We must develop an intense spiritual hunger to hear from God, an intense desire. To hear God is a quest, we must spend time waiting on God (a focused listening). It’s a very major quest, you must begin a course of action, start out 15 minutes a day, it takes time, but make sure you are first filled with the Spirit. It’s something you must learn and become skillful at it.
We must learn a new language, the language of the spirit realm, the language of heaven. Hearing the voice of the Lord requires that we learn the language of heaven.
The language of heaven is a spiritual language, it is much more sophisticated than our native language, say English or Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese or whatever is our native language. It’s very more complex than that. And we need to appreciate that fact. It does involve the spoken word, like in English, God will speak to us in English, he’ll speak to you in Chinese, he’ll speak to you in the language you speak.
It does involve that, but it’s much more than just that, because it involves spontaneous thoughts, feelings, pictures on the screen of your mind and eventually being able to see in the Spirit. He can speak to us and communicate something to us with a feeling. He can communicate with us by pictures. He can convey to us by intuitive knowing. He can communicate with us by color, smell, taste. You see, his language is far greater than just the spoken word, the language of heaven is far greater.
Prophets have giftings that enable them to hear and see very easily. But they are gifts. And the reason why God gives prophets giftings like this is so that they can teach the ordinary believer how this works and how to work with it.
However, we need to understand that We’re not talking about giftings in hearing from God. We’re talking about another level.
HEARING GOD’S WORDS
Numbers 12: 6 Then He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. 7 Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Moses had a different relationship to God than the prophet did. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house. With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold? Wherefore, then, were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
You see, prophets speak out of giftings. They have giftings which they are either born with, or they’re imparted to when they came into the kingdom of God, and it’s easier for them to work with that.
But the average person does not have that gifting, the whole idea of having Prophets in the church, is so that they can teach the average believer how to hear God and to walk with Him, who are not prophets. And this is important. We can all hear the voice (the way he communicates) clearly, but we must first learn the ways of his communication with us.
And so, what we’re teaching is not so much working out of giftings, gifts of the Spirit, it’s working out of relationship with the Lord.
And the language of heaven is very diverse. And we must learn it. It’s something we learn to recognize when God is speaking to us and how God speaks to us.
The book of Revelation is full of symbolism. And I am just now learning the mystical interpretation of it. It’s full of all kinds of creatures, all kinds of apparitions. It’s full of symbolism. The question is why does the Lord speak like that?
Why doesn’t he speak plainly?
Well, it has to do with the times and seasons, and also proving yourselves faithful to Him, where you can keep secret the mysteries he shares with you.
The Bible is a concealed revelation, and he only reveals his will to those who are going to do it! The rest live in deception.
This is why the Lord does not speak plainly? He speaks in symbols? Gives us dreams which need interpretation.
The human language is flawed because of the fall and because of sin. It was never the perfect will of God to use human language, he speaks telepathically. After the fall Adam lost that ability so the Lord needs to go beyond just human language. He speaks in spontaneous thoughts, feelings, images or pictures.
The human language tends to go through the mind first and then the spirit. But God must get hold of our spirit first. And quite often he does that by using dreams, symbols, and heavenly encounters to get a hold of our spirit to communicate it to the mind, because we have not learned how to focus correctly. We should always be aware of the Lord and not be distracted by the things of this world.
The language of the heart is much greater, like feelings and moods and pictures. However, God often uses symbolism and dreams in such a way to hide something. He hides from you what he is saying until the time comes to make it plain.
Acts1: 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
You see, there was a time that this would be revealed, but it was not their time.
And in John 16: 25, it says, these things have I spoken unto you in figurative language, but the time is coming when I shall no longer speak to you this way in figurative language, but I will show you plainly the Father.
You see, walking with God involves body, soul, and spirit. He speaks through our spirit, but that must be communicated to our soul.
He’ll communicate feelings to our physical body or moods and emotions, to communicate something to us. And we need to be aware of that. He speaks in spontaneous thought, feelings and pictures.
And the Bible very clearly encourages us to have this kind of walk with God.
John 15: 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Many Christians are like hired servants. They don’t really know what the Lord is doing or what he’s saying to them.
But I have called you friends for all things I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. ALL THINGS.
That’s an intimate relationship even more so than with our spouse and that’s the kind of walk that He wants you to have. That’s the Lord’s desire for you.
However, there’s a problem. You see, God is a Spirit. And to make it worse, He’s an invisible Spirit. So how on earth do you become friends with an invisible spirit? How are you going to become a friend with a Spirit? You can’t see him in the physical realm, you can’t hear him with an audible voice, He’s invisible. But he can manifest himself that way if he chooses to.
And yet we’re encouraged to have a relationship with God who is invisible, with the Holy Spirit, who is invisible.
So, how can we do that? How can you become friends with an invisible Spirit?
You must learn to enter into His realm. Very rarely does the Lord enter our realm. Occasionally, sovereignly, He’ll do that. But it’s very rare. We must enter the realm of what is called the spirit real or invisible realm. John says I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard and I saw. He couldn’t see hear and see, until He was in the Spirit.
ENTER HIS REALM
The Bible makes it very clear that we must enter His realm, which is inside and outside of us. When we are aware of the presence of the Lord, we are aware of that realm.
2 Timothy 4: 22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace, be with you. Amen.
That’s where communication happens first, within your spirit.
Revelation 1: 10 I was in the spirit realm on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice sounding like a trumpet.
John heard a voice. You’re a spirit being, and your spirit is clothed with your body and with your soul that was created by your spirit entering a human body.
So, we must enter his realm to have fellowship with him. And when you learn how to be continually filled with the Spirit you are in that realm which leads to seeing into the kingdom and heavenly encounters.
1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us, But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
You must develop a conscious awareness of the Presence of the Lord. Scientists talk about a parallel universe. That’s another world existing in the same space and same time as ours.
So, you’re in living room, and scientists say there’s another world which you don’t see with your physical eyes. It’s not on the same wavelength. It’s in a different dimension. So, they talk about this theory of parallel universes.
Now, this is true in the realm of the spirit. The realm of spirit exists alongside us; it is as close as the air we breathe.
Now, as I’m talking to you there are angels around me. They live in their world. They live in a different dimension.
But to be able to see them and to be able to hear them, you must enter their realm. They’re not going to come into your realm, only at certain times, usually when you are in danger. You must enter their realm.
John said, “I was in the Spirit”. Then I heard and saw. Paul wrote; the Lord be with your spirit. Not with your mind, not with your soul. He said, with your spirit.
The realm of the spirit is more existent than the natural realm, because everything in the physical world came from out of there.
Now, Jesus had real difficulty getting this across to his disciples. He said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3: 12, If I have told you of earthly things and you don’t believe, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
Then he said in the next verse, now listen carefully, no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man, which is in heaven.
Heaven Ouranos is singular in this verse, so I believe it is talking about heaven itself which is like a planet or a universe, but it is in a different dimension and a flesh and blood body cannot enter there, but you can go there in your spirit and soul.
When it talks about heavenly places it should be translated spiritual realm which encompasses everything God created- the heavens and the earth, it is not the same as the realm of eternity, where time does not exist.
Ephesians 4: 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Heavens is the same word Ouranos but it is plural. It reads all the heavens literally in the Greek, so it implies different levels.
I traveled through galaxies at the speed of light, but I have also just stepped through the veil and was instantly in heaven itself. The Lord showed me the veil in a dream, and it is hard to describe, but it was like a sheet of energy, I stepped through it and stepped right back out because it freaked me out.
But then the next day when I was awake, I stepped through it, but I could not see anything, but was flooded with revelation, everything is enhanced there. But Jesus lived in both reals simultaneously.
You see, when Jesus walked this earth, he also was in another dimension. He walked in two realms.
The Son of Man, which is on earth, who is also in heaven.
He walked in the heavenly realm. He walked in the realm of spirit, as well as walking in this natural realm.
And Jesus is saying here in these scriptures that He was in heaven and on earth at the same time. He walked in two parallel dimensions. How can this be?
You see, Jesus had access to both worlds. He could be in the presence of his Father at the same time as being with people on the earth.
You’ll have constant access to the realm of the Spirit if you know how to move into that, if you know how to perceive that, if you know the feel of that.
In Ephesians chapter 2: 6, it says, and he hath, past tense, raised us up together with Christ, and made you to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
That is a present fact of reality. He’s made you to sit with Jesus in the spirit realm, in the heavenly places, in Christ. This is a present fact. I do not think this is the same as heaven itself but saw a scripture where the word for heaven and heavenly places was used interchangeably.
You see, once you know this and once you believe this, it is the passport of entering that new country, that new realm. It’s the beginning. You must believe it’s possible. You must know that your spirit is seated there. Our spirit is dimensional, in heaven and on earth in our body. You must know this from the Word of God, once you know it and believe it you can begin to access that realm, entering the presence of the Lord in the heavenlies.
John17:24, Father, he said, this is a prayer of Jesus, I will that they also whom you have given me, that’s born-again believers, be with me where I am.
Where did he live? Be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory which thou hast given me. For you loved me before the foundation of the world.
PRACTICE HIS PRESENCE
How do you behold the glory of the Lord? You can’t do that with your natural eyes.
It’s a spiritual phenomenon. It’s a spiritual thing. He said, “I pray, Father, that they will be with me in this realm, that they can enter my realm and walk with me and be my friend.” This is possible. (John 17:24)
Learning to be in Spirit is a matter of knowing that you can be and this comes by God imparting his faith to your spirit, and then just believing it, you can bridge the gap, pass over into that realm, bridging the gap between the two worlds. And this is very important; it is a type of the Feast of Tabernacles.
You were born from above-Passover. You may still be believing for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit-Pentecost, or to have a flow of tongues.
It is the same way with the feast of tabernacles-heavenly encounters. I have only had four, and they were a sovereign thing because I am a teacher.
But if you experience it once you can do it again. But I am not seeking that right now, focused on teaching, and still must do a detailed series on the feasts of the Lord.
We start out by practicing the presence of God in our daily life and this leads us into being able to enter the spiritual realm of the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, they are used interchangeably in the bible, but I have heard teaching’s that they are different realms, but I try to just teach what the bible confirms in the original manuscript .
Just being in the manifest presence of God on earth or in heaven is what changes us and that starts by practicing the presence of God, learning to be consciously aware of his presence during the day.
If you’re working, this is something you must work at because you have to focus on what you job requires, we do not want to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good, but we can still be filled with the Spirit while we do anything, which will impart wisdom to us to be the best kind of employee or employer.
Practicing the Presence of God.
There’s a book by Brother Lawrence called “the Practice of the presence of God”. I just bought it on my logos for five dollars plus change.
I have been buying a lot of the old catholic mystic saints books whose names I am familiar with; they are cheaper because I guess a lot of people don’t read them. I spend most of my time writing, and do not read other people’s books a lot, just a little bit, because I want what they had. I must do what the Father wants me to do each day, and then I can do the other things. First things first.
Focus is the key. What you focus on, you will connect with. As you focus upon the Lord in love and worship Him in all your heart, you’ll enter His realm. You’ll connect. You’ll become conscious of His presence, both with your spirit, your soul, and physically. You’ll become conscious.
And You lose that connection off and on during the day. But as you practice this, as you learn to enter it, it’ll become easier.
To walk with the Lord requires that you walk with a conscious presence of the Lord, a conscious awareness of his presence. You must learn how to do that.
Don’t miss understand me, I’m not saying that you must literally see him, but you must develop an awareness of him. You must be aware that he is there, because he is, that is a fact.
It takes practice, it takes focus, it takes refocus. You know, it’s like you lose your focus and you must refocus again a dozen times during the day. That’s okay.
You’re just learning how to walk into that and how to stay in it.
LOSING AN AWARENESS OF THE LORD
The first thing that Adam lost when he sinned was the presence of the Lord. That’s what was gone, the presence of the Lord.
In Genesis chapter 3: 8, it says, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden on the cool of the day.
They heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And he and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. They stepped out of the presence of the Lord.
Consciousness of the presence of the Lord is very important. Sin caused them to lose the presence of the Lord.
Leviticus 22: 3 Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while he has uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.
So, I say, sin cuts us off from the presence of the Lord. That’s why we must keep short accounts with God. If we fail and we sin, we confess our sin immediately and get rid of it.
You do not lose your relationship, you lose your fellowship, that love that brings tears to your eyes, that joy that you cannot humanly explain. That peace and rest, that allows you to soar like Eagle.
Otherwise, we’ll go through the rest of the day without being able to focus and consciously be aware of the Lord.
If you’re going to hear the voice of God, you’ve got to get into the conscious presence of the Lord. You’ve got to enter His realm, and you’ve got to have a conscious awareness of that.
When King David sinned, and then realized he sinned against the Lord, this is what he said.
Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from your presence, take not your Holy Spirit from me.
You see, it’s important to keep clean hands and a pure heart.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, the presence of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And so, living in the conscious presence of the Lord, you must become aware of his presence.
The voice of God and the language of heaven is very diverse, and it’s something you must learn. Recognizing it, is the important thing when he is speaking. Most people don’t recognize when God is speaking to them, because he speaks in so many ways.
But you must learn to enter his realm. It’s like a parallel universe between the spirit realm and the physical world. He’s not going to come into your world. You must enter into His presence.
It says we enter His gates with praise. We enter His presence with thanksgiving. We come before Him with an intensity in our spirit.
He doesn’t come before us. We must enter His world. And that is a conscious awareness of the presence of God which can lead to a visual awareness of the presence of God.
But initially it’s just a conscious awareness of the presence of the Lord. And it’s in that way you begin to hear the voice of the Lord. And so, I want you to think about these things. There are some things you must do.
You must turn to the Lord many, many times during the day. Focus and become conscious of His presence. So that you learn to walk in that. And in doing so, you’re beginning to enter a quest to walk with God.
Think about these things, put them into practice, and you’ll find yourself slowly but surely, if you’re diligent, entering the ways of God and the presence of God. God bless you!