56. PREPARATION OF A LEADER

FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

By definition fellowship with God means: “The action of sharing; general fellowship; a union; communion; being one with each other in intimacy.”

E.g. God fellowshipped with Adam in the cool of the day, (Gen 3:8).

Sin spoilt and broke this relationship.

Jesus' blood provides a way for us to be re‑united with God, and it is God's desire to have intimate fellowship with us, (1 Cor 1:9).

1 Cor 2:9‑16 God communicates with us by His Holy Spirit.

A. HOW DO WE GET TO THAT PLACE OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD?

Psalm 46:10 (Eccl 4:6)

- we must work at it

- cease striving and relax

- it is possible to know God

- no hurrying, i.e. we need TIME!

- we must put into practice, "WAITING", (Psalm 27:14).

- we must develop a lifestyle of "quietness" before God.
i.e. hearts poised towards God. (1 Thes 4:11).

B. JESUS' LIFESTYLE OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

Taken from the gospel of Luke

Luke 4:42 5:16 6:12‑13 9:18 9:28‑29,37 11:1 (18:1) 22:39‑40

C. HOW DO WE GET INTO HIS PRESENCE?

Praise and worship, sing to Him. Tell God that you love and adore Him. Invite God into your life.

More than just prayer of requests. E.g. "shopping lists" :‑

- submissive attitude

- sharing

- listening

- opening up (transparency before God).

Let us follow after the example of Joshua, Ex 33:11, he had an insatiable desire for God.

HEARING FROM GOD

1 Sam 3:1‑11 We need to follow Eli's advice to the young boy Samuel:‑

v9 "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening".

For us to be true prophetic leaders, we need to be hearing from God on a regular basis.

A. THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO HEAR FROM GOD

Hab 2:1‑3

- set ourselves aside.

- look and see what He is saying to us.

(Rev 2:7, 11,29; 3:6,13,22 - God is speaking!)

- "see", be prepared for the various ways in which God wants to speak to us,
IE. expect revelation.

- record what God says.

- respond to what God says, in the most appropriate way.

- judge what God says, e.g. with relation to its timing and content.

B. THE V.I.P. OF PROPHECY

V VISION

I INTERPRETATION

P PROCLAMATION

C. SOME OF THE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS WE MAY FACE

- God can speak to us at any time, so let's not get over-spiritual. Let’s develop a sensitivity towards His voice, in its many manifestations. (Eg. God even spoke through a donkey!).

- Remove all external distractions.

- Handle other distractions:‑

There are many voices within demanding attention. We need to still all these voices:

Voice of the conscience	if there's sin, deal with it.
Voice of the body	go to the toilet beforehand.
Voice of the urgent	write down the message.
Voice of the enemy	deal with it, rebuke it, and get on with hearing from God.

"Stand still", Ex 14:13, this theme is found throughout the Bible ‑ BE STILL BEFORE GOD! Allow God to do what He wants to do, and say what He wants to say.

God speaks in a "STILL, SMALL VOICE", 1 Kings 19:12.

Press on into His presence, and fight all the distractions.

D. HOW TO HEAR GOD'S VOICE?

God is creative and has many ways of speaking to us.

- BIBLE

Psalm 119:105; 2 Tim 3:16

God speaks in 2 ways through His Word :‑

- INFORMATION, the "LOGOS" of God, (occurs 325 times in N.T.), it refers to the contents of the bible, and is the standard by which truth is measured. We need the logos of God for conduct and facts.

- INSPIRATION, the "RHEMA" of God, (occurs 73 times in N.T.). When God takes His

"logos" and turns it into a "rhema" for us, by the revelation of His Spirit. It is also called

“the inspired Word of God". When God is speaking to us as individuals, the "rhema" word comes by the Spirit, and quickens our hearts. Ee.g. Rom 10:17.

- STILL, SMALL, AUDIBLE VOICE

- THE ORAL GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

- DREAMS AND VISIONS

- TROUGH OTHERS, (Prov 11:14)

- ANGELS

- CIRCUMSTANCES

Our objective in hearing from God is to follow Him, i.e. to be prophetic with what He shows us. So that we, and those whom we lead, will follow God's direction.

John 10:46 "... His sheep follow Him, because they know His voice." Through listening and practice we need to recognize and distinguish God's voice.

There are 3 voices in our minds, and not all those voices are ours :‑

1. SATAN'S VOICE

He has access to our thoughts, and puts suggestions into our minds. His voice is the easiest to distinguish, because he always tempts, lies, accuses and places guilt on us, e.g. Matt 4, Jesus' temptation.

2. GOD'S VOICE

God communicates with us by His Holy Spirit, Matt 10:19‑20. When He speaks, a thought usually jumps into our minds, with no rational process or operation, i.e. SPONTANEOUS THOUGHTS. When we are waiting on God, we are listening for "spontaneous thoughts". We are told in John 7:37‑38, from our innermost being, our hearts, are "rivers of living water" bubbling up inside us. The characteristics of God's voice are :‑

1. His voice cuts across our own thoughts.

2. God's voice is light and gentle.

3. God's voice will often come in the FIRST person.

4. His voice will have a different content, differing from our thoughts.

5. God's voice causes us spiritual reactions within.

6. What God says never oppresses or places us in bondage.

7. God will often speak to us in our areas of responsibilities, i.e. our area of leadership, or as a parent ... etc.

3. OUR OWN VOICE

Here the logical, rational, questioning and intuitive processes take place. This is the area of most difficulty and confusion. Once we have taken satan's thoughts captive, (2 Cor 10:5), we must learn to differentiate our thoughts and the thoughts of God. It is our privilege to hear God, and to be led of the Holy Spirit.

OBEYING GOD

This is the expected conclusion of fellowshipping with and hearing from God, and is the very purpose of God opening His heart to us, that we obey Him!

Let us learn from King Saul that :‑

"OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE", (1 Sam 15:22), without us having to go through the painful separation that he went through.

Matt 7:24‑27. We need to be "WISE" builders, who not only hear God's voice, but put it into practice.

The choice God put before the Israelites in the desert, is the choice God puts before us :‑

CURSING for disobedience, Deut 27:9‑26, 27:15‑68

BLESSING for obedience, Deut 26:16‑19, 27:1‑14

Let us follow after Jesus' example :‑

“YET NOT AS I WILL, BUT AS YOU WILL" (Matt 26:39)