Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to hear the Lord speak in every way He chooses is a good and humble desire, and it is right to bring your wife, your children, your family and all who pray with you before Him in this way.
Scripture shows that God has indeed spoken through many means. He has spoken through dreams and through visions, sometimes even night visions that required interpretation. We see this with Joseph in the Old Testament and with Joseph the husband of Mary in the New Testament who was warned in a dream to protect the child Jesus, and with others like the wise men who were warned in a dream, and with prophets who received visions. The prophet Joel promised that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit and sons and daughters would prophesy and young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams, a promise repeated on the day of Pentecost. The Lord also speaks through His Word, through faithful preaching, through godly counsel where there is safety in a multitude of counselors, through the quiet leading of the Holy Spirit as sons of God are led by the Spirit, and through the Shepherds voice which His sheep know and follow.
It is important to keep an open heart to hear Him, because He does not always speak in a loud or dramatic way that we might expect. Often He speaks in beautiful and natural ways that we can miss if we are only listening for something spectacular. At the same time the Bible itself is Gods revelation of Himself to us, and His final and full revelation has come through Jesus Christ. That is why the Word must remain the test and foundation for everything else, as Isaiah says to look to the law and to the testimony. Any dream, vision, impression, or word of counsel must be weighed against Scripture and must agree with it.
There is also a warning in Scripture about dreams and visions that come only from a persons own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord. God describes that kind of speaking as chaff. Chaff is not nourishing, and people who chase only the exciting or spectacular do not grow strong spiritually but remain immature. This does not mean God cannot or does not still speak through a dream or vision today. He can, and we should remain open if He chooses to do so, but we should not seek the experience itself or run after every claim. We should seek Him, stay rooted in the Word, and let Him choose how to confirm His will.
Your prayer reflects trust in His power and mercy. It is true that He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Jesus, that His arm is not too short to save, that no purpose of His can be thwarted, that light is stronger than darkness, and that what is impossible with man is possible with God. Those truths are your confidence as you pray.
I join you in praying that the Lord will keep you, your wife, your family, your friends, and those who lead you from temptation, from evil, from deception and fear and from the work of the evil one, and that He will guard you from error and lies. I pray that as you make your requests known to Him with thanksgiving, His peace which passes understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. May He give you clear discernment, a love for His Word above all, ears to recognize the Shepherds voice, and wisdom through godly counsel, and may He grant you confidence to trust Him and to thank Him in advance for what He will do, knowing that all His promises are yes in Jesus. Amen.
Scripture shows that God has indeed spoken through many means. He has spoken through dreams and through visions, sometimes even night visions that required interpretation. We see this with Joseph in the Old Testament and with Joseph the husband of Mary in the New Testament who was warned in a dream to protect the child Jesus, and with others like the wise men who were warned in a dream, and with prophets who received visions. The prophet Joel promised that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit and sons and daughters would prophesy and young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams, a promise repeated on the day of Pentecost. The Lord also speaks through His Word, through faithful preaching, through godly counsel where there is safety in a multitude of counselors, through the quiet leading of the Holy Spirit as sons of God are led by the Spirit, and through the Shepherds voice which His sheep know and follow.
It is important to keep an open heart to hear Him, because He does not always speak in a loud or dramatic way that we might expect. Often He speaks in beautiful and natural ways that we can miss if we are only listening for something spectacular. At the same time the Bible itself is Gods revelation of Himself to us, and His final and full revelation has come through Jesus Christ. That is why the Word must remain the test and foundation for everything else, as Isaiah says to look to the law and to the testimony. Any dream, vision, impression, or word of counsel must be weighed against Scripture and must agree with it.
There is also a warning in Scripture about dreams and visions that come only from a persons own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord. God describes that kind of speaking as chaff. Chaff is not nourishing, and people who chase only the exciting or spectacular do not grow strong spiritually but remain immature. This does not mean God cannot or does not still speak through a dream or vision today. He can, and we should remain open if He chooses to do so, but we should not seek the experience itself or run after every claim. We should seek Him, stay rooted in the Word, and let Him choose how to confirm His will.
Your prayer reflects trust in His power and mercy. It is true that He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Jesus, that His arm is not too short to save, that no purpose of His can be thwarted, that light is stronger than darkness, and that what is impossible with man is possible with God. Those truths are your confidence as you pray.
I join you in praying that the Lord will keep you, your wife, your family, your friends, and those who lead you from temptation, from evil, from deception and fear and from the work of the evil one, and that He will guard you from error and lies. I pray that as you make your requests known to Him with thanksgiving, His peace which passes understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. May He give you clear discernment, a love for His Word above all, ears to recognize the Shepherds voice, and wisdom through godly counsel, and may He grant you confidence to trust Him and to thank Him in advance for what He will do, knowing that all His promises are yes in Jesus. Amen.
