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Page 1: Ten Ways God Speaks - Walker
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ENDORSEMENTS

God wants to speak to us more than we often want to hear or think we can. Lynnie Walker shows you how natural and satisfying it is to walk into the joys of hearing God clearly.Dr. Che H. AhnHarvest International MinistryPasadena, CA, USA

Ten Ways God Speaks by Lynnie Walker will inspire you as to the many different ways God can speak to you. He is passionate that you receive His guidance in everyday life. This book is packed full of stories of examples of various ways God speaks, and as you read these stories your faith will expand and you too will be on the lookout for God to speak to you through these many various means. I highly recommend this book to you and I know you will be blessed by reading it.Mark VirklerPresident of Christian Leadership UniversityBuffalo, New York, USA

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TEN WAYS GOD SPEAKS

LYNNIE WALKER

Published by: Dunamis ARCA Division of Christian Life Community, Inc.

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© Copyright 2009—Lynnie Walker

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or the occasional copying of pages for personal or group study is permitted. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Printed in the U.S.AISBN: 978-0-9770969-7-8

You may contact Lynnie & Dennis Walker about speaking at your conference or church.

Contact Information: Dunamis Resources2413 Jubilance Point Ct.N. Las Vegas, NV 89032, USAwww.DunamisARC.org

Cover & Interior Design: Carina & Christian [email protected] www.NewCreativeIdeas.com

Other books by Lynnie Walker:

Heavenly EncountersSeasons of Family Life

Dunamis ARC Publishing

Dunamis—Apostolic Resource Center is like the leaven of the Kingdom of God. "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Our goal is to supply resources that lead people into the Holy Spirit's power (greek: dunamis), setting the stage for the last great revival.

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DEDICATION

his book is dedicated to those who truly want to learn to hear God's voice, so they can impact the

world with the love and power of heaven!T

I dedicate this book to my husband, Dennis Walker, and our three children, Tracie, Denny, and Kelly, and their families. They are living examples of those who walk in communion with God, hearing His voice.

Most of all, I dedicate this book to our Lord Jesus Christ, as a testimonial of all the ways He speaks, causing miracles, signs, and wonders to come to earth!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

pecial thanks to all those who helped me with this project.STo Dennis Walker, my husband, for his support

in seeing this to completion.Thanks to Christian and Carina Oechsner for

technical expertise, lay-out skills and the interior book design. God brought them all the way from Germany to make our lives easier in the office, with all their many skills and dedication!

Thanks to Carina Oechsner for the creative cover design.

Special thanks to Joyce Gill for editing. She always has great recommendations for making the manuscript read smoother.

And my greatest thanks goes to the Lord Jesus Christ, for providing me with testimonies about hearing His voice.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 GOD SPEAKS TODAY 9God is Always Speaking! 9Prayer—Our Telephone to God 10When to Hear God 10A Place to Hear God 12

2 TEN WAYS GOD SPEAKS 17God Speaks Through His Word 17The Audible Voice of God 20Inspired Thoughts From God 23Words that Appear Like a Sign 26God Speaks Through Pain 30God Speaks Through Dreams 33God Speaks Through Visions 36God Speaks Through Peace 40God Speaks Through Angels 44God Speaks Through People 47

3 HINDRANCES TO HEARING GOD'S VOICE 51Distractions 51Trying Too Hard 52Feelings of Guilt 52Unforgiveness 53Worry and Fear 55Religious Habits 55

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4 BLESSINGS OF HEARING GOD SPEAK 57Partners 57Gold and Red Shoes 58The Right Person to Marry 59Buying a House 60Shopping for Clothes 61Healing and Salvation 62

5 SOAKING IN GOD'S PRESENCE 65The Art of Surrender 65Receiving His Power and Glory 66Receiving His Love 66Atmosphere for Soaking 67Sanctified Imagination 67The Voice of Heaven Transforms the World 68

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11 GOD SPEAKS TODAY

GOD IS ALWAYS SPEAKING!is voice goes throughout the earth like the radio waves of heaven's station. Just as there

are many radio waves out there that are always playing, just waiting for someone to pick up the signal, so God has His own "radio station" and is waiting for people to tune in.

H

Many say they don't hear God speak. But Jesus said in John 10:27,

"My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me."

Many have heard Him but haven't recognized His ways of speaking. Others may need to learn how to tune in better.

God is a Person who eagerly desires a relationship with the beings He has created.

This book offers a list of ten of the many ways

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He can speak. He spoke through a donkey in the Old Testament, so He can speak however He wants!

My hope is that you will learn to hear God's voice and be led by Him so that you can begin a life of miracle blessings!

PRAYER—OUR TELEPHONE TO GOD

Prayer is talking with God. It is meant be a two-way conversation with God. It's like using a telephone. You speak and then you listen.

We have thought that prayer was all about us talking to God. We praise, tell our requests, intercede, and pray in the Spirit. This is all biblical. Yet as soon as God is ready to give us an answer or a message, we hang up our "phone" with an 'Amen.' We must take time to listen with every prayer.

WHEN TO HEAR GOD

God says to "pray without ceasing" and we should be in conversation with Him all day, when we drive, cook, shower, play, or work.

We should also have specific times of focused prayer and conversation with Him, choosing a particular time, place, and posture.

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In the Bible, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, was at Jesus feet three different times. This was during good and bad times. Once, she sat at His feet just to hear Him speak while her sister cooked dinner.

Another time Mary fell at Jesus' feet when her brother died. "If only you had come earlier!" she cried. But then she listened to His words, "I am the resurrection and the life," and He later raised Lazarus from the dead!

The last timed Mary was at Jesus' feet was to anoint His feet with expensive perfume. She was lavishing Him with her love, her worship, and that which was valuable to her.

Of all the places Jesus could have been, He chose to spend the last six days of his life in her home, along with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, before being crucified. He had found a place of love. He had found a person who loved to relate with Him at all times.

Jesus wants us to come to Him for any reason, at any time! Just as Mary chose to do, He wants us to listen to Him, to talk to Him about our disappointments, and simply to love on Him!

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A PLACE TO HEAR GOD

I trained myself to hear God by sitting at the kitchen table in the morning. I have called it, "breakfast with Jesus." I take my Bible and a notebook. I write my requests and my worship to the Lord. Then I wait and listen. As I relax and connect, God speaks and I write what the Lord says back to me. I can look back over days and years of writing and be encouraged that God truly was speaking to me and answering my prayers.

People have a variety of ways that help them connect with Jesus in prayer. Some put a prayer cloth over their head as a symbolic tent, while others lay on a special rug, or sit in a special chair. Some lay on the floor and others kneel. Whatever the special place, position, or tools one uses such as a Bible, notebook, or instrumental worship, the important thing is to open up your spirit and enter into the spontaneous flow of pictures and words as you connect with God.

Several years ago the Lord told my husband, Dennis, to buy a tent and that He would meet with him there in the tent and restore to him the Feast of Tabernacles. (This particular feast, the third of Israel's great feasts, symbolizes God dwelling with man). So he bought a pup tent and set it up in the

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house. He put on worship music, lay on the floor inside the tent for hours, and God showed up!

Dennis began being caught up to heaven. One day he was walking along a pathway in heaven. He saw rocks along the side of the path, but they had eyes that looked at him! The Lord told him that everything in heaven is alive. That's why He said if mankind didn't praise him, the rocks would cry out.

Once during his time of waiting on the Lord in the prayer tent, Dennis was transported in the Spirit to Peru. He flew over mountains and valleys and landed in the home of a pastor who was asleep on his bed. He prayed for the pastor, who had been diagnosed with heart trouble. He commanded new life into his heart and body. Dennis' body was still in the tent, but his spirit was in Peru. A few days later, he called Edgar and found out he had been healed that very night!

This may sound "way out there," but it's very Biblical. Philip was transported bodily by the Spirit to preach the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch. The apostle Paul mentioned that he was absent in the flesh, but present in the Spirit watching the church's order. God isn't limited by our space and time when we spend time in His presence.

Several in our family began taking turns in the

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tent waiting on the Lord. We often had encounters with the Lord and revelations from heaven. Other times we just waited in the tent without seeing or sensing very much. It was an act of faith. We learned to be with God, to be still and to listen.

Just as with natural sunbathing, we can soak in God's presence looking at Him and receive from Him. We don't talk to the sun to get a tan! And we can receive from the Son without saying a word! We can just open up and receive. You can get a tan even if it is cloudy outside and you don't feel the warmth. Even so in the spirit, we receive of God's presence and glory as we wait on Him, whether we feel it right then or not. But oh how glorious when we do feel His manifest presence, when we see Him, and when we hear Him!! And the more we spend time with Him, the more we will receive.

After our experiences in the tent, we created other spaces throughout the house for prayer. The important thing has been to make ourselves available for communion with God. He created us for relationship.

God gets really lonely for us! He wants to love on us, and finds joy in our companionship. He longs to speak to us. In fact, He is always speaking, but we need to become more aware of it. Let's list ten of the

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many ways God speaks today.

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22 TEN WAYS GOD SPEAKS

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH HIS WORD

was raised by missionary parents, Jack and Gladys Enlow, who were pastors in Peru, South

America. When I was only two, they moved there from Florida in the United States after they attended a year of Spanish language school in Costa Rica. In Peru, we grew to be a family of eight children and my parents raised us to love and serve God. They not only had us gather for daily devotions (Bible-reading and prayer), but they instructed us to read the Bible on our own every day. Both at home and at school, we memorized verses—even whole chapters of the Bible.

I

My Dad once told us, "Read the Bible every day until a verse jumps out at you and speaks to you." The great blessing of reading the Bible, is that every time you read it, you can receive a new message when it is enlightened by the Holy Spirit. It's like

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digging for treasure. You always find something new!

Every other method of hearing God's voice must be measured against the truth of the Bible. In our quest for learning to hear God speak, we can get a mixture of thoughts, and they are not always from God. Our safety is in knowing the Word of God. For example if someone says, "God told me to marry someone who is already married," you know they didn't hear this from God, because the Word says, "You shall not commit adultery." The Bible is our truth gauge.

We also need to know the whole counsel of the Word comparing scripture to scripture so we don't fall into cultish errors of misinterpretations. The Word without the Spirit is dead and has been used to provoke contentions of weird doctrines formed by verses of the Bible taken out of context. When the Word is illuminated by the Holy Spirit, He leads us into all truth.

Psalm 119:105 says,

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

I have often heard God speak to me through His written Word. Sometimes He will say, "Turn to

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such-and-such chapter and verse." I won't know ahead of time what it will say. When I read it, I am thrilled to see that it answers a question I had. Or it may simply be a message from God for me right then. It could be as simple as, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Other times I feel inspired to flip the Bible open and it falls open to something I needed to hear right then. This amazes me every time.

Many times the Holy Spirit will bring a verse I've already known to my memory with an application to a present situation. That's why I say the Bible is full of hidden treasures. We can discover something new every time.

When Dennis and I were pastoring a church in Las Vegas, we began having "listening prayer meetings." We would spend forty-five minutes waiting on the Lord throughout the sanctuary, and then come together the last fifteen minutes to share what we heard from the Lord.

At one of these meetings, everyone received a scripture or a message from God about the river of God. That there was life, healing, and refreshing in the spiritual river of God. It was so encouraging to be hearing the same thing, much of it straight from the written Word.

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The Bible is such a precious gift, meant to lead us into a living relationship with a living God. The Word is the foundation for all we hear from God. It is the Logos Word, which is the written word of God recorded in the Bible.

God also speaks through the Rhema Word, which is an inspired message for a particular current situation. He is a living God Who wants to speak to us today concerning our everyday lives.

THE AUDIBLE VOICE OF GOD

A friend of ours in Las Vegas who is a retired policeman faced a point of severe depression before he knew God. One day he grabbed his gun, held it to his head and was ready to pull the trigger. Suddenly he heard a voice from heaven that said, "Stop! I have a plan for your life!" God was speaking through an audible voice to grab his attention and save his life.

In the Bible, we can read the story of Saul, the persecutor of Christians. When he was on his way to a city to find more Christians to torture, he heard the audible voice of God, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul fell from his donkey and became blinded by the light that came from heaven.

"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

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"I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."As a result of this encounter with the audible

voice of God, accompanied by the power of heaven, Saul was shaken to the core. He was transformed to become a follower of Jesus, and his name was changed to Paul. He became an apostle who planted churches, and wrote much of the New Testament. What a transformation!

Many receive what they call the "inner audible" voice of God. That means it sounds very loud inside, but it is not audible to anyone else. One night I was asleep when suddenly I heard a "loud" thought. "Get up now and pray! A disaster is about to occur; a bomb is about to explode; and you need to pray that it be averted." I thought this must be my imagination, so I tried to go back to sleep. But I heard the same message even louder the second time. "Get up now and pray that this disaster be averted."

I jumped out of bed, went to my closet, knelt down, and prayed a short prayer led by the Holy Spirit. Something like, "Lord, I ask that this plan to explode a bomb be exposed ahead of time, and that nothing will occur." After a very short time of praying, I heard, "Okay, it's done. You can go back to bed."

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On my way back to bed, I decided to make a request. "Lord, if this was from you, I ask that it will come out on the news." I wanted to know if this was truly from God. Then I began to think, 'What am I thinking? It would not make the news if a bomb didn't go off.' But I asked for it anyway.

The next morning when I awoke I told Dennis what I had heard. Dennis replied, "Well, let's turn on the news and see what there is."

We turned on the television and it was there. We read the headline, "Breaking News: A Bomb Found on the Tracks in Spain." The reporter went on to say that it was the same type of bomb that had exploded the month before on the train tracks of Spain, killing hundreds of people. The reporter said that this bomb had been rigged, but it hadn't exploded. The only explanation they had was that whoever had the detonator must have been scared off.

The awe of God filled me. To think that He had woken me up, told me what to pray, and then when I prayed it back to him, the miracle happened. How simple.

I asked God about this, realizing He had all power to do this on His own. Then I began to receive divine understanding that he had chosen to limit himself to human partnership.

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God delegated authority here on earth to physical human beings. He chooses to work in partnership with us to impact things on earth. We just need to pray what He is praying. We need to do on earth what He is doing in heaven. We can line up heaven and earth, and miracles will happen. We just need to listen, and hear what He is saying.

INSPIRED THOUGHTS FROM GOD

One morning when I was having my time with Jesus, I received an inspired thought. "Someone in your family is going to be in a car accident." It came with such peace that I knew it was from God. Sometimes He reveals things so we can pray against them, or pray protection. We can ask God how He would have us respond to a seemingly negative word. It could be a warning of what the enemy would like to do. It could be so we can pray that the effects will be lessened. So I prayed that the blood of Jesus would surround each person in the family with His protection.

That evening my daughter, Tracie, came home late from the University in Las Vegas. A friend had brought her. She lamented, "Mom, you won't believe what happened. I was in a car accident and totaled the car. It's destroyed!"

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"And how are you doing?" I asked."It's so strange," she replied, "I don't even have a

scratch on my body!"I was so thankful to the Lord. Maybe I should

have prayed protection around the vehicle, too, but at least she was alright! God was so good to have spoken about it that morning!

The Lord speaks through His still small voice which comes as an inspired thought. 1 Kings 19:11-13 tells the story of Elijah seeing and feeling the wind, the fire, and the earthquake. Yet it says God was not in any of those, but communicated through a still small voice. Maybe the effect of Him speaking was all the other phenomenon!

One night I woke up and moved into our tent to pray. I was impressed to ask the Lord to bless the staff I was working with at a job I had at school. I asked him to speak to me about each person.

God gave me a message concerning each one. I knew I was to share it with some of them, and others I was only to pray for. We shouldn't share everything we hear from God. Some information is only given to us for prayer, so we need to ask the Lord for direction.

I went to school the next day asking the Lord to

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open doors of opportunity to share with those I was to speak to. Amazingly, my boss came and sat next to me and began to share how she hadn't been able to sleep that night. She had never opened up like this with me before.

I responded, "That's interesting, because God had me pray for you last night. He let me know you were worrying about your finances. But He said He will take care of your needs."

She became very quiet, amazed that God knew about her and had talked to me about her situation. She opened up and shared that it was true, and thanked me for reminding her of His care for her. She was a believer, and she was encouraged by God's word to her, spoken as an inspired thought to me.

I was able to share with some of the other workers as well.

When Dennis and I were living as young missionaries in the jungles of Peru, Dennis and Jim Drown, my brother-in-law, were walking through the jungles toward our hut. Suddenly Jim had a thought, or impression from God.

"Stop! There is a snake on the other side of that log!" They stopped before stepping over the log and looked. Sure enough, there was a snake coiled there.

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It was one of the most deadly snakes in the jungle. Their lives had been saved because of an inspired thought that came to Jim's mind!

During the years of terrorism in Peru, there was a pastor friend of ours, Darwin Hilario, who was walking down the street in Lima. Suddenly he had a thought, "Cross the road and walk on the other side of the street."

He didn't understand this impression, as there was no reason to do this. Everything looked normal where he was walking. But the impression came even stronger, so he obeyed. He crossed the street.

As he began walking along the other side of the street, suddenly there was a large explosion. A bomb exploded! It demolished the building at the very spot he would have been walking.

God had saved his life through an inspired thought that came to his mind. He obeyed the impression, and literally lived to tell the story.

God very often speaks this way to his people. As we walk in the Spirit, we can have the "mind of Christ." We can receive His thoughts.

WORDS THAT APPEAR LIKE A SIGN

When Dennis and I were pastors of a Spanish

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church in Las Vegas, a woman named Olga wanted to hear God speak to her. She was overwhelmed with family problems. Her husband was in jail for drunk driving, and her teenage son and daughter were out of control.

She cried out to God, "Lord, speak to me. Tell me what to do!" And them she added, "If you are really a God who speaks today, don't talk to me through someone else, even through Pastor Dennis. Speak to me directly!" No one else heard her cry out to God, and she didn't tell us until later.

During a meeting, Dennis put his guitar down from leading worship, walked over to Olga, laid a hand on her head and gave her this simple message, "God is speaking to you right now." And then he walked back to the podium. That's all God had him say! Usually he would have given the whole message from God, so this was unusual. But this underlined what God was about to do. He was about to speak to Olga directly.

Olga closed her eyes (she later told us) and saw a ticker-tape sign go across her vision which said, "Don't worry about your husband, I will take care of him." Then she continued reading instructions from God concerning her daughter, and then concerning her son! God had answered her prayer by speaking

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to her directly through a written sign.In the book of Daniel, we can read the story of

King Belshazzar who suddenly saw a hand writing a message on the wall. He didn't understand what God was writing and called the wise men to interpret it. Daniel, a servant of God, was called in as well when the other wise men couldn't interpret the handwriting. Daniel, inspired by God, was able to give him the meaning of the words. He told him God was about to tear the kingdom from him because of his wickedness.

Amazingly, the king honored Daniel highly because of his ability to interpret the words. This happened because Daniel had a prophetic anointing on his life. (Prophetic simply means the ability to hear or see from God). That very night, the prophetic message was fulfilled as an army invaded the land and the kingdom was torn from King Belshazzar.

God still speaks through written words today. In Peru, South America, Pastor Edgar's wife, Doris, began having dramatic encounters with the Holy Spirit. She sought God for hours, and the spiritual realm opened to her after she was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Doris began to look at people on the street or at

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the church and would see words written across their chests, telling secrets about their lives. She would walk up to people on the street, tell them a message from God based on what she was seeing, and then lead them to accept Jesus as Savior.

At the church, the fear of God fell as God would reveal the secrets of peoples' lives to Doris. One day a young leader walked in. Doris saw the word fornication on his chest. She asked him with whom he was having an affair. He began to protest strongly that it wasn't true. "Then why do I see it written on your chest?" she asked. He continued to deny it. "Well, I will ask God to show me who you've been with."

She went to prayer and the Lord revealed to her who the woman was. She went to visit her and asked her. The woman began to weep and confessed that it was true. Doris went back to the young leader, who finally confessed. He was removed from position of leadership until he could go through a process of repentance and restoration.

All this occurred through the Lord speaking through a written sign. God makes it that clear! We just need to open our spiritual eyes and see.

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GOD SPEAKS THROUGH PAIN

God can speak to us by having us feel the pain of another, whether physical or emotional. Dennis and I were asked to be on the Healing Prayer Team at a church in Las Vegas. We had been trained through John Wimber who taught healing seminars in California. We were taught how to take time to hear from the Holy Spirit when ministering healing. It transformed our way of ministering to the sick in Las Vegas, and we began seeing healings occur on a regular basis.

On one of those occasions, a Cuban lady came to us to receive healing for a tumor in her womb.

We got quiet to listen to the Holy Spirit, and after a few moments my husband, Dennis, heard the word 'witchcraft.' He asked the lady if she had ever been involved in witchcraft and she immediately replied, "no." We weren't able to accomplish much more, so told her to come the following week for another appointment.

She came week after week for six weeks, Dennis received the same word of knowledge concerning witchcraft, and she again denied it. Finally on the seventh visit when we asked her again, she finally responded, "Well, one time I just mixed a little

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potion and said some words to make some bad neighbors move away, but that's all." It didn't seem to be anything serious to her, but we informed her that this was a form of witchcraft and that this was the root of her illness. We asked her if she was ready to repent from what she had done.

She said, "Yes," and we led her through a prayer of repentance, and broke the curse off of her.

As we prayed for her, suddenly I felt on my body the very location of her tumor. It is a way God speaks through the Word of Knowledge. It comes as a slight pain that isn't your own. I laid hands on her in that area and commanded the tumor to go in Jesus' name. I felt it leave me, so I announced, "It's gone!" Then I said "oops" because we were taught to have people check out their healing medically to make sure they were healed. Yet it was a word of faith springing up in me based on what I felt physically. God let me know what was happening in this way.

We were thankful for the teaching we had received to keep "soaking" people in prayer, (waiting, listening, imparting), until the healing came, and to have it confirmed by a doctor. If someone was truly healed, it would be verified. If not, it wasn't shameful to receive prayer again for

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the healing. In those days we sought for the root cause of the illness. It could be a spiritual root, such as a demonic spirit causing illness. It could be an emotional root, such as stress, fear, or unforgiveness. It could be simply a physical cause, like a broken leg. And it could be a mixture of two or three of these reasons.

This woman we had ministered to couldn't receive healing until she renounced an open door to a demonic root. When she repented and closed the door to the enemy's right to be there, she could be healed. God spoke to me through feeling her pain. We commanded it to go, and she was healed! She went and checked with the doctor and he told her the tumor was gone!

Jesus can also give you His emotions for situations. You can feel sorrow for the lost, anger at the enemy, and joy in victory. These are different from natural emotions. They come from the Holy Spirit.

When we returned to Las Vegas from Peru in 1996, we took over as Senior Pastors of our home church. I asked the Lord if I should work with children's ministry, or on the worship team as I had in the past, and He told me to get involved in prayer. What? I had never been involved in this area

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before!As a confirmation of God's call to prayer, the

Lord's burden (emotions) came on me one day in a home meeting. I saw a vision of people in Las Vegas sliding down a hill into hell and I began to weep and travail for them. I was surprised at these emotions as I am not a demonstrative person, but I was feeling the emotions of the Lord for the lost. It was His burden, as I was connected with His heart.

When we yield to the emotions of the Holy Spirit, it is very powerful and brings breakthroughs in the physical realm. If one senses that anger of God when praying for someone, it is usually a sign that an evil spirit is present. In this case, the authority of the Lord is also present to bring freedom. He may rise up in you and command that spirit to leave!

The Lord can speak to us by allowing us to feel His emotions so we can release God's power into a situation. God can speak by causing us to feel another's pain, or to feel His heart for them.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH DREAMS

My father-in-law, Frank Walker, was building a house years ago. He was trying something new and wasn't quite sure how to join two parts. That night

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he went to sleep pondering this. During the night he had a dream where he saw exactly how he should build it. He woke up the next morning, tried it, and it worked!

Often God speaks to us during the night at a time when we are relaxed, and not focused on the problem or other things.

He often spoke in the Bible through dreams, either a symbolic dream which needed interpretation, or a literal dream of what would actually happen. Sometimes an angel would appear in a dream and deliver a message from God.

God spoke to Joseph in the Old Testament through a symbolic dream, that he would have a place of influence in the future. He saw the sun, moon, and stars bowing to him. This represented his family. It was fulfilled years later when Joseph became ruler of the whole land. So the symbolic dream needed to be interpreted.

God spoke to another man named Joseph in the New Testament through a dream. He saw an angel telling him about his virgin wife bearing Jesus. This was a dream of what would literally happen. It didn't need to be interpreted.

Not all dreams come from God. Some can be from ourselves as a result of what we ate before bed,

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or situations we've been through.Some dreams come from the enemy and usually

produce negative fruit of worry, fear, or anger.But God also speaks through dreams, be they

literal or symbolic.If we believe we have received a dream from

God, we can ask Him what it means. He wants to draw us into dialogue with Him. Even though there are general meanings of numbers, colors, objects, and actions, they don't always apply in every case. It is best to draw close to God and ask Him what He is saying.

Some dreams can simply be "put on the shelf" until we understand it or until we realize it is just a dream that doesn't have any special significance!

We hear reports of more and more people having dreams of Jesus and coming to know him personally as Lord and Savior. This is especially true of nations of the earth where speaking about Jesus is prohibited.

Let's be open to the voice of the Lord through dreams.

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GOD SPEAKS THROUGH VISIONS

One day Dennis was walking in our bedroom, tripped on something and he broke his toe! I had been out running errands and came home to find him in pain in bed. I saw that his toe was swollen, black and blue, and immediately said, "Oh, no! You poor thing!"

He responded, "I don't really need pity, I need an initiative from heaven so I can be healed!" He knew he needed to go on a trip in a couple of days and couldn't be hobbling around with a broken toe.

I agreed he needed to be healed quickly so I walked down the hall to where our friends John and Glenna Miller were. I explained that we needed to hear directions from God so Dennis could be healed. We needed an initiative from heaven. We needed to see what Jesus was doing or saying in heaven, and copy it on earth. This would bring a miracle.

A moment later, John said, "I just had a flash of a picture in my mind of what to do, but it looks really silly."

"Good!" I responded, "That's the kind that really work!" We learned that if we copy what we see, the miracle happens.

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So he told me to grab a small towel. We walked back down the hall to the room where Dennis was in bed. John opened a bottle of water and poured a bit of water on Dennis' toe, while I held a towel underneath.

Then he said, "Well, that's all I saw to do. That's all that Jesus showed me." He left and walked back down the hall.

Amazingly, fifteen minutes later all the pain in Dennis' toe left! He went out to the living room and stretched out on the couch. A half an hour later, he looked at his toe in amazement. All the swelling and black and blue were gone! He was totally healed.

The healing came because John had seen a vision of what to do. It was just a picture in his mind. He received an initiative from heaven that created the miracle healing when he copied it.

Jesus healed this way when He was here on earth. He said He only did what He saw his Father in heaven do.

Then Jesus answered and said to them,

"Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

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"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

John 5:19,20

Jesus would see what the Father was doing in heaven with spiritual eyes, and copy the action on earth. This would line up the power of heaven on earth and miracles would occur.

Every week at our training center in Las Vegas, we have people line up to tell stories of how God has used them on the streets. They tell stories of healings, salvations, and miracles that occur at the stores, restaurants, jobs, schools, and hospitals. They catch the initiatives (instructions) of heaven, do it on earth, and miracles happen. And we respond to each of their testimonies with applause.

Notice it says in verse 20 of John 5 that God would show him even greater works than these so that "you may marvel." He loves us to marvel and praise Him for the great works He does on earth. Marvel is a sign of ungodly philosophies falling. When we move in miracles and an unbeliever marvels (is amazed), it opens them up to believe in God.

Jesus moved in miracles by seeing into heaven.

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This is called "seeing visions." Visions are similar to dreams, but occur when one is awake.

A vision can simply be a "quick picture" in the mind, like a flash. Some visions appear clearly in the mind with eyes shut. And others see "open visions" that look as real as the physical realm. This can come through trances where one is caught into a living picture such as Peter in the book of Acts.

Peter had a trance with a symbolic message. He saw unclean animals lowered from a sheet and Peter was told to kill and eat. Being a good Jew, he said, "Not so, Lord."

But God gave him this dramatic trance, or open vision, three times to speak loudly to him. God told Peter that he shouldn't consider unclean that which God had made clean. God was speaking to Peter about non-Jews, called Gentiles. He was preparing Peter to be sent to the Gentiles to preach to them about Jesus for the first time ever!

As soon as Peter had finished receiving this message, he was told by God to go downstairs and follow some men who had just arrived.

Peter obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Cornelius' home. He preached in this Gentile home of hungry people. The Holy Spirit fell on this group and they became followers of Jesus! Peter needed

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this vision from God, to be free of the Jewish laws which would have prevented him from ministering to a Gentile.

When Dennis and I minister over someone, we will often get quick "pictures in our minds" concerning the person. We might not even call it a vision since some people wouldn't understand. We simply say, "I just saw a picture of this..." or "I think God is saying that..." Then it becomes doable in peoples' minds.

As one relaxes and yields to God they can tap into a spontaneous flow of pictures from God, which can be called visions, trances, or simply quick mental pictures.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH PEACE

Years ago my Dad was invited to take a flight overseas to minister. For some reason he didn't feel peace about going so he declined. That plane never made it to its destination. It crashed. My dad didn't know why he didn't feel peace to go. Later, he realized why.

God can lead us through His peace, or a lack of peace in our hearts. In Acts 16:6,7 Paul wasn't permitted by the Spirit to travel to a certain city. I

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believe he didn't feel peace to go. I believe that is how God spoke to him.

We can feel a holy agitation in our spirit as a message from God. Yet it comes with peace within.

Satan can also agitate us and bring lack of peace, but it is always full of fear, worry, and negative fruit.

In other situations, God can cause us to feel a sense of disturbance in the atmosphere because of an evil presence. We can sense something isn't right. He may tell us to leave, or he may cause us to confront the evil presence. He wants us to be led by His Holy Spirit in these situations.

God's peace can manifest when it doesn't make sense in the natural. His peace isn't related to natural circumstances. His peace is simply related to God's will for our lives.

In 1989, we were scheduled to hold a crusade and a leadership conference in Pucallpa, Peru, but we were advised not to go because of terrorist violence. There was much bloodshed caused by the Shining Path guerrillas throughout the nation, and it was a time of much fear.

In spite of the dangerous situation, the Lord spoke and gave us peace in our heart that we were

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to go. We plastered fliers all over the city of Pucallpa, Peru with the message, "CHRIST IS OUR PEACE," even though a mayor had just been murdered. We prepared to have a large event in the soccer stadium.

In preparation for this event, Dennis went early to set it up. The media was aware of our plans for the event and saw the fliers displayed all over town. They requested an interview with Dennis and he agreed to meet.

The first question they asked was a volatile question. "Do you believe in violence as a means to political justice?"

If Dennis would say, "No," he would be siding with the military against the terrorists, which would endanger his life. And if he said, "Yes," he would be siding with the terrorists and against the military, which would also endanger his life. Either way was dangerous.

God's Word says that we shouldn't take thought about what to say ahead of time, but that the Holy Spirit would give us what to say. And so it happened in this case. Dennis received an inspiration from the Lord. He responded to their question with another question.

"Let me ask you, Where do wars come from?"

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Dennis asked."We don't know," they responded.It was a perfect response. Dennis was able to

continue. "The Bible says that wars come from the lusts of men's hearts. Now let me ask you, which of the political options can change man's heart?"

The reporters mumbled among themselves and finally responded, "Neither."

"Well, that's why we are here, to offer a message that will change men's hearts. The message is, Christ is our peace."

God had inspired divine wisdom to answer these reporters, and favor came our way.

We took a large team from our church in Las Vegas and held a conference for 500 pastors and leaders during the day. Around 8,000 people showed up in the stadium at night. God was faithful to demonstrate His miraculous power. Blind eyes were opened and 2,000 were saved!

During one of the meetings, a bomb exploded outside the stadium. A man approached us later and said he was originally going to put it under the platform, but felt bad about it. So instead he had put it outside the walls of the stadium where it had exploded during the meeting. During the altar call

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for salvation, he was convicted by the Spirit and came forward to give his heart to the Lord.

The point of this story is that God had given us peace to take this mission trip, and it wasn't based on natural circumstances. In fact, the American Embassy had advised us not to go. When they saw they couldn't talk us out of it, they asked us for our addresses, so they would know where to ship our bodies if we died! God truly kept us safe in a volatile environment.

Months later we heard reports that peace had come to the whole city of Pucallpa and violence had stopped. The message of Christ's peace had impacted the whole area.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH ANGELS

A man from Nepal had an encounter with Jesus, who appeared to him in a vision. As a result, the man gave his heart to the Lord.

In those days there were very few followers of Jesus in Nepal. The man knew there was a missionary lady somewhere in the city, but he didn't know where she lived. He wanted to learn more about this Jesus he had met, and he knew this lady could teach him.

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Suddenly a tall man with an umbrella walked up to him. "Can I help you? Are you looking for something?"

"Yes, I need to find a missionary lady who lives in this city, but I don't know where she lives."

"Follow me. I know where she lives." And he led him through the streets of the city. He stopped in front of a house and said, "Here is her home."

The man who had followed behind, walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Then he turned around to thank the tall man with the umbrella. He looked all around and saw no one! The man had disappeared! It had been an angel sent to serve a new believer in Jesus.

Throughout the New Testament, God spoke to His people through angels. Both Mary and Joseph were given messages from angels. Peter was rescued from prison by an angel, who told him to follow him. Cornelius was given a message by an angel to go and find Peter.

Angels have been sent to serve the servants of the Lord on earth. I believe they spend time in the presence of God absorbing aspects of His nature, and come to deliver it to God's people as God wills. They can deliver God's provision, God's healing, or God's protection.

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We know we should never worship angels, nor should we pray to them. But at the same time, we shouldn't try to avoid them if God chooses to send them to do His bidding. We should be willing to receive God's gifts to us through His messengers.

In the state of Ohio, there was a worship leader of a church who was preparing a song list for the worship team. She held the list before God and asked the Lord what He would like. She felt God said He didn't want any of them, but that He would help her. She was surprised when an angel showed up and taught her a some new songs.

When those new songs were sung, the power of God fell, and the glory of God filled the church. At one point, those at the meeting felt like the river of God had filled the auditorium. The next day, when they look up at the banners hanging on the walls around the room, they saw a water line! It looked as though a river had truly come in. God had sent worship from heaven that also brought in a manifestation of the supernatural presence of God.

And all this occurred when an angel was sent as a messenger of God to deliver some songs from heaven! God had chosen to speak in this way.

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GOD SPEAKS THROUGH PEOPLE

I was in Peru speaking in a church, teaching them how to hear the voice of God. Then I had them pair up and practice on one another. I encouraged them to get quiet and listen to the voice of God and take turns giving a prophetic word of encouragement to one another.

One group that had paired up weren't saying anything to each other. I walked over to them and they said they weren't getting any message for one another. So I told them I would show them how.

I got quiet and told the young man that I saw him playing guitar and preaching on street corners, and I believed God was calling him to be an evangelist. It was a destiny word for him. It was up to him to respond in the timing of the Lord.

Then I took the hands of the lady and told her that God was showing me that He was anointing her hands for healing. God was imparting healing into her hands and I felt the heat flow to her.

This woman took that word by faith and stepped right into it. In the following weeks, I heard that people were lining up at her house to get healed! The prophetic word had unlocked her destiny. It was a "now" word for her, and the results

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followed.God not only speaks through us to others, but

through others to us. One day someone prophesied over us that God was unlocking a golden river of provision over us and giving us all we needed including new furniture. We were puzzled thinking we didn't need furniture.

Within a few months the Lord spoke to us to buy a bigger house with space for a big office. The prophetic words over us unlocked blessings over us, and the Lord provided not only a new house for us, but He provided us with new furniture to fill it!

We always tell people that 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 says that we shouldn't despise prophecy. Then it says to test all things and retain that which is good.

The Bible also says that we prophesy in Part. That means some of what we say could be from God, and some of it may be from ourselves. We don't stone false prophets in the New Testament like they did in the Old Testament times. We just "stone" the word. We don't receive it.

We receive prophecies from others like we eat fish. We eat the fish and spit out the bones. We only receive the parts that are from God. We are all learning to hear more fully and give more accurate words as we practice and even as we make mistakes.

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It's like learning to walk. We get better as we practice.

While we are learning to hear, we can say, "I feel God is saying..." or "Do you have a mom who is sick?" in a manner that isn't an absolute, but testing the waters according to what one is hearing from God.

On the street, it is good to use respectful manners and ask permission with such phrases as, "Would you like to be free of that pain?" ... "Can I pray for you? Do you have a personal need?" ... "May I lay hands on your head?" ... "Would you like to repeat a prayer with me to ask the Spirit of Jesus to come into your heart?"

Don't use religious terms! Be respectful so people will open their hearts to you. Some phrases such as "born again," "washed by the blood of the lamb," or "are you saved?" make no sense to unchurched people. They may not respond well because they don't know what you're talking about. I simply ask, "Have you ever invited the Spirit of Jesus to live in your heart?" and people respond well to that because they understand the words.

If you have been reading this book, and aren't sure if you have ever invited Jesus to live in your heart, you can know! You can be sure! Just pray the

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following prayer with me.

"Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to earth. Thank you that He died on the cross to pay for the penalty of my sin. Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Thank you that you rose from the dead to give me life eternal. Come and live in my heart by your Spirit. Thank you that you are writing my name in heaven's book of life. Possess me by your Holy Spirit. Speak to me. Lead and guide me, and I will follow you all the days of my life. Amen."

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33 HINDRANCES TO HEARING

GOD'S VOICE

DISTRACTIONS

any people don't hear from God because they don't listen. They are distracted by their own

thoughts and actions. They are busy trying to figure things out on their own. They worry and they fret, but they don't realize that God is patiently awaiting to give an answer.

M

Some people only hear God's voice in the shower or when they're half asleep. It may be the only time they don't have the distractions of radio, television, computers, telephones, and other voices filling their thoughts. They finally have a "clean slate" for God to speak into.

When people try to spend time with God, often their minds get bombarded with things to do. It is recommendable to keep a pen handy and write

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things that come to mind, such as a "to do" list to remove the distractions from the mind.

If people would set aside quiet time with God, just to hear His voice, they would find that He is ready to speak.

TRYING TOO HARD

Many don't hear God because they try too hard. They don't know how to relax and listen. They pump themselves up with singing, shouting, or praying out loud, and wonder why they can't hear.

God drops His thoughts into those who tap into the spontaneous flow of pictures and words. They have learned to "dial down" instead of "pumping themselves up." They have learned to connect with the flow of heaven by quieting their thoughts.

Hebrews 4 says to labor to enter into His rest. Yes, it takes some effort to learn to rest! But as we do, we will learn to hear His voice.

FEELINGS OF GUILT

Feelings of guilt, unworthiness, or shame can keep people from hearing God. They spend all their prayer time with mind battles. They beat themselves

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up with thoughts of all the bad things they have done. They think they don't measure up.

They imagine an angry God who won't want to speak to them because they don't measure up. They don't realize that He awaits them with arms open wide. They don't realize that Jesus paid the way so they can come boldly to the throne of grace, to our heavenly Daddy, at any time. If one has sinned, they can simply ask for forgiveness and surrender to the loving Father who not only brings healing, but opens the spiritual senses to hear from Him.

UNFORGIVENESS

Many cannot hear from God because they can't forgive. Bitterness eats away at their soul. They have a hard time forgiving because they think it means agreeing with what that other person did. They don't realize that forgiveness simply means to choose to release that person to God. It means to offer that situation up to the only true and righteous Judge, and letting Him deal with it. This frees the emotions from bondage to that event, and sets the soul free to hear God.

One of the most difficult cases of unforgiveness I have heard about, was told by a lady I knew who's daughter had been raped and killed. The lady was

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saved soon after that horrible event and was told she needed to forgive. She awoke every morning saying, "I choose to forgive," simply as an act of her will for about two years without feeling any change. Then one morning she woke up and truly felt the compassion and forgiveness of the Lord for this man, and began to pray for his salvation.

Forgiveness is not something we have to work up or fake. It is simply accessing God's forgiveness and extending it to others. It is releasing that person who hurt us from having to pay. It is letting God control the outcome of the event. It is allowing God to control ones emotions and not that offensive person or that event. It is receiving freedom from bondage to bitterness.

God may have you sit down with that person and attempt to resolve the issue. Many times there are simple misunderstandings that are blown out of proportion, and can be defused quickly by talking. But even if this is not possible, you can release that person, the event, and the emotions, by faith into God's hands.

Freeing your heart from unforgiveness will allow you to enter the flow of hearing God's voice which will bring blessing and health to your life.

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WORRY AND FEAR

Worry can keep people from hearing God. In fact some people "worry in prayer." They think it is a time to rehash problems or to imagine worse case scenarios "in prayer." It's fine to carry concerns to God, but those fears and worries need to be left in His hands. When the mind is free to hear what God says, He may have an answer or an instruction from heaven, or He may simply say, "Trust Me, I'll carry that."

RELIGIOUS HABITS

Many don't hear God because they have religious habits and traditions that they rely upon. They have learned to respond a certain way that may look good, but may not be God at all. Religion is not only hard, useless work, but it is boring, and blocks people from the joy of hearing God's voice.

Religion causes people to move into habits they have learned through tradition. Instead of asking God how to minister healing, they move into presumption. They think they already have it figured out. Instead of asking God where to shop, what to read, what to say, what to do, they presume they already know. They don't realize that God

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simply wants us to have communion with Him each day, and to hear His voice. A life with Him is fun, full of adventure, and full of blessing!

A prayer journal is a great tool to train oneself to hear God. As one writes down prayer concerns, worries, praises, hopes, dreams, and conversations with God, then one can tap into the spontaneous flow of thoughts from the Holy Spirit.

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44 BLESSINGS OF HEARING

GOD SPEAK

PARTNERS

here are many blessings that come as we move in partnership with the Holy Spirit and are led

by His voice. When people don't consult God in daily matters, they are saying that they can do it better on their own. But we have wonderful examples of blessings that come as we find out what He says, and do or say it. It does not mean that we shut down who we are or what we like. In fact the Bible says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. He is interested in what we like, as we take interest in what He likes!

T

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GOLD AND RED SHOES

Recently I led a state prayer meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, and then took my leaders out for lunch. After lunch I decided to browse at a nearby shoe store. I really liked the idea of having a pair of gold shoes and a pair of red shoes just for style accent. So I looked and found what I liked, but decided not buy as I figured it was not necessary.

The next day I went to our Dunamis meeting. A lady, who is quite prophetic, came up to me saying that God was calling Dennis and I to walk in new levels in the Spirit this year, and as a sign of this, he wanted us to buy new shoes. She handed me a gift card from the very store where I had been the day before! Not only was Dennis able to buy a nice pair of shoes, but I was able to buy the gold shoes and the red shoes, as they were both on sale!

One of my favorite verses, Matthew 6:33, says that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all our other needs will be provided for. He is a good Daddy who gives us surprise gifts as we seek Him, hear His voice, and follow Him.

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THE RIGHT PERSON TO MARRY

One day our oldest daughter told us she liked a certain young man, and thought he might be the one to marry. He was very polite, was a good Christian, and he indeed seemed to be a fine choice. Tracie went to prayer and asked the Lord what He thought.

She heard the Lord say, "He has a different call on his life than you have. I have a better choice for you, but the decision is yours." She had learned to hear the voice of the Lord throughout her life and knew this was God. She broke up with him, and then cried! This was not an easy decision, but she did it purely in obedience to the voice of the Lord.

The good news is that a few years later, she married her present husband, Paul, and together they are pastoring a church in California! They indeed have the same call of God on their lives and make a good match in many ways, including musically. They are happy together! The other young man is also happily married, and has a lovely family. The point here is that when we hear God's voice and follow Him, it is for our blessing!

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BUYING A HOUSE

Dennis and I wanted to buy a bigger house because we needed more room for guests, and for office space. We found a house with an ideal lay-out that would provide all our needs. So we went to the Lord in prayer about it. In fact we went to our Dunamis training center where we are training people to hear from God. We arrived on prophetic night, sat in a chair up front, told the attendees that we were praying about something, and needed to hear confirmation from God. Different ones gave us words from God which were confirmed in our hearts, and the message was, "Wait."

We waited almost two years and Dennis felt like it was time to look again for a house. To make a long story short, we found the exact same model of house we had found before, on a much bigger lot, for almost $200,000 less, and with a multitude of upgrades and improvements! As we listened to the voice of the Lord, and followed His lead, we were abundantly blessed!

We followed the same kind of directions from Him and got great deals to furnish the home. One day Dennis heard from the Lord that it was time to go find our couch to match a set we had been

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buying a piece at a time on clearance. The sales lady had told us she would let us know when it came in, but had not called. When we arrived there, she said it was not in. But as we looked around, there it was on clearance sale! It had been skewed with the wrong number. But God knew it was there, and let Dennis know by an inspirational thought.

Dennis was looking online to find a certain work-out gym machine when someone called to see if we needed that very machine! It amazed us to see how God cared about the details of our lives.

SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES

One day I was going to the Thrift Store to drop off bags of clothes and then to shop there. For me, it was like digging for treasure. But as I drove there, the Lord said to me, "Don't shop there, as you are sowing into poverty, and I want you to have nice things."

I had been raised in needy circumstances as a missionary in the jungles of Peru and even later in the United States, so was not used to having nice things. But I wanted to obey God's voice to me, so I dropped off the bags of clothes, accepted the free coupons they gave to shop there, passed them out to shoppers there, and pulled myself away as I really

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wanted to stay.A few days later, someone came up to Dennis

and I at one of our meetings and handed each of us a Macy's gift card, saying, "God wants you to have nice things." Soon afterwards we went shopping there, trying to guess how much was on our card. We guessed way too low. When a cashier swiped it to check the balance, we were shocked to find that each card was worth $1,000! I thanked God for his goodness to us, and we went shopping in a daze. When I heard God speak to me not to shop at the Thrift Store, it was indeed for my blessing.

The important point is to hear God's direction for you. He may tell you to go to the Thrift Store and be blessed in that way.

I have a daughter who listens to the Lord to tell here when and where to shop, and she is always blessed. He may say, "Wait three days and then shop." When she goes, everything she needs is on sale! Hearing God is the key.

HEALING AND SALVATION

When we were in Germany, we went out to eat at a diner. One of our staff said, "Why don't we practice what you've been preaching, and minister

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to our waitress?" Dennis and I had been teaching people how to hear God's voice, and how to catch "initiatives from heaven." These are simple instructions from heaven for a need at hand that bring miracles.

Dennis said, "Sure, I already have a word for her." We called the waitress over and Dennis asked if she was having pain in her lower back. "Yes," she replied rather surprised, "and I have to ask my husband to massage it every night so I can sleep."

"We have been teaching about the power there is in Jesus to free people from sickness. Would you like to be free of that pain?" Dennis asked, and she replied that she would. So Dennis asked Carina to place two fingers on a particular place of her lower back. He had received both the word of knowledge about her condition, and then a specific instruction of how to minister healing, based on a picture he had seen in his mind.

Carina placed the two fingers of her left hand on the waitresses lower back. "That's exactly where it hurts!" the waitress exclaimed. After a moment, Dennis asked her to move around and see if the pain was gone. "No, it still hurts," she replied.

"Oh, I know what's wrong," Dennis replied, "I saw Jesus place the two fingers of His right hand on

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her lower back, not his left hand, so try that." Carina did so, placing two fingers of her right hand on the waitress' lower back for just a few seconds. "Now move around and test it," Dennis suggested. The waitress moved and bent her back, and with a shocked look exclaimed, "All the pain is gone!" Carina also received a word of knowledge that the waitress was working hard to support a young daughter. She replied that this was true.

Now that the waitress knew that God knew all about her, and her faith was built, I asked her if she would like to live her life with this kind of help from heaven. I asked her if she would like to repeat a prayer to invite the Spirit of Jesus to live in her heart so that He could wash her clean, give her peace from inside, speak to her in her thoughts, and guide her all the days of her life. She said she would like that, so Dennis and I each took one of her hands and she repeated a prayer to receive Christ into her life.

The next day she e-mailed us and told us she was indeed completely healed! God was working in Germany just as He has wherever we have traveled around the world. As we listen to God, catch the instructions of heaven, miracles happen. It is so simple as we take time to hear from Him.

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55 SOAKING IN GOD'S

PRESENCE

oaking is a wonderful tool to activate the spiritual senses to connect to the voice of heaven.

If we learn to wait on God, or soak in His presence, then we can calm our busy mind, let go of the internal noise, and let God insert His thoughts, pictures, and words.

S

THE ART OF SURRENDER

We must learn the art of surrender so we can spiritually hear and see. This is practiced best during soaking. Learning the art of inner quietness is something few have truly mastered. Seeing Jesus by faith, seeing heaven by faith, receiving the Father's love by faith, is probably the greatest accomplishment one can attain in order to hear God. It often takes time. It takes practice. It is an art form. It is a holy skill.

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Surrender continues throughout the day as we see people around us, listen to what God would have us say or do, and do it. We become carriers of His glory.

RECEIVING HIS POWER AND GLORY

We receive His glory during soaking. We absorb His very presence. We give his glory out to the world by healing the sick, raising the dead, performing miracles, receiving divine wisdom, and bringing people to Jesus. As we carry His glory, God's over-shadowing presence sets people free.

Taking time to soak anoints us to truly do His works without relying on dead religious works of our own. True power comes in His presence as we surrender to Him.

RECEIVING HIS LOVE

Praise and worship is a good way for us to give our love to God, but soaking is a way to open our spirit to receive His love. To receive from the Holy Spirit. To receive from Jesus. And to receive the embrace of the heavenly Father. In fact, soaking is an act of love.

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SOAKING IN GOD'S PRESENCE

In soaking, you are quiet and are letting Him fill you, speak to you, show you pictures in your mind, and love on you.

ATMOSPHERE FOR SOAKING

Many can connect to heaven more easily during soaking, by putting on some worship music. Some like lively music, and others prefer soft instrumental music. Others like total silence.

Some prefer to sit or kneel, and others prefer to soak by laying on the floor and relaxing in this surrendered position. Whatever position or atmosphere works best, God is waiting for us in His presence.

SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION

Our spirit is already in the third heaven with God. Colossians 3:1-3 commands us to seek those things which are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The verse says to set our mind on things above. We connect to heaven by the Holy Spirit and by faith, through sanctified imagination.

Learn the real and you will never be fooled by

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any counterfeit religions out there. New Agers meditate, but they don't know the Holy Spirit. The world offers evil imaginations, but God offers sanctified imagination. It is simply the picture place of the mind where He speaks.

THE VOICE OF HEAVEN TRANSFORMS THE WORLD

Train yourself to hear God's voice during quiet times. Then you will be able to hear him in the noisy world when God wants to speak to you about people around you. He may tell you to encourage someone. He may give you a word of knowledge so a person will know God loves them. He may tell you to do something specific that will bring miracles and blessings wherever you go.

As you learn to relax, have fun, and hear God's voice, you will impact the world.

When God's people around the world learn to hear from God, do what God says to do, say what God says to say, revival will come to the world, miracles will happen, our world will be transformed.

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