Can we all hear the voice of God? What about our children and young people?

 The incredible truth is that we have all been uniquely created by God and therefore have unique relationships with Him. The key to growing in confidence is learning how you hear best – which takes practice. Just like any relationship, we need to spend time with God to grow in trust and confidence in His voice. This is true not only for us as adults but also for our children and young people! No matter who you are, God is speaking to you! What I have found over the years is that quite often children hear God very clearly as they tend to not complicate what they hear (child-like faith perhaps – Matthew 18).

For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus. For God so loved YOU that He became flesh so that YOU may know Him forever (John 3:16). God is not a distant God, He is closer than we can ever imagine and always desires to spend time with us. I don’t know about you but so often I think ‘why would God want to bother speaking to me?’ The truth is He always wants to speak, no matter what is going on for us in any given moment.

If we look to Jesus as our great example of hearing from God – then we need to intentionally build time into our everyday to listen to His voice (Mark 1:35). To step out of the busyness of life, even if its just for a moment. It doesn’t have to look like an hours quiet time; it could just be closing your eyes for 10 seconds and focusing on the image of Jesus and asking Him to share one word with you. You might be surprised with what He says, how your feelings change and how His peace surrounds you. Whatever works for you, the important thing is making space for us to hear God. It can be easy to complicate this very natural process. As we spend time listening and being in His presence, we can develop our own prophetic language and unique connection between us and God.

It is of course important to have those around us, who help to sharpen us through the weighing and testing of prophetic words (Proverbs 27:17 / Proverbs 1:5). In addition to that, I believe it’s in the day to day, conversational times with God, where we grow deep roots of confidence (faith) in Him and how we best connect with His voice.

My heart is to encourage the church to seek the voice of God in the everyday, whether in the big things or the seemingly mundane things becomes central to family life. God is interested in all aspects of our lives however trivial things may seem to us, God cares. If we really are the bride of Christ, and therefore have been invited into an eternally intimate relationship, then why not include Jesus in everything? For example, talking to Him about what we’d like for dinner or even what colour towels we should buy.

You might want to try out these mini activations:

1) – Ask Jesus to bring to your memory a story in scripture or a particular Bible character.

– As you read that story ask Him to highlight something about that story to you.

– Then ask Him, what does that mean for you today.

2) – Imagine sitting on a comfy sofa next to Jesus. You notice a blank TV in front of you

– Jesus hands you the remote control and you press the ‘on’ button.

– What is the very first image or word that you see?

– Ask Jesus why He has shown you that.

Matt Holman is part of the pastoral team at Counterslip Baptist Church, Bristol, has written a book to help equip families, children and young people to grow in confidence in hearing the voice of God. It is full of bite-size teaching, Bible verses, supernatural stories & enjoyable activations.The hope is that this book inspires readers to engage with God’s voice, to develop a prophetic culture in the midst of everyday life.

Matt founded ‘HearYourWay’ prophetic ministries after years of a growing desire to encourage and equip others to hear the voice of God. With a background in youth ministry, chaplaincy and a transformational personal journey, Matt, along with his wife Laura and their two children, leads a vibrant life, inspiring others to embrace a prophetic lifestyle, encounter grace and experience the transformational power of Jesus.www.hearyourway.co.uk

‘Activating the Voice of God in Your Home’ is available on Amazon:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1805170643

Matt has also released a free PDF resource for church workers:

Hearyourway.co.uk/free

 

Matt Holman