Regaining Lost Ground

Shane Idleman: We're neglecting the last thing he already asked us to do. We pray for another confirmation, another prophetic word, or another sign. The breakthrough that we're looking for is just on the other side of obedience.

How many of you can relate to that? "Lord, give me a sign." I already did, months ago, weeks ago. You already know what to do. Here's why: it's hard, and we don't want to do it unless we know with absolute certainty. So, "God, give me that sign. Give me that confirmation."

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear part one of this illuminating message titled, "How to Hear the Spirit Part 2."

Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know." Join Pastor Shane as he continues to teach us how we may be more obedient to the Lord by learning how we may hear the Spirit of God living in us, here on Regaining Lost Ground.

You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now, from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Shane Idleman: How to hear from the Spirit, part two. All the things I didn't get to. Does anybody need help in this area, or do you hear perfectly from God? No questions? This is going to be very important.

As my wife and older kids were gone, I took my seven-year-old to Disneyland on Monday and wore her out, so I was happy about that. But I was able to listen to Chuck Swindoll. How many of you follow his ministry? What a great Bible teacher. I haven't listened in a while, but I used to listen all the time when I came back to the Lord.

It clicked. It actually came on 99.5 KKLA, and then I put on the app. The title was "Unidentified Inner Promptings," UIPs instead of UFOs. Unidentified inner promptings. I thought, "That's what I'm talking about, too." I was happy to hear pretty much a lot of the same things we talked about and what I want to talk to you about this morning.

It's a tough topic when you talk about these kinds of things. Some people get a little frazzled, especially in a reformed conservative church. They're totally against what they call inner voices or inner promptings. If you were like that, I am too. We want to be careful and cautious because they've seen so much weird stuff that's out there.

However, I've learned through my life, as I'm sure many of you have, that God leads sometimes through those unidentified inner promptings. Many times, we have the Word as practical application, but it's that conviction that is the number one tool that God will use to draw us or to lead us. It makes sense if you have the Holy Spirit in your heart as a believer that that Holy Spirit is directing through those types of inner promptings.

However, we get off balance when that's all we're listening to and not the Word. The Word is of... and actually, I put this out just to remind me and to cover my drink. But it was written by a Puritan, "The Christian in Complete Armor." It's very thick. You might want to get the revised version. But it's just how to put on the complete armor, walk in the Word of God, and follow the principles of the Word of God.

That's the best way to be led and to hear God's voice, is to obey the principles. Then there are things, times, where it's like, "Lord, there's no book I can turn to that tells me should I take this job or not. I can't look to Luke chapter 14 and see if I should move out of state, or if I should sell my house, or if I should start this ministry, or if I should start this business."

Sometimes we don't have those answers. Now, there are principles to follow, is there not? I believe unequally yoked has not just to do with marriage, but also with partnerships of any kind. Business partnerships for sure, because they're going to want to hide things on taxes and be dishonest in this area. It's going to be very hard. What fellowship has light with darkness is not just in marriage but in all areas of life.

So this topic is interesting because we see it throughout the book of Acts. I think we have the screen from last week where it talked about being led by the Spirit. The Bible says it, not me. Led by the Spirit. They heard from the Spirit. The Spirit told Philip, and then the Holy Spirit stopped them. He forbade them from going into Asia. He did not allow them.

So the Spirit is leading them. It seems like some of this is an internal witness. Led of the Spirit, heard of the Spirit. It's an internal witness, like I just can't... there's something I need to do this. Now, if it's biblical, normally it will help others. It will not gratify the flesh. You're probably not going to be led to go to Starbucks and get a double-maple frappuccino extra whatever.

Or led to call that person back that you met at the bar. There are things where you know it's not God. It's the wrong voice that's trying to get my attention. Last week, I talked about the devil planting thoughts. Your own flesh actually wants comfort. So when you're led of the Spirit, often it's not very comfortable.

"Lord, you want me to talk to that person and fix that relationship?" That's probably not the devil. I've noticed that he will lead in these promptings. I don't know what else to call them. You do have very solid Bible teachers that will talk about this. I do find it interesting, I've talked about this before, but I just want to show you the relevance.

We lost one of the heroes of the faith a while back with John MacArthur. I have a study Bible. They would probably lean towards... they definitely wouldn't talk about what I'm talking about. They're very cautious on this inner promptings, led of the Spirit. But I reminded people that go there, I said, "Hey, by the way, I went to the Shepherd's Conference about 10 years ago."

They had up on the screen one of the professors at the seminary who escaped persecuted China. He was talking and he said, "I was on my bike and the Holy Spirit led me a different path and I avoided the police who were at my home." I wanted to stand up and say, "That's all I'm saying! Why can he say it?" Because it's one of their guys, right?

So we see that the Holy Spirit is leading. The Puritans talk about led of the Spirit. But it's a point where you have to be careful because we do see people who are not very balanced, thinking that God talks to them all the time. These little voices and trying to do this, but they're not grounded in the Word. They're not obeying the Word.

"The devil's after my finances." No, you don't budget. You have bad spending habits. That's not the devil. So it's just such an area to be careful in. But praise God we have the Scriptures. I did talk about how the Spirit leads us in January when I was in the book of Acts, but this is more hearing the voice of God.

So where I left off was keys to hearing the Spirit. A reminder that as the disciples were led of the Spirit, he stopped them, he led them, he told them. They were filled with the Spirit and prayed up. That will make the difference. If you're quenching and grieving the Spirit and you're not prayed up, it's going to be hard to distinguish those voices.

Because really, the leading of the Spirit comes from the overflow. As you're surrendering to God and filled with his Word and prayer, it's an overflow. You're led in that natural direction. But if you're not teachable, you're not humble, and you don't really want to do what he wants you to do, it's going to be hard to be led of the Spirit.

So we have to remember that God's voice dominated their thoughts. They were dead to the things of the world and we must begin here. Also, maybe for some of you, you must begin with repentance. "Lord, I've been off track. I'm repenting. I want to get back on the right track." When you're in sin and unrepentant, the only voice you're really hearing is the voice of conviction.

What you think is God's voice—although it could be, God directs unsaved people, I've heard of that many times—but more often than not, it's going to be hard to hear his voice if unrepentance is clouding and stopping up our ears. So we must begin here. And also, the more time you spend in the Word, the better you'll hear. Isn't that true?

This is what I added this week: The more time you spend in the Word, the better you'll be able to hear because then you also know that's not of God. That's not a godly principle. I don't think that's the case. What you're doing, the human brain is amazing. You've heard me talk about it before, neuroplasticity.

It really came probably in the last decade where your brain can actually change. It's not like genetics and you're wired this way. You can actually change things in your mind to think it and develop habits that you never thought you could develop before. What you're doing with the Word, actually, you begin to get closer to the mind and heart of God.

When you know somebody better, you know kind of what they're already going to do, don't you? How many of you know your spouse? "I know what my spouse would say in this situation," or, "I know what my kids would say," or you hear something and you're like, "I know which kid said that," because of that relationship in his Word.

In the Word, to me, is like spiritual nutrition. Physical nutrition, we know it restores and helps the body, but the Word is spiritual nutrition. The best way to be led of the Spirit is to hear his voice through... he's already spoken. He's actually already spoken. Most things, most questions can be answered in his Word.

"Is this wise? Is this a good thing to do?" Then the leadings usually supplement the Word. They never take the place of it, at all. Ever. You buy supplements sometimes, don't you? B-complex or whatever, vitamin D, vitamin K. That's not the meal. It's a little tablet to supplement the meal because you're not getting enough.

Also, I want to remind you they waited. In order to be led, the disciples waited. So that's a good phrase to remember: they waited to be led. Usually when God leads, it's while we're waiting. It's not while we're rushing. When you rush, you get ahead of God. When you wait, that prompting as you're waiting, you know, begins to feel right. It begins to saturate in your heart.

Like Psalm 130 says, "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his Word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord." Remember, waiting is actually an active tension filled with hope that trusts entirely in God's strength. So waiting, you're actually... it's not just sitting on the couch with your feet up all day.

It's an expectation. It's expecting God to move and waiting on him. You've heard that still small voice before. Have you heard that? The Bible, maybe preachers have taught on it, the still small voice of God. It goes back to Elijah where God wasn't in the fire, he wasn't in the thunder and the wind and all these things when he escaped from Jezebel.

But it's very interesting, it says his voice was in the still small voice that followed. That delicate whisper. Isn't that how God leads? Sometimes there's that when you know you're getting into the big-boy sins, like, "Don't go there." But there's other areas where it's just that gentle whisper. Gentle doesn't compete with harsh noise.

That's why it's good to just quiet yourself before the Lord. Take a day to pray and fast. The insight is amazing when you take time to just wait on him. I quoted this back in January, I thought it'd be good today to remind you of it. It's a poem. It says, "Is there some door closed by the Father's hand which widely opened you had hoped to see? Trust God and wait. For when he shuts the door, he keeps the key."

I've seen many times when God shuts the door, it doesn't mean it's final. It can be. Sometimes it is. But it could be just that waiting time. Then again, where we left off last week, considering the decision you're about to make seems to lead to peace as long as it's biblical. So when it comes to being led of the Spirit, actually hearing God's voice, you know what you're about to do or what you're contemplating. Is there peace there?

Is there peace? Because it's hard to fight against peace. I mean, anybody still force that decision when there wasn't peace? And it's hard because you know, "Lord, help me." That's when we say, "Help, give me back on track if I could go back and do that." So just thinking about that is so important because peace... I don't know how it works, but it's almost like the Holy Spirit's at rest, if that makes sense.

You're filled with the Spirit, you have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit's leading, and there's peace. There's not a restlessness because you know, "Hey, this seems like the right decision." Now, there is false peace. I've seen people, and we've talked about this before, I even mentioned last Sunday where they would say, "But Pastor, God knows my heart. I have peace about it."

And you know they're wrong. It's clear they're wrong, biblically speaking, they're wrong. But, "I have peace about it." You don't have peace; you've ignored the leading of the Spirit so long that you've quenched and grieved his voice. That's not peace. That's quenching and grieving the Spirit. You've moved forward in that disobedience so long that it feels like there's no big warning lights.

So be very careful in that area. Repent and say, "God, I want to know your will." Number three: Disobedience clouds our vision and clogs our ears. How many have lived that? Reading the Bible is no substitute for responding to the prompting of the Spirit. So many people read the Bible or they'll go to church, but they ignore the conviction of the Spirit.

"I don't want to do that, but let me just read. Let me just read. No, I'm not going to obey, but I'm just going to read." It makes you feel good. I read the Word even though I'm in disobedience. He leads us primarily through conviction and the wisdom in his Word. We talked about because in Acts, he actually had a dream or a vision to go somewhere.

I'm going to talk about that in a minute. But God primarily will lead you through conviction and the wisdom of his Word. You have to have both, because you have to line up that conviction with his Word. Compromises, excuses, justifications, and procrastinations can also dull our hearing. Anybody been there before? Compromises.

You know God's wanting you to do something, but you negotiate. Any negotiators out there? Like, "All right, Lord, but..." Does a scripture jump out in your head on that? James: Be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this. People will quote the Scripture, but they don't obey it.

And they actually do live in deception. The Bible's right. "I know what the Bible says," and they read it and they think they're good. But it's the obedience that really has the power. God leads us primarily through conviction and the wisdom in his Word. They go together. Now, I did leave off last week... actually, it was Paul, correct? Who was led by the Spirit with a vision, a dream.

A dream is something you have while you're sleeping. A vision is something possibly that you would see. And Paul led him through this time in the book of Acts with a vision. However, again, what did I just say? He leads us primarily through conviction of the Spirit that lines up with his Word. Those two are wonderful. Aren't you thankful for conviction?

Because if we didn't have that, we'd just read and we're like, "Well, I don't know what it says. Hopefully this is right." I know what it says, but hopefully this is right. But that conviction adds that second layer of direction. And we want to make sure that compromises and excuses and justification and procrastination do not dull our hearing.

Because when God wants us to do something, do you ever compromise or negotiate with God, or make excuses, or procrastinate? That will knock you off the course as well. So I want to read something. Just listen to this. I don't think we have it up there. It's from a friend of mine, Todd Conatser.

He posted this and I'm like, "I have to share this Sunday." He said, "One of the biggest things I've learned in my walk with the Lord is that we often ask God for more direction while neglecting the last thing he already asked us to do." Hello! This is so true. I've seen this many, many times. We often ask God for more direction, but we're neglecting the last thing he already asked us to do.

We pray for another confirmation, another prophetic word, or another sign. But many times, the breakthrough that we're looking for is just on the other side of obedience. How many of you can relate to that? "Lord, give me a sign." I already did, months ago, weeks ago. You already know what to do.

Here's why: it's hard, and we don't want to do it unless we know with absolute certainty. So, "God, give me that sign. Give me that confirmation. I want to hear from you again." But let me tell you, the peace will come when you step out and obey. Number four: We must apply Scripture in context.

We must compare Scripture with Scripture. So a lot of people will use verses... have you ever heard the phrase cherry-picking? So they'll use certain verses, but they'll forget about the totality, what they call "all of Scripture." So you look at the Word of God. For example, let's talk about sometimes the verse that people use on healing is taken out of context: "By his stripes you are healed," and you shouldn't be sick.

That's not God's will for anybody to be sick. But every time I look at that verse, it has to do with salvation. Peter's quoting Isaiah: "By his stripes you are healed." Now, is there healing in the atonement? Of course, God heals. But to say you never should be sick, that's not true. And the scriptures they start to... Andrew Wommack, I guess, is one of the people been sending me, like, "Watch this guy."

No, but watch this guy. I mean, you can't... because "you should never be sick." Okay, what happens at 85, 87? Does God say, "Now it's your time," and then you will be sick? How do you come up with this stuff?