How do you know you have connected with God.

Not long a ago an old friend sent me a response to a status update I had made on Facebook. I had posted something like: "my time with the Lord that morning was sweet and refreshing." He wanted to know how I was experiencing that. He mentioned that he was not always walking away from his time having heard from God in a fresh way. So today I want to note a few things about this topic.

1) Consistency is the key to hearing from God. Your relationship with God is like any other relationship. It is dependent on time together and communication (the building of the relationship). If you talk with God (and listen to Him) on a regular basis you will learn to distinguish His voice. If you have kids then you know that you can pick your child's voice out of 100 in a crowded room. If you are in the same crowded room without your child you can hardly distinguish your own thoughts from the chaos of voices. This is because you have a love relationship with your children. You have invested yourself in them and you are very familiar with the way they communicate and sound. As your love relationship with God grows you learn to hear Him when he speaks. John 8:47 says "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." - John 8:47

2) You will not always get earth shattering instructions from God every time you pray. God is primarily concerned about the relationship, so often times my daily time with Him is focused on knowing Him more and reorienting my life to His purposes. I do not always walk away with a major change in my life (but always refocused and with a better attitude). Many times He is sharpening my senses to help me see what He is doing in the world. I need this so I can join him in His work. If left to my own ability I would become me focused and set my agenda above God's. I have many conversations with my children, but not all of them are about me making a huge correction and adjustment to their lives. Many times I am just telling them how much I love them, or asking them how their day went. Every once in awhile we have a big conversation about a major change that is coming, but what makes that conversation possible is the hundreds of other conversations I have had building the relationship. They know my voice and they trust me because I have demonstrated my love to them.

3) When you do hear that"major life shift" coming from God then you need to respond. Henry Blackaby calls this a "crisis of belief." He describes this in four steps: 1) An encounter with God requires faith. 2) Encounters with God are God-sized. 3) What you do in response to God's revelation (invitation) reveals what you believe about God. 4) true faith requires action.

The bottom line is when God speaks are you going to be obedient? When he does make a correction or give you a new marching order He has built that instruction upon his relationship with you.

I say all that to say this. If you are new to Christ begin with the relationship. Spend time reading the Bible and praying. Tell God what is on your mind and then shut up and listen. Over time you will begin to distinguish what God is saying from the noise and clutter of your own mind. You can be sure that when you hear from God it will never contradict His Word and it will usually require you to do something out of your comfort zone and beyond your ability (requiring faith and openness for God to do the work in and through you). There is much more to knowing and hearing from God, but I hope this helps get some of you started in the right direction.