The Key That Unlocks Hearing

In one paragraph

Pastor Brian walked Tribe fam through a single question: if hearing the voice of the Lord is a skill anyone can develop, what is the one key that actually unlocks it? He drew the answer from Luke chapter six and James chapter one, and framed it around three movements: coming, listening, and obeying. Brian opened by returning briefly to the "hearing aids" framework from the previous week, the...

Read together

1. Romans 10:17 faith comes by hearing the word of God, shared during opening worship segment
2. Proverbs 27:7 a person who is full refuses honey but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry, used to challenge whether people come to worship already full of other things
3. Luke 6:46-49 the parable of the two builders, used as the main text to teach the three-part principle of coming to Jesus, listening, and obeying
4. Luke 11:11-13 if you then though you are evil know how to give good gifts, used to argue that hearing the voice of the Lord is also a gift not only a skill
5. James 1:22-25 be doers of the word and not hearers only, used to reinforce the call to obey what God says and not deceive yourself
6. Hebrews 4:12 the word of God is alive and powerful sharper than a two-edged sword, used to describe the confronting nature of encountering God's voice

What was said

• Pick one decision you are sitting on and spend time this week visualizing each option in detail, paying attention to where you sense the Holy Spirit's peace.
• If worship or prayer has felt flat lately, ask yourself honestly what you have been filling your mind with, and set aside one of those things to make room for God this week.
• Come to God directly about whatever you are wrestling with, not just through a podcast or a sermon, but in a personal, honest conversation with him where you hold nothing back.
• If there is something you already know God has been asking you to do, take one concrete step toward obeying it this week rather than continuing to sit on it.
• Reach out to someone in your life whose counsel you trust and ask them to speak honestly into a decision or an area where you feel stuck in between.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about hearing the voice of the Lord as a skill to develop rather than a gift given to some and not others. What difference does that distinction make to you personally, and where would you say you are in developing that skill?
2. The funnel of discernment included God's word, guidance from the Holy Spirit, the peace of the Holy Spirit, prayer and fasting, dreams and visions, godly counsel, delegated authority, and circumstances. Which of those do you lean on most, and which do you tend to ignore or forget about?
3. Brian said that when we keep hearing the voice of the Lord but persist in rejecting it, deception enters our heart and we can end up thinking everything is fine when it is not. Has there been a time in your life when you recognised that happening, either in yourself or in someone close to you? What did it take to break out of it?
4. The Greek behind 'comes to me' in Luke 6 meant to appear publicly and personally, with nothing hidden. What makes that kind of raw vulnerability before the Lord difficult, and what has helped you get there?
5. The congregation member who spoke up pointed out that the roots of a new plant have to push hard through the dirt and around rocks to spread out, and that obeying God is not necessarily an easy step. Where in your life right now does obedience feel like that kind of hard push, and what would it look like to keep going?