Some Resources for You

Hello again.

I attended a meeting of fellow volunteers at my church last night where we had a good meal and the pastor gave us his vision for the next few months. We were wondering why small groups were cancelled for the summer and found out why, we are going to cooperate with Freedom Ministry out of Gateway Church for the summer.

I didn't know much about this program or church so I looked up Alan Smith and Gateway and this Freedom Ministry and found something amazing, it is exactly how I like to do inner healing/deliverance ministry. There is a strong focus in this program on hearing the voice of God. Teaching people how to hear God is the most practical, effective way to help people. It is how I did youth ministry for so long, taking a contemplative approach through scriptural meditation and listening prayer coupled with effective intercession (don't worry, I made this fun for the kids, lol! In all actuality, what is more thrilling than interacting with the Holy Spirit, not cotton candy and sleepovers......)

So to get to the meat. I want to give you a few ways that I approach hearing God and just generally moving in the prophetic.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION
For me meditation on scripture started it all. I had allowed boring Christianity to rule my life and God showed me through this ancient art one way to hear him. (Disclaimer: there are thousands of ways to hear God, these are only a few.)
Once it was called Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading. Poor Christians would only have one set of scriptures to a group usually, and most were illiterate, so one person would read a portion of scripture aloud several times until the group memorized the scripture, binding it up in their hearts.
Take a moment and calm yourself and bind every spirit of distraction. Pick up your bible and read through a portion of scripture, I usually read only one chapter a day, I will explain in a moment why.
Reread your portion of scripture again and again, usually several times, until something sticks out. It can be a word, phrase, or idea that just sticks out. Take this on faith that the Holy Spirit is speaking to you.
Now take your God given word for the day and meditate on it. By that I mean to roll it around in your mind and just hang on to it through the day. I taught my students to write it on their hands (they would get their word in the morning) and anytime that they did something with their hands they would see the word God gave them.
That is one way to meditate on it. I often get my portion of scripture read and sit down quietly and just know, by faith, that God is going to speak to me. Sometimes that happens instantly, other times it happens a day or two later. Journal these words!!
The reason that I only read a chapter a day, unless I have studying to do, is so that I can chew on this chapter over and over again, writing down any words or insights I receive. It does not lessen the work, if anything it adds to but you walk away with a better understanding of the chapter.

SOAKING PRAYER
This has been described alot of ways. Listening prayer, contemplative prayer, etc. I like the term soaking, but my favorite, and most scriptural way of labeling it, is Praying from Deep. The reason I label it such is because you are laying still waiting for God to move. What makes this work is that the Holy Spirit is given a chance to pray from the deep in you to God. Making intercession for your unknown needs.....much like tongues.
There are alot of issues with this prayer in many circles. They say it is too much like eastern meditation. The difference between this type of prayer and eastern meditation is that in praying from deep you are being filled with the presence of God, while eastern meditation is just emptying yourself and allowing demonic influence to fill you. Let me describe the prayer first so you can better understand.
Find a quite place and get comfortable. Some people lay down with a pillow and others sit. Alot of people put on soaking music (you can find it under that genre) which is anointed worship that plays while you do this. I don't usually play music, but nothing wrong with it.
Next bind any spirits of hindrance (you will see this is a theme for me) and invite the Holy Spirit to have His way. Now lay (or sit) with your mind focused on the Lord. Have faith that God is going to show up whether you feel Him or not.
I have had God speak alot during this time, but mostly I use it for a sort of inner healing checkup before I go into a deliverance session. God shows up and I allow Him to take care of all the issues that I don't know to pray about. Tongues accomplishes this too, but in a different way. I had a vision while praying in tongues of a river of water flowing from my belly out of my mouth. Water is the presence of God so I knew that when I prayed in tongues He was flowing into my life and the earth through this prayer. I then soaked and seen a vision of God laying plumbing pipes down into my spirit, they were being layed
I encourage you to use this if nothing else to just experience God.

TONGUES
So many great books written on this, so many great scriptures on it that I will make only two points. Fist, in 1 Corinthians Paul was talking to a church that was not exercising any discipline when it came to spiritual gifts and it was disorderly. Paul then told these people to correct their selves, but that he prayed in tongues more than "you all". The actual Greek here says "more than all of you put together". Paul was a man whose life was apparently dominated by praying in tongues.
Second that tongues prophetically decrees over your life things that you don't know you ought to be decreeing and speaks into your future. Do you want your ministry to be established effectively? Pray in tongues.
How does this relate to hearing God? I have had the vast majority of revelation come while praying in tongues. Pray with expectancy!