MORE HEARING. I want to go into more detail about "Listening to the Spirit" in the practical every-dayness of our ordinary lives. The more I talk to Christians in all walks of life, and even those of varied age in the Spirit, the more I realize this area is sadly overlooked. Jesus wants to be in charge of every single thing we do. It is not His desire that we should wander "in" and "out" of the Spirit of God. (If you are like me, sometimes you wonder how you got in and also how you managed to fall out!) Paul says clearly that he does not want us to ignorant of the things of the Spirit so I feel I am on quite solid ground with the things I am about to write here.

1. To hear the Spirit of God in your every day life, read the bible daily, include at least ONE of the gospels, and do what it says. By this I mean, when you read in Matthew - don't commit adultery, even in your heart - you should not just think to yourself, "well I certainly don't do that!" And then go on to something else. Everything in the Scripture is written to profit every single one of us at ALL TIMES. Instead of thinking you are OK with it, try saying to the Spirit: "I can't see where I am disobeying Your command, please give me humility and grace and HELP ME TO SEE WHERE THIS APPLIES TO ME. One of the first things that will block your ears is disobedience. When you read "forgive your brother," or "don't hold anything against anyone"... read the word EVER... first of all! Then ask the Holy Spirit to show you who you are angry with, or annoyed at, or holding a grudge against. When I have asked this question, sometimes the answer has astonished me. He has shown me I was irritated at some poor shop girl who responded badly to me, and I dismissed the matter because it fell out of my immediate memory shortly after I left the shop!
I am reminded that big plugs of ear wax do not form overnight. Ear wax builds up slowly until one day a friend asks if you are going a little deaf and suddenly you realize you are not hearing very well! When you have dealt with the wax your hearing becomes so much better you cannot believe you put up with it at all.

2. Don't just repent in private, ask the Holy Spirit what He wants you to do about what He tells you. Too many of us think saying "I repent" covers it. Sometimes you have to go to the person and carefully and thoughtfully tell them you have been offended with them. Without giving any blame to them. I have gone BACK into a shop to apologize for my grumpy manner and I will probably NEVER see that person again, but it isn't the PERSON I am concerned about! It is my direct line to the Holy Spirit. I WANT TO KNOW IF HE JUST BREATHES IN MY DIRECTION. He should not have to shout! If He is shouting at you then you need to repent for deafness first.

3. Do what He tells you. Whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Whether you understand or not. He will ALWAYS tell you things to improve connections with others. He will not tell you to shout at someone else. Your judgment on Who is speaking to you at the time should be governed by what you are being asked to do. Jesus won't ask you to hurt, cheat, lie, look down upon anyone. He won't tell you to do something - this is very important - that He didn't do! So if something tells you to take off all your clothes and dance in the High Street naked, you have your answer! What would Jesus do? If I am absolutely not clear about something I ask Him to give me three separate scriptures, from wherever I am reading at the time. I do NOT GO LOOKING. I do not throw out a fleece, fleeces have never worked for me! I utterly rely on the only proven source of God's opinion we have - THE BIBLE. I have, however, after getting my three scriptures, gone to my pastor and asked him to seek God about the matter with me.

I never read the bible for information. NEVER. I read to see something I can do. If it says "Praise ye the Lord." I stop reading and praise the Lord for a while. If it says "Sing unto the Lord a new song" I sing a new song to the Lord. I NEVER SAY "I'm not mad at anyone" instead I always say "Who am I mad at please Holy Spirit?" Read the bible looking for instructions and your hearing will improve - automatically. No fasting, no nights of prayer, just plain obedience. Jesus loves it. He knows He can INTERRUPT ME AT ANY TIME - DAY OR NIGHT. I'm available. I will stop whatever I am doing and go and do what He told me to do. Right away. I do not follow Pastor So and So's reading plan, I do not follow some Devotional Book, I follow the Master. (Can God use books like that? Yes, He can. But let your devotion be to the bible and NO OTHER BOOK.)

If I see sin in my life, I repent immediately. I ask for grace and humility and repent, on the spot! I have learned that I cannot trust things to my memory, satan would be delighted to help me forget important things, or distract me from them. Lastly I tell myself constantly, "God is in charge in my life, not the circumstances, not the person who hates me, not my pastor, not my spouse, but GOD ALMIGHTY." When I asked Him into my life and made Him Lord He heard me; so I pray for grace to endure, or forgive, or to change, or to understand whatever I need to understand in order to continue walking with Him. God is not allergic to making Himself clear to you. Ask for wisdom from the giving God and believe He will give it. (James) My final point is this. IF I HEAR NOTHING I DO NOTHING. I do not try to "help" God with anything. Not even a teeny bit. I have learnt the wisdom of waiting for His timing. He is never in a hurry and as humans that can be difficult, that is how we get to grow the fruit of patience in our lives. Let patience have her perfect work and you will find yourself up to your elbows in endurance! Bless you.
I refuse to apologize for repeating myself here, I know I have said this stuff on previous pages. I wrote it again so that whoever reads it should understand the consequences of disobedience. DEAFNESS.