Still Small Voice

In one paragraph

Tribe met in the saloon at the Virginian for the second Sunday of a four-week trial run, and Pastor Brian used that moment of discernment to open a series on hearing God's voice. The series runs alongside the church's process of deciding whether the Virginian is the right long-term home for the congregation. That combination, a real decision in real time, is what shaped the whole conversation....

Read together

1. Jeremiah 33:3 God inviting people to ask him and he will tell them remarkable secrets and things to come
2. Psalms (unspecified verse) my heart has heard you say, come and spend time with me, and my heart replies, Lord, I am coming
3. Hosea 2:14 God saying he will win her back, lead her into the desert, and speak tenderly to her there
4. Hosea 4:6 my people are being destroyed because they don't know it
5. Hebrews 3:15 today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled
6. Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God, and his peace will guard your hearts and minds
7. James (unspecified verse) a double minded man is unstable in all his ways
8. 1 Kings 19:11-13 Elijah hearing not wind, earthquake, or fire but a still small whisper, and God asking what are you doing here

What was said

• Set aside a block of quiet time this week and ask God a specific question you have been carrying, then wait and listen rather than filling the silence.
• Pick up a copy of 'Practicing the Presence of God' by Brother Lawrence and start reading it.
• When something surfaces in your mind that feels like God's voice, run it through the six diagnostic questions Pastor Brian gave: does it line up with God's word, do you have peace, is there false pressure to decide quickly, does godly counsel confirm it, does it keep bubbling back up, and does it draw you closer to Jesus.
• Text or call someone you trust who has been walking with the Lord for a while and ask to meet for coffee to talk through something you feel God may be saying to you.
• On your next walk, run, or drive alone, leave the phone in your pocket and spend that time talking to God and listening for that still small voice instead of filling the time with noise.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about a moment in Tulsa where he was desperate to hear God's voice and tried everything he could think of, only to sense God speaking quietly inside him rather than through any outward sign. When have you felt that kind of silence from God, and what did you do with it?
2. Brian described three voices competing for our attention: our own voice and conscience, the voice of the world and the spirit of the age, and the voice of the enemy. Which of those three do you find hardest to distinguish from God's voice, and why?
3. One woman in the room shared that sin took her further than she wanted to go, cost her more than she wanted to spend, and kept her longer than she wanted to stay. Has that been true in your own experience, and how did it affect your ability to hear God?
4. The group was asked whether hearing God's voice is a gift or a skill to develop, and most people chose a skill. What is one thing you have actually done, or could start doing, to develop that skill in your own life?
5. Brian closed by describing someone in the room who is terrified to lower their defenses and actually let God speak, because they fear what he might say. What does it look like in everyday life to lower that guard, and what makes it hard?