Week 2: Using the Five Filter Questions to hear God's voice

Last Saturday night before I went to sleep, I told God that I was dreading Sunday because I  felt like I was going to be disappointed.  I told him I was afraid I had made this entire "June 30 Spiritual renewal/restoration" up.   

When I woke up the next morning to do my Bible Study and the chapter was about hearing God's voice, I knew God was speaking right then and there.  By the time I finished the chapter I had my answer

I did not make this up.

The Five Filter Questions have been especially useful, because in the past I've been guilty of blazing full steam ahead with my own will and then attempting to spiritualize it and put some God in it.

The scripture from 1 Peter 1:13-16 really convicted me on this point

So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. ¹⁴ So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. ¹⁵ But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. ¹⁶ For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”^[c]

So think clearly and exercise self-control

Much of the time I don't think clearly.  I think with my emotions and imagination and let both get the best of me.  I jump to conclusions, (positive or negative) get frustrated,and discouraged  when things don't turn out the way I think they should.  I could have spared myself the frustration and discouragement if I had just shut up and wait to see what was going to happen.

That, my friends would be exercising self-control.

Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires

This is the root cause of my problems.  My prayers, my motives, and my thoughts are to only satisfy my own desires and then I get frustrated when God has other ideas.  I mean God is going to ruin these great ideas I had for my life.  Riiiiight.

The answer is right in this scripture:  So you MUST live as God's obedient children.  I must obey God when he says to do something...even if I'm not sure how this will affect me...ESPECIALLY when I'm not sure how it will affect me.  If I believe his word, then I know that it will work together for good because I have been called to his purpose.

So now you must be Holy in EVERYTHING you do

  In the past I have been guilty of attempting to spiritualize my own lusts and desires, then I would be discouraged and angry when things would blow up in my face.

In this Bible Study I realize HOLINESS is the standard when I sense God asking me to do something.

If it contradicts the standard of Holiness, then God didn't say it.  It was from my own wants and desires.

The Five Filter Questions: Life Application

A few months ago God laid something on my heart.  I was sincerely moved to do it and while I had done something like this before, this time was different. That time it wasn't from God at all.   It was about my own desires.  

This time was different and I was moved to do it because of sincerity and concern, not because I wanted something out of it.  

NOTE: This was all about three weeks before the spiritual shift occurred.

To be honest with you, I truly believe God asked me to do this but because I have been on my own agenda for so long I still worry that I did this on my own volition.  Using the Five Filter Questions helped me to confirm that this was from God.

Does what I'm hearing line up with scripture?

God will not ask me to do something that goes against his Word.  What God asked me to do was lined up with the scriptures.  

When I did this before on my own volition, I was already deciding the stuff I would be willing to compromise to see this through.  I was already ready to overlook certain things I knew would be wrong, but my desires were stronger than my conviction.

Is it Consistent with God's character?

In this case, this was consistent with God's character.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It wasn't about lust, greed, pride, and so forth like it had been in the past

Is what I'm hearing being confirmed through other messages?

When I became spiritually restored, the messages all were in line with what God was revealing to me in my own spiritual shift and what I had been praying for.  Before I put a lot of value into worldly success , superficiality, and I was easily distracted..  In this time, God was saying

"If you really want all that I have called you to, then you need to begin to seek the kingdom first.  You must seek me with all of your heart.  No more of this hot and cold stuff."  (This was confirmed through our Bible Study as well)  

The sermons at church were all about allowing God to take us over and making our purpose in life to pursue the things of God.  Our pastor was teaching that if we wanted to be functioning at the level in which we were called, we needed to step it up.  We also needed to stop allowing fear to rule us by worrying about what will happen, what we'll have to give up, and what people will say.

I was on the edge of my seat!  I asked "Why is he preaching my prayer journal?" 

Is it beyond me?

This is the toughest question one for me.  I like to know what's going to happen and I also like things to make sense.  What God asked me to do made no sense to me, I also began to come up with reasons why it wasn't a good idea, and I also began to wonder if I would get something out of it.

Several things wrong with this picture 

•  It wasn't supposed to be about me in the first place.  
• God asked me to do it.  He didn't tell me to figure out why I was supposed to do it
• Love isn't about figuring out how everything will benefit you

I truly believe if something is from God, it will fail unless God is in it.  So if it is beyond me, then most likely God put it there to rely on Him.

In this situation, it was beyond me and I couldn't do anything about it but God was faithful.  I did see him begin to work and I was excited.

In the future, instead of getting frustrated when I can't control everything and it's beyond me it is my prayer that I stop intellectualizing and rationalizing, and let God WORK.

Would it please God?

As I keep pointing out, in the past when I attempted this, my wheels were already turning about which sins I would be willing to commit in order to get what I  wanted.  This case was different because it was the total opposite.  

In this case the endgame wasn't about the temporal or the physical, but about that which reaches into eternity and has eternal significance to the glory of God.

My ultimate goal should be to please God and live for the praise of his glory.

The fruits of Saying Yes

I do not know what will happen and I'm done trying to figure it out.  When God asked me to perform that task, I was leery because I didn't want to go astray again. 

I'm pleased to report that the total opposite has happened.  Because of my obedience in that task I am experiencing "spiritual restoration and revival".   The outcome may not necessarily be what I thought would happen, but if nothing else happens that was enough.