We have the great privilege of hearing God. Martin Luther staked his life on it! Rather than an elite group of priests hearing God on your behalf, we know the 'priesthood of all believers'. "[He] hath made us kings and priests unto God" (Rev 1:6 KJV). We hear Jesus' voice as He calls us by name (John 6:44). We also hear the Spirit's voice and in turn call back to God as 'Abba' or 'Papa', as children would say (Rom 8:15). We each have our own way of hearing God. For you maybe it's like Elijah's cave experience of the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12). For others, God will talk to them personally through scripture. For some others, God apprehends them with a technicolor, full blown vision and they have a word from God.

Yes, you can also hear with your eyes! While in a small group meeting one night God said to me, "Jim, look at the coffee table". A strange directive when you're seated in a circle in someone's living room. I was not there as a furniture appraiser but as a worshipper. However, I obeyed the Spirit's nudge, and I watched as the wood grain became a living picture of raging waves with a child at the point of death in the midst.

During a quiet moment following the worship I asked, "Is there anyone here who almost drowned as a child?" There was dead silence for a moment and then a dear lady responded to the word. She retold the story of her childhood when she almost drowned in the North Sea. After living with that trauma for many years, God came to her that night through a word of knowledge and ministered to her broken heart. That word came directly through a vision. You can hear with your eyes!

Saints in scripture also heard with their eyes! Take for instance Amos' experience (Amos 8:1-6). One day the Lord dropped a vision of a basket of ripe fruit before him, then He engaged him in dialogue. This is important to note because visions or pictures at the best of times need explanation or interpretation. Who better to interpret your vision than the one who gave it? "What do you see Amos?", the Lord asked. "A basket of fruit," he answered. Then the Lord began to apply this earthly vision in a spiritual sense to the nation of Israel.

Amos was actually a farmer. He had no great pedigree, nor prophetic lineage, except that he was inextricably joined to His Creator. The book of prophecy that bears his name in the Bible begins like this: "the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa and what he SAW concerning Israel" (Amos 1:1).

Vision was, as he states, the basis of his prophetic oracle. Visions of locusts (7:1-2), fire (7:4-5), a plumb line (7:7-8), and even the Lord himself standing by the altar (9:1) were the foundation for the 'Word of the Lord' to be spoken.

God often speaks to us in language and symbols that come from our own frame of reference. Amos was a farmer/shepherd, so He spoke to him with rural imagery that was charged with meaning. God will do the same with you because He is a communicating God.

Visions are important to the life of the church. "Where there is no vision the people perish" (Prov 29:18 KJV). Visions are God's launching pad into a realm of discovery and intercession. They call us to pray, to seek God, to cry out both for wisdom and for a fulfilment of God's stated agenda. The Almighty is often showing you His door of entry into your heart, home, church, or city. If you have received a vision during these days, first establish it in the Word. Scripture is our the first and final judge. Share it with your church leadership and seek a gift of interpretation, knowing that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Body. The God of Daniel is in our midst, the One who makes the dark things plain and gives hope for the journey.

[Please Note:

This is intended as a discussion series. Please feel free to send your discussion (comments or questions) to prophetic-school@godspeak.net. We will have online discussion each week, MC'd by Jim Paul, the author of this series. These discussions will NOT be put on the course WWW page.

Also, please note that some of the course discussion may be moved from the prophetic-school list to the extended discussion list (email-activation@godspeak.org).]