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Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator beginning here and now, and lasting throughout eternity. Jesus declared, “This is eternal life, that they may know God” (Jn. 17:3).

Unfortunately, many in the Church miss the great blessing of fellowship with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice within us. Though we have the promise that “My sheep hear My voice,” too many believers are starved for that intimate relationship that alone can satisfy the desire of their hearts.

I was one of those sheep who was deaf to his Shepherd until the Lord revealed four very simple keys (found in Habakkuk 2:1, 2) that unlocked the treasure of His voice.

Key #1:  God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.
Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12). I had always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God’s voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.

For example, haven’t you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God’s voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?

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Experience indicates that we perceive spirit-level communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions and visions, and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is “a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting.” When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought “accidentally” intersecting our minds.

Therefore, when you want to hear from God, tune to chance-encounter or spontaneous thoughts.

Key #2:  Become still so you can sense God’s flow of thoughts and emotions within.
Habakkuk said, “I will stand on my guard post…” (Hab. 2:1). Habakkuk knew that to hear God’s quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts.

Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still. (Note 2 Kings 3:15.) After I worship and become silent within, I open myself for that spontaneous flow. If thoughts come of things I have forgotten to do, I write them down and dismiss them. If thoughts of guilt or unworthiness come, I repent thoroughly, receive the washing of the blood of the Lamb, putting on His robe of righteousness, seeing myself spotless before God (Is. 61:10; Col. 1:22).

To receive the pure word of God, it is very important that my heart be properly focused as I become still because my focus is the source of the intuitive flow. If I fix my eyes upon Jesus, the intuitive flow comes from Jesus. But if I fix my gaze upon some desire of my heart, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow I must become still and carefully fix my eyes upon Jesus. Again, quietly worshiping the King, and receiving out of the stillness that follows quite easily accomplishes this.

Fix your gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), becoming quiet in His presence and sharing with Him what is on your heart. Spontaneous thoughts will begin to flow from the throne of God to you, and you will actually be conversing with the King of Kings!

Key #3:  As you pray, fix the eyes of your heart upon Jesus, seeing in the Spirit the dreams and visions of Almighty God.
Habakkuk said, “I will keep watch to see,” and God said, “Record the vision” (Hab. 2:1, 2). Habakkuk was actually looking for vision as he prayed. He opened the eyes of his heart, and looked into the spirit world to see what God wanted to show him. This is an intriguing idea.

God has always spoken through dreams and visions, and He specifically said that they would come to those upon whom the Holy Spirit is poured out (Acts 2:1-4, 17).

I had never thought of opening the eyes of my heart and looking for vision. However, I have come to believe that this is exactly what God wants me to do. He gave me eyes in my heart to see in the spirit the vision and

movement of Almighty God. There is an active spirit world all around us, full of angels, demons, the Holy Spirit,

the omnipresent Father, and His omnipresent Son, Jesus. The only reasons for me not to see this reality are unbelief or lack of knowledge.

In order to see, we must look. Daniel saw a vision in his mind and said, “I was looking…I kept looking…I kept looking” (Dan. 7:2, 9, 13). As I pray, I look for Jesus, and I watch as He speaks to me, doing and saying the things that are on His heart. Many Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see, in the same way they receive spontaneous thoughts. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). It is as simple as that. You can see Messiah present with you because Messiah is present with you. In fact, the vision may come so easily that you will be tempted to reject it, thinking that it is just you. But if you persist in recording these visions, your doubt will soon be overcome by faith as you recognize that the content of them could only be birthed in Almighty God.

Jesus demonstrated the ability of living out of constant contact with God, declaring that He did nothing on His own initiative, but only what He saw the Father doing, and heard the Father saying (Jn. 5:19-20, 30). What an incredible way to live!

Is it possible for you to live out of divine initiative as Jesus did? Yes! Fix your eyes upon Jesus. The veil has been torn, giving access into the immediate presence of God, and He calls you to draw near (Lk. 23:45; Heb. l0:19-22). “I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened….”

Key #4:  Journaling, the writing out of your prayers and God’s answers, brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice.
God told Habakkuk to record the vision (Hab. 2:2). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individual’s prayers and God’s replies (e.g. the Psalms, many of the prophets, Revelation).

I call the process “two-way journaling,” and I have found it to be a fabulous catalyst for clearly discerning God’s inner, spontaneous flow, because as I journal I am able to write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing it is God. I know that what I believe I have received from God must be tested. However, testing involves doubt and doubt blocks divine communication, so I do not want to test while I am trying to receive. With journaling, I can receive in faith, knowing that when the flow has ended I can test and examine it carefully, making sure that it lines up with Scripture.

You will be amazed when you journal. Doubt may hinder you at first, but throw it off, reminding yourself that it is a biblical concept, and that God is present, speaking to His children. Relax. When we cease our labors and enter His rest, God is free to flow (Heb. 4:10).  Sit back comfortably, take out your pen and paper, smile, and turn your attention toward the Lord in praise and worship, seeking His face. After you write your question to Him, become still, fixing your gaze on Jesus. You will suddenly have a very good thought. Don’t doubt it; simply write it down. Later, as you read your journaling, you, too, will be blessed to discover that you are indeed dialoguing with God.

Some final notes
Knowing God through the Bible is a vital foundation to hearing His voice in your heart, so you must have a solid commitment to knowing and obeying the Scriptures. It is also very important for your growth and safety that you be related to solid, spiritual counselors. All major directional moves that come through journaling should be confirmed by your counselors before you act upon them.

Dear Mishpochah,
A great miracle has happened! For the last 12 years we have desired to air our television show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). TBN is the world’s largest religious broadcaster with 12,460 TV and cable affiliates.

Although I had applied many times, the answer was always a polite, “We have no openings.” When anyone asked I would say, “I know we will be on TBN.” But frankly, inside, I was wondering if we would ever be on.

My wife, Joy, and I were on our way to visit our children in Indianapolis when I got the call from our media agency. A vice president from TBN had just called to say that they would sell us time on their network to air on Mondays at 8:00 a.m. ET (5:00 a.m. PT). It was surreal. I was in shock. After all these years! Then I came to my senses and began passionately thanking God. In the Charlotte Airport, I shouted to a stranger, “I’m going to be on TBN!” Joy tried to calm me down.

Three other long-term prayers of our ministry are for me to be a guest on Larry King (and lead him to Jesus), to have our own television studio and to be on secular television in every city of the world as the hottest show on the planet.

This is God’s season of reaping, not only for me, but for you. I believe as you sow financially and prayerfully into our Jewish evangelistic ministry, God will speed up the answer to prayers that you have prayed for decades! Time is being accelerated in the spirit!

How would you like to only pray or do what you see your heavenly Father doing? My friend, Mark Virkler, has an interactive workbook that he has used to teach thousands of people to hear God’s voice. He told me that he expects 100% results if people follow his methods. Why is this so effective? Because God gave him this teaching.

If you can consistently hear God’s voice, then terrorism, economic collapse and natural disasters will never cause you to fear.

A member of our Mishpochah (family) recently called me and told me of a dream. She went to my restaurant to buy a meal. It was the best food in town. But to her surprise, I gave her and all my customers the meal for free. She saw I had severe need for money, but never asked for help. When she woke up, God told her to send financial support.

The dream was easy to understand. The reason I don’t ask for money on television is so we don’t lose our large unsaved audience. (I believe that unsaved audience will greatly increase with the broad reach of TBN.) With our new commitment to purchase time on TBN we need immediate help financially.

Thank you for feasting on the spiritual food from my restaurant. I pray your seed will be multiplied many times over as you sow into our God-ordained Jewish evangelistic network.

Shalom and Love,

Sid Israel Roth

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.