Hearing From God - Jenn Johnson

well hearing from God this is a topic on my heart that I'm really passionate about I really feel like to to go to that next level to really be able to communicate his heart we have to know at first we have to hear at first and my journey was hearing God I started when I was about 10 years old and I was I was raised in church I grew up just loving Jesus and I got saved you know to age to age three and probably every year after that in in church any time anyone said you want to get saves I'm sure I probably raised my hand and and so I just love the Lord I always have and he's so beautiful and amazing and and I remember though my first encounter with with God I was about ten years old and I was outside playing basketball and you know shooting hoops and them I just was like God if you're real make that street light blink three times you know how we say funny things to God if you're real you know and as God is my witness that street light blinked three times and I remember just dropping the ball and running into house to my mom and I said mom I just told God if he's real this street like playing three times and it did and you know my mom's probably washing dishes or something and she's just like well yeah God is real so you know you serious my mom very nonchalantly very blunt you know and so my parents were just so beautiful you'll you'll probably hear from my mom and dad sometime during the week I like to broke them in my dad shared last year for worship you and oh gosh if you didn't see it go back and watch and cry because he's so beautiful he's around all the time so he works with the maintenance but beautiful he's just led me so beautifully of Jesus and taught me what a father is and looks like okay it's a good five minutes if I can get through it teaching it's not crying but and so I remember just that that time in my life around ten years old it marked me for something that there there's more to this thing there's more than what's in the book even you know and it's real and it's live and it's active this relationship with Jesus and so it just a hunger for that grew in me and when I was about 14 and 15 I went to this this camp where we started to learn to hear from God and and activated the prophetic in me really but when you boil the word prophetic down it means to encourage exhort to to bring life to something is really what the prophetic means so a lot of times when people are prophesying and it's negative I think they missed it and here's why because sometimes God will show you things that are negative not so you can declare it because our words are powerful but so you know how to pray so if you're feeling something even in a worship set if you're feeling you know some any kind of darkness of any kind you know you can just say it out I'm feeling this I see this and if it's negative but I suggest a better plan and the better plan is prophesy the opposite so if you're feeling fear in the room then you get on that microphone and you say I prophesy a spirit of faith and whatever that emotion that you're feeling in a negative prophesied the opposite so that's why even I early age you know I so many things just learning about hearing God's voice and the prophetic and and how it works so beautifully together because when you do boil down the prophetic it's just hearing him and doing and saying whatever it is that you feel like he's he's doing you're saying and so I just went on this journey with the Lord to whatever he told me to do I would do it without a thought process to the best of my ability and sometimes that was a little easier than others I was in my car when I was about 14 15 I was driving to work I worked at McDonald's yeah real glam I paid off my car work in there thanks make it easy and I did McDonald's the morning and round table at night but probably was not supposed to use name brands on film but listen it's in good context that's good but uh I I worked there and I was on my way to work this one morning about 1415 I think no prob I was I just got my permit so and I'm driving down the hill and I just really been praying more I want to hear your voice I want to hear your voice whatever you say whatever you do all right just i hunger for your voice I want to know you and and how many of you know the Bible and it really beautifully displays the God who was and the God who always will be and then but I think the greater invitation for us as a body of Christ is the Rhema word of God it's it's to know who he was to know who he'll be forever and to know what he's saying in the moment and when you come into a relationship with someone you become an acquaintance with him right and then after time progresses in your relationship you you come to a place where you call each other friend that that's my friend we're friends and but there is another level of friendship of intimacy in relationship that is available and that's really when you call someone your best friend my best friend who's the closest woman on the planet to my heart is Heather Armstrong who is peaches photographer in the school and even if you don't do photography just go encounter Heather so you can just have a taste of what ridiculous love and care are because she carries that so beautifully and we've been best friends for about five or six years and I just I adore adore this girl she's a strength she's a rock to me a mom of three kids ba ba ba different message I could preach on how much I love her so the next level of intimacy with the Lord is that next level of best friend now here's the difference when you aren't someone's acquaintance you know about them yeah so a lot of times people come in I'm gonna give you two parallel so here's a friend friendship parallel and here's our relationship with the Lord and I'm gonna show you how how that works together so a lot of times salvation is really that place that we come into where we become acquainted with something amen so that's we know all about we know what he's done for us and we really got a foundation of kind of who this is we call God and then as we pursue and and are connected more we come into a deeper friendship with the Lord that really is when you start to call that person friend and the Lord friend and you know not only their their ways but more of their hearts but their the next level that is available for all of us not only with people but with the Lord is that next level of intimacy which we call best friend and how many of you know if you have a best friend you probably at this moment right now have a general idea of what their emotion is their favorite color favorite ice cream what makes them happy what makes them sad you know the emotion of that person and that's the invitation for Isis is to know the God who was and to know everything about him and to move from that place into being a friend of God and to move from that place even further in our journey with the Lord to becoming intimate with the Lord where we know his heart we know what makes him sad we know what makes him happy and that invitation is just available to every person on the planet that is God's heart for you that you will be on this beautiful journey with him into his heart it's what you're created for it's why he created you so I'm back in this car and I'm driving to work to Mickey D's and I had just been in that pursuit where I had known God in my childhood and and I had come to know him even more as a friend but I was really just craving that intimate relationship with the Lord even deeper than I had known before and thought just bring got just you know what he's saying like how can I just how can I touch your heart today what's on your heart and and how can I hear you and and I I remember just as I drove to work this little piece of paper garbage was on the side of the road as I drove to work and something caught my heart and if you ever just felt like you're supposed to do something but you just had no idea why and it was kind of stupid and I'm like okay this little piece of garbage on the side of the road alright I feel like I'm supposed to pick that up and go throw it in the garbage at my work and I was like well that's ridiculous so I drove right past the garbage dump down the hill got to the bottom hill and I went I know this is you it's dumb doesn't make any sense to me probably no one's gonna get saved or be touched so what in the world and then I'm going I like to rationalize things you know I mean it has to make sense to me a lot and gods like fat chance I mean okay maybe I'm gonna pick up that garbage and somebody said to the Lord that I'm gonna come to know you if someone just picks up that garbage and okay maybe maybe that's it you know trying to rationalize it God's like oh dear doll just obey please I drove back up the hill got the garbage put in my car and I drove down the car down the hill and got to work through the piece of paper in the garbage and angels came out of the carpet no I wish nothing absolutely nothing to my knowledge I think this side of heaven when we obey without having any idea or seeing the fruit we'll see a connection I think I was talking to GP the other day and one of our staff it is so beautiful and hilarious who makes me laugh and he was talking about how he had prayed for another person on our team this last week for a breakthrough in their life I didn't talk to the person about it and wasn't a an issue of their heart that was kind of a big deal more of a private issue to the person's heart and he prayed for him about this issue and the person without knowing that he prayed for him had this major breakthrough so I had talked to JP and I talked to the person and JP didn't know that yet and his dad was like oh my gosh just pray for him so I think there is a board in heaven and I think one day when we get there he's gonna show us when you did this when you obeyed me you had no idea what the fruit of it was gonna come and he didn't see it this caused this to cause this to cause this to cause this so we are called to hear him and it doesn't have to make sense you don't have to see the outcome all you've got to do is obey and a lot of times we're looking for the A to Z process of okay Lord even their lives their lives like okay Claude here's my a and here's my say this is my dreams so I'm on a and how do I get to see in other words like go to be like none o Lord okay so let's dress Kim uh how do I get to see and God say B but he's not very fun right B sometimes God will only show you your next step not all 27 of them and all you've got to do is go to be jump from A to B what does he ask of you what is set before you from me it was years of my life years not just five you we look at these epic pillars in the Bible and their seasons for 40 years and wherever you're crying because our seasons two years and gods like really for real what's your a where are you at right now what's your be do be don't wait for Z don't wait for everything to spelled out where are you supposed to be right now where he's busy serving what are you supposed to be doing he's got a perfect plan for you you don't have to try to make it happen be faithful where you're planted do what's in front of you build what's in front of you and he will sort it all out and when it's time to jump to see he's gonna open up see for you and so I mean I you know I throw this piece of paper away in the garbage at my work and seemingly nothing happened and maybe one day in heaven all I'll see fruit of that but the Lord took me on a journey to do one thing with me and that one thing was to break my will break my having to understand everything break my mind if you will so that I wouldn't have a thought process from when he said to do something and I obeyed and if you can train your life to hear the Lord in the little things in your life when it comes to a moment when when he puts you on like a glove in the ministry setting or in any setting that you don't have a thought between what he's saying to do and you doing it and I I continue this journey with the Lord through my high school years just everyday I just I used to wake up and I in the morning I would just be so hungry to hear him and sometimes you feel like you can and sometimes you're like is this just me like just my idea you know and and so I it's it's fun that when you when you dedicate your mind for the Lord and you ask him for his thoughts that my heartbeat your heart and your thoughts my thoughts Lord it's just fun to watch what you think about in that moment I've ever been in worship and all of a sudden things come to your mind get a pen and paper and write those things down because a lot of times when we're in the presence he likes to sort things out so beautifully and talk to our heart about different things that he wants in that moment a lot of times are like this when I wasn't were sure I was trying to like so focus you know focus so hard you know Jesus I just all these things would just stop bothering me and the Lord one day one day went that's me you may want to get a pen and I went oh I thought we were okay we're doing this now all right he's gonna speak to you about things especially when you're in worship because you're just in that place where you're open and you're clear so watch what he speaks to you so and I you know through my high school years I just was like Jesus I I want to hear you and I I used to take um I used to take the what do you call the verse that where you put on the salvation the helmet of salvation what's that verse Ephesians yeah and you know the shoes the whole deal I used to get dressed in the morning in the spirit dumbest thing ever I thought I was like this is so dumb but for a season I felt the Lord told me every day wake up and put on the full armor of God say it over yourself shield the whole deal so get up I'd walk I like to walk I'd get up and go for a walk and I would just start to read through that verse and just put on all those things that he called me to do why I mean it's always a good idea but in that season of my life it just it impacted me so it was wild and um it's one morning I I hate running I love to walk but running if you're a runner god bless you but I do not like to run I love to walk you can talk when you walk you can think running not so much so this one morning I had a running shoes because I like to walk and um I uh I was in my bed early in the morning probably 5 or 6 in the mornings late to get up early to go to work and and I felt the Lord told me put your running shoes on and go running two miles and I was like that's funny I don't run and there he was again knock-knock put your running shoes on go running for two miles oh Jesus come on put my running shoes on walked out there and I'd love to say that I ran two miles but I walked Aphex I was like you know walking is better so less jarring way better so I'm I ran kind of walked at two miles and got back and was like all right check we did it that was fun not next morning woke up about the exact same time knock knock but your running shoes on go running two miles oh come on Jesus put my running shoes on ran two miles every morning for nine months to the date rains leaders know you can ask my momma my mom was like babe it's raining I'm like listen talk to Jesus okay you know eventually it even got easier for me it wasn't dying out of breath and I could do it pretty effortlessly but I still was not a fan I don't think I didn't ask him every morning because I did I was like we do we going okay nine months I'm leaning down I could be in that moment if I close my eyes I can be in the moment at my old house and I was leaning down at tie my shoes that day the Lord spoke to me almost audibly and he said you don't have to go today thank you for obeying me and I took those shoes off and I have not been running since probably so let them you give me a six mile walk baby I'll walk I'll walk so Kingdom Come but running you get sweaty it's gross I get sweaty enough and worship so but the Lord has brought me through this process of varying things that he'd asked me to do and when I was about probably in the next couple years and in that same cease when I was in high school I was in my little church there's only a couple hundred people the church that I grew up in and and I was in worship I was back in them one of the seats you know just in the middle of worship and as I was worshiping like I was talking before when some something pops up on your screen I call your your mind your screen a lot you know when something just pops up in your thoughts and you're like I wasn't thinking about that I also say this just in and I saw this kind of like a movie clip in my mind's eye and it was of this couple who was sitting in a couple rows behind me family friends just another mom and dad to me my dad's best friend actually and while we're in worship I just saw my mind's eye this weird picture which I was like man that must be pizza or something because I saw myself in the little church kitchen I saw myself get a little bowl of water fill it with water and the I had I saw myself standing Vic couple in front of me and I put my hands in the water and I splash them in the face and I was like okay that's weird but I could feel him I could feel Jesus I could feel that it was him and I was like well at least I know I'm least if you know it's totally crazy they're offended I could be like sorry just practicing so at least Jesus set me up well and I took him after in an offering time eyes like you guys I said I know this is crazy I'm really trying to practice hearing God's voice and can I just talk to the kitchen for a minute and I took him the kitchen I said I'm just gonna do what I saw and they were really beautiful and really into hearing God's voice in practicing and thankfully and I stood him in front of me I said I'm just gonna do what I saw in worship and you know we'll sort it out later and so they stood him in front of me I went to got the little corel white bowl that I'd seen him a vision filled with water I stuck my hands in it and I splashed him in the face and as the water came off my fingers a prophetic word for them came out of me as if it were all in one fluid motion and I said the Lord wants you to stop bickering and he's seen in your house that it's happening and it's attack of the enemy it's not you - you haven't been able to even stand each other and there's something coming against you that is this conflict and it's not the Lord in the Lord when she did note it be aware of it and it needs to stop now and I was like that was weird but before any time to say anything they're huddled together sobbing holding each other just crying their eyes out hugging didn't want to interrupt so I just chilled now when they could compose themselves they they just shook their head and they said we come home there's nothing we can put our finger on to why we're mad but that's exactly what has been happening and when you spoke that words that an accusation broke over us and you know they're they're just a mess and I was stoked that it wasn't weird so that was awesome but you know the Lord just the next level if you're obedient you faithful so what it gives you he gives you more it's amazing and that revelation you get to build on to the next thing that it gives you it's so fun it's amazing and so it just really took me on this journey that every time you'd show me a new part of how fun and beautiful it is to follow his voice it was just this anticipation for what do we do next Jesus what are we doing today I wake up I still do you know what are we doing today Lord what's on your heart today what do you have for me we call it at the church and they take teams out on the streets and they call it treasure hunting and they ask you to get a name of someone or a picture of someone and and they go out in the street and they look for those people the treasures that God has on on his heart my my daughter is uh I have two girls ones eleven and one is eight and they go to the Christian school here at Bethel which is incredible they're teaching them the same signs and wonders that the big kids are the big people big church and so for Mother's Day they bring the kids moms into the classroom setting and for your Mother's Day present the whole class prays and prophesize over you write whatever my cuz it's my life I love my life so I it's few years back now and Brian and I travel you know once a month once every other month we don't travel too much family and home church are a big priority obviously we're called to travel so it's a great honor and privilege to get to travel but it's not what I live for I love to go out and share but I I love home I love people I love team I love family love friends and that has been spread around the world and I do now get to call a bunch of people around the world my friends and that's an amazing honor but I live and breathe for community and people and so at the time we had finished a conference and we were heading out to travel the next day and schedule conflict usually don't ever or rarely do things back-to-back but sometimes things get layered upon each other and we just do what we can and so I was just brokenhearted I don't like to leave my kids I I know it's what I'm called to do but I was just so sad can I get a name and mom's well I've talked to a few moms that are like I miss my babies and so I get it and I was I go in there rock in and I sit in you know the little chairs and they all gather around me and 3rd grade class 3rd graders they're like 7 and 8 years old you know maybe some 9 year olds but mainly 7 8 and I sit in there and I don't tell him anything what I'm going through my heart and I'm expecting a cute word from a kid you know you're nice I like your outfit you sing pretty you know something something cute you know o ye of little faith and I rocket I'm just sitting there and they just start prophesy never me just what the Lord is saying what you know who he was to me and and I'm a mess already and then this one little guy puts his hand on and he gets his face goes and I like to open my eyes because it's real fun and so I'm stoked to hear whatever is this guy's gonna say you know and he goes the Lord wants you to know that you're doing a great job and he goes and you're like a honeybee you have to go pollinate or this world won't be beautiful ugly cry sobbing and then they're just popping in and you pollinate with the love of God and the joy I don't even know what the heck they said after that I was like snot tears ugly cry third graders third graders hearing him just press on in what he's saying Jesus going for it in a safe environment in a safe place when you practice something it's very smart to have a safety net tightrope walking anything crazy it's really good to have a safety net safety net in our world in this is leadership have leadership in your life if you're a pioneer and this find somebody to walk it out with you and so that you're in relationship and that you're covering each other's people who fly solo don't fly very long and it's such a sneaky thing that the enemy tries to do to alienate us so that we get so low and die if he can get you and he will try his best to alienate you from community he will try the enemy his best to alienate you from the people you need them most with a fence I have watched a fence and bitterness the enemy plants seeds planted not just something that even had naturally happened I've watched the enemy plant seeds in people's heart with dissension that grew and separated them and anymore if only they had been able to walk this road together they would have blown it up but because I've been able to separate them it's never gonna happen so watch we ask the Lord Lord where have these seeds and relationships of mind been planted and uproot those things with the Lord so that you can really walk this thing called leadership and this thing called ministry out well with people who are going to be iron sharpens iron to you relationship is so important you know I love this story banning Leapster he was the head of Jesus culture he has this really beautiful story about him and CJ we're having his wife for having this hard time figuring out what to do in the season years ago and just a bunch of different things they're hard and they they couldn't come to a conclusion where they felt they you know we're both here in the Lord and that's a big decision to make and you want to make sure you're hearing the same thing your spouse is hearing when it comes to large things especially and they just put it in their heart they were like you know what let's just go talk to pastor bill our pastor let's go talk to him and so they I came into Bill's office and they sat down and and they hadn't even started talking to Bill about the concerns of their heart but just coming in and making that commitment to reach out for a relationship to get wisdom instantly they knew what they were to do and they're on the same page and the Lord spoke banning very clearly and just said see when you reach out for community sometimes I won't tell you everything I've put people in your life so that you have to find me in people are you having a hard time hearing right now something in your life go find someone who's a strength to you and run it by him what do you feel what do you see God hides who he is in people and he puts you on a treasure hunt can you hear him yourself on everything I don't think so I think God hides his voice and he hides certain things in people so that we need people God's the way God set up the planet God could we could have just been it got gonna set this thing up anytime so that we could just us in him but he didn't he put us together because we need each other and divine relationship is so important to him so when you hear I'm on this journey that you're on I just I want to just send you and Commission you into hearing the voice of God into starting that journey if you've never sought before start that journey to ask him to find him and he is going to speak to you you are gonna find him you are gonna hear him and it is sure fun to practice amen all right put your hands up my preview will land this session Laura thank you for these people thank you for what you're doing in their heart would you say yes ma'am and God I pray for a clarity of your voice for each and every one of us God we hear you clear we'd see you clearer we know you and we'd follow you that you'd give us courage God to hear your voice and run to jump after you without any hesitation in our heart God we love you we submit our lives to you and we're just so thankful for you in your presence everybody said amen [Applause]

Channel: Simone Bernadette Juan

Views: 71,437

Rating: 4.7982779 out of 5

Keywords: Bethel Music, Jenn Johnson, Hearing GOD, WorshipU, Worship, Praise, Bethel, Sermon, Holy Spirit, Brian Johnson, Bill Johnson, Voice of GOD

Id: 82lVEUWrvFE

Length: 29min 14sec (1754 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 14 2019