One of the parts of God’s nature that a mature Christian understands is that he is usually silent on some days. This silence does not mean disapproval; in fact, when God is quiet, it is generally an indication that he is happy with us. He doesn’t need to constantly reassure his mature sons and daughters when they are doing well; He just lets us be until we look like we’re heading off track-Isaiah 30: 21.
It is incorrect to think that God is constantly revealing his will to us. He wants us to walk in what he reveals and then he will give us more. However, he does carry the responsibility of putting us back on the tracks when we slip off. We can trust him to steer us back if we are headed in the wrong direction.
Because God has placed the Holy Spirit in us, we can feel safe that we are within the will of God, even when we don’t hear from him every day.
John 8: 12-I am the light of the world; He who follows me will not walk in the darkness but have the light of life.
This verse means exactly what it says: Jesus gives us enough light to see and know the direction we’re headed.
John 16: 13-but when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; For he will not speak of his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak; and he will disclose to you what is to come, he will glorify me, for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you.
The Holy Spirit will reveal to us what is coming in our own life, and then our role within the Kingdom. We can trust him completely. Our very relationship with him is prophetic. On the day of Pentecost, Peter emphasized that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was in line with an ancient prophecy given by Joel.
Joel 2: 28-I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. And your sons and daughters will prophecy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
The very first emphasis for Pentecost was that now people are free to hear the voice of God, speak out of his heart, and have prophetic insight, vision, and the capacity to hear and see what God is doing.
That was God’s priority when he poured out his Spirit. It’s interesting that initially the outpouring was not for the preaching of the gospel, but for prophetic relationship. Indeed, when God’s people are walking in right relationship, the gospel becomes more personal to those who hear it.
The gospel being preached effectively depends upon ordinary people hearing God’s voice for themselves! According to Joel, therefore, one of the credible signs of the end times is that all of God’s people hear his voice and have a relational ability to prophecy.
Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king. It is poor theology to only accept two out of three of those characteristics. The Holy Spirit discloses to us what is to come- John 16: 13. Jesus is our internal prophetic relationship with the father, and we are empowered to hear his voice by the Holy Spirit. Our very relationship is prophetic.
It is perfectly normal and healthy to ask the Lord about things we are facing in our life. This is part of our relationship with him, part of learning how to commit things to his care. But we shouldn’t live in fear if he is silent; We should trust him to answer if and when it is necessary.
In John 5: 14-15, we are told exactly what to expect from God: this is the confidence which we have before him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from him.
The father loves to reveal his will to us. He wants us to have the mind of Christ. All his ways are concerned with bringing us into maturity and confidence in his name and his nature.
When we ask in line with who he is for us, then prayer becomes a certainty and his response, a fixed guarantee. That type of assurance sets us apart as the real people of God in a world of wannabes. Our testimony becomes our verbal confession of his relationship with us. Our confidence in all that he is in himself becomes the bedrock of our lives. Anything built on it will last, regardless of the changing seasons and the gathering storms.