two verses here start in verse number 26. He says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, our weaknesses, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.”
But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts—by the way, the Lord searches the hearts; Jeremiah 17:10 tells us that—that is the Lord. He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Now, the intercession, of course, is He going to God for us. But intercession has to do with a go-between. Let us just say I want to say something to Trey, who is way in the back, but I do not want everybody else to hear it. So I tell Brother Frank, and Brother Frank goes back there and tells him, and Brother Trey tells Brother Frank. Brother Frank is interceding for us. And the Bible here is talking about the Holy Spirit. He maketh intercession, interceding for us.
For just a bit, we are going to talk about that tonight. Would you pray with me that God would challenge your heart in this area and give us a vision?
Father Lord, I know I need to work at this so much. Lord, I do not want to just read through my list. Lord, I do pray that our prayer times will be more where yes, we are sharing with You, but where You are sharing with us, and Lord, we have communion together. Lord, give us a vision of that. Give us a vision where You can grow us and change us through our prayer lives, Lord. Challenge me personally in that. I know I need to get back there more. Father, give us a vision of that tonight. Well, thank You for what You do. Lord, we ask for this in the name of Jesus. We pray and believe, Father, and ask You.
Does He walk with you and talk with you? Maybe the best time for Him really to speak to you can be in church, or it could be a lot of different times, but one of the best times for sure is when you go into that prayer closet, and as Matthew 6 says, you shut the door to the world, and you are alone, just you and God one-on-one. Maybe that is the best time you can hear His voice. This is such a vital part of prayer.
Now you say, “How does that happen?” Well, look up in verse number 16 of that same chapter; it gives us a little glimpse into this. Romans 8, look in verse number 16. He says, “The Spirit, there is again, the Spirit, Holy Spirit, itself beareth witness with our spirit.” So the Holy Spirit can communicate; it bears witness. Someone is witnessing; they are speaking, they are talking. It bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. I am simply saying the voice of God comes to us by way of His Spirit.
See, Jesus is in heaven interceding; He ever liveth to make intercession for us, right? But the Holy Spirit, He is not sitting on the right hand of the Father. He dwells in us; our body is His temple. He dwells in us and among us. And the Holy Spirit, He is interceding. He is the one really, when you are praying, who can speak to your heart. And it is amazing how He can so clearly sometimes change us and convict us and grow us and help us.
I will never forget—I mention this every once in a while—but my dad was getting worse and worse. And I was down in my garage. I remember very specifically, and I told the Lord, “Hey, man, we finally got our relationship better than ever the last seven years; we have a good relationship.” And Dad keeps going downhill. Dad would come to church. You know how sometimes it is: you are just feeling down, and you come to church, and fellowship, and all that picks you up, and somebody says, “How are you doing?” Dad always says, “Oh, I am doing great, doing good.” And we are like, “Yeah, Dad, we know how you really are doing,” you know. He was not lying; we were just perked up. But he was going downhill. You could see it if you know him and you are close to him.
Now I remember very, very, very specifically in that garage, as I poured my heart out to the Lord, “Lord, there is fine; I have a good relationship and this, you know.” And the Lord said, “Hey, Paul, why won’t you rejoice in the seven years I gave you instead of complaining about Me taking him?” And I will tell you what, just how only God can speak to your heart—it changed me. And just from that point on, it was a different ballgame for me in that area. Why? Because the Holy Spirit, He can really speak to you in the prayer closet, maybe better than any time. And He bears witness with your spirit.
Look over, if you would please, in Acts chapter number 13. This is the church at Antioch. It really became a great revival hub there. It was Jerusalem at the very beginning, the day of Pentecost, but then Antioch became the first place to call them Christians—at Antioch. A man, it was just a buzz of soul-winning work, and they were sending missionaries out. Just a great, great place to church at Antioch. And by the way, it is interesting for those going through the Thursday night class: Isn’t that interesting where the manuscripts from the King James Bible came from—the Antioch area for the vast majority? A little side note there.
But look over there in Acts 13. Look in verse number two: “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the what? The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Did you notice that when they were ministering to the Lord? They were fasting, they were praying, meeting with the Lord, and the Holy Ghost said, “Hey, Paul and Barnabas, send him out as missionaries.”
The Holy Spirit, He can speak to you. So many of the answers you need can be given to you in the prayer closet. I think so many times we have major flaws in our lives, and I know I sure do. So often the Holy Spirit can grow us and reveal that to us and help us move beyond if we are having communion with Him. We are talking with Him; yes, we are talking to Him, but He is talking to us.
How many know Brother Bobby Robertson of Gospel Light Baptist Church, Walkertown, North Carolina? Many of you do. A great, great ministry there for years and years. God had His hand on that. I remember him telling the story that when he was a young preacher—I think I remember right—he was already pastoring a small church, but Gospel Light needed a preacher, pastor. A group of men drove up in his driveway in a car, and they said, “We’ve been praying about a pastor, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, told us you are the one to be the pastor.” Brother Bobby was kind of like, “I’m good where I am; I am all right.” But they were like, “Well, the Holy Ghost told us you are the pastor. Would you pray about it?” Well, you are going to pray about that, you know. And he did; of course, God led him there—a great, incredible ministry. But Brother Bobby would always emphasize that those men got out and said, “Hey, the Holy Ghost told us.” And he will tell you. He is amazing how He can really speak to you and I.
Now, He will never go against the Bible. If you hear a voice leading you against the Word of God, it is not God’s voice. It is probably from another place, you know. God will not lead against His Word. In fact, the Holy Spirit will often use the Bible to speak to you.
Look if you would over in John chapter number 14. John chapter 14. It is amazing. I think of one—I do not want to mention it publicly—but an issue I was praying about, and the Holy Spirit brought a verse to my mind. I do not know if I ever really noticed it before. I have read through the Bible many times, and I think it is the book of Proverbs; I have read through it many times, but I never really noticed the little phrase. Well, the Holy Spirit popped that thing in my mind. I thought, “Where did that come from?” To the point I am like, “That must be Bible, but I do not remember it.” But the Holy Spirit does that. That is what we are talking about right here in this verse. John 14, look at verse number 26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name [Jesus’ name], He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.”
Now, how do we have the words of Jesus from the Bible? So the Holy Spirit is so good about bringing the Bible. Sometimes I will say, “Lord, is that Your voice or is that my voice?” We all have our own voice, you know. Sometimes we just want God to say something so our voice is saying something we want God to say. And I thought, “Lord, is that You or me?” you know. And sometimes I say, “Lord, that is You, would You bring a verse to mind?” And it is amazing how the Holy Spirit, He will use His Word. It is His Word; He is the author of it. But I hope you are listening for His voice in your prayer time. It is not just a time for you and I to read through this list, and I am for prayer lists and for, well, check it off, I have had my prayer time, or just go through a ritual. It is a time, this special time, where it ought to be true: “And He walks with me and talks with me.”
He intercedes. Now, He does not talk audibly. You would still be running if He talked to you audibly, amen, you know. But it is almost like it is audible sometimes; He can make it just as real. We just had a deacons’ meeting a little bit before, and I enjoyed just kind of—we were running short on time—but one of our deacons, when he started off praying, he started off, “Now, Holy Ghost, help me to pray. I am kind of scattered a little bit here in my mind. Help me get focused.” I will pray the Lord, man, he is living out the message before I preach the message, amen. And that is what it ought to be. He can guide you in your prayer life, and He can speak to you in your prayer life.
We started our Christian school. You know how that got started? You have heard me talk about it. Thanksgiving, the last thing on my mind when I went to that park to pray. I just wanted to get away from the work a little bit; I did not want more work. Last thing on my mind. But the Lord, the Holy Spirit, just very clearly in that part, said, “Hey, start a Christian school.” And that is such a key time when the Lord Almighty can speak to you.
Look over in Acts chapter number 16. Acts chapter number 16. Paul and his missionary team here—a very vital time. They really, from this, began to send the gospel over to Europe, basically, now and whatnot. But I want you to see how they got guided here, part of it, much of it. Act 16, look in verse number six. Acts 16, verse number six: “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the what? Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia.” Now he said, “Wait a second, wait a second here. He said, ‘Preach the word in all the world; go share with every creature’ (Mark 16:15). That is His accurate will. So where they didn’t—no, they weren’t disobeying—but when you follow the revealed will, go into all nations and preach the gospel to every creature, when you start following the revealed will, that is when God shows you His unrevealed will. That is where you go preach at.” And they are preaching; they are trying to get the gospel out. God says, “No, I do not want you to go over there.” The Holy Spirit. Look at the next one. Look at the next one. Verse number seven: “After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the what? Spirit suffered them not.” Now they had the Macedonian vision a little bit after that, but I want you to see the Holy Spirit was guiding them.
Friend, in your prayer time, you ought to hear—at least sometimes—you ought to hear the voice of God. The Holy Spirit, He speaks to you.
Now, how do you do that? There are a couple of thoughts on that, very brief. Number one: Ask for His voice. Ask for it. Maybe if you go through the Model Prayer and you come to that part where “Not my will, but Thine be done,” you say, “Lord, I do not know necessarily what Your will is in this. Would You tell me what Your will is?” But ask for His voice. Maybe the greatest sin I think we commit against the Holy Spirit is just ignoring Him.
This is interesting. That verse we read over there, Romans 8:26, the very beginning—the first word we read tonight about the Holy Spirit interceding for us—Spurgeon said this about that verse: “Before we pray, we should wait upon the Spirit for His guidance, and then we should go in unto the King with an acceptable petition.” Ask for it.
I imagine the vast majority of the people here tonight know the verse, Proverbs 3:6: “In all thy ways acknowledge Him.” You know that verse? I thought so many of you would. Let us say it out loud together. Would you please? Here we go. Proverbs 3:6: “In all thy ways, acknowledge Him.” Now, part of acknowledging Him is, “Lord, You know best about this. I want to hear Your voice. I am not just demanding, ‘Do this for me, God.’” Now, I acknowledge You are God, You are omniscient, and You know the past, You know eternity, You know eternity of the future, and You know the end from the beginning. And I want to hear You. And that is part of acknowledging Him. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct.” What a promise! He will direct, but part of that is me acknowledging Him: “Now, Lord, You know better than I, and I want to hear Your voice.”
The older preacher, he said I had a younger preacher say, “Hey, can we go to lunch together? I need to get some advice from you.” The older preacher said, “Sure.” And any preacher, you take him out to lunch, he will eat, amen, he will go, you know. Anyway, they went out to eat. The younger preacher was paying for it, since the older preacher would give advice. The older preacher said, in a conference, I think it was at, that younger preacher, he did not want to hear from me. He just talked and talked; he never really even stopped and asked for my advice. And the older preacher said this: “Well, I thought, might as well get a free meal out of it. Pray, Lord, good grub for a good price,” you know. But he said he never really asked; he just wanted to talk. And sometimes I am like that in my prayer time. No, if I want to hear the voice of God—He is living inside me, the voice of God inside of the Spirit of God, and He is interceding for us—sometimes just ask. “I want to acknowledge You in all my ways. I want Your direction.”
He can speak. By the way, do not take this the wrong way, but God is an opinionated God. By that, I mean He has an opinion about everything because He knows everything. You say He is a know-it-all? Yes, He truly is a know-it-all. And shame on me if I am so engrossed in myself that I am not stopping to ask for His voice.
So how do you hear the voice of God? I want myself, more than us, to hear the voice of God, especially in prayer. How do you do that? First of all, just stop and ask. Do not get so wrapped up in getting what you want that you are not asking God for His voice in your prayer life.
Then would you do this? Would you look over in First Kings, First Kings over in the New Testament? First Kings, chapter number 19. You will recognize this fairly quickly. It is Elijah. It was after Mount Carmel, and he had gone discouraged. “I am no better than my father; let me just go home.” The Lord said, “No, no.” And remember, He sent that angel and gave him some food and some sleep twice. Then he goes over; he is in this cave in the mountains, and God has spoken to him a little bit. I do not want to deny that, but I want you to just pick it up. Let us pick it up in verse number 11. First Kings 19 and verse number 11. All right, you are there tonight, amen? Good deal. And he said—this is the voice of God—“Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by: and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord.
Sound like somewhat of a tornado to me. I mean, if it is breaking the rocks, I would say that is a whole lot more than a hurricane as far as wind; that is at least a tornado, even more to break the rocks. I mean, you are talking about something. What do they say a tornado sounds like when it is coming? You know what else it sounds like? Trains are not quiet. So this thing is loud, and it is blowing, and it is breaking the rocks in pieces. Wow. But notice what it says here. I am looking. “And behold, the Lord passed by: and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and break in pieces of rocks before the Lord: but the Lord was not in the wind.” And after the wind, an earthquake. I do not know about you, but I think an earthquake gets my attention. Wow. I remember years ago, maybe 3 a.m. in our area right out of Murfreesboro, Smyrna, there was a tremor. And it was in the middle of the night. And by the way, the first thing I thought was, “Man, the Lord is coming back pretty soon,” amen, in diverse places, you know. And sure enough, I checked it out, and it was a true tremor. And that is just a tiny, minute thing, but there was an earthquake here. And notice what He says here at the bottom of verse number 11: “But the Lord was not in the earthquake.” And after the earthquake, a fire. Anybody ever seen a house burning down? I mean, just a whole house burning down. That gets your attention. I mean, how many have seen a fire and smoke and all that, and you go check it out, and there is some big old fire in their backyard? Anybody do that? Oh, yeah. How many set the woods on fire behind your house before? Come on. Yeah, I was guilty there. Yeah, that fire gets your attention. I mean, boy, there is a fire. You have heard the story, you know. You get the church on fire, people come watch it burn. You have heard all that. I am just talking about the fire. People—it gets people’s attention. But notice what it says: “But the Lord,” the middle of verse number 12, “but the Lord was not in the fire.” No, typically, especially when it is you and God alone—that is where Elijah is, just him and God—typically, you and God, it is not going to be in the tornadoes or the earthquakes or the fires. No, what was it in? Bottom of verse number 12: “And after the fire, a still small voice.” Wow. That reminds me of the Holy Spirit. Now, He can sound like a mighty rushing wind if you would like, but often that still, small voice.
Watch that next verse, verse number 13. “And it was so that when”—I have that underlined in my Bible—“when Elijah heard it.” I wonder how long that still voice had been speaking, but he did not hear it. I wonder how long. Maybe while the tornado, maybe by the earthquake, maybe by the fire. I am not sure how long. But the Bible says, “It was so that when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave: and behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What dost thou here, Elijah?” He gives him clear instructions about what to do from here on out. He got your one that is going to take over the ministry, and he is going to help you for years and years now. He is going to be king of Israel; he is going to be king of Judah. He gives him very, very clear instructions. But he did not get there until he heard the still, small voice.
You know, sometimes you have to turn the volume of the world down. You have to work at it. I mean, here is the problem for me—I do not know if you are there. I go in the prayer closet and close the door, and then my brain is still going about a million miles an hour on everything in the world. Anybody there? How many times in my prayer time I have to stop and say, “God, I am sorry, my mind is here, there, yonder.” And I have to work—I do not know—but if I have to work at just turning everything else down, it is probably going to be different ways we all do that. And there are even sometimes seasons of prayer where you really get away. But if we are going to hear that still, small voice, you have to turn the volume of everything else down.
And then do your best to turn that volume up for the Lord’s voice. Do your best to kind of get tuned into it. I always think—how many remember the old radios where you turn the dial and you can see that little red thing going across there? Man, you bunch of old fogies, goodness gracious. Wow. Yeah, and I have to do that. I have to try to get tuned in because I am here, there, and yonder. And I get away from it all, still my mind and my heart and all that. Well, Lord, help me to get tuned into Your voice. And my voice sometimes is the loudest thing out there, and I do not want to hear my voice. You ever tell God, “God, if me and You disagree, I want You to get Your way. You deserve it. You know better than me”? That might help you just trying to get in tune to His voice.
It is so important when he heard that still, small voice. I wonder how long it had been talking. He did not hear it. Look over in another place. You look at 1st Samuel, 1st Samuel chapter 3. And this is young Samuel here. We are not sure exactly how old, I do not think, best to remember here, but he is young. And his mom has taken him over to the temple, and he is working, he is serving, he is ministering to Eli, and he is learning how to minister in the temple, minister of the Lord. And let us look and see what happens here. 1 Samuel chapter 3. Look in verse number 3. 1 Samuel 3:3: “And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel rose up, and went unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord”—watch this—“neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, and he arose, and went unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou hast called me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. Therefore, Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” So Samuel went and lay down in his place, and the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, “Speak, for thy servant heareth.” And the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth shall tingle.” God gave him some very, very clear instructions, and here is the amazing thing: for just about the rest of Samuel’s life, he was the one that God would speak to, and then Samuel would speak to the nation. But it was learning to discern the voice of God. And boy, in our prayer times are probably the best place we can learn to discern it here. He did not get it. And many of all it says, “Master,” you know, Eli, an older, wiser man, he said, “No, that is God talking to you.”
Oh, friend, I hope all of us, myself included, we can learn to hear the voice of God. He will speak. He is just so clear sometimes, but it took a while for Samuel to learn to discern the voice of God.
We used to use RU. How many ever heard about RU, Reformers United? We used to have it at a church years ago. Great program, a lot of good stuff about it. One of the best things I like about it was that little prayer journal, trying to teach people how to have their time alone with God. And I like it. I do not remember exactly if you have been through it; there might be parts of it I missed. But if I remember right, there is a time that you ask, “Lord, who would You want me to try to be a blessing to today?” Lord, Jim. And here is the thing I like about it: if I remember this is the word it used in several different places, it would say after you ask that, it would just say, “Pause.” Kind of like Selah, if you will—stop and think about this. But it would use “pause,” and you are supposed to just stop and listen. All right, Lord, who am I supposed to do something for? Maybe just go buy them a coffee. Maybe send them a text. Who am I supposed to try to encourage or be a blessing to? But not just ask that, but you are supposed to stop and pause and listen.
That is so key. I am still learning this; I want to get there. But by the way, obey every impulse of the Holy Spirit—just every little bit. I did not realize it today, and I am not good at this; I am not trying to say I am. But someone I was texting—they have been in another hospital, whatnot—and they are better, but they said they are not quite there. And I said, “I will pray for you,” whatnot. And I felt like the Lord sent a verse to them, a verse. And they said, “That is such a blessing to me.” They said back, “You know, you sent me that verse a while back.” And I thought, “Oh, boy, great, I am sending the same verse again.” And they said, “I used to repeat it to myself all the time, but I lost the paper I had it on, so I needed that verse again.” Oh, praise the Lord. I wish I were better about just obeying every impulse of the Holy Spirit. And in your prayer time, He can speak to you. And it is so important: you just pause. Especially, by the way, especially when we get to the part, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive others their sins,” trust me. And that is that time: “Lord, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, O God, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, Lord. Do I have some sins I need to confess?” And pause. Stop. By the way, typically those things coming up—yep, He is speaking to you about so-and-so’s fault. Okay, you can rebel against the Spirit of God if you want to, but confess those sins and get those things right before the Lord. But you are pausing, you are listening, you are listening, you are listening, you are listening. You want to hear His voice.
How do you hear His voice? Number one, you ask for it. Number two, you listen. You just turn up, tune up the world and yourself, and say, “I want to be tuned into You.” Number three, number three. Look over in Lamentations, chapter number three. Lamentations chapter number three. We are going to be a good Baptist preacher; you only have three points tonight, amen? What about that? Now, underneath this third point, there are 25 points, but you know, only three main points now.
Here it is, the last point. We have a couple; we will look at two different passages here. Right here, Lamentations 3. These are great verses; might be good verses to memorize. Lamentations chapter 3. Look at verse number 25. Lamentation 3:25: “The Lord is good unto them that what? Wait for Him. To the soul that seeketh Him.” It is good that a man should both hope and what are the next two words? By the way, in an interesting way, He does not just say, “Wait.” That next time, He says, “Quietly wait.” Sometimes, you know, you feel like, “Well, God, I am waiting on You. All right, God, I am waiting.” No, no, no, no. Quietly wait. “It is good to manage to both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” You know, sometimes God’s voice does not speak, boom. You know, we live in an instant age, but God is not always instant.
What was it Sunday? Someone had asked a question and talked about something, and it was kind of on my mind, burdened me a little bit, and I prayed a little bit. I did not get an answer. And Monday morning I got up, and I was reading my Bible, and I felt like God said, “There is the answer,” but I had prayed about it the day before. And I am simply saying—and I am not always good; I am not trying to say I am—but I am just saying sometimes it does not come, boom. And you are going to have to wait. And do not get mad and do not say, “Well, I am going to go somewhere else to get my advice,” or “I am just going to do this.” No, sometimes just wait. Sometimes hearing the voice of God requires waiting for His answer. It takes time for that.
One more passage. Look over Job 23. Job 23. I am trying to get us out of here just a little bit before 8:15, and that is our typical time to be out, at least by then; we always are out by 8:15. I do not want to get you out a couple of minutes early; you have been so busy; you were here last night maybe. But I want you to see this, Job 23. I have to find it in my Bible, too. Job 23. And this may be such a hard part of the test—maybe some of the hardest part of the test that Job went through is this right here. And he is being tested; we know that. Now, this is a very, very tough part of the test Job went through. Job 23. If you look under the chapter, there are little topical things. Watch this chapter about it. It says, “Job’s seventh answer: He longs for God.” Look in verse number eight, if you will. Job 23, verse 8: He says, behold—Job speaking here—he said, “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; backward, but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, where he hath worked, but I cannot behold him. He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him.” Sometimes that is the hardest part of the test. You have heard it said the teacher is silent during the test time. And sometimes that is the toughest time; you are not hearing His voice like you want. You will go through those seasons.
Job is amazing. The next verse—one of the most popular verses in all the book of Job, right?—the next verse, while he is going, “I am not hearing the voice of God like I want to,” but “He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” You are not always going to hear the voice like you want to and when you want to. But wait. Just wait.
George Mueller said this—I read it about six months ago; I thought I was trying to remember this—he says, “You need never to take a step in the dark. If you do, you are sure to make a mistake. Wait, wait, wait till you have light.” Sometimes you have got to wait on the Lord. I do not like the patience part of it, but that is part of God’s plan. I have tried to get God to bypass that patience part, but He never has.
But He will speak to you. And boy, I hope in your prayer closet you said, “Oh, Holy Spirit, You are my prayer partner, and I know You are interceding for me, and I want to hear Your voice.” You ever talk to someone, or maybe you have been talking to that—boy, you were over talking to so-and-so for a good while—and you said, “Well, actually, I was over there listening to so-and-so for a pretty good while.” You do not know what? And you are like, “I wish it was a little bit more mutual, you know, both of us were talking,” you know. Is it like that with you and God? Does God say, “Well, yeah, he did a lot of talking. I had some things for him even there in the prayer closet, but I wasn’t listening and asking, waiting”? He intercedes. Boy, He is a wonderful prayer partner. Man, when you get His leadership and His guidance and His Spirit’s feelings, boy, you can go in confidence. You are asking according to the will of God.
Father, thank You for Your goodness. I do not deserve to hear Your voice. I am so prone to wander, so stuck on my opinion, all the rest of that. Lord, forgive me. And Lord, please, let us hear Your voice. Now, Lord, let us go to You in confidence because we are going, led by Your Spirit, praying in the Spirit, as You said in Ephesians 6th. Bless us to that end. Well, thank You, Lord, for what You do. It is in Jesus’ name we ask.
He knows the best about everything all the time, no matter what it is. I want to hear from You. Amen, praise the Lord, we have got a God that wants to talk to us. We get to talk to Him; that is an honor, and He talks to us, and let us be listening to that voice. Let us do that. I appreciate your faithfulness, like I said several times. Not everyone, anybody could understand that, but some of you were here last night and tonight. I appreciate your faithfulness, right where the Lord wants you to be at. And your blood pressure did not get quite as high tonight as it did last night. What about that, you know? And good to have you out tonight. God bless. Do not forget Saturday; Saturday, only two more soul-winning campaigns left. Do your best you can be here, be here. And looking forward to God just seeing Him work in hearts and lives. That is just a great, great thing. And praise the Lord for it.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Holy Spirit praying＂ -Wednesday PM 10⧸09⧸2024 [cKEDQkOVCCo]