Tag Archives: Mark Virkler

Learning the balance between Word and Spirit

Posted on June 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Learning the balance between Word and Spirit

 

“Worshipping Family” by Laurie-Ann Zachar Copple

My name is Laurie-Ann, and I’m a missionary. During my mission travels, I have ministered with people in Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Canada and the USA.  I’ve also ministered in African countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. But at this time, we live in the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa.

During the last two articles, we learned some of the different ways we hear God’s voice.  We discovered that when we seek God in the secret place, we do this from a place of intimacy.  The secret place, or our prayer closet, is our special place we go and pray.  Your prayer closet can be an actual small place like a cabin in the woods or in the desert.  It can be in a quiet room in your home.  When we are intimate with God, we hear his voice.   In John 3:10, Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice.  We are his sheep. We need to stop and listen. When you do, you’ll be surprised by his answer.  He loves to speak to us.

Mark Virkler also shares about the importance of learning to tune into the spontaneous thought flow that comes from the Holy Spirit [Four Keys to hearing God’s Voice]. After you quiet yourself down, you tune in, and focus entirely on Jesus. What comes next is a two-way conversation. It’s important to set aside the desires in your heart that threaten to consume you.  They get in the way and you won’t hear God clearly. If you don’t set these aside, you’ll get a distorted word that is a mix of your desire, and what you think is God.  You need to set aside these things and allow God to whisper to your heart about who he really is.  And so, it’s about a personal encounter with him that continues as you press in for more.

We also discovered four major prophetic personalities, and learned from some real people who teach and share at Bethel Church in Redding, California.  It was from part seven of Bethel’s Prophetic Personalities course, which is online at Bethel.TV.  We learned that the primary four ways of the prophetic are: hearing, knowing, seeing and feeling. Sometimes when people supernaturally receive in these ways, it may seem strange to people who haven’t yet opened the eyes of their hearts to God.  Yet, they still hear God through his written word: the Bible.  They may hear in common sense, or when people pray together.  Some Christians tend to lean toward the Holy Spirit side of the church, while others are on the Word side of the church.  Both ways are very important.  You can’t separate them from each other, and yet in many places, this is exactly what has happened.

RT Kendall is a renowned preacher and teacher who ministered at Westminster Chapel in London for 25 years. He’s written many books. He is a balanced voice speaking to both Word and Spirit churches.  He was one of our teachers at Harvest School in 2016.  His teaching impacted me in two ways.  One was on total forgiveness, which will we share about in another article.  The other was about the battle that goes on between “Word” Christians and “Spirit” Christians.  He said that we need to address the “silent divorce that has happened between Word people and Spirit people.  It’s like we are children in a family going through divorce.  Some children go with one parent, others go with the second parent. But when you keep a balance with BOTH, it is honouring God in spirit and in truth.”  [RT Kendall, personal notes from Harvest School 24].  RT believes that there is a new reformation coming of Word and Spirit together. If only the two halves would reconcile!  We need each other.   I believe that RT Kendall is right.  When we are out of balance, either one way or the other, we become arrogant and grieve the Holy Spirit.

Danny Silk is a teacher-pastor in Bethel Church.  He shares in his book Building a Culture of Honour,   that “when we focus solely on the Word, eventually we begin to fight amongst ourselves over the Word.  We begin to pull apart the Body of Christ because there is a right and a wrong.  Each teacher is compelled to be right.” That is ultimate division. What then is the role of the teacher in the church if it is not to prove that Christians are right to believe what they believe?  If teachers play their true role in the church, they will first have to be willing to pursue a supernatural lifestyle.  They will have to be dissatisfied with the armour of their arguments and the lifelessness of their theology.” They will need to increase their courage to risk and be unable to answer all the questions of their world. Teachers must embrace mystery.” Basically, Danny Silk is saying that theology without the Holy Spirit is dead. After all, it is the Holy Spirit who was the author of the Bible through human writers.  He then encourages teachers to teach in line with having a supernatural component.  He likened Jesus as taking “show and tell” to a whole new level. “When Jesus taught a crowd about the Kingdom of Heaven, He always showed them the Kingdom.  His disciples were in a never-ending classroom experience.”  This is probably why churches that have both Word and Spirit include an activation session on what they are learning, rather than just learn theory and scripture.  The Holy Spirit helps you become active in your faith.  The Bible helps you become more stable in your faith.

One truth, that was taught to me early in my Christian life, was shared often by David Mainse. David was a Canadian pastor who founded Crossroads Communications, including the TV show “One-Hundred Huntley Street.”  Back in the 1970’s, the studio was located on Huntley Street, which is in downtown Toronto.  Nearly twenty years later, they moved west to Burlington, to a larger space.  They have continued to grow under the leadership of David’s son Ron since then.  David died in 2017.  While David was alive, he always spoke with such kindness and wisdom. One day, he shared on a broadcast about the importance of having balance as you grow in your faith.  If you don’t have the Holy Spirit in your life, you DRY up.  You burn out.  If you don’t have the Word, the Bible in your life, you BLOW up.  Yet when you receive from both the Word and Spirit together, you GROW up.  Of course, this statement is often preached by many, but I heard it first from him. It impacted both me and my mother.

When I came to faith, I wasn’t very biblically literate. Therefore, it was important for me to get a foundation in the Bible as soon as possible.  What I read was eye-opening.  I grew up in a liberal church, where only part of the Bible was shared.  This contributed to my Biblical illiteracy. However, I have to admit that I did have a Bible, and I could have read it if I could get past the archaic language of the King James Version. I was then drawn to a different church that was biblically literate. While they were not charismatic, they were open to the possibility of the Holy Spirit touching people’s lives. They were open to new enthusiasm for Jesus, and a renewed fire for getting into the Word of God.  So this Word congregation decided to invite the Father of the Charismatic movement, Canon Dennis Bennett, to come speak at their church.  Dennis was an Episcopalian priest who spoke on the Holy Spirit at the very beginning of the charismatic movement in the American mainline church.

At the time, even though I attended church, I wasn’t yet a Christian.  I was drawn to the supernatural, but since I wasn’t Biblically literate, I became involved in the occult, which is forbidden in the Bible. The practices of fortune-telling, tarot cards, and all the things that I became good at was actually a counterfeit of the genuine prophetic gifting that comes from God.  The source was wrong, but I didn’t know that at the time. This was one of the things I learned very quickly through Dennis.  He was a breath of fresh air at a Word church. Many were impacted, and the conference drew people from different denominations.  I came to faith the first night of the conference. That night, Dennis said in the middle of his talk that you have to make a choice, and not mix your spirituality.  Too many people pragmatically mix different aspects of various religions to make up their own.  This is a common tactic of seekers and New Agers.  But since Christianity and Judaism serve and love a Holy God, we must leave all other forms of spirituality behind.  Dennis said, “you can’t be a Christian and a New Ager too.  If you’re anything other than Jewish or Christian, then this is something you walk away from.” [paraphrase of Dennis Bennett at “Spirit of Promise conference, Kingsway Baptist Church, Etobicoke, April 1988]

Dennis really got my attention!  I thought I was both a New Ager and a Christian.  So I made a choice that night.  The Holy Spirit had already spoken to my heart six months previously about finding God.  I somehow knew that he meant Jesus, and this was the time.  When Dennis led the prayer of renouncing other faiths and spirituality, I prayed that prayer.  The following morning, I then learned that all the stuff I had been in before was completely from the wrong source.  There was no neutral spirituality. Dennis told us, “after the fall of man, Satan set up the psychic world.”  That was another mind-blower.  Patricia King often shares that the seekers and New Agers are adventurous about their experience, which is good, but what matters is about their source. [Generalized comment based on many Patricia King conferences and books] If the source is anything other than God, it’s not from him; not at all.  When Holy Spirit spoke to me about finding God, there was a completely different feel behind the voice.  The voice was pure holy love, which washed over me like a waterfall.  While I had previously experienced spiritual euphoria, it was tiny and flat compared to the deep, deep love from God.  Of course I wanted more – and this hunger drew me to find that conference.

I’m sure that this church didn’t realize that when they planned for this conference, they would receive some people who would come to faith right there and then.  Once I was there, I needed to learn the Bible, and foundational teaching. I asked for someone to disciple me.  I chose a Christian counsellor who was involved at the church. She and others helped me to grow in the Bible as well as in other ways.  I desperately needed a foundation of Biblical understanding.  At the same time, I was also hungry for the Holy Spirit. I eventually found what was then the local Vineyard congregation. I found that I could attend both, since the Vineyard met in the afternoon.  Five years later, my second church became the very epicentre of the Toronto Blessing. I was there at an amazing time. But, I still needed both Word and Spirit to grow. I was so spiritually hungry that I needed to receive at more than one church.

Three years before Tony and I became long-term missionaries, I became hungry again. I became involved in three churches – one liturgical, one Pentecostal, and one very charismatic.   Since I tend towards being a “Spirit” person, I needed that foundation that I received in the Baptist “Word” church.   Years later, I also needed the liturgical structure and history to give me a good framework to express both Word and Spirit together. But that realization goes beyond the balance of Word and Spirit to the idea of a three-legged stool.  We’ll share about that model in another article (I just have to think on that some more, other than dive into Cursillo teaching).

So how does the Holy Spirit nurture us?   Imagine the Holy Spirit like one who pours out the love of God in a watering can.  He’s the one who convicts us of sin, and the most important truth that we need God.  Matteus van der Steen shares about the Holy Spirit in his book Dare to Dream.  He was another of our teachers at Harvest School alongside RT Kendall.  He shares that in the affluent West, many people think they have everything. They think that they are God and can do everything without the help of anyone else. They do not believe that God is Almighty, and that it is he who created us. [Matteus van der Steen, “Make Space for the Holy Spirit” – Dare to Dream]  This is in contrast in some third-world countries. “The acknowledgement of God is wide-spread, because prosperity has not destroyed their need for Him.”   For the west, it will take the Holy Spirit to help people realize there is a God and that they need him.  So these people need to have the same encounter I had with Holy Spirit, as he spoke to my heart that it was time to find God. It just made sense.  Holy Spirit also gives us dreams from the very heart of God for our lives. When we connect with them, and spend time with God, he transforms our hearts, and we begin to become more like what we were meant to be.  We become more like our true identity as a child of God.

The Holy Spirit gives us that confirmation that we are children of God. The Living Bible version of Romans 8:16 shares, “For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, and tells us that we really are God’s children.”  Sometimes, it takes time for this to sink into our hearts, past all our hurts and defences.  This is a classic example of Word and Spirit working together.  Even the Word people would have to agree.

Spirit people also need to learn that the Holy Spirit helps us realize the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. When we come to faith, we are awakened to the things of God.  In time, we are also anointed and prepared to carry out the tasks that God gives each of us to do.  Some tasks are the same, others different.  God has you grow in anointing of the Holy Spirit, and in understanding of the Word. Yet, you also need to work on improving your character.  Character is another aspect that must be in balance with the anointing in your life. Character includes obedience, integrity, faithfulness, and so many godly virtues that are displayed in the fruit of the Spirit.   The Holy Spirit gives them. He teaches about them through Paul’s words in Galatians 5:22-23:  The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Self-control is developed as part of our character, as something at the core of our wills.   It is impossible to achieve this in your own power. It does require our constant consent to lay down our tendency to either get out of control, or have too much control.  So, you also can’t fake these virtues. They are grown in you.  If you fake it by just using the Word, you become a religious hypocrite; just acting a role.  If you genuinely grow, you are utilizing both word and Spirit.

Van der Steen shares, “God is more interested in developing your character, which must be in balance with the anointing on your life.  This is why God will use the Holy Spirit to convict you of things that you do, that are not in line with His Word.”  So, give the Holy Spirit permission, and the opportunity to convict you of everything that is not right in your life. That is, things that which cannot be tolerated by daylight. Let your character be formed by Him.” [Matteus van der Steen, “Make Space for the Holy Spirit” – Dare to Dream]

RT Kendall goes further when he speaks about growing character.  He shared at Harvest School that “we need to work in the Word, to actively read it, pray it and think on it.  Too often Spirit people want a rhema, or (Holy Spirit) word, because it is quick and we are lazy.  We are living in a day when many people don’t read their Bibles.  Many leaders only turn to the Bible for a sermon!”   You also need a Bible reading plan, rather reading the Bible sporadically. It’s not Bible roulette.  If you chase after a rhema word, you’ll never get it. [RT Kendall – notes from Harvest School 24, June 15, 2016].   If you go after scripture, God will give you the very word you need while you read the Bible.  The words will leap off the page into your heart.

Kendall continued to encourage and admonish the mostly “Spirit” people who were at our Harvest school.  He gave us examples of what happens when Word and Spirit are acting together in Scripture.  One is that integrity is central.  Jeremiah 29:11 is God’s plan for everyone.  God always has a plan not to harm us. But we must resist temptation, especially of the sexual kind.  Remember the temptation that Joseph encountered in Genesis chapter 39, when he worked for Potiphar? His employer’s wife kept pestering him to go to bed with her. Kendall said that 75 percent of Christian servants fall due to this very same temptation. But Joseph did not. Kendall also warned Spirit people not to say, “The Lord told me.” when we share words we have received.  Our personal devotions aren’t scripture, and we aren’t Old Testament prophets. “What’s your motive in couching your word of knowledge in that way?  Is it to make you look good?  No, far better to say “I believe the Lord may be saying.”  This is again about character.  Word and Spirit work together to transform our character.     And what happens when the Word and Spirit are together?  God causes something special to happen that’s almost explosive.  Van der Steen shared of it in an example from a mission trip in Uganda.  RT Kendall shared of something similar in Acts chapter 3, when Peter and John meet a beggar by Jerusalem’s Beautiful Gate.  Both had a “now moment” that only happens when you walk in integrity and the special timing of the Holy Spirit. Something beautiful happened with the beggar, and he was healed.

Van der Steen’s sharing takes us to the streets of Kampala, Uganda. Matteus had a word of knowledge to help two specific orphans. One became a great student, whose life was radically changed.  The other went back to the streets. While some thought his attempt to love them a waste of time, he shared these words, “I believe that we were right to stop the car and share God’s love with these boys. Did I fast, pray, and ask for permission from my leaders before stopping to talk to them on the street that day?  No!  I simply chose to be obedient to God‘s leading. “Yes,” you may ask, but “what would have happened if it wasn’t the Holy Spirit that you heard?”  Well, even if it was my own idea, it was still Jesus’ heart. If you read Matthew 25, you will see that you don’t need special guidance from God to take care of orphans and widows.”  [Matteus van der Steen, “Make Space for the Holy Spirit” – Dare to Dream]  So we see here a perfect convergence of word and Spirit, as well as the purity of heart and integrity to recognize a special moment when God wants to do something.

We’ll discover more about this wonderful convergence, through more of RT Kendall in our next article.  But for now, think on this example from the Holy Ghost movie.  Jamie Galloway and Will Hart are on the streets of Salt Lake City ministering to seekers, by praying for them and introducing them to Holy Spirit.  They gently interacted with people with kindness and compassion, and showed them that God cared about them. Their method was by actively showing that God is real and loving by the action of the Holy Spirit.  Will and Jamie are Spirit People, but they are also biblically based.  They met an evangelist who stood outside the Salt Lake Temple. This man was almost entirely Word based. He used this method for reaching Mormons: that of sharing truth and scripture.  We watched him calling out to people in the temple that Jesus and Lucifer were NOT brothers. He cried that this was “such heresy!”  Then the three men meet up, as well as the Word evangelist’s wife.  The evangelist decries the mistakes and near arrogance of some Spirit people. But in the end, he allows Jamie and Will to pray for him.  He asks for more of the Holy Spirit in his preaching, and for the Word to come alive. All agree that we need the Holy Spirit.  When these three prayed together, it was indeed a special moment.  The movie creator, Darren Wilson, narrates at that moment that both ways were important in faith and outreach; Word and Spirit, and that it is explosive when they are used together.   Do we want to be in the centre of that convergence?  I know I do.

If you’d like to hear an audio version of this article, please visit the Ways to Grow in God podcast page on the Coppleswesterncape.ca website (under the listen area).  Click here and scroll down to #55.

If you’ve been blessed by this article, please let us know.

For those looking for news on my cancer journey, it looks like the surgeon got excellent margins on my mastectomy.  I’m still in recovery mode.  We’re not sure whether I need radiation therapy or not.  At this point, we are trying MLD therapy for lymphodema.  Click here to the medical campaign page for info!

Blessings to all,
Laurie-Ann Copple

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Growing in God: Learning how to hear God’s voice part 2

Posted on May 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Growing in God: Learning how to hear God’s voice part 2

 

My name is Laurie-Ann, and I’m a missionary. During my mission travels, I have ministered with people in Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Canada and the USA.  I’ve also ministered in African countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. But at this time, we live in the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa.

We discovered that when we seek God in the secret place, we do this from a place of intimacy.  The secret place, or our prayer closet, is known as our special place we go and pray.  Your prayer closet can be an actual small place like a cabin in the woods or in the desert.  It can be in a quiet room in your home.  It can even be as simple as showing others that you’re having God time, so not to disturb you.  Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley, did this by lifting her kitchen apron over her face, so that her 10 children would be quiet for a while.   It is in intimacy that we hear God’s voice.   Often, the Holy Spirit whispers to our heart. The closer you get to him, the softer his voice appears to be. This is normal, so don’t think that you have missed it.  God just wants you to draw your ear even closer to him.    In John 3:10, Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice.  We are his sheep. We need to stop and listen. When you do, you’ll be surprised by his answer.  He loves to speak to us.

Matteus van der Steen shared that when you are in outreach to the poor, you also hear the voice of God clearly. This may be because his heart is with the poor and downtrodden.  When we are close to God’s heart, we share his intimacy in a much deeper way, than when we speak to him in our own comfort.  Jesus became one of us, and left heaven to rescue us. He ultimately stepped out towards us.  When we do likewise, we are identifying with Jesus in yet another way.  God has a heart for the broken.

Mark Virkler also shares about the importance of learning to tune into the spontaneous thought flow that comes from the Holy Spirit. After you quiet yourself down, you tune in, and focus entirely on Jesus. What comes next is a two-way conversation. But it’s important to set aside the desires in your heart that threaten to consume you.  If you don’t do this, you won’t hear God clearly. You’ll get a distorted word that is a mix of your desire, and what you think is God.  You need to set aside these things and allow God to whisper to your heart about who he really is.  And so, it’s about a personal encounter with him that continues as you press in for more.

I’ve spoken many times about hearing God’s voice with our inner ears and seeing his impressions and pictures with our inner eyes.  It’s much like the process of being inspired to write a beautiful poem, or an artist’s creative idea.  Many creatives get their ideas from God, because their spiritual antenna is tuned that way.

Havillah Cunnington at Bethel Church teaches that there are four different prophetic personalities.  These are “hearers,” “seers,”  “knowers” and “feelers.”  If you look at the different Old Testament prophets and New Testament prophetic people, they all have different ways of hearing God.  Of course they do – they all think and feel differently!  While each have small differences, these four are the strongest, most common “types” of prophetic people. Cunnington led a class on the four prophetic personalities, and had four leaders in those styles share with the audience.

Lauren shared that she dominantly “hears” Holy Spirit’s voice.  She hears through words, although these words are not outwardly audible. She shared that she also does a lot of journaling.  She likes to have conversations with God through her journal, by writing out questions. She in return, receives spontaneous words in her thoughts.  I do something similar in my journal, where I italicize the words that I hear from the Holy Spirit.  Lauren shared that it took two years to get into the rhythm of hearing God in that way. Yet through perseverance, and a focus on her relationship with God, she has been given some of the most profound words she’s ever received.  She shared of one such example when she journaled and asked God if he had a heads up – about anything she should prepare for.  She and her husband had lived in their little house for over a year as newlyweds. She received a word very quickly that she was “not going to be living there for very much longer.”  This was despite the couple re-signing another year’s lease on the house.  However, the owner approached them a few weeks later and said that he would like to sell the home.   So she went back to her journal, and there was her recollection of the “heads up” from God.   I received a similar heads up when I was about to be let go from my radio job in British Columbia.  I didn’t heed those words, but I did hear them, not once, but TWICE.

Sometimes if you have this gift, it can be difficult when you don’t hear God in that way.  This happened with me, during when I went through my first desert experience in seminary.  God was attuning me to hear in other ways, and I felt like I had been abandoned.  I didn’t get words as much, and didn’t get pictures either.  But God was still there, accessible by prayer, scripture and worship.  He still spoke through other Christians, common sense and other ways.  It’s important to be open to the many ways God speaks to us.  It really is a trust issue that often involves WAITING.

The next leader who shared was Jared Neusch. He senses Holy Spirit speaking by inner knowing.  He shared that although he heard from God, it wasn’t by hearing words, seeing pictures, or by feeling. He just knows, or as he says, “you know in your knower.”  This is a deeply internal intuition of being led by God.  He says it’s a trust thing.  He would share with his wife about a leading, and say, “I think we’re just supposed to do this.”  His wife hears words and sees pictures, so they encourage each other in how God is leading them as a couple.  God actually confirms what he says through community, for safety.  He uses this gift to hear the voice of God when he is interacting with ministry students.  He would have an idea come into his head that he is supposed to ask a specific question.  This is something that comes into his mind for the first time. It’s not something that he’s decided to implement beforehand, even though Holy Spirit does use our developed human abilities. A knower gets mini impressions, and then is led to trust and follow.

Then Ben shared, as the seer, the person seeing pictures and impressions.  He would joke that he and his wife would pack up and go somewhere because he SAW where they were going. In his case, he left Australia to come to Northern California to minister at Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry.  It took a few years for his wife to catch up to him casting a vision for years ahead.  This also sounds like when Tony caught up with me in going to Harvest School and becoming Iris missionaries.  I cast the vision, and had to wait until the right time.  Ben’s wife is a knower, so once she “knew” where they were to go, she caught up to Ben’s vision and bigger picture of the future.

Ben shared that the “best way to describe how God speaks to [him], is like he puts a pair of glasses on.  This is now like the lens in which everything else in life is seen through this perception.  This includes words, information, scripture, interactions with people, and life.   People would give ordinary advice, and he’d say, “that’s great, but I’m seeing through these lenses, I know exactly where I’m going, and I’m not changing direction.”  “When God shows [Ben] something and he gets a prophetic word from someone emailed to [him], those black and white words in the email become a 3-D picture.” He also shared that when Holy Spirit gives him a simple picture, and he shares and pursues it, he’s given more pictures or a movie that follows.  Seers are also given insight. I often rely on this in teaching young children.    While it’s exciting to get these glimpses of what’s ahead, you also have to do life with people and everyday ministry in the present.  If you are a seer, it’s important to have mentors covering you as you are preparing for what’s in the future.  He says you need to be released to dream, but to dream in ‘your season and your time.’  When you submit your dreams to leadership, and are given loving guidance, this also grows trust and stability deeper in you.  While we are talking about different ways of hearing God’s voice, the core of the message is that God is growing identity in you.  He is growing you deeper, and this is done in relationship with him and with others.  Mentors help keep you “on track” and grounded.   Faith can be a component in following the dreams, visions and impressions that are given to a seer.  When you receive the pictures, it seems like this is a “now” thing, while often the unfolding of what’s to come happens in process.   Timing is a big issue.

I’ve received two words that were combinations of pictures and words recently. These were concerning my coming healing.  Both were received in South Africa, although I’ve received words before this time as well.  Every once and a while I get discouraged when this hasn’t yet happened.  I’ve been given daily strength to persevere, until this time comes.  Just recently, our Afrikaans pastor asked people to come to the altar who had unfulfilled dreams. He said that God’s timing will come to us as a surprise, and in that moment, we would receive.  When he said that, it touched my heart.  I decided to return to my seat, since I could only stand so long. As I was on my way there, I was stopped by Penelope, a lady on the ministry team.  She asked me if I had prayer yet, and I said no, although my husband had prayed for me.  She encouraged me and told me that she sensed that my surprise was to come, but that God was sure to bring it.  He wanted to say to me, through her, that he would complete what he started in me.  He would be faithful.  In the meantime, I am invited to lean on God for daily strength. Like Habbakuk 3:19, God would give me strength to endure, like hinds’ legs are strengthened to walk on a mountain.

When you get pictures like this, it feels risky to share them. This is why seers often are so relieved when the people they are speaking into, respond in a positive way.  In my case, Penelope’s words confirmed to me what I already knew deep in my heart.  They were a lovely reminder that I knew was true. As for risk; just look at how Shawn Bolz ministers.  He sees names, phone numbers, and all kinds of details, and after he connects with that person, he speaks life into their situations.  His words are like a knock to the door of their hearts. When they open the door, then Jesus can minister life, hope and blessing through Shawn to them.

Often seers can get impressions that they see right over what is physically happening around them.  My former employer, prophet Darren Canning, gets this all the time. He would see something intriguing, and get an imprint over it, like an extra dimension.  Earlier, I shared that Ben gets this as he’s given a pair of glasses to see in a new way.  I’ve had this too.  It’s like something drops over my eyes and everything around me is put in slow motion.  I perceive something, or I’m given an insight, and I share.  I’ve also seen images superimposed over people. Often it’s the face of Jesus.  This makes sense, since Jesus shared in Matthew 25 that when we serve the least of these, we serve him.  It also makes sense when we see Jesus in other Christians – by perceiving and hearing.  It’s a beautiful experience when it happens.

Abi is a feeler.  She shared of times when she would feel other people’s pain and difficulties as if they were her own. She said that it’s important to learn about who you are, and who you are not.  Often when she would feel what’s going on in the atmosphere, she would know that was because God has put her in the position to bring the opposite. So if she felt hopelessness that wasn’t hers, she would bring hope. Abi shared that many times, her feeler was actually like Jared’s knower.  She also says it’s important to know who she is, since she picks up other people’s feelings.  Since she knows how she thinks and feels, she can discern when she is overwhelmed by completely different feelings.   Abi shares that your heart and mind are meant to be a team, or “buddies.”  We hear God intellectually, and through hearing. We need both systems to be working, in order to be healthy and balanced.  It’s important to have people around you who really know you and love you.  You can be honest with them. It’s important to have this safety net.

So in each of these predominant ways of experiencing God: through hearing, knowing, seeing and feeling; we encounter him.  You may be more of one personality than another, or perhaps you’re a mix of more than one.  I’m not sure I could handle the feeling thing, but I’ve had that on occasion.  I’m much more of a seer, but I’m balanced by words and knowing.  Is one better than another?  No, by no means.  They are all good – they are just different ways of expressing God’s message.  All are meant to point to him.

Have you experienced any of these ways of hearing God’s voice? If you haven’t yet, don’t fear.  Holy Spirit still speaks through scripture, other ways of encounter, soft whispers to your heart, common sense, Christian community and more. Seek him.  Ask him to open your eyes and ears, to hear him.  Sometimes your personality is more suited to some ways, rather than others.  Since I’m an artist, I see pictures.  Tony is a thinker, and he gets spontaneous thoughts and knowing.  Our friend Tanya is a feeler and a knower, and these people are excellent prayer warriors.   But again, hearing God’s voice comes with spending time in relationship with him.  So book yourself some quiet time as a date with God.  He won’t disappoint you.  Even if you’re in the silence waiting for him, he speaks volumes through the silence, not to your head, but to your heart.  The key is patience and persistence. And remember, God wants you to find him.

I’d like to pray with you for just a moment. Lord, I ask you to help us learn the sound of your voice – however you want to speak.  Open our eyes and ears to see you.  Help us to recognize your thumbprint over nature, situations and especially scripture.  Give us dreams and visions, words, pictures and more.  We sit before you like young Samuel, when he said, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”  Thank you that you draw us into relationship, and you father us in a deep, loving way. Touch the hearts of all who are reading and joining in as you draw them to you.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I’m also continuing to have follow-up cancer treatments here in South Africa.  We tried to return to Canada to resume treatment, but two sets of flights were cancelled, and we were forced into what was then stage 5 lockdown (it is now at level 4, and we cannot fly out until it is at level 1). We couldn’t even move from our home as expected, but we are safe.  I had to receive life-saving cancer surgery in Worcester and am still raising funds for aftercare. At the moment, I’m still very sore from surgery removing my left breast and nearly all the anxilliary lymph nodes. But I am ALIVE, and grateful for God’s help and those who have stepped up to pray for me and to contribute towards the medical costs.  We may need radiation treatments in South Africa as well, if this lockdown continues on too much longer.  L-A’s treatment continues with expensive injections and consult fees every three weeks, as well as recovery from the radical mastectomy.

If you feel led to learn about my medical story and would like to pitch in, you can visit our medical campaign page.  You can also send whatever amount you’d like to sow into our Paypal account:  https://www.paypal.me/waystogrowinGod

If you’d like to hear this article in audio format, read by Laurie-Ann, visit our podcast page (https://www.coppleswesterncape.ca/wtgig-podcasts.html)  and scroll down to #54.  Enjoy!  Please let us know if this blessed you!

Blessings, Laurie-Ann

 

 

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Growing in God: Learning how to hear God’s voice through the secret place

Posted on April 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Growing in God: Learning how to hear God’s voice through the secret place

My name is Laurie-Ann, and I’m a missionary. During my mission travels, I have ministered with people in Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Canada and the USA.  I’ve also ministered in African countries like Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. But at this time, we live in the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa.

During our last two articles, we learned of growing through humility.  When you choose the lower path of servanthood, and you remember others more, you will eventually get honoured. Yet while you are in that low place, you can also learn delights.  There is compensation of joy when you forget yourself in service. For those who live only for themselves, they already have their forced reward.  Julie Meyer shared of a time coming that is here for some already. Judgement and being found out is something that is happening among leaders. We are being warned to “go low.”  This means to adopt a humble attitude for real, and not pretend. It means being authentically you, with no pretense. If you make mistakes, as we all do, learn from them. Teach through them, and show that life does not end because you’re not perfect. It shows others how to be real too.  Julie also shared that those who are at the back of the line, when they look to the Lord, are being shown delight at the end of the line. That’s the delight of deep joy and contentment, as we serve Jesus in whatever He has gifted us to do. I get that when I am drawing – both of real things and people, but this fulfillment is even stronger when I’m drawing from impressions that I receive from the Holy Spirit.  I also get delight when Holy Spirit speaks from the secret place, the place where I learned to hear His voice.  Today we’re going to journey about that secret place and how you can carry it with you.  Next time, we’ll learn point by point into different ways you can hear or see his voice.

The secret place is something that prophetic people speak of in a way that it almost seems mystical.  The secret place is also the perfect place to run to in the midst of this current coronavirus pandemic.  Many countries are locked down, and South Africa, where we are right now, is in a severe lockdown.  While you are home, why not spend time in the prayer closet?  Jesus is calling us to intimacy.

I remember Todd Bentley speaking of the secret place when I watched his revival services in Lakeland, Florida in 2008.  What is this place?  It’s not as weird and wacky as you think.  The secret place is also called your prayer closet, or the place you go alone to pray and talk with God.  Some people don’t have the luxury of such a physical place, like Susanna Wesley, the mother of John and Charles Wesley.  She had ten children with her almost all the time, so she didn’t have a place where she could be private.  She also grew up with 24 siblings, so she knew large family dynamics. Her signal to the children to be quiet for a time was to wear her kitchen apron over her face.  This meant that she was having time with Jesus. The children honoured her by playing quietly or doing homework assignments without disturbing her.  I find that her story is amazing. Her children must have been impacted by the importance of prayer, and may have sensed just how much she needed it.  After all, John and Charles Wesley were wonderful influencers when they grew up. Susanna’s prayer closet was public, but her face was private.  She was a public example of prayer to her children, but her inner world, or secret place, was with Jesus.

This place can be enhanced by having an actual small room where you can retreat, if it’s available.   The movie “War Room” is all about what happens in prayer birthed from a small room.  That is its purpose.  Here in Worcester, there is a single tree atop a foothill that is a wonderful foreground to the Brandwacht mountains.  This is a spot where many people go to pray.  They call it the Lonely Tree.  Whenever I look at that tree, I smile, since I know it’s a special place.

My special place is in northern England, but while I’m in South Africa and in Canada any place can become the secret place. All I need to do is play soft worship music, soak in it and be still inside my heart. I am a creative, so I’ve always been open to hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. I was that way even when I didn’t know it was he who was speaking to me. Artists stop to create, so I had an advantage.  Most people rush about doing, going and never stopping to even think, except perhaps on the fly.  Hearing God properly requires you to stop and rest.  I specifically remember David, my Foundations of Christian Spirituality professor, say that it’s nearly impossible to hear God’s voice in the midst of an adrenaline rush.  It’s true.

My Iris mentor, or papa, is Brian Britton. He leads a small church in Richmond, Virginia.  I met him in Williamsburg in June 2014, after Tony and I spent a week there.  I was then in a transition period that was to prepare me for becoming a long term missionary.  Tony decided that he wanted to see some of the American naval base in Norfolk, but we didn’t have the clearance to have a glimpse. We were advised at the Nautilus naval museum to take a boat tour that allowed us to see the periphery of the naval ships.  I’m not into naval ships, so I stayed indoors. While I was there, I enjoyed the quiet ambience.  Holy Spirit then whispered into my heart, “you’re about to meet some people who will be very important to you.  They will help grow you spiritually.” Before 2014, I regularly flew to Phoenix, Arizona to take part in conferences and teachings of Patricia King and friends.  From this time on, my “well so to speak,” became Virginia. So far, I have gone six times, with a seventh to come on our home visit this year.  We’ve been able to stay at timeshares there, so it’s a perfect place to receive and relax.

Papa Brian is just one of the people there who speak into both Tony and me. Brian was one of the speakers at our Harvest School in 2016, and I happily took notes.  His subject was about the very core of hearing Holy Spirit’s voice.  He spoke about getting into that special ‘secret’ place.   Here’s what Brian had to share about entering this place.  He based his talk on Psalm 27: 4, “The one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.”  The other scripture he read to us was from Matthew 6:6.  In this context, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, and gave them the Lord’s Prayer as an example.   Jesus said, “ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”  While you can pray in public, it’s not about show. This is a private conversation.

Brian’s guide is simple.  It starts with listening.  First, you come into your real or imaginary prayer closet and shut the door.   You LISTEN.  You don’t just talk to God. Yes, do share your heart, but then you need shut your mouth, and quiet your mind and heart. Nicky Gumbel has a story where one goes to the doctor and shares all their different ailments, then leaves before the doctor can help him. Prayer is like this; it’s a two way conversation.  Brian says that nothing can replace the confidence and glory that you have heard his voice speak to your heart. God is always speaking to us things like “I love you, I’m proud of you, trust me, and don’t give up.”  God is our biggest encourager, and encouragement is one of his gifts.

It is in this place that we learn the sound of his voice. Our inner ears don’t hear through step by step manuals, although these can help gain understanding. We learn by actively listening and hearing the voice of Jesus, our shepherd.  Brian shared that his dad had died 15 years ago, and yet, he still knows the sound of his voice.  Nicky Gumbel also shares on Alpha about recognizing voices on the phone.  Sometimes you can’t quite place who is speaking, so you try to gather details about the person before you can get into the conversation.  Tony bypasses this when he doesn’t recognize who is speaking.  He’s not shy to ask “Who is this?”  This is especially if the person just gives their first name and Tony doesn’t know them well.  Yet if Tony heard my voice on the line, he would recognize me right away.  Nicky shares of a man who calls him Nicholas in a very specific, formal voice.  He recognizes him right away.  It’s the same with God.  The closer we get to him, and the more time we spend with him, the more we recognize his voice. We also have to be aware that not every spontaneous thought that comes into our mind is God.  Sometimes the source is evil, so bear in mind whether that voice is loving and doesn’t go against biblical teaching.  This is another reason why it’s so important to have the discernment that you’re listening to the right voice.

God always affirms you. Some people are uncomfortable with receiving God’s affirmations.  Maybe you don’t think you’re beautiful. Brian says that you have to be comfortable with letting God love you, like a child who knows they are loved.  When children know you love them, they are comfortable to sit on your lap, and in your arms.  They trust you to take their hand to guide them. They learn from you, and like them, you learn also your identity through listening to God.  Some of your identity is grown by listening to the Father sing over you through the Holy Spirit.  CS Lewis shared about this phenomenon when he wrote about Aslan, the Christ figure in the Narnia Chronicles.  Aslan sang the world of Narnia, and each being into existence.  He knew them. He loved them. He knew their identity.  God does the same with us.  Listen to the words of Zephaniah 3:17.  “For the Lord your God is living among you.  He is a mighty saviour.  He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”  God always sings over us. I also love to sing when I share talks.  I’ve done this in Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Kenya. I do this here in South Africa with children.  Singing over children, and even grown children like us, reaches into their hearts, and our hearts, with love.   When you’re in the secret place, you can also ask God questions. You can ask him to open your eyes on how something is made, or you can especially ask him what he thinks of you.  This is a wonderful place to begin, as He heals your heart.

Brian says that we must listen when we are in the secret place. He says that when you know that you are loved, and he has spoken over you, nothing can stop you.  The vision he gives you is yours, it’s your gift from God.  You can hear God for yourself, rather than chasing after prophetic people for words upon words.  Brian shares that prophets are great, but this doesn’t replace you hearing from God for yourself. God speaks through relationship.  Psalm 95 gives us a choice to listen.  It shares, “If only you would listen to his voice today!”  The Psalm also shares of the consequences of not listening, which is not being allowed to experience God’s rest.  While we are invited into that secret place, it is a choice. If you do respond, you will see and experience him there.  You will hear his voice there.  If you do this all the time, pretty soon you’ll see God everywhere.  You can also see Jesus in others more easily and love them more.  Brian also shared that the “secret place also empowers you in difficult times. You stop being grumpy and complaining. You won’t be afraid, because perfect love goes from his lips to your ears.”  You carry the secret place with you. It’s like a garden in your heart.

American teacher Mark Virkler taught me how to journal back in the 90’s, starting from a workshop at a Vineyard family camp. Later I learned from him at church seminars and I asked him to share at a seminary prayer retreat while I was the student prayer coordinator.

Mark shares that journalling is “to stop, listen and write what you hear Holy Spirit say to you.  He says that it’s as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your inner eyes on Jesus, tuning into spontaneous thought (that isn’t your own), and writing.”  All Christians can do this – whether you’re an analytical thinker like he is, or a creative like me.  We can do this, because Jesus promises us in John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice.”  Virkler says that God’s voice “sounds like spontaneous thoughts that light upon your mind, especially as your heart is fixed on Him.”

I learned from him in workshops, and the Communion with God course. However,  you can easily find his book “Four Keys to hearing God’s voice” on Amazon.  He speaks directly to left-brain analytical thinkers, who have difficulty getting themselves out their rigid rational, linear thought.  Do you speak in rational, linear thought when you are talking with a friend?  Or do you speak that way with family members?  No, we don’t, do we? Life and relationships aren’t science experiments.  They are interactive and sometimes messy.  So our communication with God: prayer, isn’t always linear either.

But if you do think in this way, Mark Virkler is a perfect tutor to help you overcome any blocks so you can think more easily in both ways.  Virkler says that the four keys to hearing God’s voice (whether in image or word) are:  stillness, vision, spontaneity and journalling.  Stillness means you must quiet yourself so you can hear God’s voice.  Vision is to look for vision as you pray.  This is when I look for impressions and images to draw.  Spontaneity is to recognize God’s voice as spontaneous thoughts that light upon your mind.  Journalling is to write down the flow of thoughts and pictures that light upon your mind.   Journalling also gives you the added depth of returning to your writings later, and discovering deeper truths to what you initially received.  You can also learn to do this all the time, by recognizing God’s voice whatever you’re doing.  It’s all part of the Apostle Paul’s direction to never stop praying.  Other Bible versions call this “praying without ceasing.”  How do we do this?  By being tuned into God’s spontaneous thoughts to you.  This is in keeping your heart and mind open to him always, no matter what you are doing.  We often have ‘arrow prayers’ in the heat of the moment.  When Holy Spirit shares something on the spur of the moment, it’s the reverse. God shoots down an arrow communication to you. It’s for that moment. It is usually a direction, an insight, or a word to be followed up, obeyed and often shared.  We especially rely on insights like these when we are working with township children.

Matteus van der Steen was another well-known Christian leader who taught us at our Harvest School.  He wrote a book called “Dare to Dream,” which was on our recommended reading list. He shares in one chapter about caring for widows, orphans and foreigners.  This is something that his eyes were opened to when he went on short term outreach in Bosnia.  He found appalling conditions.  While he cared for these people, he found it opened his eyes and ears, as well as gave him showers of blessings.  Matteus shares, “I have seen with my own eyes what happens when people commit themselves to serving the poor, the weak, and the outcast. They can suddenly hear and understand the voice of God so much more clearly. Sometimes it’s easy for us to block out the cries of the needy if they are filtered through something our friends tell us about, the internet, or media like television and newspapers. But the more we ignore what God is calling us to do, the less we will be able to form or maintain a relationship with Him. We can also convert this warning into a promise: whoever heeds the cry of the poor will be heard and helped by God when they cry out for help.”

When we do not help these people, through sins of negligence, or deliberate selfishness, God doesn’t hear our prayers.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that people in this position have hardened their hearts so much that they continue to walk away from God. They also don’t know God’s heart of mercy for the broken. Ezekiel 16 shares that Sodom was not cursed due to its great sins, but rather for not helping the poor and the needy.  Both the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy mention that caring for the asylum seekers is part of the law – either through a partial tithe, or through harvest gleanings.  When we open our hearts and follow these principles, we hear God’s voice more clearly.  We also share in his heart, because he has compassion on these people, and loves them as much as he loves us. We are part of his solution.  So when we are in the townships, or with a person who needs the love of God, don’t be surprised if you hear direction, feel compassion and are given inspiration to do something.

Remember, the Holy Spirit speaks to you in your secret place. This is your prayer closet, which is also internalized in your heart to take with you everywhere you go. All you need to do is to find a quiet spot, still yourself and focus on Jesus.  You can do soaking prayer with music, you can journal with a pen and paper, or on your computer.  Sometimes pen and paper is better, so you don’t get distracted by social media.  Remember, hearing God’s voice is by invitation.  He is always speaking, and always inviting us.  Stop, and say yes. That’s how it starts.  Often the first way of hearing God is through reading scripture. Once you memorize and let scripture transform you, those words are now IN you.  They are flowers in the garden of your heart. Holy Spirit will remind you of specific words at specific times. This too is a part of learning how to hear God’s voice.

During our next broadcast, we will journey through steps of the different ways to hear God’s voice:  impressions, pictures, words, whispers, inner knowing and seeing his imprint over things and people.  This is a skill to develop in, but also a gift that blesses us as we grow in our relationship with God.

Lord, I ask you to help us to hear and recognize your voice.  Some people may hear you but not know that you’re speaking to them.  They may think it’s strange, and yet they don’t understand how inspiration works.  Give them the gift of getting beyond analytical thinking.  To the creatives, give the ability to discern which voice is your voice.  You are the ultimate creator, and we want to hear what is genuine, what is true.  Thank you that your words to us are life – in scripture, and spoken word to our hearts.  Help us to grow in it.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I’m also continuing to have follow up cancer treatments here in South Africa.  We tried to return to Canada to resume treatment, but two sets of flights were cancelled, and we were forced into severe lockdown. We couldn’t even move from our home as expected, but we are safe.  I may need to have surgery in South Africa, rather than what was planned in Canada. If you feel led to learn about L-A’s story and/or to pitch in, you can visit our medical campaign page.  You can also send whatever amount you’d like to sow to our Paypal:  https://www.paypal.me/WaystogrowinGod

If you’d like to hear this article in audio format read by Laurie-Ann, visit our podcast page and scroll down to #53.

Enjoy!  Please let me know if this blessed you!

Blessings, Laurie-Ann

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