Jesus said, “My Sheep Hear My Voice”
“The Importance of Listening in Healing Prayer”
Proverbs 18:33 “He who answers before listening, it is folly”
James 1:19b “Be quick to listen, slow to speak”
Healing Prayer
I find that my clients experience about 33% of the healing they need in the telling of their story to someone they trust and who will listen to them. Judith MacNutt
· Listen to the person
· Be listening for the Spirit’s direction (for the kind of prayer needed)
o “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything” (Jn 14:26)
Listening to God assumes that we can hear God. ..and that God is listening. Scripture reveals that this is not an assumption, but a reality!
· scripture filled with stories and references of listening and hearing God’s voice
o Psalm 81:8 “O, Israel, if you but listen to me!”
o Isaiah 51: 1,4,7 “Listen to me, my people”
o I Samuel 3:8-10 “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening”
o Psalm 66:19 “God has listened…to the words of my prayer”
o Exodus 2:23-24 God hears the cry of the Israelites
o Isaiah 65:24 “Before they call I will answer, while they are yet
speaking, I will hear.”
We are created with this ability – with the gift of listening to God and hearing God
· How well do we use our gift of listening?
o Story of listening to church members at coffee hour
§ Listening comes naturally for some
§ For most, effective listening requires lots of practice
§ Listening and hearing are God’s gift to each of us
· Listening to God (the Holy Spirit)
o We listen and hear God mostly with our hearts
o References in common day language
§ “I felt as if I should stop by”
§ “You kept coming to mind”
§ This thought kept repeating itself, “get off the road, get off the road now.”
§ “I have a sense that we are meant to do this”
§ “I felt as if I were being called to this ministry”
§ “I just know that God wants us to be here with all of you this week!
Intuition – secular word for discernment
· Discernment = discerne = to listen
o Listening/discerning for the Spirit’s teaching, guiding and leading (Jn 14:26)
o Intuition is really the spiritual gift of a word of knowledge
Listening to God/Hearing God
· John 10:2-4
o Sheep know the shepherd’s voice (story of sharing grazing land)
o Story of working on VT. Dairy farm (calling the cows to barn for milking)
· Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you ….”
· Stories of listening and hearing
+ “Get off the road, get off the road now” story
+ Story of church member, John S.
Listening for Direction of Holy Spirit is a key to effective healing prayer
· Story of praying for pastor in India (Kay says, “pray for the hook to be removed.”)
· Story of Maggie … “the name Rachel keeps coming to me. Does that mean anything to you?”
Listening to God works very well (perhaps best) in silent prayer
· Without distractions of noise
· Catherine of Siena
“Build yourself a cell in your heart and retire there to pray.”
· Mother Teresa
“We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is a friend of Silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grow in Silence. See the stars, the moon, and the sun how they move in Silence …. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.”
· Fr. Jim and TCIB (Vt. License plate)
Prayer exercise
“Equipping the Saints for Jesus’ Healing Ministry”, a DVD teaching series presented by Rev. John Rice. 9/12/15
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