So far in this series, I’ve used the phrase Grow Up as an encouragement to abandon spiritual immaturity and grow up into spiritual maturity.
Today will be a little different.

I had a pastor tell me one time, “Be careful you are not treating your 5 year old son as if he is your 18 year old son.” The wisdom here is not to expect your kid to act above his age. If your 5 year old can’t dress himself, no biggie. But if your 18 year old can’t dress themselves, yes biggie.
Presentable dress, I mean lol

So what is the difference between the 5 year old version and the 18 year old version?

13 years of growing, 13 years of learning, 13 years of practice.

You have to learn how to be an adult. Kids don’t wake up and one day start talking 401ks and discussing lawn care techniques. Much in the same way, you have to learn how to be a spiritual adult. This takes years of learning, growing, and practice.

So if you have been super hard on yourself for not being further down the line of spiritual growth, cut yourself some slack. Tony Robbins told a guy once, “You overestimate wha you can accomplish in a year, but underestimate what you can accomplish in a decade. So don’t be so hard on yourself. You just haven’t been around long enough.”

Maybe you have been a Christian for a long time. But maybe you haven’t been serious about it, serious about your growth. Maybe you have been a Christian since you were a fetus but never knew half the things we’re talking about in this series.

Cut yourself some slack. The goal is not to rush into maturity, but to grow up into it.

So “Grow Up” is not “get it together” in today’s message. It is simply learn, grow, practice.

By the way, everything of value in life comes by this process. And if you want to stay sharp in the game of life, you have to do things these consistently.

So today, let’s learn, grow, and practice in an area of our lives so many of you really want to develop: Hearing God. Hearing God can be tough and that is primarily because there are so many voices vying for your attention. A good analogy for me is when my wife is trying to tell me something important. I want to hear it, I want to understand it, but I have these three little clones of us randomly asking questions, or chanting “momma” until they are addressed, and meanwhile Bluey is playing so loudly in the background you think you’re actually in Australia. The cat is meowing, the dog is rummaging for food the kids dropped on the floor, the phone is ringing, my stomach is growling, and all I want to do is hear what Monique is trying to tell me.

This is what it is like trying to hear the Holy Spirit speak to us.

Can you relate?

So what do we do in that moment? We very calmly and patiently ask, with a spirit of gentleness, for everyone to quieten down while mommy and daddy talk. More accurately, “WILL EVERYONE JUST HUSH IT UP FOR TWO SECONDS!?!?!”

Don’t you wish it was that easy to silence the noise around you so that you can hear the Holy Spirit clearly?

We want to eliminate the noise so we can hear God speak.

Now, I could take time today to identify noisemakers in our lives so we can silence them and hear God better, but here’s a truth that adults understand and children don’t: The noise doesn’t stop. It only gets louder. If today is about how to stop the noise you’ll spend the rest of your life focusing on the noise.

I want you focused on the Holy Spirit, so instead of telling you how to kill noise, let me teach you how to hear more clearly.

We can get a two for one today with this because when you learn to focus more accurately on the Holy Spirit, you find the noise doesn’t matter anymore.

So how can we focus on the Holy Spirit to hear him more clearly?

1. Be one of his sheep.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me
Now this seems like a pretty obvious place to start, but don’t rush the point here. Are you really his sheep? Are you really committed to the shepherd? The easiest way to find this answer is to simply ask: Are you doing what the shepherd tells you to do?

John 8:47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. Zero chill with this one lol! But it doesn’t change the truth that if you re not of God, you can’t hear him. The only caveat to this is that initial tug at your heart you feel when you are recognizing him for the first time.

In the natural, distance reduces volume. If you are too far away from the speaker, the sound waves can’t reach you because they are crashing into things, or you are simply too far for them to reach you. The same happens in the spirit. If you are too far from God, or if you have so many things between him and you, we’ll call them idols, you simply can’t hear him.

Matthew 11:15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jesus said this in the context of talking about John the Baptist. Jesus said, “What did you go out there to see? A man in soft clothing like in the King’s house?”

Basically, did you go out to see something you expected in terms of the Kingdom of God only to find a camel hair wearing locust eating wild man? He said, You didn’t listen to him! You thought him crazy. Yet when Jesus came, they didn’t listen to him either!

v.18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!

v.25-27 25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

What am I saying here?
The Kingdom of God is revealed to those who are called by his name, to his children. If you want to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, it takes more than ears to hear. You have to be in covenant relationship with God Almighty. And you need to know his voice. The only way you can know his voice is by spending time with him on a daily basis. This is why moms know which kid is crying. Time and experience. This is why you know it is your spouse when you hear their voice.

You can never expect to hear God clearly if you never spend time with him.

The learn part of this is understanding how to be his sheep. The grow part of this is learning how to stay close to him. We had to weld something up on a trailer this week as we were moving my parents and all their stuff. Because I’ve worked with dad before, I know how he works. I knew he needed the welding leads unrolled, the ground connected, the machine started and ready to go. Because his back is still on the mend from surgery, I knew he needed a chair. Once he was done welding, I knew to roll up the leads, kill the machine, and clean the welds.Some of my actions in that moment were the result of having learned what the job required in the same way I understand what it means to be one of God’s sheep. Some of my actions in that moment were the result of having worked closely with my dad, in the same why I grow to understand my heavenly father. Learning the job helped me perform, but growing in understanding helped me know how I could work with my dad, not against him, to see the job accomplished.

Remember this is all about hearing God clearly.Intimacy with God is only obtained through time and experience. Your clarity in hearing God is directly proportional to your intimacy in your relationship with him.

You want to hear him? Be his sheep.

2. Position yourself to hear.
One of the best ways to better hear is to reduce the amount of space and matter between you and the speaker. That is fancy talk for “Get closer.”

In the analogy before of working with dad, I not only learned how to do the job, and I not only learned how he liked the job to be done, I also learned to anticipate his needs. Having tools ready to go so he didn’t have to go look for them, wasting time, being ready to grind to prep the weld before or smooth the weld after, I worked to make sure he had what he needed so that the job was easier and faster.

SIDE NOTE: This meant I couldn’t see myself as the main character.
Too often we can’t hear God clearly because we are operating as if we are the main character and his job is to make life easier for us rather than our job being to do what he asks so we can move the kingdom forward. One of the quickest ways for a main character to get in trouble is to issue that their voice is the most important one. That is pride! That will keep us missing God because we are constantly expecting God to say what we’re saying, so that is the only voice we’re willing to hear!

Verses
Psalm 5:3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
David clearly was a morning pray-er. I have a pastor friend who once told me, “I am terrible at praying in the morning, but I can pray all night.” The important thing is simply this: are you positioning yourself for engagement with God?

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live
Often we expect God to speak at times that are convenient for us. I am not saying that it is wrong to have a scheduled prayer time with God, but I am saying it is very important that we position ourselves where, no matter when God speaks, we are ready to listen. Remember, we don’t get life from talking non stop in our prayer times. We get life from inclining our ears to him and hearing what he says!

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
I love that they listened for where God was, and until they ate the apple, they would go to him and walk with him in the cool of the day. Do you see the moral here? If you aren’t positioning yourself to hear him, then how are you going to hear him? I don’t want God to have to work harder to talk to me.

Think about it like this:
How hard are you willing to fight to tell your wife something? Imagine the scenario I mentioned before with kids and animals and all of that. BUT NOW include, just as a fun bonus, your spouse not wanting to listen to you. How would that work out for you? You’d either go into a rage or else stop trying to talk. I am careful not to ascribe to God our own human behaviors, but we see multiple times in scripture where God simply stops talking to those who refuse to listen.

3. Practice, and often.
Practicals
1. Set aside time to spend with God.
You make time for that which you prioritize. Remove the chaos and noise. Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place - a distraction free place. Don’t bring your phone. “I need it to look up verses.” No you don’t. “I need it to take notes on what he says.” No you don’t. Your phone is the quickest way to a distraction.

2. Learn his voice.
When God speaks, it isn’t Morgan Freeman in your head. It is your voice. I’ve never heard an audible voice, but he will burn a thought into your mind. Thoughts you wouldn’t normally think, things you wouldn’t normally think to say, immediate replies, often these are the Holy Spirit speaking. His spoken word will always agree with his written word. If you want to know if it was God or not, the first step is finding a Bible verse that supports what you heard. Don’t force it either. Don’t make God say something he didn’t say.
We obviously can’t make God say something, but we can make ourselves believe he did. Ask him to speak clearly as you are learning. We slow down and enunciate with little kids. Ask him to do the same with you as you learn, grow, and practice,

3. Understand that God speaks in a variety of ways, not just his voice.
It could be a Bible verse, a bird on your window sill, a thought that comes to your mind. Sometimes I hear a voice in my head and then instantly get a physical feeling. Peace, calm. Excitement, energy. Opposition, repulsion, almost as if my body said “no” Emotions are not bad. they, like money, are neutral. Emotions are tools used to help you understand. They cannot drive the vehicle, but they are great at letting us know how the commute is going.

4. Make your goal to experience relationship with God, not just hear from him.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Psalm 63:1-5
1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.These are the words of someone who wants God, not just a word from him.

You will always find what you are looking for. If you want a word, you’l get it. If you want a relationship, you’ll get it, and then some. No one wants to be the means to an end. Neither does God. Be careful you don’t desire a word more than you desire him.

5. Take a step when you believe God spoke to you.
I know this can be scary and some might say this is dangerous. I believe the only thing worse than wrong action is inaction. If I step and it is right, I am good. If I step and it is wrong, I am learning. If I never step at all, I am stagnant. God would rather you step and do the wrong thing than to do nothing at all. Biblical evidence: Revelation 3:15-16 I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!
Obviously God wants you doing the right thing! But a good coach knows that the only way to get to the right thing is to be willing to try even if the result is the wrong thing. At least then action can be corrected and learning can occur.

6. Be willing to do what he says.
God isn’t going to speak to someone who isn’t going to do what he said in the first place.
Matthew 8:5-10, 13
5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” 7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

The centurion’s willingness was not contingent upon the answer. He was willing before he ever said a word. If your doing is contingent on the answer to your request, you didn’t really want Jesus, you just wanted a genie.

Set aside time to spend with God
Learn his voice
Understand God speaks in a variety of ways
Make your goal to experience relationship with God, not just hear from him.
Take a step when you believe God spoke to you
Be willing to do what he says

6 Ways to Learn How to Hear God

So now we are going to practice.

Using the Lord’s prayer as the model, here’s what we are going to do. We are going to practice hearing God’s voice.

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Take a moment and worship him for who he is, who he has been in your life.

Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Take a moment and embrace his will and plan for your life.

Give us this day our daily bread.
Acknowledge everything in your life comes from him.
Thank him for providing and ask him to continue

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Ask God to forgive you of your wrongs. List them out if you need to. He already knows what you did!
If there is anyone you haven’t forgiven, do it.
The quickest way to stop his voice is through willful disobedience.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Thank him for his power he gives to you to overcome sin
Ask him to deliver you from any current troubles

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Praise him and thank him for another moment

NOW ask him. Make your petition known.
Listen for twice as long as you talk.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?