5 More Ways God Speaks to His People
During this time of year, we hear a lot of prophecies about how God is going to move—and prophetic warnings about what will happen in our nation—but that doesn't always help you in your day-to-day life. Even when you receive personal prophecies, it's no substitute from hearing from God for yourself. But how do we hear from God? How does He speak to His people?
I've been doing a series on this topic for the new year. We started out with 4 Things to Do if You Can't Hear God's Voice two weeks ago. Last week, I offered you 5 Ways God Speaks to His People. Now, we'll look at five more ways God speaks.
Mind you, these articles don't aim to offer an exhaustive list. God can speak to you in many different ways. But whether you struggle to hear His voice or just want to fine tune your ear to His heartbeat, I pray you'll be inspired to press in with a listening ear.
5 Ways God Speaks to His People
God is almost always speaking to us. If we aren't hearing His voice it's usually either because we haven't obeyed His last instruction and He's waiting patiently for us to get in line with His prophetic prompting or because we haven't done the four things I discussed in the first article of this series.
If you've positioned your heart to hear from God and you still aren't hearing—and you are walking in obedience—it's possible that you just don't recognize His mode of communication. There are many, many ways God communicates with His people. In Part 1 of this series, we'll look at five common ways God speaks. (Be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you can get Part 2 in your email inbox.)
1. The Holy Spirit speaks through supernatural wisdom.
2015: The Year of New Beginnings
Every year we set our hearts on a new beginning of some sort—but 2015 is different than 2014, 2013, 2012 and the years before. That's because 2015, as the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, is the year of new beginnings.
The most significant new beginning of my life happened in a jail cell about 15 years ago. I was falsely accused of a crime I didn't commit. After losing my husband the year before, I lost just about everything else I had during the 40 days it took to see my vindication. I lost my apartment, my job, my savings, my dog—it sort of sounds like one of those sad country songs. (You can read my entire testimony here.) But I gained Christ and I consider everything else worthless compared with the value of knowing Him (Phil. 3:8).
Nothing can top my salvation experience, but I do believe 2015 will prove to be a year of new beginnings—notice the Holy Spirit told me beginnings (plural) and not beginning (singular). In 2014, many in the body of Christ sensed they were being prepared for something—something they couldn't articulate. Many felt like they were being stretched beyond their natural limits. Many thought felt they were pregnant with something big and felt the pain and frustration of being past due.
WATCH: 2015: The Year of New Beginnings
Every year we set out hearts for a new beginning of some sort—but 2015 is different than 2014, 2013, 2012 and the years before. That’s because 2015, as the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, is the year of new beginnings. Let this video encourage you. I'll release an article in a few days that expounds on this.
Did 2014’s Prophetic Words Ring True?
In the days and weeks ahead, prophetic voices around the world will release prophecies for 2015. You'll read a handful of them on the “Prophetic Insight” section of charismamag.com.
But before we charge ahead to weigh prophetic mandates, directives and warnings for 2015, let's take a minute to look back at the prophetic words declared over 2014. After all, you can't always limit God's words to a 12-month timeline.
As I've said before, it's possible that some 2014 prophecies won't be relevant for years and others will remain relevant for years to come. So, again, before we move on to the next new prophetic word, let's review what prophetic voices declared last year and respond according to His Spirit.
4 Things to Do if You Can’t Hear God’s Voice
I started hearing God speak to me as soon as I got saved—and I needed to. It would be an understatement to describe my situation as desperate.
See, I got saved in a county jail. I was falsely accused of a crime I did not commit and the state wanted to send me to prison for five years. (You can read my entire testimony here.) God had a different idea and sent a group of evangelists to the jail to offer testimonies of Jesus' saving grace.
I was sold on the gospel—and sold out to Jesus—but I was still facing five years in prison on a false charge. I didn't know what to do, so I just started reading the paperback Bible they gave me after the jailhouse crusade, praying and attending any sort of quasi-church service I could find behind those cold hard walls.
LISTEN: 2015 Prophecy Roundtable-Releasing the Word of the Lord
What is the Lord saying about 2015? How do we position our hearts with Him in the New Year and avoid the enemy’s snares?
The signs of the times are manifesting around us. Things that can be shaken are being shaken. Yet God is moving in notable ways around the world—and He wants to move in your life in wondrous ways you can’t even imagine.
Join Clay Nash, Becca Greenwood, Don Lynch, and Jennifer LeClaire in this strategic prophetic roundtable during which we will share what the Lord is saying to us about 2015. If the Holy Spirit leads, we will also offer words of wisdom. Click the headline to access the audio.
LISTEN: Prophetic Ministry and the Emerging Move of God
Pockets of revival and awakening are springing up in America from coast to coast. But this next move of God will not look exactly like the last one. Where does prophetic ministry fit this emerging movement? How can you position yourself to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this hour?In this free telephone seminar, Ryan LeStrange and Jennifer LeClaire bring apostolic and prophetic revelation about what God is doing in the earth—and how you can be part of it. Topics of discussion include: the role of prophetic ministry in the emerging move of God; how to discern your prophetic calling; exploring the divine partnership between the prophetic and apostolic; why this new move carries a prophetic spirit; how to embrace the prophetic ministry in a healthy way; the value and importance of prophetic mentoring. Click the headline to get the page with the audio link.
Click here to listen to the broadcast.
LISTEN: Discerning Your Call Into Prophetic Ministry
There is a lot of confusion regarding the call into prophetic ministry. Many Christians are looking for confirmation. “How can I tell if I am called to be a prophet?”
This is an important question. In order to walk worthy of your calling, you first need to be confident God has called you. Once you are sure, you can count the cost and decide whether or not to embrace the spiritual battle that lies ahead. Although I generally discount “checklists” that tell you whether or not you are an apostle or prophet or operate in some other ministry gifting, there are practical ways for believers to confirm a prophetic calling in their own hearts. In this prophetic roundtable teleconference, Clay Nash and Jennifer LeClaire will share Scriptures and practical experience about how to discern God’s call into prophetic ministry. Click the headline to access the page with the streaming audio link.
Click here to listen to the message.
A Powerful Prophetic Promise for the Weary
If perception is reality, then a godly perspective of your trials and tribulations can deliver you from your worst enemy: your own unrenewed mind.
I can't tell you—and, in fact, I'd probably be embarrassed to admit—just how many times I've allowed the perspective of my unrenewed mind to dictate my thoughts, feelings and emotions in the midst of what I perceived as overwhelming pressure. I can't tell you how many times I didn't think I could take another step; how many times I felt like giving up, calling it quits, throwing in the towel—and moving to some remote tropical island where the devil was less likely to find me.
Then after completely discouraging myself (instead of doing what David did and encouraging myself in the Lord), I discover that the pressure isn't as pressing as my perception of reality made it out to be. I was foiled by the enemy that is my unrenewed mind. I took the bait—hook, line and sinker—by looking at the smoke and mirrors of circumstantial evidence through eyes weary from the spiritual battle. (Can I get a witness? Surely, I'm not the only one.)
LISTEN: Hopeful Prophecies About America in This Dark Hour
Many believe America is doomed and are prophesying gloom. I don't buy into that. I do believe it's going to get darker before the light shines brightly in this nation again, but prophetically speaking I am also believing for a Third Great Awakening. Will you believe and contend with me? To access this week's broadcast, click on the headline.
Click here to listen to the broadcast.
LISTEN: The Pulpit Is to Blame
There's so sin being shoved in our faces these days. Charles H. Spurgeon says when the society deteriorates and the church backslides the pulpit is to blame. Do you agree? And, if so, what can we do about it? That's the topic of discussion in this week's radio broadcast. Click the link below to listen to my discussion with Pastor Greg Young.
Click here to listen to the broadcast.
Is Deadly Ebola Outbreak the First Bowl of ‘Revelation’ Judgment?
It's official. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public-health emergency. Stopping the global spread of this deadly—and generally fatal—virus will demand a swift, mass response.
“Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own,” WHO Chief Dr. Margaret Chan said at a news conference in Geneva, according to an Associated Press report. “I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.”
Over 900 people in West Africa have died—and those are only the ones we know about. Ebola experts are warning of an African apocalypse in the face of an unprecedented outbreak that has left hundreds lying dead in the streets, The Daily Beast reports.
When True Prophets Completely Miss It
How can you tell a true prophet from a false one? That's a big question, and it doesn't have a simple answer—not in New Testament times anyway.
It seemed simple enough in the Old Testament, didn't it? Deuteronomy lays it out in no uncertain terms: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?'—when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 28:20-22).
And it gets worse: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die'” (Deut. 18:20). Of course, we aren't living with this same standard today or we'd see plenty of Internet, TV and itinerant prophets being carried away in caskets. No, we have a new covenant with God and that includes a new paradigm for prophetic ministry—one that allows grace for innocent mistakes.
When Prophets and Pastors Are Blind as Bats
“Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it.
“If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.”
Those were the words of Charles G. Finney, a leader in the Second Great Awakening, recorded on Dec. 4, 1843. Those words were true then but are especially prophetic for our generation. Immorality is prevailing in the land. There is a decay of conscience. The media lacks moral discrimination. The church is degenerate and worldly. The world has lost its interest in religion. Satan rules in our halls of legislation. Politics are corrupt—and the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away.
Are You Called as a Prophet? Here Are 2 Ways to Know
There is a lot of confusion regarding the call into prophetic ministry. Many Christians are looking for confirmation. I get email frequently from people asking, “How can I tell if I am called to be a prophet?” This is an important question. In order to walk worthy of your calling, you first need to be confident God has called you. Once you are sure, you can count the cost and decide whether or not to embrace the spiritual battle that lies ahead.
Although I generally discount “checklists” that tell you whether or not you are an apostle or prophet or operate in some other ministry gifting, there are practical ways for believers to confirm a prophetic calling in their own hearts, which we will discuss in this chapter. And it is safe to say that if you are called into prophetic ministry, mature leaders around you will recognize that call eventually.
There are exceptions to that last point. Some pastors are too insecure to recognize the gifts and callings of those in their midst. But if you are called into prophetic ministry, be assured that people will discern that call in due season. You do not have to make an announcement, try to show off your prophetic gifts or otherwise strive to let people know. God will make it apparent in His time. In fact, waiting for Him to reveal your gifting in public ministry is part of the making process, the course of Holy Spirit training, teaching and practical experience that you will learn about through the pages of this book.
