Gayane Hakobyan
WHO HEARS LORD’S VOICE?
HOW YOU CAN BE LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT?
INTRODUCTION
Dear reader, it is a great responsibility for me to touch upon the subject on hearing God’s voice, because during my service I have often met people who deviated from the true path, being guided by dreams, visions and “the voice of the Lord”. They were confident that, in fact, they heard God’s voice or were guided by a dream containing a prophetic message from God, but they were wrong.
Yes, the Lord speaks to people and mainly to His children through the testimony of the Holy Spirit. However, every person must be extremely vigilant. Hearing the voice of the Lord and being led by the Holy Spirit are indescribable delicate matters, because, as it is written in 2 Corinthians 11:14: “…for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (NIV). A person can be deceived or misled by Satan, based on his own desires. Each born-again Christian must have the knowledge of differentiating God’s voice both from that of Satan’s, and from what the desire of his own body or soul dictates.
According to the Bible, the Lord spoke to people differently in different times. He spoke to Abraham, Jacob, Isaac and Enoch personally. In the days of the law He spoke through prophets. Due to the grace given to us at the cost of the Cross of the Calvary of Jesus Christ, He speaks to each of His children through the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16-18 it is written: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (NIV).
Before these words were spoken by Jesus the Saviour, Prophet Joel had also prophesied about grace, given to us by the power of the cross: “… I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days (Joel 2:28,29 NIV).
While creating the human being, God, Who has created the universe and holds the eternity in His hands, took into account the fact that a person himself will not be able to have a satisfying and happy life on this beautiful planet, without being in communion with Him and knowing His will. He gave a person opportunities and abilities to hear His voice. Satan who is a thief and “…comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10 NIV), can deceive the children of God and persuade them that that God does not always speak to a person, and not everyone hears His voice. The devil knows quite well what will happen with each person who will hear God’s voice and what fact he will face, if a person, undertaking this or that thing, always asks the Lord’s will.
Based on the Bible and my experience, which is also based on the Word of God, I want to show that God of gods, our merciful Father follows our every step and wants to improve our actions: He wants us to know His perfect will for our personal life and serve Him, paying attention only to HIS WILL.
IS IT NECESSARY FOR EVERY PERSON TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE?
To hear God’s voice is a necessity. Every person who has been born again and worships God must hear the voice of the Lord, otherwise he will deviate from the true path. The Bible says: ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, “declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8,9 NIV). Also in another section of the Bible it is written: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? …” (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV).
It means that relying on his own heart and mind, a person, will act the way he considers convenient for the given situation, no matter whether he wants it or not. We all know what kind of decisive moments there are in a person’s life, and if he relies on his human mind, he will destroy not only himself but also those who follow him. There is also a reason why every pious person should hear God’s voice: when the Lord speaks, a person’s heart is filled with faith, and no matter how desperate the situation is, he gets confident that he will overcome it.
Should a person ask the Lord’s will doing not only the works of the Lord and serving Him, but also, those of his personal life, in general?
Let us read the Word of God: In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 it is written: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country…” (NIV). As we can see, these blessings refer to a person’s personal life.
And what will happen if a person does not hear the voice of the Lord? It is written: “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you…” (Deuteronomy 28:15-57). As for church affairs (serving God and His children) and the necessity of asking God’s will and carrying it out precisely, I will definitely say that we have to ask Him and act the way He wants us to act. Sometimes, church servants fall into confusion: they think that in order to carry out the work of the Lord, they should first consult secular specialists: successful businessmen, producers, builders, etc.
No! It is an insult to the Lord. The Lord knows what should be done in HIS house and HIS church. No matter how devotedly the pastor and leaders of the church serve the Lord, who is unequivocally the head of the Church is Jesus Christ, our Savior, Who had said before His crucifixion: “I will not leave you as orphans…” (John 14:18 NIV). He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would serve Him, being led by the Holy Spirit. Let us read the Old Testament. God commanded Moses how he was supposed to build the tabernacle.
In Exodus 26 the command of the Lord is described in detail: “Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them” (NIV). In Exodus 35:30-35 it is written that He called those skilled workers who had to participate in the construction of His house: “Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge…to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze” (NIV).
And what happens, when people serve in the temple of the Lord, i.e. in the church, being guided by their mind and choice, imitating the secular world, acting according to human customs? For example, King David knew that he was fulfilling God’s will, by moving the ark, but he didn’t ask the Lord how to move it, and granted himself the right to decide how to move something that belonged to God.
“David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds…Let us bring the ark of our God back to us…They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it….Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down… Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah… He did not take the ark to be with him (1 Chronicles 13:1-14 NIV).
And only some time later, after knowing the perfect will of God, he brought up the ark of Covenant in the prescribed way, according to the will of the Lord: “Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever” … He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way” … And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord (1 Chronicles 15:2-15 NIV).
WHO HEARS THE VOICE OF THE LORD?
All God’s children must hear the voice of the Lord. Some people fear that they will suddenly make a mistake. Sometimes, a spiritual leader is also afraid, when people he is responsible for, want to hear the voice of the Lord. What if they make a mistake and fall into confusion? It’s like when the mother does not allow her child to walk and is afraid, thinking that he will suddenly fall, break his leg, etc… No, the mother should teach her child to walk and follow her steps. She has to be vigilant and take measures if a child is afraid when he falls down and no longer dares to walk. She has to encourage her child and teach him to take another step, until he will get on track, i.e., will be established in the natural course given to him by God.
The ability to hear the voice of the Lord is given to us by God: In Joel 2:18,29 it is written: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (NIV).
Let me give an example of how eagles teach their nestlings to fly. While the nestlings of an eagle are small they are fed by the prey brought to them by their parents, but when it is time for them to become independent, the father eagle strongly shakes the nest so that the parts woven from feathers and plants will fall down, and so that only the dry frame of the nest will remain. The mother eagle sits at a distance of four to five meters from the nest with a fish in her mouth and begins to eat it right in front of her nestlings.
The nestlings start to worry. They wonder why their loving parents that used to feed them have changed. They crawl out of the nest and stretch out to the mother eagle hoping to be fed, but soon fall down. Meanwhile, the father that is watching them attentively, rushes to raise the nestlings on his back, before they reach the ground, and puts them into the nest again.
Because of hunger, the nestlings crawl out of the nest again. This is repeated several times until they see that the father eagle “is late” for helping them and raising them on his back, so they flap their wings and gradually learn to fly and then hover. When the nestlings learn to fly their parents show them the place of catching fish on their own and take care of their own needs.
Both in the human and animal world everything is based on being taught and teaching. Jesus had taught His followers for 3 years. The Bible was written after Jesus, but, still, the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us, revealing the Holy Scriptures and giving a revelation as to how to fulfill our revelations. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16 NIV). “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13 NIV).
Now let us return to the above-mentioned question: who hears God’s voice? Is there any prerequisite to hear God’s voice? I heard God’s voice when I was still a teenager. However, there came a time when I got frightened and thought: “Maybe it isn’t God. Maybe I have lost my mind and hear strange voices”. After these thoughts I didn’t hear God’s voice for many years. Once I was talking to my sister about one of our friends and I said angrily: “She has already gone beyond all bounds: whatever she does, she always says: “God has told me, the Holy Spirit has led me …”.
I just don’t understand, God doesn’t have anything else to do that He speaks to her all day? Why doesn’t that same God ever say anything to me? I also pray and read the Bible”. I was very disappointed and very certain that the Lord spoke very rarely, and only a select few could hear His voice. To my surprise, the Lord, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, spoke to me on that very day. I was both shocked and excited.
I was in the street when He spoke to me. As I came home I took the Bible and began to search for a word about who could hear the voice of the Lord. I was especially interested in what I had to do so that the Lord would speak to me face to face and so that I could not only hear His voice, but also His intonation, the tone in which He spoke. And I found that word in Numbers 12:6-8: “…When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord…” (NIV).
Also, in Numbers 12:3 it is written: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (NIV). Then I read Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (NIV). I realized that in order to hear God’s voice I had to be infinitely humble, faithful to the house of the Lord and pure in heart. I began to pray and ask God to help me be exactly like that: infinitely humble, faithful to the house of the Lord and pure in heart. Today, I still strive to maintain these qualities in me through Jesus Christ Who strengthens me, regardless of how tough the trails may be.
For me intonation is of great importance, because sometimes a word, told with the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, does not move me quickly, while the intonation, with which the word is said, brings out a revolution in my habits and life. A few years ago, being led by the Holy Spirit, the Lord kept telling me for four months in a row to retire from Matenadaran, give up my career and devote myself to serving Him. I wept and explained to Him why I didn’t want to give up my job.
Once, the Lord spoke to me about it and said: “I am not forcing you”. I was impressed not so much by that sentence, but by the intonation with which it was said. There was pain and regret in God’s voice because I didn’t want to give up my career. I immediately answered: “Yes, Lord, I will sacrifice everything and follow You!” Some time later the department in Matenadaran where I had worked, was closed, and such changes occurred in my life, that I only praised God for choosing that very way to speak to me, otherwise I would not have left my job, which promised me a bright future at that time.
The Lord can speak with whoever He wants. No one can limit the infinite God and establish laws as to who He can speak to. The Lord can guide the doctor during an operation, save those who are in danger and show them a way out. Sometimes, looking at the period of our lives when we didn’t know the Lord, we see how merciful He was towards us. God works in mysterious ways, and it is necessary to understand that He is always good, regardless of the situation. To protect Balaam from danger, God spoke to his donkey, and moreover, He made the donkey speak: “Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me!…” (NIV).
HOW TO DISCERN THE VOICE OF THE LORD?
In John 10:3-5 it is written that the sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice. Of course, there are always doubts. Even if there are no doubts, we should always check: “Was it really the Lord?” Regardless of how we will hear the voice of the Lord, through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, face to face, a vision, dream, images…, we should compare it with the Bible. If that word contradicts the Bible, it means that the Lord has not spoken. Once, I was praying for a certain issue, and the Lord answered: “Don’t worry. Serve Me, and I will serve you and help you solve that problem”.
I was shocked. Before I hadn’t known that there was a verse like this in the New Testament: in Luke 12:35-37 it is written: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them” (NIV).
Another time I was praying for the solution of a problem and I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Cast the anchor of your hope into heaven…”. He mentioned the name of a person, who I hadn’t known before, and said that he would help me. I checked it in the Word of God and saw that it is written about the anchor of hope in Hebrews 6:18, 19: “… it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul…” (NIV). A few months later I got acquainted with that person and he helped me bring the work to a successful end.
It is necessary to write down every word or sentence that you think has been given by the Lord. Time will tell whether it will be fulfilled or not. There is no need to worry, look for excuses, and twist the truth: either the Lord has spoken, or not. A person had rather have the courage to admit his mistake rather than make something up or try to believe in something made-up. It is too dangerous, and, thereby, a person can open a door for the devil.
In general, the voice of the Lord is heard with our spiritual ears and not physical. This voice is gentle and without any pressure. In 1 Kings 19:12, 13 there is a wonderful example from Elijah’s life: “…After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face…” (NIV). God does not speak by shouting and forcing anyone. After receiving a Word from the Lord a person’s spirit is filled with peace, and he becomes confident that it was the Lord. The mind may not agree and the flesh may not obey, but the spirit is vigilant to the voice of the Lord, because our spirit is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV).
When the Lord speaks to someone His word can be confirmed by another spiritual person. Situations can also prove whether the given word was from the Lord or not? When the Holy Spirit told Peter to go and preach the pagans, He talked about the same thing with Cornelius: “Cornelius! … Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter…. While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “…get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.” … As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him …” (Acts 10:1-33 NIV).
It takes time to be able to hear and discern the voice of the Lord. We need to go deeper in God, become truly pious, instead of being both in the secular world and in the church. If a person wants to always be led by the Holy Spirit both in personal and service life, he has to devote himself to Him and live a holy life. He has to worship the Lord not only with words, but also with all his heart. In Deuteronomy 6:5 it is written: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (NIV).
He needs to humble himself before the Word of the Lord. The Lord will not continue speaking to someone who insults His Word, hardens his neck in order not to fulfill what the Lord has said, he willfully chooses which word to fulfill and which not to fulfill. God desires complete obedience. In order to be more sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to pray a lot in the tongues of the Holy Spirit. “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” (1 Corinthians 14:2 NIV). “Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves…” (1 Corinthians 14:1 NIV). We have to train our flesh to obey what the Holy Spirit says. This desire of the Lord is in our favor. If only a person knew what lies behind his obedience…
Many years ago, during the 90s, obeying God, I retired from the job for which I had been getting paid a high salary for many years, and again, obeying God, I took up my new job for which I was getting paid a relatively small amount of money. I didn’t manage to come to terms with that small amount of money when I met a 10-year-old boy. The grandmother of that boy who was in the nursing home at that time, asked me to put her grandchild in the orphanage, as his mother had died, and his father could not take care of his son because of health issues.
I had been visiting different orphanages for two weeks and even applied to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education, gathered the relevant documents to put the child in the orphanage. Once, when I was about to leave my house in the morning, I decided to seriously pray and cast the child’s need on God. That need had already become my own. During the prayer the Holy Spirit spoke to me. The Lord offered me to take the child under my care.
At that time it was impossible not only in terms of finances, but also in terms of documents. How could I take care of the child’s food, clothes, education and other needs with that paltry sum of money that I was getting? As for the documents, I couldn’t do anything about it either, as I didn’t have any kinship with that child. The child’s father was stubbornly insisting on returning the child to him, in spite of serious health issues, lack of proper living conditions and finances, because of which he couldn’t take care of the child.
He could and had the right to sue me for it at any moment. In that case, the grandmother, who lived in a nursing home, wouldn’t be able to help me anyhow. I’m not even talking about how my parents would react to it, as I hid the fact of my retirement from my previous job. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if I had told them that the Lord had offered me to take that step, i.e. give up my work at Matenadaran, which was a blue dream for me… Knowing the faithfulness of my living God, I bowed down before Him again and asked Him for help and guidance.
Glory, glory, glory to my God, the Creator of the universe! He supernaturally intervened in the solution of all the problems. From time to time those problems would get so tough that I wanted to leave the child with his grandmother in a nursing home or give him to his sick father, so that we all could get rid of the issues that were torturing us. However, I didn’t do it because I knew that obedience to the Word of the Lord had a fruit, an incredible fruit. Due to my obedience and complete trust in God, that child not only accepted Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior of his life, but also became a wonderful father of three children and a loving husband to his wife. Knowing our God, I know that the fruit of that obedience will become a tree, bearing even more wonderful fruits.
HOW DOES THE LORD SPEAK?
The Lord speaks in the most different ways. God gave 5 senses to human beings: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, in order for him to live a full life and communicate with the surrounding world. We know that a human being is not just a physical body: he has a spirit, and the Lord created a person to always communicate with him. That’s why God also gave him spiritual senses. The spiritual senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch give a person an opportunity to hear and know the Lord.
In Psalm 33:8 it is written: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (NIV). Only with the spiritual sense of taste a person can taste the Lord and see how great his loss could be, if he didn’t have that sense.
So, how does the Lord speak?
- God can speak with an audible voice.
Once when Jesus was on the mountain with His three disciples, He was transfigured and a voice was heard from heaven. This story is described in Matthew 17:1-8: “… and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified” (NIV).
In Acts 9:4, 5, 7 it is described how Saul persecuted the Lord’s disciples with his friends. And as they were approaching Damascus, a light shone from heaven. Saul (later called Paul), fell off the horse and heard a voice: “”Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”… The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless…” (NIV). Our Lord can speak with an audible voice, but we shouldn’t forget that, according to the Bible, He rarely speaks with a loud voice that is audible for everyone.
- God speaks through the Holy Spirit, giving an inner testimony.
The Holy Spirit can ban and hold back a person without a single word form undertaking something. A person does not hear any voice, but He clearly knows that he has to stop. And the vice versa: The Holy Spirit leads a person to undertaking something without a single word. In such cases the Lord speaks through an inner testimony. By means of an inner testimony He can show a person the sin he has committed or remind him a certain event or word which is necessary for the given moment. The Holy Spirit can guide a person into the truth through an inner testimony: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13-15 NIV).
In order for a person to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, to have an inner testimony and understand it, he should always, every day find time for prayer in tongues. I often ask the Lord to make my spiritual sense vigilant, and for that purpose I pray in the unknown tongues of the Holy Spirit. If our spiritual senses are not vigilant, we won’t see what the Lord wants us to see, and won’t hear what the Lord wants us to hear. We will obey our mind, whereas we always have to keep our spiritual eyes, ears and spiritual sense of smell open…
Kenneth Hagin, a world famous preacher, writes the following in his book called “How to be led by the Spirit”: “For many years I have learned a single truth. In any difficult situation in life I turn to the Holy Spirit That is within me. I have learned to pray in unknown tongues. When I pray in unknown tongues, inside me I see in what direction I have to lead the prayer. It is because my spirit is active, not my body or mind, but my spirit, through which the Lord has to lead me. “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14 NIV). In most cases as I continue to pray in tongues, I see that something somewhere deep inside me suddenly begins to rise. Then as I continue to pray in tongues, that something obtains a form and shape. I understand that my mind is in no way connected with it, but deep inside I know what I should do. And I follow it”.
Kenneth Hagin was able to follow the prayer process and receive a correct direction, as his spiritual sight, hearing, in a word, all his spiritual senses were vigilant.
- God chose the Bible as the main means of speaking to a person.
Although the Holy Scripture was written in different periods of time and by people with different specialties, it was written under the dictation of the Spirit of God: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV).
(On my blog (gayanehakobyan.org) I have posted an interesting book called “The Verbal Inspiration of the Holy Scripture is Scientifically Proven”, written by M. Mozoglyan. This book helps us see that the Creator of the universe and the One Who wrote the Bible is the same person, i.e. the living God).
As there is a guide to traffic rules, which is mandatory for drivers, regardless of their nationality and gender, the same way there is a guide for a safe and blessed life on this earth, i.e. the Holy Scripture, which is intended for all people. The world is still under Satan’s power, but when the Bible worshippers do not fear and fulfill the commandments of the Lord, the Lord rewards them. In Joshua 1:8, 9 it is written: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (NIV).
Many people can read the Bible for days and even for years, but may not understand anything. The Holy Spirit reveals to a person what is written in the Bible. When you read the Holy Scripture without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then you either do not understand it at all, or understand it literally, which is dangerous, because: “…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV). There are many “contradicting” Words in the Bible, and a person must be led by the Holy Spirit to understand which Word to fulfill in the given situation.
Being led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus went to the wilderness. The devil came to tempt Him. Jesus answered him citing the Word of God again, being led by the Holy Spirit: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (Matthew 4:1-11 NIV).
In my testimony called “Stand up on your feet” (read on the blog: gayanehakobyan.org), in which I spoke about my complete healing from a disease that had been continuing for 30 long years, I described the struggle between me and the demonic world. The devil did not want the power of the cross of Calvary and Jesus the Savior to reign in my life. I gave an example from the Bible: Habakkuk 3:17, 18: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (NIV).
He tried to convince me that, for the sake of God, I had to be ready to suffer from terrible headaches for the rest of my life. However, being led by the Holy Spirit, I rebuffed him with another word from the Bible: Isaiah 53:5: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (NIV). On the same day I received my healing because I was led by the Holy Spirit.
While reading the Bible, a word or a sentence suddenly separates and penetrates into our spirit. That word lights up our life. That’s why it is written: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV). The word, written in the Bible, is called “Logos”, and when it is lit up and speaks to us, it is called “Rhema”. We should always be with the Lord, so that every time we read the Bible, we will receive revelations, i.e. “Rhema” that will change our lives.
- The Lord can speak through thoughts.
Noah received a command to build an ark: “So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it…” (Genesis 6:13-16 NIV). God gave Noah instructions regarding the appearance of the ark. When Noah built the ark, the Lord spoke to him again: “The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family…” (Genesis 7:1 NIV).
Scientists say that the ark was built within 100 years. No one can deny the fact that Noah was led by the Lord during those years. If God hadn’t guided Noah, hadn’t given him thoughts, how would he have been able to build such a powerful ark which survived the flood that destroyed the earth? Whereas the world famous ship called “Titanic”, on which great scientists had worked, was destroyed by colliding with an iceberg. Of course, Noah built an ark, the original of which wasn’t seen by anyone, and, moreover, he had never seen rain. The Lord can speak to our thoughts in our everyday life as well, by guiding us to the fulfillment of a certain work.
Once trying to make a joke, one of my colleagues, took an object that was of great importance to me and hid it. After finishing his work he left the office and forgot about the hidden object. I started looking for it but couldn’t find it anywhere. I angrily called my friend, but my phone calls were unsuccessful. I tried to calm down and pray. The Holy Spirit led me to the closet which was in the corner of the room, then, showing the jug that was on the shelf, He told me that the object was in that jug. I asked our commandant to bring our long ladder so that we could pull down that jug. The lost object, indeed, was in the jug. Can you imagine the expression of my colleague’s face when he saw that object on my office desk the next day?
- The Lord can speak through objects.
Due to the fact that Moses paid attention to the burning, but unconsumed thorn bush, he received a task from the Lord to bring the Jewish people out of the land of Egypt. “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 36:1-5 NIV).
It is necessary to be vigilant. God can speak with many people in that way, but only a few can understand. I don’t mean that we have to look for God’s signs under every bush. Simply, when we are vigilant and are always led by the Holy Spirit, we can understand which image or object contains a prophetic message. Prophet Balaam was so absorbed in the desire to receive a material gift that he not only didn’t hear the Lord, but also wasn’t surprised, when the donkey spoke with a human voice. The passion to become rich made him start a conversation with the donkey, instead of sobering up.
- The Lord can speak through dreams and visions.
We know about the prophetic dreams of Joseph: “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more…” (Genesis 34:5-11 NIV). Pharaoh’s servants, the cupbearer and chief baker, who were with Joseph in the same prison, also saw prophetic dreams. ““We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.” So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.” “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer” (Genesis 40:8-13 NIV).
“When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh” (Genesis 40:16-19 NIV).
In Acts 10:1-16 it is written that Peter saw the same vision three times. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. With this vision God sent Peter to preach to the Gentiles and it brought a revolution: due to it, today we know Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our life, because once we were Gentiles too.
A person can also see a vision relating to everyday issues. Many years ago, when I was on my way to the church service in the morning and I saw a vision with my eyes open: I was sitting at the wheel of a white car. It was the first time I saw such a vision and I was speechless for a moment. Then it disappeared. In the evening of the same day I met my pastor. He told me that he had been looking for me since morning to tell me to learn driving a car by all means and to pass the exams in order to obtain a driver’s license. Months passed. I learned to drive a car and received my driver’s license.
Once we gathered with the church servants to pray. When the prayer meeting was over, the pastor invited each of us to pray for our personal needs. At that moment a strong desire arose in me to pray for a car. Remembering my vision that I had seen a few months before, I asked God: “Lord, a few months ago you showed me a vision that I was sitting at the wheel of a car. I remember that the car was white, but I don’t remember what brand it was. Please, tell me, what brand it was?”
I immediately received the answer: “BMW”. Honestly, before that I hadn’t had such a conversation with the King of kings, the Creator of the universe. I kept on praying: “Lord, give me a white “BMW”!” Four months later I received a white BMW by a supernatural miracle. For me, having a car is not a luxury, not even an indicator of wealth, but a necessity, a means to serve the Lord and people quickly and efficiently. The Lord takes care of all our needs, we just have to always be vigilant to His Word, no matter how it is expressed.
- The Lord can speak to a person when the latter prepares his heart, goes into his private room and prays for the solution of a certain problem.
The Lord speaks in silence, with a gentle voice. Before the Lord speaks, a person should follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit when praying. Perhaps, the Holy Spirit will lead him to worship or sit in silence and meditate. A person should be perfectly obedient, do whatever the Holy Spirit says. The Lord can speak at the given moment or next day: He decides when to speak.
In my sermon called “The Power of the Cross and the Blood of Jesus Christ” I speak about the healing of my thyroid gland. After spending the whole day in fasting, prayer and worship, I asked the Lord to give me a Word about my healing. The Lord didn’t speak until 9 p.m. During that whole time I didn’t leave my room, but at 9 p.m. sharp God told me that I could have supper. I had supper and started waiting for a Word again. Then I went to bed. At 2 a.m. The Holy Spirit woke me up gently and gave me a Word regarding my healing.
Another time I was praying for the solution of a certain problem and asked the Lord for a Word. The problem was that my clothes were disappearing from our house one after another. At first I didn’t pay attention to it, but then when my favorite clothes began to disappear, I was seriously worried. The reason for my worry was not the disappearance of my clothes, but what I had done wrong that my favorite things were lost in an unknown way. I went into my private room and began to pray. No answer. It worried me even more.
The next day I fasted and said to the Lord: “Lord, You search the heart and examine the mind, and now You see that the reason for my worry is not the lost clothes, but the question as to why my favorite things disappear?” Then I began to pray in tongues. About 15 minutes later, the Lord began to speak. He presented me several episodes by describing in detail some traits of my character, which were preventing Him from revealing His infinite character in certain areas of my life”.
I entered into a covenant to be changed and to no longer hinder the Lord of lords with my limited character. My prayer and covenant were sincere. The Lord saw it and immediately after my prayer, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He accompanied me to the closet where my lost clothes were. I had searched through the closet for a whole week, but still hadn’t been able to find them. The interesting thing was that when I opened the closet door, they were hanging right in front of me.
It doesn’t matter for the Lord what problem we ask Him to solve, be it small everyday problems, or global issues relating to the lives of many people. The main thing is to turn to Him with the right heart, pure motives and faith.
The 19th chapter of 2 Kings speaks about when and how the Lord answered King Hezekiah. All Israel was in a desperate situation, because the enemy had surrounded their land and were ridiculing Hezekiah and His God. “When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord” (2 Kings 19:1 NIV). From verse 14 to 19 of the same chapter it is described how Hezekiah begged the Lord and waited for an answer.
The answer was not long in coming: the Lord sent him a great answer through the mouth of prophet Isaiah: “…I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant” (2 Kings 19:20-34 NIV). It is written that that night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp, and the king of Assyria returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
- The Lord speaks silently.
There are cases when we pray for the solution of a certain problem for a long time and beg the Lord to speak. And we receive silence in response. It is also a way of speaking. The Lord silently leads us into our private room. While being in our private room we have to ask ourselves: “When was the last time the Lord spoke to me, and what did He say?” There are cases when the Lord speaks, offers and sometimes commands a person to do this or that thing, but the person does not fulfill the Word of the Lord by forgetting about it, not being vigilant or simply being disobedient. The Lord is silent. In such cases His silence means: “Beloved, what did I command you to do last time?…”.
- The Lord can speak by making a person face a shocking fact because of opening a door before the devil and leaving the protection of the Lord.
After Moses’ death the Lord promises Joshua to always be with him. Every time taking a decisive step, Joshua is guided by the Word of the Lord. Thus, being led by the Word of the Lord, they cross the Jordan (Joshua 3:9-17), and witness the destruction of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:1-20). Then Joshua sends spies to Ai. The spies return and inform him that in order to conquer Ai, there is no need to carry the whole army: “… Send two or three thousand men to take Ai and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there” (Joshua 7:3 NIV). Joshua follows the spies’ advice.
He does not pray and does not get any Word from the Lord for conquering Ai. And so, 3000 warriors invade Ai, but soon flee in front of the inhabitants of the city and even have victims. It is written that the hearts of the Israelites “melted in fear and became like water” (Joshua 7:5 NIV). Joshua faces a shocking fact. He had a promise from the Lord that he would always win, but forgot that he had to receive guidance from the Lord as to what to do in order to win. The plan of attacking Ai should have been given by the Lord and not by the spies.
The job of the spies was to tell about what they had seen, but they not only told about what they had seen but also humanly offered a strategy of conquering Ai. If Joshua had asked the Lord, the Lord would have informed him that there was disobedience, robbery and deception in the army: Achan stole the loot and hid it, whereas the Lord had commanded him not to touch it. Because of that sin, Israeli army suffered a humiliating defeat.
After all that, being led by the Word of the Lord, Joshua punishes the perpetrator and again, under the guidance of the Word of the Lord, attacks Ai. The Lord made a big change in the strategy of conquering Ai: the spies said that 2000-3000 soldiers would be enough, because there weren’t many people in Ai, but the Lord commands Joshua to take along all the belligerent people and gives him a strategy of preparing an ambush as well as those who are sitting in ambush. All this is described in detail in the 8th chapter of the Book of Joshua.
What does it mean? The Lord wanted to speak and He had decided what path of victory to give him. Although Joshua had received a Word from the Lord, according to which wherever they set their feet, that place would belong to them: “I will give you every place where you set your foot…” (Joshua 1:3 NIV), he forgot that before giving him victory, the Lord had to get an opportunity to speak and tell him how to step on this or that place in order to have victory.
I have a tradition: at the beginning of each year, in January, I make a list of the important tasks that I have to fulfill throughout that particular year and then I fulfill them within a certain period. In January 2014, out of habit, I made a list of my tasks for that year. One evening I was preparing my clothes to visit the aquapark with an orphan girl the next day.
At that moment, I clearly felt that the Holy Spirit suggested me staying at home the next day and praying. I objected, thinking: “How should I stay at home? I have already promised that poor girl, I won’t call and disappoint her”. Then, realizing that it was the Lord of lord speaking to me, I said to myself: “Alright, I will do something about it in the morning”. Then I went to bed. The morning came. I didn’t remember the suggestion of the Holy Spirit at all. I went out of the house. We had a wonderful time at the aquapark.
As we were returning home in the evening, we drove along Heratsi Street, where the traffic is always heavy. It was Sunday, and the street was empty. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a car which was barely visible at a distance. I was calmly driving my car and talking to that girl. When I applied the brakes at the red light, suddenly the car that was driving behind me hit my car strongly. I was shocked. How is it possible that the car driving behind me hit my car very strongly in this wide street, where there was not a single car, and it could freely change its direction?
After solving the problems regarding the accident, I drove home. I went into my private room at once to pray and ask the Lord the cause of this unusual incident. It was unusual because there wasn’t any possibility and reason for the accident. There was only one car, as well as the one that was driving slowly behind me in that street and could freely change lanes. I understood that I had done something wrong. I went into my private room and asked the Lord why it had happened.
I wanted the Lord to say to me: “It happened because the car that was driving behind you broke the law and did not stop at the red light”, or something else which would justify me. The Lord said that He had warned me to stay at home and pray. I repented from the bottom of my heart. It was a great pain for me that I had saddened the Holy Spirit with my careless expression so much the previous night, when I said: “Alright, I will do something about it in the morning”, that He hadn’t reminded me about the suggestion of the Lord to stay at home and pray.
After my repentance, I asked the Lord to tell me why I should have stayed at home and for what I should have prayed. Glory to our forgiving and merciful Lord, that He answered me! He told me that the prayer related to my plans made at the beginning of that year. I took a piece of paper on which they were written. The first 7 points concerned my full service to God. The Lord told me that the issue of my private apartment had to be in the first place.
I hadn’t written about the apartment anywhere, because we had a comfortable apartment in the small center of Yerevan, where I lived with my father and sister, and didn’t even think about living separately. The next correction form the Lord was that I had to change the primacy of the plans indicated in the list. Whatever was important to me wasn’t as important to the Lord. So, I changed their primacy obeying God.
I prayed for a private apartment on the same day. Five days after my prayer I received a new apartment by a supernatural miracle. This apartment is an indescribable blessing to me. After moving to my new apartment, The Lord spoke about new plans the fulfillment of which required a lot of time and dedication. I understood why it had been necessary to have a private apartment. He is a loving and merciful Father and corrects our course so that we could both serve Him, by serving people, and enjoy life along with its miracles.
Beloved, being led by the Holy Spirit, I spoke about hearing the voice of the Lord in this passage. The more obedient we are to His Word and the more time we dedicate to know Him closer, the faster the course of our life will change, and we will praise the Lord of lords, the only true God, with our word of testimony.