This week we are doing an activation to give you the opportunity to hear the voice of God in your personal life. (This will be private between you and God.. we will not use partners this week. So feel free to be as honest and deep with the Lord as you can, because this will be a confidential thing).

There are three different formats you can use for this.. select the one that most appeals to you. If you desire, you can repeat it using different formats. This activation time will be a precious time to hear God for yourself. Expect God to speak to you, because he very much desires to.

The three formats are:

format one:

Write it down.. either with paper and pencil or type into a file on the computer.

format two:

Speak it into a tape recorder. Some people hear better when they do not have to write. So listen to God and then speak (record) what he says onto your tape. Alternate between listening to God and recording what he says until God is done speaking. Later on you may desire to transcribe the tape into a written record.

format three:

Just listen ... simply get with God in a quite place and invite him to speak to you. On the plus side, this is the easiest for many people.. just a natural outgrowth of devotions or prayer time or quiet time. On the minus side, you do not generate a record of what God says, so it is often difficult to remember the details of what he speaks to you, especially as time passes.

If you try one of the other formats and they do not work for you, you will probably find this format easier. Please feel free to use it. However, if you do use this format, please plan to set some time aside right afterwards to jot down notes about what God said to you.

STEP BY STEP PROCESS

1. Understand the context

   Remember that God is a communicating God and he desires very much to communicate with you in a clear and easy to understand manner. We are going to have a couple of personal topics that you will ask God about, and then listen to (and in most cases record) his answer to you. This may sound strange at first, but many find that this is a very powerful way to hear God. It can be very useful in the future when you need to hear God on a specific subject.

   If you can trust God to speak through you to others, then you can also trust him to speak directly to you. In fact, it may be easier to hear God for yourself, as God promised that his sheep will hear his voice.

2. Believe You Will Receive

   Remember, that you are a born-again, blood washed, redeemed child of God, so if you have Christ within you, you also have the Mind of Christ.

   When we ask our Father for bread, he does not give us a stone (Matt 7:9). Because you are God's child, you can safely trust that he will in fact meet you and give you a revelation for you partner when you ask him to.

3. Sanctification - Activation Prayer

   Pray this together as a group before you begin to work individually with the Lord. The group leader may wish to lead this prayer out loud with the others agreeing silently, or you may all want to pray it out loud together.

   Dear Lord, In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I come before your throne. I am washed by the blood. Christ lives within me. Not just in part, but in my whole being. I bring every thought of my mind and soul into captivity to the mind of Christ. I will listen to you what you have to say to me, trusting you to communicate with me. If I am recording (writing or tape), I will not question it, I will write it down or speak it out as I hear it and then I will trust you to confirm or correct it later on when I prayerfully review it with you. I am a believer, and I expect to receive. I thank you for speaking to me. Amen.

4. Prayer of Covering And Protection

   The purpose of this short and specific prayer is to bind any hindering or religious spirits and to release faith and anointing. Feel free to use whatever words you choose for this but it does not have to be long and involved. Be sure to add this part (you are free to use your own words):

   In the name of Jesus, by his power and authority, we take authority over ever demon and interfering spirit and we forbid any enemy activity in this exercise. Satan (and any of his demons) you may NOT interfere in this or imitate God's voice to us as we open our hearts to hear the Holy Spirit. We take authority over fear, anxiety, doubt and unbelief in the name of Jesus and we command you to leave now.

   Lord, please come and be in charge of all that happens here (in this activation) ...... please release your spirit of prophecy and speak to us.

5. Get Comfortable

   Find a place that is relatively free from distraction.. preferably a quiet place. If you are writing the word, have pen and pencil handy, or if you are doing it on the computer, open your editor so that you are ready to begin typing. If you are recording this, have your tape recorder handy. You may desire to have worship music playing quietly in the background, or you may prefer silence... use whichever works best for you when you are in your quiet times with God.

6. Press into God

   If you are comfortable with praying in tongues, begin praying in the spirit. Otherwise worship or quietly ask God to speak to you. Look deeply inside, listen closely, see and hear what God is saying. Do this for about a minute. Then, no more praying, only listening, for about 30 to 45 seconds.

   This allows you to really tune in.

7. Time To Listen

   We want to ask God to speak deeply and personally to us about certain aspects of our lives. Below are three different scenarios you can use to launch into listening to God speak to you. Please read over them and decide which you will use.. you may need to go back and repeat step 6 after you select a strategy before you actually start. But we want you to be spirit led even on the selection of the questions you ask God. So we are providing three scenarios. Chose one and ask God to speak to you:

   scenario 1:

   Ask God two questions:

   Lord, what is the greatest hindrance I have in serving you?

   Lord, what is the aspect of my walk with you that most pleases you?

   scenario 2:

   Ask God either of the following questions:

   Lord, please show me how you see my heart
   or
   Lord, are there any idols in my heart to hidden areas I'm not aware of that you'd like to reveal to me?

   scenario 3:

   Do you remember all of the emotions or feelings that happened around when you got saved? Maybe you had a powerful deliverance experience or maybe you felt the weight of the world life off your shoulders? Maybe you sensed God's love for the first time? Was it a transforming experience? If the Lord was going to do another major work in your life in the near future, ask the Lord what he'd like you to do to prepare for it.. ask the Lord what issues of your heart need to be addressed.

   If you have selected format one, write down (or type on your computer) what the Lord says. You may have some periods of "waiting" between when you write one thing and when God speaks the next to you.. it is perfectly ok to have those pauses.

   If you have selected format two, speak what the Lord says into your tape recorder.. you will probably alternate between listening to a phrase or two, then speaking/recording it, then listening for more. Or, you may be able to speak it as you hear it, with no pauses or delays between hearing and speaking. (Later on you may desire to transcribe the tape).

   If you have selected format three, then just listen to what God has to say to you.. feel free to prayerfully interact with him on it. Immediately after you are done, jot down notes about what he said to you.

   Please note:

   You may need some times of 'listening waiting' in between hearing from God. So when you stop hearing, don't immediately assume God is done. Instead ask him if he has more to say to you and wait a few minutes.. often God will have more to say. Don't be afraid to have hesitations where you wait on him before he says more to you.

8. Optional .. repeat it..

   Select a different scenario to ask God about. You may also want to experiment with using a different format. If you wrote it the first time, you may want to try speaking into a tape recorder. If you did format three (just listening) the first time, please do try repeating the same scenario using either format one or two. Once you have just listened to God on a subject, you may find it easier to listen and record (write, type, tape-record) at the same time if you go back and ask God about that same subject again.