Intense Ministries Articles
Can You Hear Me? by J. D. Shelton, November 2001
Many people have told me that they have a problem hearing God. They say the Holy Spirit never speaks to them. "I never have visions, never dream dreams. I just can�t hear God." Just recently, I also had this problem.
My alarm clock wakes me up at 6:35 a.m., but this particular morning, I heard a knock at 6:20. I woke up and I thought, "Who would be knocking at my door fifteen minutes before I was to wake up?" I started to get up, but I didn�t hear any more knocks. When I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, a verse came to me about knocking:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. NKJ Rev 3:20
When I realized that no one was at my natural door, I went back to sleep. In fifteen minutes, the alarm went off and I got up. I always go in the living room and sit on the couch to pray in the mornings. I sat down and asked, "What is it, Lord? What did You want to tell me?" And He said, "Nothing." I prayed, "Well,
why did You wake me up?" And there was no answer. I realized I missed the time to hear Him. I vowed never to let this happen again. But of course, I already have. In trying to discipline myself to hearing God, the Lord led me to these verses.
Matt 26:1-13
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples,
2 "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."
3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.
5 But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,
7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.
8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?
9 "For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.
11 "For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.
12 "For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.
13 "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." NKJ
At first I didn�t realize how this could help me to hear God, but as I read, the Holy Spirit showed me that there are three types of people described in these verses. I believe these types of people are in the church today.
The first group is the disciples. The disciples followed Jesus. If He went into the fields, they were in the fields. If He went to the synagogue, they were in the synagogue. If He was on a boat, they got on the boat. It was plain that these men could not hear what Jesus was saying. In verse 2, Jesus tells them that He will be crucified,
and this isn�t the first time that He told them this. And when it happened, they didn�t understand that He would be raised from the dead,
and even after He was seen alive, they still didn�t believe. They just couldn�t hear what He was saying. This doesn�t mean they didn�t love Him, they simply couldn�t hear. In the church today, we run here and there to
every revival that we hear where God is moving, when in reality, the Holy Spirit is in us and wanting to speak to us.
The second type was the priests, scribes, and elders of the people. These guys were trying to work their way to Heaven. They read the Scriptures, and made the sacrifices, they fasted, they lived by the law. But in all their studies, the Scriptures were not alive; they didn�t hear what they were saying, and they missed the Messiah.
Jesus is the Word; in all their studies, the Word was never revealed to them. After this group heard the teachings of Jesus, they plotted to kill Him. In many churches today, our great works of man�s wisdom have killed the
works of the Holy Spirit. We work and work, never stopping to ask if it�s our work or His work. Don�t misunderstand: works are not a bad thing, but unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it... Ps 127:1
The third type is the woman who anointed Jesus with the oil. In John 12, we read that this woman was Mary. Mary was anointing Jesus for His burial. She heard the words that He said; she knew that He would be crucified. In Mark 14,
we read that the woman broke the flask and poured it on His head. If we are to live and move in the anointing, we need to be willing to be broken, because when this flask was broken, then the anointed oil poured out.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart--
These, O God, You will not despise. Ps 51:17
If we are to hear the Lord, especially in these days of fear and wars and rumors of wars, we are going to have to be broken. I would like to explain what brokenness is, but it�s different for every person. It�s root is always pride.
When I started praying for brokenness, it scared me a little. What would it be? Then I thought if we ask our Father for a egg, would He give us a scorpion?
Luke 11:11-12
11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? NKJ
Well, be honest. It�s just you and me. Actually, it�s just you and God. Which group are you in? Do you run after Jesus, and find Him there but never find Him where you are?
Or are you working your way to a greater spiritual life, never knowing exactly what your work really is to be? Or are you a worshiper like Mary, and willing to humble yourself and be broken before the Lord and hear what
He is saying? I�m somewhere between the disciples and Mary, but by the grace of God and the teachings of His Holy Spirit, I will truly be broken and hear at any time what the Lord is saying.
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Last updated: Thursday, November 15, 2001 4:22:09 PM by AWS
