Primary Ways God Leads Us

“Be not like the horse or the mule, which lack understanding, which must have their mouths held firm with bit and bridle, or else they will not come with you.”

Psalm 32:9 AMPC

Although I have never officially competed in a marathon race, I have fully trained for one, and I am currently training again. A few years ago, I signed up for a local marathon event and trained hard for thirty weeks leading up to the event. I can honestly say that I put in 100% effort over the entire training period, making countless sacrifices and working out six days a week. For all my effort, I was richly rewarded with the best athletic shape I had ever been in—I “peaked” at just the right moment in time (a marathon training technique used to ensure readiness for the grueling event), my training injuries had healed fully, and I was logging the fastest times of my life. I was ready.

Just two weeks before the race, I received an email from the race director. Unbelievably, the event had been cancelled! The director tried to alleviate everyone’s disappointment by giving out race entry vouchers to another local marathon that took place around the same time, so I began to prepare for the new race, not wanting all my hard work to go to waste. Within a few weeks, I was astonished to receive an email from the director of the second race event—it too had been cancelled at the last minute! The directors decided to abort the race due to wildfires in the area that had caused the air quality to degrade beyond safe limits. It was amazing to me that both races that I had spent over thirty weeks training for cancelled within a month’s time. I had worked harder than ever before, made numerous sacrifices with my time, energy and money, and had pushed my body far beyond what I had ever thought was possible. Now, all that hard work was about to become a memory with nothing to show for it.

Unaware of the disappointing news, my friends and colleagues began inquiring about the upcoming race. Interestingly, most people had the same reaction to my story. I was surprised by the overwhelming similarities between others’ responses to what had happened. Nearly without exception, people reacted by saying something like, “Oh, wow! That’s incredible. Sounds like it was a sign for you not to run this year.” Or, “Someone upstairs must have been trying to tell you something!” Just about every person I told about my race cancellations concluded that God was behind the cancellations and using my external circumstances to speak to me.

External Messages

Before we dive into today’s topic, I encourage you to seriously ponder the following questions:

• How do you react when external circumstances happen to or around you? Do you immediately take these events as signs or signals that God or “Nature” is trying to communicate to you?

• What does your reaction reveal about your personal relationship with God?

If you do see external circumstances as messages from God, I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, or that you are wrong or even unspiritual. Notice that in the Word, God spoke to the Israelites through mysterious stones (the Urim and Thummim), a donkey (see Numbers 22:22-35), and even a ball of yarn (see Judges 6:36-40)! However, while God can and sometimes does speak to us using external situations and material objects, His preferred method is to speak in a different way, as we saw in our last discussion. In fact, since we are New Testament believers, I want to show you that God’s methods of guiding people through external circumstances are mostly a thing of the past! Today, He desires to speak to you and me directly, intimately, and personally. Learning how to hear and discern the voice of God is one of the most important things you can ever do in your life. Today, let’s focus our attention on verse 9, which says,

“Be not like the horse or the mule, which lack understanding, which must have their mouths held firm with bit and bridle, or else they will not come with you.”

Psalm 32:9 AMPC

There is only one word in the original Hebrew text that was translated into the English phrase “which lack understanding”: biyn. This word carries the idea of understanding, distinguishing, and separating in the mind. This word also means to know, to be acquainted with, and to be intelligent. In this context, the first sentence of verse 9 could read, Don’t be like the horse or the mule, which don’t have the power of discernment; they can’t distinguish clearly when I am guiding them.

Remember from our last discussion, verse 8 provides the context for both verses: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” The horse and mule must be led about by the mouth with bit and bridle, or else they will not come near you. In order to communicate effectively with these animals, you need to apply external force. Clearly, this is not God’s primary or preferred method of leading his children, who are infinitely more valuable to Him.

I also want you to notice the significance of these two animals. Horses were often mentioned in the Bible in connection with power, majesty, wealth, and beauty. Mules, perhaps surprisingly, were connected to royalty. King David rode a mule, and in one instance, a large group of princes each rode one (2 Samuel 13:29).

One of the hindrances to hearing God’s voice is not wealth or prosperity, but our obsession with our own ability to create success. Did you catch that? God is a gentleman and will not raise His voice above the noise. His voice is sweet, still, and small. If you’ve got a noisy life, you will have a difficult time hearing from God. Focusing your hearing on the noise of your own accomplishments, however amazing and godly they are, will impede your ability to discern His voice. Success isn’t wrong, but loving success over God is. Money isn’t wrong, but worshiping the spirit of mammon¹ is.

Although God desires to be near us—if we are like the horse or the mule—we do not draw near to Him without an external force involved. In the light of our conversation today, an external circumstance that happens in your life could potentially be God trying to speak to you, but if that’s the case, there is a better way.

Internal Leading—God’s Method Today

Let’s check out two verses in the New Testament that clearly outline God’s preferred method of communication to you and me today.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 AMPC

Also, check out John 10:27:

The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:27 AMPC

In Romans, we find that everyone who is a son of God is led by the Spirit of God. So how does God lead us today? Through the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. Since God is a Spirit (John 4:24), He connects and speaks to us primarily through our own born-again spirit that is now permanently fused together with His Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:17). Therefore, when you perceive and “hear” your own spirit, you are actually hearing the Spirit of God speak to you.

When I first learned that God even took the time to speak to believers today, I was floored. I got so excited, I hardly slept for several months—quite literally! I would spend most of the night praying, spending time with the Lord, fasting, and writing down everything He said to me. During those days, I heard Him speak to me directly, just like He spoke to Moses, Joshua, and many of the Old Testament heroes.

As time went on, however, I noticed that His voice took on a more subtle, soft tone. Less “commanding” and “spectacular”; but His voice slowly became more gently and quiet. I noticed that I had to calm my mind more and more to hear Him speak. Why was this? Was God drawing away from me? Or was I doing something wrong? I’m sure you have thought the same thing!

John 10:27 states that we hear and are listening to God’s voice. The Amplified translation brings out the present active tense of the verb are listening. This means that God is continually speaking to us, and if we are paying attention, we could be constantly listening. If you can be constantly listening, God must constantly be speaking. God has a lot to say to you. He is thinking about you quite a bit (See Psalm 139:17-18).

So, what is happening? If God is speaking constantly, why does it seem to be so difficult to hear and to discern what He is saying to us? We are either too occupied or our minds are too cluttered to quiet down enough to hear the still, small voice of God speaking clearly deep in our spirits. Be still, God says, and know Me. The thing is, you don’t have to carve out two or three hours a day (that you don’t have) to sit alone with your Bible in a quiet space (which you also don’t have) and be super spiritual. That’s not always how it works.

Two Primary Ways God Speaks

Certainly God employs more than two methods of communication, but I can say with confidence that these two are the primary, or regular ways God speaks to us. Of course, God can and does speak through dreams, visions, angelic messengers, and more—but if we think God only speaks to us in spectacular and flashy methods, we are going to miss the daily, personal, and regular ways God is speaking to us. Dreams usually occur when you are asleep. I want to hear from God when I’m awake, too! You see what I’m saying? I’m emphasizing the most basic, primary ways God speaks to every single believer in a way that is applicable to you, no matter where you are at.

As New Testament believers, in addition to any special manifestation He may or may not choose to employ, God always speaks to us in these simple ways:

• By the written Word of God

• By the Holy Spirit in union with our human spirits

When you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will speak to your spirit. For me, as I am reading the Word, I may feel drawn towards a particular verse or passage, and other parallel scriptures usually go racing through my mind. I begin to make previously unknown connections between the verses, and a new thought, or revelation, is born. Something I have never seen before becomes immediately clear.

Practical Steps to Hearing God

Start small. Connect with God every day. How? Reading the Bible and prayer are easy ones. Remember, the point of reading the Bible is to connect with God, not to fill your head with information about Him. Always view your Bible reading time as an experience with God! If you read the Bible from your head only, you will miss the most important thing about the Bible—God Himself in the form of the logos, the written Word of God. The Bible wasn’t written to your head, it was written to your heart. God put Himself into the Bible. When you read it, you take Him into yourself. That’s the big secret to reading your Bible.

If you aren’t in a daily habit of reading your Bible, why not start today? Start with five minutes every day. Start with two minutes, if you must. If you are at zero minutes now, then two minutes in your Bible every day would be a huge improvement. Zero minutes per day is still zero minutes every week. Two minutes a day is 14 minutes in a week. That’s enough time for the Holy Spirit to speak to you! Of course, the idea is to grow your habit of spending time in the Word on a daily basis, but that isn’t the hard part. Once you develop a solid habit² of setting aside time with the Lord every day, making provision for more time will be much easier.

So how do you practice hearing His voice? Again, simple. As you read the Word, your spirit will fine tune its “hearing” more and more. You will pick up what the Holy Spirit is saying as you read His Word. This is deeply important. This is how you “practice” hearing God’s voice in a safe environment. After a while, you will know what His voice sounds like in the security of your Bible reading time. In this way, you can take small steps towards cultivating a lifestyle of hearing from God regularly. Most people today don’t hear from God like the prophets did in the Old Testament (you know, a loud, thundering voice from heaven). Most people that hear from God very precisely and accurately have learned to cultivate a disciplined lifestyle of connection with God through His Word and prayer.

Takeaways

If you are already walking in daily communication with God and have cultivated a lifestyle of sensitivity to His voice, great! If you are hungry to hear from the Lord more clearly than ever before, you are positioning yourself for a great future—no matter how glorious your past has been. I’m writing this to myself. To pastors. To leaders. To stay-at-home parents. To grocery store clerks. To CEOs. To presidents. There is more than enough with our God. He is infinite, vast, enormous, unending, and glorious—I will spend the rest of my life getting to know Him more deeply than ever before, and I invite you to join me on this adventure!

God’s desire is to speak to every one of us, not only through external signs and wonders, as if we were brute beasts. God can speak to us in the spectacular for our benefit, and it’s okay to enjoy it when He does. However, the Bible reveals God’s primary methods to us—He prefers to lead us and guide us through the everyday experiences that are inherent to a love-relationship with Him. The person who receives revelation from God through external circumstances only is missing a level of relationship and intimacy with God that is available to you and me today. We are God’s children; we have access to His lap! Let’s take the rights and privileges that belong to us and step into them.

Footnotes

1. For a teaching that goes into this exact topic in great detail, check out Creflo Dollar’s message on “Uncovering the Spirit of Mammon”.
2. It takes a minimum of 63 days to change an automated habit—when it comes to the mind, there really are no quick fixes and most people give up on day 4, so be patient! For more information on how to cultivate the correct “time mindset”, see Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book Think, Learn, Succeed. Dr. Caroline Leaf. “Why We Keep Making the Same Mistakes + Tips to Break Bad Habits.” Dr. Leaf, Dr. Leaf, 9 May 2019, drleaf.com/blogs/news/why-we-keep-making-the-same-mistakes-tips-to-break-bad-habits. Accessed 16 Jan. 2020.

Scripture taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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