Can You Hear the Holy Spirit?
Often when we pray, it’s a one way conversation but this morning we invited the Holy Spirit to dialogue with us. 5 of us got together, we wrote our names down and passed them out but did not look to see whose name we had. We then spent time praying for the person we had and asking the Holy Spirit to give us a picture, word, Bible verse, song, vision, etc for that person.
There can be fear of failing, a performance mentality that can sometimes get in the way when you do a listening prayer activity. Doubt can be a thief: “the Lord doesn’t speak to me” or “is this me or the Spirit.”
One of the hardest parts can be quieting your mind to hear, when you find yourself wandering, refocusing and redirecting yourself to be still and listen.
When you are asking the Spirit to speak and you feel your heart beat race or you feel nervous to say something, you should be bold and speak out what you are seeing, hearing or feeling.
The person that receives what you are saying should not take only your word but should pray and ask what is truth in what has been shared.
Back to this morning – the 5 of us who got together to practice listening prayer, this was the first or second time most had asked the Spirit to speak directly to them. There were nerves, there was fear, there were thoughts of “what if I’m the only person who doesn’t get something.” We prayed commanding all fear to be gone, any feeling of having to perform to be gone, for peace to fill us and the room we were in.
We then sat in silence, trying to block out the sounds of 11 other people in our house, our neighbors outside, etc.
One guy had a girl that he had a vision of, he saw her playing with children and then at the top of a high ladder, not wanting to step onto the ladder because she was afraid and heard a voice saying “it’s ok, you don’t have to be afraid, you can trust me.” When he unfolded the paper and saw he had the girl in his vision he was really surprised!
One woman had a song keep playing in her mind over and over. The guy she had, they had talked about the song before and the meaning. She was surprised because she felt that the Lord doesn’t reveal things or communicate with her but when she saw this guy’s name on her paper, she felt this was confirmation from the Spirit that He is listening and active in her life.
One guy was feeling frustrated in his relationship with the Lord. Sometimes he has mountain top experiences and other times he feels far from God. He was feeling far from God this morning and really doubted that he would hear anything. He then got a verse and a few words for me. The last few minutes we prayed he felt like the Lord was asking him to fast. He wrote that down but was confident that was for him. He decided to begin a fast today. He was blown away that he heard for me but also for himself.
Listening prayer is a practice that we all can do. It is not reserved for the mission field. I encourage you all to give it a try this week. You do not have to be in a group, you can listen by yourself.
There are great resources available to help you get started. One devotional book that takes you through 20-25 days of practicing listening prayer is The Art Of Listening Prayer by Seth Barnes.
If you want to know more about my listening prayer experiences or journey, please ask. If you have questions about listening prayer, please ask!
