Latest / iRefresh Podcast / Learning to Hear God's Voice in Every Season of Life
Transcript
- 0:00And I think immediately I just tried to figure it out.
- 0:02Okay, it's this, now we're going to go to this.
- 0:04And he's like, oh no, I'm going to clear the plate here.
- 0:08And I'm going to refresh and refire things in you that you've forgotten about.
- 0:13Welcome to the iRefresh podcast, where every conversation points to the life-changing power of God's living Word.
- 0:20Let's pursue God together, one conversation at a time.
- 0:24Tonight I'm going to share with you, and I want you to see that sometimes I think we look at people who are in ministry, or in full-time ministry, and they think...
- 0:32They never deal with that.
- 0:34They must never feel this, or I'm sure that question has never hit their mind.
- 0:39And what I want you to see is that it does in every one of us because we're human.
- 0:45Now, we're all spirits.
- 0:46We're human.
- 0:47that live in a body, that have a soul, a mind, will, and emotion.
- 0:51And when I was first coming to Christ, I accepted the Lord when I was a young little girl at five years of age.
- 0:58My parents were first-generation Christians, and I was raised in the church, and I received my prayer language when I was seven years old, and I never really walked away from that.
- 1:08I've sought Him.
- 1:09I've loved Him.
- 1:10But I will tell you, I was a very emotional, more tight person.
- 1:15Now, I was probably a little less outgoing as a child.
- 1:19I think in some ways I was somewhat shy.
- 1:22I know that might be a little challenging to believe, but I kind of was when I was younger.
- 1:26And then just learned how to express it.
- 1:29But I had to allow the Spirit of God to teach me how to be led by my spirit and not by my feelings or not by my emotions.
- 1:38So I think what happens is, is we, these emotions can start to dictate in our life directions that if it's not in line with this, it can take us off.
- 1:51Even as we mature, even as we're in Christ, that never means that the enemy is going to stop wanting to tempt us.
- 1:59to be led by our feelings versus our spirit.
- 2:02He's never going to just leave us alone and go, wow, well, she's really committed to Christ, so let's just move on to somebody else, okay?
- 2:08No, he's going to consistently want to challenge us, but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
- 2:15And the power and authority that Jesus Christ has given you through his word is still powerful.
- 2:21And this is the most powerful sword you are ever going to have.
- 2:24And I will do nothing but encourage you to be led by the Holy Spirit and let this be the absolute guide for your life.
- 2:31So when we keep the word in us and we stay strengthened in the word, then our feelings will not override.
- 2:37Even when they seem really, really strong.
- 2:40I think sometimes we look at our lives and we think, this is what it's going to look like.
- 2:44And I was just sharing with my friend Brenda the other day, I was like, you know, my life has never really looked exactly like what I dreamed or thought.
- 2:52In so many ways, it's bigger and better, but in so many ways, I thought this was the direction and then we went left.
- 2:58Or I thought, this is where he's going and he went right.
- 3:00But either way, it's always been amazing.
- 3:04Because what I want you to hear is when we live this surrendered life to Christ,
- 3:09It will always be bigger and better than we dreamed or imagined.
- 3:12But that doesn't mean that in that transition or in that change of season that we don't refresh the surrender to Christ and we don't refresh the hearing God afresh and anew for the season that we're in.
- 3:27Everything changes.
- 3:28Everything changes from the momentum of what my life was to where it is now.
- 3:33It's in ministry, but it's in a totally different way.
- 3:37And you're revamping.
- 3:38You're resetting.
- 3:40You're finding your new rhythm of life.
- 3:44And I began to recognize things that I didn't realize how fast I was running.
- 3:49in that momentum.
- 3:50I didn't realize how much no margin to little margin did I have in areas of my life.
- 3:59There were things that immediately, as in that season change, that the Spirit of God began to show me and talk to me and tell me.
- 4:07And I began to go, did I not hear you before about this?
- 4:11Or was I not in a place that I could?
- 4:13And I don't really think for us it's a time to question, as it is a time to stay open and sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
- 4:21He is your guide.
- 4:22He is your counselor.
- 4:24He is your strengthener.
- 4:25He is your standby.
- 4:27He wants to do and to be all of these things when we allow him to.
- 4:31And so I will share more in some passages that he brought to me.
- 4:36But how all this came back to me is here we are months later, and I was actually cleaning some things in my garage.
- 4:45And I had a sermon on that Brother Keith was preaching, and he made a reference to this prayer.
- 4:52And I went...
- 4:54That prayer.
- 4:55When did I pray that prayer?
- 4:57And so I pull my notes out.
- 4:58I look out when I had heard it.
- 5:00And I heard the Spirit of God say on the inside of me, You are walking in the season that you are today because of the faith you released when you prayed the prayer.
- 5:10This is a fulfillment of what I had you pray.
- 5:14So when you realize that the Spirit of God is leading you, because part of this ministry is huge in prayer, and that I want to encourage you, we do know this, but sometimes we've got to hear it again.
- 5:28Those effectual, fervent, heartfelt prayers, they avail much.
- 5:34And when we are truly being led by the Holy Spirit, you didn't just pray it for the fun of it.
- 5:38You just didn't pray it because you thought, woo, that sounded like a good prayer today.
- 5:42The Holy Spirit is inspiring you to pray what he's wanting to fulfill in the days ahead of your life.
- 5:50He's truth, and you can trust him.
- 5:53So here's the prayer.
- 5:54Father God, you told us to redeem the time, so we are asking you to help us to be aware of how short it is and not waste it.
- 6:04Give us wisdom, awareness, and understanding.
- 6:09Grace us, quicken us, lead us so that we use our remaining days, our remaining strength, our remaining resources and opportunities for your highest purposes, your best uses.
- 6:26I ask it in Jesus' name.
- 6:29Lord, I'm in your hand.
- 6:30I'm yours to command in Jesus' name.
- 6:33Amen.
- 6:35when I began to pray that, his highest, his best, I've always been one of those that I don't want to get to heaven and go, okay, here's what I had for you, but you wouldn't use your faith, or you didn't hear and obey me, and so this is what you live, but this is what I had.
- 6:51I always want his highest and his best.
- 6:54And I think as I began to mature in age, that I...
- 6:58You look at your life different.
- 7:00For you younger ones, it just kind of happens.
- 7:02All of a sudden you go, how did I get to this age?
- 7:04And then you go, well, thank God we're here.
- 7:06But now what?
- 7:07What does this look like?
- 7:08What does this mean?
- 7:09Because I don't think any of us ever, you know, think about past 30, you know, maybe 40.
- 7:15But I mean, you don't really think at those ages what they're going to look like or what they're going to hold.
- 7:19But I always wanted his highest and I always wanted his best.
- 7:22What I realize now as I talk about this and I look back, that there was an area that I believe the Spirit of God was speaking to me.
- 7:31that he was trying to talk to me about, but maybe I allowed, and I don't blame anyone, I take responsibility, I allowed the momentum of my life.
- 7:39I allowed the choices and responsibilities I took on to hinder me in really maybe having the sensitivity that I could have.
- 7:50You know, maybe there should have been a no versus yes, you know.
- 7:54And I think it's so important that we really ask him to lead us and to show us that we're saying yes to what he wants to say yes to.
- 8:06And no to what he wants us to say no to because we are responsible for hearing and following the voice of God.
- 8:14So if you have your Bibles, I'm going to have you turn to Ephesians chapter 5.
- 8:18We're going to look at verses 15 through 17.
- 8:21Now the King James Version says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
- 8:33So I want you to see that it's important that we live in a place.
- 8:38It wasn't just a prayer that I believe that was for me.
- 8:40I really believe one of the messages of my heart that the Holy Spirit has put on anywhere I speak or one-on-one or group setting is to encourage, exhort whoever that is to hear the voice of God and to recognize the season and the time that we're in.
- 8:59In this season, it's not business as usual.
- 9:02In this season, we very well can be the ones that usher in the coming of Christ.
- 9:07I believe that.
- 9:09So for the body to function the way he's called us to, to come back for a bride truly without spot or wrinkle, we've got to be in the position that he's leading us in.
- 9:19We've got to not just be kind to in.
- 9:22We need to be all in.
- 9:24It's like with your body.
- 9:25When, you know, just pick any organ that doesn't work like it's supposed to, and it can affect every other part of the body.
- 9:33When the body functions, all the organs function, muscles, tendons, everything else, function the way it's supposed to, your body feels great, and it functions the way it's supposed to.
- 9:45We are making up this body of Christ,
- 9:48And I want to challenge and encourage you, there's a specific place he has for you to walk in.
- 9:55The gifting, the calling he put inside of you is for something specific.
- 9:58And it wasn't just for in your 20s or your 40s or your 60s.
- 10:04You have breath in your body.
- 10:06There's purpose within you.
- 10:07And there's a specific part you are to play in the body.
- 10:12Now, let's not just do some half-baked job of it.
- 10:15Let's be fully in, anointed, and equipped in what he's calling us to do.
- 10:22And so, it's important that we're making the most of the time.
- 10:25I wanted to show you by Scripture, Psalms 90, verse 12, Amplified says, "...so teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom."
- 10:38Teach us to number our days.
- 10:39The living says, teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are.
- 10:46Help us to spend them as we should.
- 10:50So what is the purpose of that prayer?
- 10:52What was the purpose of these words?
- 10:55The goal is to gain a heart of wisdom which helps us to prioritize what matters most in light of eternity.
- 11:04When we recognize that living here isn't for here, that everything we're going to do here is going to determine where we rule and reign in the next life, you'll live your life a little more purpose-filled.
- 11:14You'll want to make sure that you're not just hearing the voice of God, but you're obeying the voice of God.
- 11:21For any of you that have read any of John Bevere books or read some of those that talked about Driven by Eternity, you recognize that God has a specific purpose and calling for us.
- 11:32And to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, is not about you just doing what you wanted to do and you accepted him as Savior.
- 11:40It's about you accepting him, but then making him Lord and then hearing what your assignment was and then following through with that assignment.
- 11:51And so I remember even as a Bible school student, Brother Keith would say, don't tell your kids they can be anything they want to be.
- 12:01Teach them how to hear the voice of God and say, you're going to be all that God's called you to be.
- 12:06Because that's going to be the biggest and the best lie for them.
- 12:09Because anything outside of that is not God's best.
- 12:13And so in this season, it's easier, the more mature you get in natural age, to go, I want to hear, I want to do, I want to follow through precisely what he's leading me to do.
- 12:27So the goal is to gain that heart of wisdom, helping us prioritize what matters in light of eternity.
- 12:33Ephesians 2 verse 10.
- 12:36For we are God's own handiwork, his workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew, that we may do those good works which God predestined, he planned beforehand for us, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which he prearranged and made ready for us to live."
- 13:01Now, this particular passage, the Holy Spirit gave me revelation on many, many years ago.
- 13:06Because I was so, didn't want to miss the purpose of God.
- 13:10Didn't want to marry the wrong one.
- 13:12Wanted to make sure I was in the center of his will.
- 13:15And I remember when I was reading in Ephesians, this particular passage just jumped off.
- 13:20Amplified version.
- 13:21And he said, Debbie, I've already written this out for you.
- 13:25I already have a God plan that I predestined.
- 13:28I've prepared it.
- 13:29I've made ready for you ahead of time.
- 13:32And that you can walk in it and then live the good life that I promised you.
- 13:36He said, the key is you live a surrendered life to me, my purpose.
- 13:43You ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and obey whatever he speaks.
- 13:48You don't have to make this happen.
- 13:50You don't have to, oh, if I'm just not at the right place, then I'm going to miss what God has.
- 13:54He's like, I know exactly where you're at.
- 13:55I know how to get you where you need to be.
- 13:58Quit putting the pressure on you.
- 14:00The pressure's on me.
- 14:02I'm the one who called you.
- 14:03I'm the one who gave you the gifting.
- 14:05I'm the one that knows the very steps that you need.
- 14:08But so many times in this world, as we naturally mature, as parents, we want our kids to take on more responsibility.
- 14:16But there's somewhere in...
- 14:18In there, I think the enemy many times deceives or distorts women.
- 14:24I'm sure he does with men too.
- 14:25I'm speaking to women.
- 14:26That we think it's all on us.
- 14:29I, I got to do this.
- 14:30I've got to become this.
- 14:32I've got to do this.
- 14:33And I can remember feeling this pressure.
- 14:35I'm big in responsibility.
- 14:37And that's good to a degree.
- 14:39But when I take on more than what's not even mine, then I'm missing it.
- 14:43And what he wants us to do is true faith is rest.
- 14:48To rest that in the love of God, that he loves me so much.
- 14:53Grow in my sensitivity to hear his voice.
- 14:58that I know that I hear him.
- 15:00He tells me I'm his sheep and that I'm gonna hear him, that I grow in my confidence.
- 15:05I remember when one of my mentors in my life said, I just wanna encourage you, you need to grow in your confidence to hear God, because you do, and it's obvious that you do, but you don't believe that you're hearing him.
- 15:16And so ask him to show you how to do that.
- 15:19We know what he sounds like because he sounds like his word, but I practice in the smallest of things.
- 15:26I lose something, I pray in the Spirit, I ask Him to reveal the hidden things, I get quiet, I listen.
- 15:33He tells me.
- 15:34And I get thrilled every time I find what it is.
- 15:37I'm like, if I can hear you about that, then I know I'm going to hear you about this.
- 15:42My husband jokes about it.
- 15:43He'll go, we lose anything, can't find something, can't remember, just ask Debbie.
- 15:48She prays in the Spirit, he tells her every time.
- 15:50And he'll get so tickled because he'll hear me somewhere in the house going...
- 15:53You're so good.
- 15:54You're so good to me.
- 15:56I mean, ladies, this may sound kind of, I don't know, to you.
- 16:00I can remember even just this last week, there was something specific I was looking for because I wanted to look a particular thing up in preparation for a meeting I'll be speaking at.
- 16:10And I was like, where is that?
- 16:11I stopped.
- 16:12I prayed.
- 16:14I heard, I could see it with my spirit eyes.
- 16:18I went up to that bookshelf, there it was.
- 16:20And I was like, okay, you just amazed me.
- 16:22You just amazed me.
- 16:24You are so awesome.
- 16:26But what it does is it encourages my heart that he loves and cares about something so small.
- 16:32Do you think he doesn't care about me fulfilling the divine purpose and plan, the very reason I was given life?
- 16:38Do you think that he hasn't heard that prayer that you've prayed every day for the last few weeks?
- 16:43Do you think he hasn't heard you about that loved one or that son or that daughter that has yet to make the decision that you want them to make because you know that's God's best?
- 16:53I think sometimes we begin to grade him by what we've seen manifested.
- 16:58And what he's wanting us to do is mature to a place that whether it's an immediate or there might be a season, my praiser doesn't decrease.
- 17:07My joy isn't affected.
- 17:09My countenance isn't showing what I've yet to walk in the fullness of.
- 17:15Now, I'm the one standing here, and it's real easy for me to be animated and to show you that.
- 17:20But I'm going to tell you, I get challenged with the same thing.
- 17:24Because in this new season, I went from running to...
- 17:31And then it was a whole new season.
- 17:33Even though my husband and I had stayed in traveling ministry, we weren't on the road.
- 17:36Our job demanded that we really came off the road for a lot.
- 17:40And we were even asked to slow it down.
- 17:43So in that season, I'm like, I'm going to have to remember to pack all this stuff.
- 17:47And we're going to set up.
- 17:49I mean, there's things I did my whole life.
- 17:50And then it's the open doors.
- 17:52There was nothing on the calendar.
- 17:53God just began opening the doors.
- 17:55I mean, there's these things that you just go, I know you told me.
- 18:00I'm going to trust you and say yes, and now I'm going to watch you walk out what you have for us.
- 18:06And it's been growing.
- 18:08I saw that there were muscles that had not been used in a little while in certain places.
- 18:14I had been using muscles in a different way for what my responsibilities were.
- 18:20And now it's different.
- 18:22And all of a sudden I went, what happened to that muscle?
- 18:25It used to be strong in my 20s and 30s.
- 18:28This one we used all the time.
- 18:29And now it's, hmm, same thing you do with your body.
- 18:33You pick the weight back up.
- 18:34And you speak life to the poor little thing.
- 18:37And you say you can do this.
- 18:39And that you are going to be led by the Holy Spirit.
- 18:41And that you're anointed and you're equipped and you're strengthened.
- 18:44And then you get another special age for your birthday.
- 18:47And, you know, everyone around you wants to tell you what that age means, even the government.
- 18:52And so you just kind of go, I'm a senior?
- 18:56Really?
- 18:57Well, I was telling Mary, well, then I'm going to use all those senior discounts they say that you get.
- 19:01If I'm truly a senior, I'm going to ask for discounts.
- 19:05But the point of this is, is that he loves us and he wants to lead us and he wants us to guide us.
- 19:11And he wants you to know you are his handiwork.
- 19:14He's created you and he's made you.
- 19:16And even though something you have prayed, I fail to say this very strongly, there's
- 19:21Someone here that you have prayed and specifically believe for something, and it did not happen or it has not happened, and you've allowed your disappointment to dictate your belief and your all-in to what he's asking of you.
- 19:38Because, ladies, let's just be really honest.
- 19:42We get disappointed sometimes when things don't happen the way we thought they were going to.
- 19:49But he wants us to mature that we can give him the disappointment and let him heal and let him refresh and let him refire what we don't understand.
- 20:00Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, trust him.
- 20:04Trust him.
- 20:06with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding.
- 20:10Acknowledge him.
- 20:11Keep acknowledging him in all your ways.
- 20:13And he said, I will direct your path.
- 20:15But sometimes we can get stuck in those places, and we've got to move past that.
- 20:20And...
- 20:22And the scripture that I would use out of 1 Peter 1.19 is that my life is not my own.
- 20:28I've been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
- 20:31So these hands are his.
- 20:33This voice is his.
- 20:35These feet are his.
- 20:36Every part of me is his.
- 20:39But it was a refreshing of a revelation that I go, God, my life is not my own.
- 20:46I've been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
- 20:49And ladies, when you will live in that revelation.
- 20:54Any desires that are carnal or selfish can quickly die away because you surrender and you replace it with his heart to say, I want your will, not mine.
- 21:06Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, showed us that by example, especially when he went to the cross.
- 21:12Not my will, but yours.
- 21:14And I think sometimes we don't recognize how much we've hung on to our will, how much we've hung on to the way I think it should be.
- 21:24How we've hung on to, I thought you said this and this was that.
- 21:28And this is a way I need it to be.
- 21:31To a place of surrender to say, God, I want your will, not mine.
- 21:37This is your life.
- 21:39It's in you I live and move and have my being.
- 21:44So I have an agenda for today, but you can do whatever you want to in it.
- 21:50And one thing that I have been doing in this new season, I've done it at seasons in my life, but it was something that I really felt very strong in...
- 22:00reestablishing and refreshing and resetting the table for the season that we're walking in.
- 22:06And in it, it was, I bind my will.
- 22:08We have the power of binding and loosing.
- 22:10I bind my will to the will of God.
- 22:13I bind my mind to the bind of Christ.
- 22:15I bind my emotions to the fruit of the Spirit every day.
- 22:20And then I agree with what you wrote in your book about me today.
- 22:24Lord, may I hear it and follow through with whatever you speak.
- 22:28Because what I know he wrote in his book, Psalms 139 says, before I was born to my mother's womb, he's written all of my days before there was one.
- 22:35They're going to be bigger and better than anything I could come up with, dream, or imagine.
- 22:40And what I want to know, especially in this season of my life, is that I'm hearing and that I'm doing, I'm obeying whatever his spirit speaks.
- 22:50And allowing him to reset my table and to direct and to show me things that I had not seen.
- 23:00Psalms 37 2 I said that our steps are directed and established the shortest thing that we're ever going to do is this life
- 23:08This life is the shortest thing we'll ever do, and many times we make it like it's the biggest thing because it's all we know.
- 23:14But ladies, we're not doing this for this short little pssst on earth.
- 23:19It's for eternity.
- 23:21The word says in James 4, 14 that our life is like a vapor.
- 23:25Now, I've never really liked that scripture.
- 23:27Who wants to, you know, you're on this earth, it's all you know, and you want to think, I don't want this thing to be short, Lord.
- 23:31You kind of want to think, so then you jump over to Psalms, and you want to say, with long life, he will satisfy me.
- 23:37You know, and we all are believing for that.
- 23:39I mean, I believe in healing.
- 23:41I believe in wholeness.
- 23:42I believe in us living that life.
- 23:44But I want you to say when we look in that sense, we do not see, and for lack of a better word, the urgency of what today is.
- 23:53When we're constantly thinking, I have a tomorrow, and the scripture tells us you're not even promised that, you have today.
- 24:00It's not to scare you, it's to say, right now is what counts.
- 24:04Right now is what you've got to get aimed for.
- 24:07Right now is what you've got to hear that you're supposed to walk in, because when you do, it now prepares you for tomorrow.
- 24:13Amen.
- 24:14It now is the preparation.
- 24:15And what I see now is all those years of all the different ways he's used my life in ministry is preparation for what he's called me to do today.
- 24:24There is something in the season of your life as you mature that you don't want to go back to those 20s.
- 24:32But I remember when I turned 60, the Holy Spirit said, Debbie, by age alone, I'm going
- 24:40your voice will have a greater impact for the next 10 years.
- 24:43I want you to hear and be sensitive to what I'm saying.
- 24:47And whether it's one person or a group, be careful to hear me because I'm going to use your voice to say things that will reap a bigger impact.
- 24:56Well, last week or two, September 12th, I turned 65.
- 25:02I am a official senior.
- 25:04I said the word.
- 25:04I probably will never say it again.
- 25:06It'll be out there on those airways for people to find.
- 25:09But I'm like, I've arrived.
- 25:13As seniorhood, at the same time feeling like this new season can make you feel unsettled.
- 25:20Because my life was very filled.
- 25:24And I didn't see how filled it was.
- 25:27There was little margin.
- 25:28There was little days off with the responsibilities.
- 25:33And now it was this part of, do I fill it all again?
- 25:37And those were the things that I began to see.
- 25:40It's like, no.
- 25:42I had you pray the prayer because I want you to do my highest and my best.
- 25:47And many times we can think more is higher and best.
- 25:52Quantity does not dictate whether it's God.
- 25:57And it doesn't mean that it's less.
- 26:00It means that you've got to be led by the Holy Spirit.
- 26:03And so in this, as we're coming to an end, I also want you to look at yourself and to say, God, are there things I've said yes to?
- 26:11that were my yeses and not yours?
- 26:15Are there places that I thought I was being led, but I've just quit listening to you in that area?
- 26:22Because one of the most precious things that I've seen in this season is that I now have margin to hear him in ways I had not been hearing him.
- 26:34The grace and the anointing was there to do what the job was and was needed.
- 26:38And there was fruit.
- 26:39We always prayed for there to be fruit to remain.
- 26:43But the sensitivity that I get to hear is...
- 26:46The people he's brought across my path that weren't in that church setting or in that lobby.
- 26:52And it's someone at a restaurant or it's someone at the Ulta Beauty Supply.
- 26:57And I get to take the extra time because I don't have to be right back.
- 27:01And I can tell them about Jesus.
- 27:03And I can lead them to the Lord.
- 27:05And I can get their phone number.
- 27:06And I can give them the scriptures.
- 27:08I'm still making disciples.
- 27:09But I'm getting to do it in a different way.
- 27:11And I'm doing it in that one-on-one.
- 27:13And I walked out of that altar that day and I went, wow, that was fun, God.
- 27:21I don't know the last time I had the time that I just could sit and go, hey, I'm good.
- 27:27Let me do this.
- 27:28And what he's doing in my life is even taking the time to enjoy my husband.
- 27:34Amen.
- 27:34Now, we don't have kids.
- 27:35It's just been Ty and I.
- 27:37But when you're running fast, and even though you're running at the same place, it's still different than when your heart is at rest, and you can look over and take an appreciation for the gift that he's given you in the husband you prayed for.
- 27:52And the relationship is different.
- 27:54The relationship is deepening.
- 27:58Because of our schedule and opportunities, he went to Branson this week to speak at a men's retreat.
- 28:04He just got back because we'll head back to Carthage for a women's retreat that I'll be speaking at and we'll minister together.
- 28:11I don't remember the last time we hadn't been apart.
- 28:14I thought I forgot how to sleep alone at my house.
- 28:17I mean, that was my whole life.
- 28:18You're single, you just do this.
- 28:20And I thought...
- 28:21Well, Holy Spirit, I got to make sure the doors are locked.
- 28:26What's his job?
- 28:26You know, all of a sudden there was like something different, but what it caused me to do is to go, it's just me and you, Lord.
- 28:34I know what this was like.
- 28:36And I want to hear you in ways I haven't heard you.
- 28:39Yes, absent makes that heart grow fonder, and we were both excited to be back together and to go on our trip together.
- 28:46But there was something sweet about even taking that moment and go, let me hear you.
- 28:52Let me hear you.
- 28:54Let me hear you in ways I haven't heard you.
- 28:57And ladies, that's what I want to encourage you, that no matter the season, and maybe you're like me, that there's been a shift in the season.
- 29:05And I think immediately I just tried to figure it out.
- 29:07Okay, it's this, now we're going to go to this.
- 29:09And he's like, oh no, I'm going to clear the plate here.
- 29:13And I'm going to refresh and refire things in you that you've forgotten about.
- 29:18And I'm going to put things in you and call things out of you that you thought were a past season.
- 29:24And.
- 29:25And I'm going to, again, have you walk out my highest and my best purposes.
- 29:32Now, ladies, here's the key.
- 29:34I've got to be sensitive to continue to hear him.
- 29:37And I've got to be careful and sensitive to obey what he says.
- 29:42But I want to encourage you tonight.
- 29:44There is a place that he is wanting each one of us to be.
- 29:49Yes, we read it.
- 29:51It is called the secret place.
- 29:54But it isn't just for a select.
- 29:57It's for you, his beloved.
- 29:59He wants you to live in the revelation of how much he loves you.
- 30:03Another thing that I've done is I've preached this for so many years, but I felt to go back, and I've been reading Ephesians chapter 1 through 3.
- 30:12And I specifically go over the Ephesians prayers in chapter 1 and chapter 3.
- 30:17And the revelation...
- 30:18The things that he's been bringing me through his scriptures, I'm like, how did I never see that?
- 30:23Oh my goodness, it goes to this, it goes to that.
- 30:26Right now I'm doing a study that he's showing me, taking me through the ten virgins, the wise and the foolish, and he's connecting these scriptures, and I'm like, this is amazing.
- 30:35How did I never see this?
- 30:37And I'm like, he's manifesting his prayer.
- 30:40And what I want you to see is he doesn't want just to do this for Debbie.
- 30:45He wants this for you.
- 30:47We are in the last of the last days.
- 30:49We are living in the time that out of all of the span of the earth, he chose you and he chose me to be alive, no matter what your age is.
- 30:57But he doesn't want us to be this little half...
- 31:01lit light.
- 31:02He wants us to be a bright light that is illuminating who he is and what he is.
- 31:09He wants us to have a sensitivity to his voice that we can hear and discern and know.
- 31:14Gifts of the Spirit aren't just for a church setting or a prayer meeting.
- 31:17They are for every day as you get out and walk out for your husband, your kids, your family, the person in the grocery store.
- 31:24He's wanting us to be this chapter of Acts that you saw manifested in greater measures.
- 31:30That's us.
- 31:31That's you.
- 31:32That's me.
- 31:34So I just want to challenge you tonight that you take this moment.
- 31:38In fact, I'm just going to ask you to close your eyes.
- 31:41And as I'm going to just speak and pray over you, that in this moment, you allow the Spirit of God, who is truth, to speak to you in a clearer, more definite way than ever before.
- 31:55That you will have a hunger and a thirst for His Word and for His Spirit.
- 32:01And that you will receive the revelation, knowledge, the wisdom, the direction, the precise steps that you are to walk in.
- 32:11when I talked about increasing in knowing that you hear God, he wants me to tell you, you do hear me.
- 32:18You do hear my voice.
- 32:21Now thank me when you hear me and act upon it.
- 32:25Because when you hear and you act upon it, that faith has the corresponding action.
- 32:30That's what activates that to manifest in your life.
- 32:33And let that activation be there with whatever it is, the step of action that he's showing you, then you're going to see the manifestation of what it is.
- 32:42Many of you have the word of God that's in you.
- 32:46But he's wanting to bring a greater revelation and refiring and refreshing.
- 32:52That it's not just, okay, I read my Bible for today.
- 32:55But it's like, oh my goodness, I've got to come back.
- 32:58And you can't wait for the day to be over with whatever your other obligations are so that you can come back and get in his presence and look and see what he's going to show you in his word.
- 33:09Lord, I pray your blessing on them.
- 33:11I thank you, Father, for tonight.
- 33:13I thank you for their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
- 33:19And Lord, I just thank you for your precious spirit that is in us, on us, and upon us, how he counsels and leads and guides and directs and strengthens and equips us.
- 33:30to walk out this beautiful life and God plan you've ordained and predestined for each one of us.
- 33:38May we live that good life, and may we bring honor to you in Jesus' name.
- 33:43Amen.
- 33:44If this episode encouraged you, don't let it end here.
- 33:48Open your Bible, seek God's heart, and discover the life-changing power of his promises for yourself.
- 33:54Until next time, keep pursuing the God who changes everything.