“Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way.” (This is the Easy-to-Read, or ERV version of the verse)
In order to trust in the Lord would you agree we have to hear from the Lord? Now let me give my disclaimer; hearing from the Lord, or sensing the Lord’s direction, is a very personal thing. There are volumes upon volumes of books written by theologians, pastors, and evangelists, who are much more knowledgeable than me, on this subject. But let me share my experience as a believer in hearing from the Lord.
Isaiah 6:1 -“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” If you are waiting for a moment like Isaiah describes to hear from the Lord, you may be waiting awhile. God uses the Holy Spirit to speak into us. When we trust in the Lord, we are seeking the Lord’s voice to guide us in our decisions.
But in order to ‘hear from the Lord’ He has to ‘hear from us’. I believe God is constantly listening and open to speaking into us, but we don’t speak enough to Him. This connection is made through prayer and through His Word. For me, prayer is a continual, daily dialogue with the Lord. I have my time each day where I formally submit prayer for family, for church family, friends, etc., but I also pray throughout the day, seeking God’s direction, thanking Him for His goodness and His blessings. When I make decisions, I seek the Lord’s revelation through prayer and I wait. I wait until I feel Him guiding my decision. I wait until I feel a sense of peace in my spirit. For some decisions, I find a peace in my spirit rather quickly, but with others, it takes awhile, and in some cases, I never feel that peace, so I don’t act.
I also have instances where the Holy Spirit prompts me to do something. Often it is a direction to go speak with someone, maybe you. Other times it is a prompting to pray over a situation or for someone. I have also had a few experiences where that prompting was almost overwhelming! I distinctly recall the moment when the Lord spoke to me about starting the Vida Nueva (VN) ministry in Birmingham. That was over thirteen years ago, and I was driving south on GA 400 headed back to Atlanta on my way home to Birmingham. I felt God speak clearly to me that He wanted me to start a ministry, and I clearly remember thinking that God had the wrong person. I had no ministry experience and I hadn’t served in any church capacity with teens or a youth group. It was my “Moses moment” (read Exodus 3 and 4). Moses tells God multiple times that he was not the man for the job. I did the same for several weeks until I finally realized God was not going to give me peace until I yielded myself to His will and started the VN ministry. God didn’t “need” me, He “chose” me. And He is going to choose you too, by speaking into you what He wants you to do.
I know this is a long post, but if you are still tracking with me, let me leave you with this; in order for you and I to trust in the Lord, we must submit to His will and give up our will. This is another transformational process (remember Romans 12:2) that we must go through to submit our requests to Him, have trust that He cares for us, have patience for an answer, and let Him speak to us and guide us in our decisions.
I hope this is helpful to you! Jim
God's Word for Fuel 