Communicating with God II: God Communicates Directly

Old Testament Communication - The Prophets

  1. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 Samuel is estimated to be around 11 years old when he first hears God's voice. Samuel went on to be a great prophet of God.

  2. Women were also used by God as Prophetesses:

    1. Miriam (Exodus 15:20)

    2. Deborah (Judges 4:4)

    3. Huldah (2 Kings 22:14 & 2 Chronicles 34:22)

    4. Noadiah (Nehamiah 6:14)

    5. "the prophetess" (Isaiah 8:3)

  3. God used prophets to speak to his people. This is often thought of as a person who foretells the future but the definition of a prophet is a person who is regarded as an inspired teacher and proclaimer of the will of God.

  4. Haggai 1:1-13 "The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai" & "This is what the Lord Almighty says". This wasn’t a prophecy that foretold the future but God giving immediate instruction to his people.

  5. God used many prophets to speak to his people all throughout the Old Testament:

    1. Major prophets - longer books

      1. Isaiah

      2. Jeremiah

      3. Ezekiel

      4. Daniel

    2. Minor prophets - shorter books

      1. Hosea

      2. Joel

      3. Amos

      4. Obadiah

      5. Jonah

      6. Michah

      7. Nahum

      8. Habakkuk

      9. Zephaniah

      10. Zechariah

      11. Malachi

    3. Other Prophets - no books of their own

      1. Elijah

      2. Elisha

      3. Gad

      4. Micaiah

      5. Nathan

  1. New Testament Communication - Jesus and the Holy Spirit

    1. Luke 24:45 Then he (Jesus) opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

    2. Jesus's ministry lasted about three years. As we know, he taught the entire time. At the time of his ministry he was the primary voice of God here on earth. Now his words are available to us in the Bible like we talked about in Part I of this series.

    3. Ephesians and Acts teach about prophets still being active and speaking the Word of God and John was a prophet when we wrote Revelation. However, New Testament prophets, instead of tell of Christ's coming, could now tell everyone that Christ had arrived but something else really big changed in how God communicated with his people.

    4. John 14:26 But the Advocate (Helper), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

    5. Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

    6. The Holy Spirit is what changed how we communicate with God. But what is the Holy Spirit?

      1. The Holy Spirit is God's personal presence in our lives. The Holy Spirit is the third person (yes PERSON) in the trinity that takes up residence in our souls when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior.

      2. The Holy Spirit empowers us:

        1. To hear God's voice

        2. To speak back to God through prayer

        3. To pray according to God's will

        4. To understand scripture

        5. To know God's will

        6. To do God's work

    7. Hearing God's voice is no longer limited by our sinful nature. Because of Christ coming to earth as a man and dying for our sins we have been given the Holy Spirit which allows us to communicate with God directly.

  2. Who can communicate with God?

    1. Samuel proves that age doesn’t matter.

    2. The women prophetesses prove that sex doesn’t matter.

    3. Every human is a sinner so we know that sin doesn't keep us from communicating with God.

    4. I'm pretty sure none of the writers of the bible took advanced Calculus or had a degree in marketing so that proves education doesn't matter.

    5. If you have accepted Jesus and have allowed the Holy Spirit (God's presence) to take up residence in your heart then you can directly communicate with God. He can speak to you and you can speak back.

    6. To think that anything can keep you from communicating with God is a lie from the devil!

APPLY

  1. While society doesn’t recognize modern day prophets like they did throughout the Old Testament God still uses other Christians in our lives to communicate his heart towards us. Who are some people in your life that you trust to give you "Godly" advice, support, teaching and sometimes correction?

  2. What lies have you believed about yourself that have keep you from communicating with God?

  3. Write down a prayer asking God to help you to communicate better with him. Maybe its hearing his voice, allowing yourself to be guided by the Holy Spirit or to stop believing the lie that you can't communicate with him at all. Like Samuel, say in your own words "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.

 
Cedars Overhead.jpg

Calvary Belmar Cedars

Christin Cordova