I Don’t Hear God Whisper Often But When I Do…

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I know I don’t typically publish a post on Wednesdays but the Lord gave me a nudge that I just couldn’t ignore.

It all started Monday morning, as I sat down with my Bible and a cup of coffee for my time of prayer and study.

My first reading was Joshua 23, where Joshua begins his final words to the Children of Israel. I wrote verses 14 – 16 in my journal.

Deep in your hearts, you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! But as surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things He promised, He will also bring disaster on you if you disobey Him. He will completely destroy you from this good land He has given you. If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, His anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land He has given you.

Joshua 23:14–16

The next section in my reading plan took me to Psalm 64, where David prayed for God’s protection from His enemies.

And followed that with John 11, where Jesus raised Lazarus and the following verses grabbed my heart.

Then Jesus wept.

and

Jesus was still angry as He arrived at the tomb.

John 11:35 and 38a

And it hit me how very sad and angry the consequences of sin made Him. But just before He spoke the words…

“Lazarus, come out!”

John 11:43

He said…

Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”

John 11:40

And all of these words were working on my heart as I began to pray.

I wrote these words…

Father, thank you for keeping every promise. I know I can trust You completely because I know every promise is true.

As I read David’s words, I felt they could have been written by our nation’s leaders today. Please give those who lead our country hearts that are completely surrendered to You. Please protect them with the truth and defeat the lies.

Father, please forgive us. Please heal our nation. Transform us by the power of Your Spirit. It saddens me when I see evil being called good and good being labeled evil. We need Your truth. We need You.

And Father, please show Rev and me what we should do or say. Please guide the words I write. Send them where You want them to go and may every word be used for Your glory. Amen.

Immediately, I could hear God whisper … read Ezekiel 22. Now I don’t get lead to read Ezekiel outside of my regular reading schedule … so, I was more than a little curious. These are the words I read…

Now this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, are you ready to judge Jerusalem? Are you ready to judge this city of murderers? Publicly denounce her detestable sins, and give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: O city of murderers, doomed and damned—city of idols, filthy and foul— you are guilty because of the blood you have shed. You are defiled because of the idols you have made. Your day of destruction has come! You have reached the end of your years. I will make you an object of mockery throughout the world. ⁵O infamous city, filled with confusion, you will be mocked by people far and near.

Ezekiel 22:1–5

And…

Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: In the day of my indignation, you will be like a polluted land, a land without rain. Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.

“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. So now I will pour out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my anger. I will heap on their heads the full penalty for all their sins. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 22:23–31

And I’ll admit, I squirmed.

You see, I love writing positive encouragement. It’s really hard to write tough messages.

But I asked God, please show me what we should do or say … and I felt His reply was to share this message. You see we spend so much time shouting about what’s right and wrong. It seems like the dividing lines have been established and there are people on both sides of every issue who believe they are RIGHT!

But it really doesn’t matter what we think.

I work very hard to keep my political opinions to myself because what I think really doesn’t matter. If you ask me … I will send you to the Word of God and tell you to prayerfully read it.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

I believe His Word and…

His word still applies!

But before you go, you NEED TO KNOW THIS…

I don’t believe this word from Ezekiel is a gloom and doom message of hopelessness.

Because…

God is unchanging and He still has the power to tranform lives!

You and I don’t have to wring our hands, cry, “ain’t it awful,” and give up. If that were the case, I don’t believe God would have given me this word when I asked Him what Rev and I should do.

What should we do…

We should point people to the Word of God, we should pray like lives depend on it, and we should tell our stories of personal transformation … not with self-righteousness or religious superiority but with love and compassion! The same love and compassion God has so gracious shown us!

Friends, today is Ash Wednesday.

It is the first day of Lent, the time in the church year when we humbly come before God in repentance … reflecting on the transforming power of forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. The life-changing resurrection power given by God’s grace through His Spirit when we place our trust in Jesus.

Rather than giving up something for Lent this year, I am adding something…

I am committing to praying for God’s transforming power to work in hearts and minds over the next six weeks. I’m crying out for people to surrender their lives to Christ. I’m praying for a Pentecost revival in our nation. I’m praying for people will know and live by the only Truth that leads to freedom.

And I’d like to invite you to join me as I pray through the Mountain Moving Prayers that will Empower Your Faith series.

I am sharing a link to each day’s prayer on my Facebook Page. Just follow me there to get them in your FB feed.

You can also find them all here on the Mountain Moving Prayers Board on Pinterest.

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