Delve Into Jesus : Questions : Barking Up The Wrong Tree

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Everyone struggles with this because it is by faith that we believe and by faith that we have to trust that God hears and answers us.

Here are some ways you can be confident that you are hearing God's voice and not your own:

1. Your request first must be something that is in line with the bible or does not contradict any biblical principals.
2. Before you pray, make sure that there is nothing hindering you from hearing God's voice--sin will build a wall between us and God. If there is anything in your life where you know you need forgiveness for, pray for that before you pray for what else is on your mind.
3. When you pray, make sure you give your entire burden to Him. If you maintain control over the situation or hold a piece back because you are worried about the outcome, you will be less likely to have peace or hear God's voice. Give it all over completely to Him when you pray and tell God you will trust the outcome.
4. In your prayers, be willing to do or go where God leads you. There are times when I pray for something but I try and manipulate the outcome or tell God where I would want to be led or not. I am then blocking God from truly working on this prayer.

When you are praying, do you get a sense of peace or a sense of urgency to continue praying?

I ask this because there are times God impresses upon my heart to pray for something or someone and I can't seem to get it off my mind--the Spirit is leading me to pray. I pray until I sense that God says "I've got it" (which is not an audible voice but rather a sense of peace). If you get a sense of peace when you pray, then let it go and be assured that God will answer this request in His own way. If you don't get a sense of peace but rather feel you should continue praying, do so. I usually talk to God at this point and say "Lord, I feel like you need me still to pray about this, so please show me how to better pray for this situation."

I think it is also important to ask for wisdom when you pray. Not all the answers will come right away, but I ask for wisdom and for God to reveal in his way and time what I should do. Then, so long as whatever I am doing is in line with biblical principals, I will go ahead with it---if God does not want me to do it, then the doors really do get closed but if it is part of His plan, the doors do get opened.

Sometimes there are obstacles in my way, which does not always mean a completely shut door, so if I get a closed door, I take it to God in prayer again and I don't give up until it is quite obvious that God wants me to go a different route.

Have you tried writing down your prayers in a journal? There are times where I find this helpful and times where I have written a list of my top prayer requests with a section for "answered prayer". When God answers, then I can write back to God and rejoice over the answer. There are times when I've been in the midst of writing down things when I really feel like God is speaking to me.

It does say in the bible we should "pray without ceasing" so don't ever hesitate to pray about anything. Prayer is a conversation between us and God and a way for us to build our relationship with him. There is nothing too big or too small to pray about. I have to remember too that if I am praying for something that I should have done (i.e. if I am praying not to be late for something but it was my action that caused me to be late) then God might smile at the prayer but also tell me to face the consequences. There are times, though, where I am sure God sighs and says "Ok, I will help you, but next time..please do what you can so that you're not in this situation!"

Also, there are times too when we must ask others to join us in prayer. If you don't feel at peace after praying yourself, it might be the time to call a friend, pastor, etc. and to ask them to join you in prayer.

Sometimes our answers come not directly from God but indirectly from Him through others. God leads others to answer our prayers and he can use others to guide us in situations.

The one thing you can be assured, God hears each and every prayer. The times you feel like God is most distant are the times where God is near or is trying to draw us nearer to Him. If you are certain that this distance is not due to sin or anything else in your life, then be assured He is using this sense of distance to allow you to totally depend on him. Fight the urge to give up but rather step closer to God and reach out to Him.

In my life, when times are good, I don't pray as hard, but when times are rough, then I tend to pray more. I should be praying in both these situations but I think God was wise enough to realize that sometimes we need those tough times so that we can depend on Him, build our character and then be thankful for the answered prayer.

I try to be careful to in what I pray for, only because I do believe there are times where God has planned out route A for us but I pray for route B and he allows this detour..but it would have been much easier if I had let go of the route I thought I needed to take and I let God show me instead what to do. God does answer us with our desires, but sometimes those desires turn out not to be what is best for us. Sometimes too, he just does not answer because he has something better planned.

God sees the entire picture, the whole puzzle. I always have to remember when praying, I am praying for just one piece of a much larger puzzle.

What you struggle with is what we all struggle with as Christians...because it is part of our ongoing relationship with God. We want to be validated, clearly told what to do and we don't want to make a mistake and think we hear Him when we don't, so we second guess what we do or end up praying in circles out of fear of making that mistake. If this sounds like you, instead, don't fret over the prayer and the answer, but allow God to give you that sense of peace that says "I've got it". It may take a day, a week, a year or years to hear the "I've got it" so sometimes I have to have faith in even that--that I will get that sense of peace which I have come to understand is God's way of assuring me he heard me and he will answer me.

I hope that helps...this is what has helped me.

donna- 1/5/2008 12:16:29 PM

I have certainly never "heard" God in an audible way. I have not even heard a voice in my head which I can identify as God's. Despite this, there have been times when God has communicated with me in subtle ways.

I believe that God talks to me through my writing. (I certainly don't mean this to say that my writing is "inspired", or even that it is very good!). There are times I have written articles or devotionals, and then I am just as surprised as everyone else at what I have written. The message did not come from me, it came through me. I tend to know the writing is from God when it flows naturally and rather quickly. When I have to sit and ponder what to write, I know it's not from God (I hope this does not sound pretentious, again, I'm not trying to say anything about the quality of my writing, just that God uses me to deliver messages from time to time)

The way that God most frequently "speaks" to me is by making things clear when I pray for guidance - opening or closing doors. I believe that God has done this often for me. For example, I may have 6 job interviews and cannot decide which job is the right one for me. Sure enough, I get offered only one of the six! Another time, I prayed and prayed for God to show me how to grow this ministry, and late that night while browsing the Internet, I found the Gospelcom alliance. At once, I just KNEW that God had led me to that website.

It's so hard for me to explain, but I just know when something is from God. Sometimes it's a sense of peace, other times it's a sense of excitement. As Donna said above, the closer your relationship with God - the more you pray and read His word - the more that his communication will become clear.

arsindelve- 1/5/2008 12:40:01 PM

Thank you Donna and Arsindelve. Your responses are very helpful.
Donna, I liked what you said about route A and B. I experience this often.
Arsin, I appreciate what you said about God speaking to you by making things clear. E. g. this afternoon while browsing in the book store, I opened up 2 books to expose the name "Abba". Deep inside, my soul said "yes". It was like a balm. I also heard a pastor on the radio speak on how Jesus would say "Abba Father", meaning "Daddy". Balm to my soul.
Thank you both for your words of wisdom.

Anonymous User- 1/6/2008 1:03:27 AM

You are so very welcome!

arsindelve- 1/8/2008 6:46:42 PM

there was a time i could hear God's voice went through a lot of different situation after leaving a church that wasnt good all that i thought i know i don't what is GOD doing why can't i hear him

Anonymous User- 5/28/2008 8:12:11 AM

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