Prayer and Hearing the Spirit – Part 1

I. The Importance and Power of Prayer

• Prayer is part of relationship/intimacy with God (Matthew 6:6, Job 22:21-28).

• Prayer removes anxiety, focuses the mind, and brings peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

• Prayer builds your faith (Jude 1:20-23).

• Prayer accomplishes tasks (Philippians 1:19, Hebrews 13:18-19, James 5:16-18).

  • See prayer as a tool to accomplish what you never could in your own power.

  • Praying will always make things better. Not praying will always make things worse.

II. How to Pray

• Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Colossians 4:2). Pray in all kinds of situations!

  • The more the pray, the more you’re putting your faith in God. You want to keep faith in God at all times!

• Pray by yourself in private, especially in the morning (Matthew 6:6, Mark 1:35).

  • Pray for yourself (Philippians 4:6-7, Matthew 7:7-11).

  • Pray for others (James 5:16), including your enemies (Matthew 5:44).

  • Pray/ask only for things that agree with the Word (1 John 5:14-15, James 4:3).

  • Pray in tongues (if you have the gift of tongues) (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).

• Pray with other believers (Acts 1:12-14, 12:12).

• Pray and ask God questions (Psalm 27:4, 2 Samuel 5:19, 2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

  • And listen for the Spirit to answer (Revelation 2:11).

    • The Spirit is always speaking, but we have to grow in our ability to hear the Spirit (Mark 4:9,24-25). God grants greater hearing ability. The more you grow in the Word, the more God will increase your hearing.

III. The Importance of the Word in Hearing the Spirit

• Disclaimer: Knowing the Spirit does not replace knowing the Word!

• If you become greatly obedient to the Word, you will eventually want and be able to hear the Spirit greatly. But if you want to hear the Spirit before you’ve become knowledgeable of and obedient to the Word, due to ignorance, the enemy will be able to deceive and manipulate you more easily. Be warned, and focus above all else on knowing and obeying the Word of God!

• • You can have thoughts that are from your own fleshly feelings (Jeremiah 17:9, 18:11-12, 23:16-17,26-27), or thoughts that are from evil spirits (John 13:2, Acts 5:3, James 3:14-15, 1 Timothy 4:1), and they can easily lead you astray. Be careful!

• Knowing the Word really well is what will allow you to distinguish between the voice of the Spirit and the voice of evil or the flesh.

  • Growing in the Word will take you where you need to go in hearing the Spirit.

IV. What the Spirit Speaks and the Importance of Obedience

• What the Spirit speaks:

  • The Spirit convicts us of our sins and to obey the Word (John 16:7-9).

  • The Spirit speaks to us about Scripture and helps us to best understand it (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14).

    • The Spirit reveals the deep things of God, and full truths (1 Corinthians 2:10, John 16:13).

  • The Spirit gives warnings and speaks to reveal future events (He gives prophecies) (John 16:13, Acts 11:28, 20:22-23, 21:11).

  • The Spirit communicates tasks for the kingdom and detailed instructions to us about what to say/do in situations, and what not to do (Acts 8:27-29, 10:17-20, 16:6-7, Nehemiah 9:20, Ezekiel 11:5, Luke 12:12).

    • We can hear from the Spirit what we are to preach to others (Matthew 10:27).

    • The Spirit’s guidance makes believers most effective with their time and actions.

• The Importance of Obedience to the Spirit:

• From the Word, every person is given the same general instructions for godly living. However, the Father uses the Spirit to tell us specific details for our lives as individuals.

• Whether we hear from the Word or the Spirit, we should obey.

  • It is sin to quench, ignore, or disobey what the Spirit speaks (Isaiah 30:1-2, Zechariah 7:11-12, Psalm 106:33, 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Do not be content with ignoring the Spirit. Be obedient!

    • Hearing and obeying the Spirit are essential to becoming fully obedient to God. God wants us to listen to and obey all of His words, including those from His Spirit/voice (Psalm 81:11-13, Deuteronomy 27:10, 1 Samuel 15:19,22-23).

    • Those who hear the voice of God have the greatest capacity to follow Him.

  • Again, the Spirit is always speaking. The issue is that we do not hear. But if we listen to what we do hear/understand, God will give us more hearing ability (Mark 4:9,24-25).

• Therefore, if we’re not hearing the Spirit, that means we’re also disobeying the Spirit. We can’t obey what we don’t hear. So, believers that don’t care about hearing the Spirit don’t care about an important part of obedience to God.

V. Powerful Benefits of Hearing the Spirit:

• Having great hearing allows us to communicate not only with the Spirit, but also with Jesus Himself!

  • Paul and the other apostles wrote about when they were hearing from Jesus, not just the Spirit (Acts 11:7-12, 2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

    • This is great for relationship with God!

• Having great hearing allows us to hear, pray, and do God’s perfect will, which makes our prayers and actions most effective.

  • God will grant any request that agrees with His will (1 John 3:22, 5:14-15).

  • If God’s word is spoken, its purpose will certainly be accomplished (Isaiah 55:11). Nothing happens unless God commands it. If God does command it, it will be done (Lamentations 3:37, Isaiah 55:11, Psalm 33:9). You can only successfully do what God is already commanding/doing, for His will.

    • If you hear the Spirit well, you can hear God’s will and God’s commands (John 16:13, 5:19). And if you do what the Spirit says, you will have perfect results (because you’re doing what God commanded, and what God commands is always fulfilled).

• Hearing the Spirit allows us to prophesy and therefore be most effective in edifying believers (through the Spirit we will know what every individual needs, or needs to hear, from the Spirit) (1 Corinthians 14:1-6).

Reading Assignment:

• John 14-16

• Philippians 4

• James 5

• Acts 10-11