Do you hear that? It's Jesus calling.

Serving on the prophetic team at church has changed my life view.
Learning to hear God's voice has changed my life.

I love seeing glimpses of people through God's eyes. 

I love seeing God's vision for others futures. 

I love being able to remind people of their call, their destiny, the opportunities God is laying before them. 

It is a constant reminder of how great God is. How mighty, how good, how full of love. 

Only God can look at a pile of rubble and see diamonds and precious jewels. 

Only God has the power to turn crap into rubies. 

Only God has the power to see all the secret places of your heart and call out the very best. 

As I see bits and pieces of the future, or the potential in someone, it brings hope for this crazy world. Hope that things are indeed getting better not worse. Hope that generations of people aren't just wasting time. 

Their is a plan, there is a purpose.

There is a call on your life, God has big plans for you.

Do you know what it is? Do you hear Him whispering hopes and dreams into your head? Do you take time to ask and stop and listen?

God will talk if you listen. Do you know how to hear?

I have four practical steps you can take to hear the voice of God.
1. Calm your mind
2. Fix your eyes on Jesus
3. Tune to the flow of the Spirit, or spontaneity.
4. Write it down.

Seems easy enough but some of these steps are harder than you might expect.

1. Calm your mind.

• put aside the problems from the day, don't think about what you need to do, just be quite. You might have to re-direct your thoughts several times. You must train yourself to be calm.

2. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

• Just start thinking about His love for you, how awesome He is, picture walking with Jesus in the cool of the day, just walking quietly in a meadow or a beach. 
• Put yourself right in front of Jesus looking into His loving eyes. He is so excited you are there to talk to Him, He is excited to share with you what is on His mind.

3. Tune to the flow of the Spirit, or spontaneity.

• The voice of God quite often is like a spontaneous thought you have while in His presence. 
• Its like when you suddenly think to call a friend and find out they had a bad day and needed a friend. 

 4. Write it down.

• Journal or writing it down is a huge tool you should utilize. 
• While in the flow of the Spirit, just start writing everything that comes to mind. If you remember a call you need to make or a bill that needs paid, write it down. You can then refer back to your notes. 
• Sometimes the Spirit prompt things we forgot to do. Write it and move on. Don't push those thoughts away, or they will persist until resolved.
• Writing is a great way to remember exactly what was said.
• You can also have a trusted friend read things to help confirm if they think it's from the Spirit, particularly if it is a big life decision.

<sup>1 Corinthians has a lot to say about hearing God's voice.

1 Corinthians 12:4</sup> There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

<sup>God has so much to offer you, all of these things are available to you. You just have to ask.
Notice all these gifts are for the common good? Your supposed to use these gifts given to help others, to encourage, build up, edify.

You might also notice that Paul took time in the middle of talking about Spiritual gifts to talk about LOVE. All the gifts are based around love and should be used in love.
 I love the way the Message version puts this...</sup>
 

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

  Love never dies.

The Bible says we are to eagerly desire Spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.

1 Corinthians 14:1  
Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.


So here is the recap...
God has AWESOME plans for you.
He wants to tell you.
You can learn to hear Him all the time.
You should desire Spiritual gifts, especially prophecy.
These gifts should be used to glorify God and encourage people.