Make A List
Cultivate Responsiveness to the Holy Spirit
By Stan Smith
Cultivate Responsiveness to the Holy Spirit
By Stan Smith
With every new year, people talk about making New Year's Resolutions. Frankly, this has always tasted more like law than grace to me. But I'm suggesting you make a list of a different sort: list the things God is telling you to do.
I began doing this more than ten years ago when I heard the testimony of an unusual prophet. God told him to travel out of state to pray for a baby; he went, not knowing where in the state he would find the child; he spent several days searching; finally, he prayed for a baby in a full-length body cast and the child was instantly healed.
I told God, 'I'd like to do that!' And He fired back, 'If I tell you to phone someone on the next block, you won't do it. How do you expect to follow me across the country to see miracles?'
So I sat at my desk, took a blank sheet of paper, and wrote at the top, "What God Has Spoken To Me." Then I listed nudges I had received that had fallen through the cracks: call someone in the church to apologize for a misunderstanding that had arisen, go out for coffee with one of the cell group leaders, attend a special meeting I didn't think I had time for.
Most of the items on the list were easy to do, and they cost little in time or money. The important thing was to do them; they seemed so insignificant that it was easy to forget about them. But if God speaks, it is never insignificant.
As I went to work with my list, I never managed to finish all the items before God gave more.
Most Christians are hungry for a Spirit-led lifestyle, and imagine that it would begin far away and at a less-busy time. But God has given the raw materials here and now.
Many of the things God told me to do could happen on the telephone. I became adept at calling someone and saying, "I'm not sure why I called you, but you were on my heart."
At times it was simply a nice chat. But sometimes the person on the other end would break down and sob, "I can't believe you called me right now." And the story would pour out, and a ministry time would follow. I began stumbling into divine appointments.
I wondered about the times that were only a nice chat. Had I missed it? Did I really know God's voice?
Slowly it dawned on me that a miracle doesn't have to happen every time God speaks. His main commandment is to love. It is always worthwhile to care about people. As it worked out, most of God's instructions to me proved to be relational, and often very timely.
But sometimes a miracle was waiting on the other side of obedience.
Miracles happen when we do what God says. God often hides His miracles behind commandments to do things that call for humility, or that don't seem particularly significant.
So it was when I prayed one day and asked, "Is there anything You want to tell me that isn't on my to-do list?" Immediately, I sensed I was to telephone a minister I hadn't seen for years.
He was a man with an interesting story. He had been an evangelist for years, with a strong healing gift. His crowds had been growing and his bookings had been increasing, but he had begun to sense that God wanted him to get into a different sort of ministry. He had spent a year in seclusion. Then God led him to pour into young pastors, mentoring and fathering them.
And now, probably ten years after that, I was to call him and encourage him to begin to step out in healing again.
I called, took a few minutes to catch up on what he had been doing lately, then came to the point. He replied, "Funny you should tell me this right now. I've been asked to speak on healing at a conference in a few months and don't know if I should. I'm scheduled for open-heart surgery after the conference…"
I encouraged him to go, to speak on healing, and to flow in his gift.
A few months later, I talked to one of the young pastors the man had been fathering. "Did you hear what happened?" he asked. "He was teaching about healing at the conference, and suddenly God miraculously gave him a new heart. He didn't have to have the surgery after all; he's been tested, and he has the heart of a young man."
Most acts of obedience don't produce a dazzling testimony. But every so often, maybe one time out of ten, God will give you a great story to tell.
Many Christians are not sure they can hear God's voice. But if asked to make a list of what God is telling them, they may be able to do so because God speaks in so many ways. He sometimes communicates in a way that we would not quite call "hearing a word from God."
Much of God's speaking occurs through subtle impressions. You're praying and suddenly a picture of an old friend flashes before your mind. It almost seems to be an interruption. Many Christians have learned to pray for the person. I would take it a step further if possible; I would ask God for guidance, then call the person and say, "I haven't seen you in years, but you came to mind as I was praying and I thought I'd call…"
Sometimes God simply makes us know something, without putting it into words. He simply calls our attention to something or someone; we know something is there for us. It is up to us to respond. But because He hasn't come right out and commanded us to act, it's easy to postpone our response.
It can be that we sense a miscommunication is marring a relationship. It takes only a few minutes to approach someone with humility and transparency and say, "When we were talking a few days ago, I'm not sure the tone of what I said really conveyed how much I value our friendship…"
In a day when a string of mishaps is putting us further and further behind on our schedule, we might suddenly sense, "This is warfare." Take time to speak to the powers of darkness, commanding them out of your life in the name of Jesus. This does not call for extraordinary knowledge or spirituality; it does call for a basic knowledge of scripture and of your authority as a believer.
When God suddenly makes His presence tangible, it's good to respond. Don't just talk about Him, as though He were a deaf person who had walked into the room: "I sense God's presence - I wonder why?" Take it further and speak directly to Him: "Lord, thank You for Your presence. What would You like to do?"
As you respond to God's voice, let it be a dialog. Has He nudged you to study something in scripture? Ask Him to lead you and to give revelation. Has a mental picture flashed before you when you prayed? Tell God, "I'm going to call the person I saw. Do you want to tell me anything before I do?"
Finally, use discernment. Not every thought that pops into your head is the voice of God. Let your fathers and mothers in the faith speak into your life if you are sensing things that will bring major change to your life. But most of what God will tell you will be small things that reflect the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace…
Sometimes God gives simple assignments we can finish in five minutes. But sometimes He calls us to establish a habit, or to take on a project that will take months or years to complete.
Recently, I sensed I should rebuild my website. It was out-of-date and disjointed. I prayed for wisdom as I took on the project, and God answered with nudges to do several things: (1) visit a lot of websites and see what liked and disliked about their layout; (2) work through a software tutorial; (3) get my wife's help with my colors.
I'm not going around and telling everyone my website is divinely inspired. But I found God's many subtle impressions helpful as I took on a project I didn't quite know how to do. God is ready to give ideas to all of us to help us with the work He has given us to do.
Sometimes God leads us into habits. Luke 4:16 says of Jesus, "As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Jesus did what He saw the Father doing and spoke what Father spoke, but some of His doing was customary. Do your habits and customs stem from tradition, or has God led you to establish them?
Jesus' habit of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath set Him up for a lot of divine appointments. He worked a lot of miracles on the Sabbath, and often ministered in the synagogue.
I met a man who was led to look for one person to minister to whenever he went to church. He was a youth leader; sometimes he led the meetings himself. But God assigned him to "look for the one" in every meeting that needed special ministry. This God-given discipline made him excel in his ministry to the youth group.
So make your list. Take a blank sheet of paper and write at the top, "What God Has Told Me To Do." Then list the nudges - the subtle impressions - the things God has called your attention to without giving you a direct command. Do as many of the items on your list as you can within 24 hours.
If you are like me, you'll find that you can't finish your list before God adds to it. This is a good thing; He is starting to lead you by His Spirit. More and more, you'll be in the right place at the right time with the right word in your mouth.
Pay attention when God tells you to rest. He knows you; He knows your strength; He knows the challenges that lie ahead. If He says to rest, do it. He's setting you up to have strength when you need it.
What could God do in the earth if 100 or 1000 of us began to respond to Him in this way? As I send out this article, I'm expecting God to use you wonderfully. Make your list, and as best you can, walk it out in the character of Jesus. God has great plans for you.
(c) 2006, GospelSmith
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