Episode #256 Unfiltered Faith: Hearing God’s Voice for Yourself – Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Hey friend, do you ever wish that someone else could just hear God for you? It's tempting to rely on pastors or books or podcasts or devotionals to tell us what God is saying, because what if we listen wrong? Or what if we don't hear anything at all? But God wants to talk with you directly.

Today we're looking at Moses and the Israelites to see why so many of us can settle for secondhand faith and what God invites us into instead.

But first, maybe you can relate to one of these common struggles:

1. “I rely too much on other people’s faith.”
· “I listen to sermons, read devotionals, and love learning from other people—but I don’t always go to God myself. It’s easier to hear about him from others than to seek him directly.”

2. “I’m afraid of getting too close to God.”
· “I want to know God, but sometimes I worry that if I really open myself up, he’ll ask me to change things I don’t want to change. It’s easier to keep some distance.”

3. “I struggle to believe God speaks to me personally.”
· “I know God spoke to people in the Bible, but does he still do that today? And if so, why would he talk to me?”

Well friend, if you relate to any struggles like that, I have encouragement for you today. God wants to talk with you.

He's not looking for reasons to reject you. You have already been welcomed and accepted. He longs to help you experience life with him. And that includes connecting with him directly, participating in life as he carries out his transforming work in you.

But as I'm about to read with quotes from Richard Foster in the Celebration of Discipline, "Human beings seem to have a perpetual tendency to have somebody else talk to God for them. We are content to have the message secondhand." (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

We often fall content to receive messages from him secondhand. Foster says "The history of religion is the story of an almost desperate scramble to have a king, a mediator, a priest, a pastor, a go-between. In this way we do not need to go to God ourselves. Such an approach saves us from the need to change, for to be in the presence of God is to change." (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

Such an approach saves us. From the need to change, for to be in the presence of God is to change. And he goes on to talk about Moses as an example. And He says, "Moses learned, albeit with many vacillations and detours, how to hear God’s voice and obey his word. In fact, Scripture witnesses that God spoke to Moses “face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exod. 33:11). There was a sense of intimate relationship, of communion. As a people, however, the Israelites were not prepared for such intimacy. Once they learned a little about God, they realized that being in his presence was risky business and told Moses so: “You speak to us, and we will hear; but let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Exod. 20:19). In this way they could maintain religious respectability without the attendant risks. This was the beginning of the great line of the prophets and the judges, Moses being the first. But it was a step away from the sense of immediacy, the sense of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night."
(Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

And we see this further on in scripture 1 Samuel 8, it says, “When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (1 Sam 8:1-7)

"That is why meditation is so threatening to us. It boldly calls us to enter into the living presence of God for ourselves. It tells us that God is speaking in the continuous present and wants to address us. Jesus and the New Testament writers clearly state that this is not just for the religious professionals—the priests—but for everyone. All who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord are the universal priesthood of God and as such can enter the Holy of Holies and converse with the living God." (Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

And they said, no, we want a human king instead. Now I can look at them and be like, ah, what were they thinking? But we also have that tendency within ourselves and we need to fight against it. God is constantly speaking and he wants to speak to you.

And he uses other people in our lives to talk to us and to bring us instruction. But that is not the only way that he talks to us. Jesus and the New Testament writers clearly talk about how this was not just for the priests, for the religious professionals, but for everyone. In fact, in 1 Peter 2:9 it says, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

It's addressing believers. And it says, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. A people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And so today we're not settling. We're going direct to the source and talking with God more about this topic.
And here's a question you can ask him:

God, where have I settled for secondhand messages? And what do you invite me to do instead?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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