Broken Chains;
I want to encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you each morning.
We are filled with the Holy Spirit once saved... I'm perplexed as to how He can "fill us" even more by His presence as if He gradually fills us?
Scripture also says we already HAVE all we need in Him. We are already filled by His Spirit if we're indeed born again.
(not to be nit picky -sorry)
To the OP, yes God does use that "still small voice", He spoke to me after I sought Him on a serious issue involving the impending dissolution of my marriage yrs. back.
I had to seek the Lord intently for weeks, and one morning while out watering the grass in the backyard, meditating on the Lord, He whispered just one word into my mind.
That word happened to be the direct issue that was harming my husband and what all our problems stemmed from.
It was God and I knew it. I ran to the fone to call my husband to tell him and that solved our problem!!
I'd like to offer this, the bible says
"the FERVENT prayers of a righteous man availeth much".
There are some KEYS to seeking God and having God respond to us -
First, we're to be in obedience to Him. Then, we need to be FERVENT in our prayer, and we're to Continue seeking.
The way we seek God today imo is pretty half-baked and too casual. As if you put a 10 minute prayer in & that's it - We don't truly know what it is to SEEK GOD in our fast paced and topical lifestyles anymore.
We also think that we can be living in willful sins & being involved in things we know displease Him, yet expect Him to work mightily thru us & turn us into "super Christian"... the Christians who are mighty in God's kingdom spend tons of time in meditation on His word, deep prayer, intent obedience to His commands and are serving Him.
THAT is what brings us power in the Christian life.
Today, we think just claiming His name makes it an obligation to God to start empowering us & moving us up & doing mighty things in us & thru us; but God only does what WE PUT INTO IT. Alot depends on how serious we are & what we'll DIE TO to serve Him.
We refuse to go to church, view Jesus as a casual buddy - remembering Him we need a blessing, shun giving any substantial $offerings$ to Him, live how we want to, say a few prayers here & there, don't bother reading our bibles, then ask "why isn't God answering me?" or "why does it seem like God is distant?"
I'm not saying this is YOU my friend, I'm just saying this generally to everyone about the subject of Hearing God & seeking God.
Most
powerful Christians I know are massively intent on their close relationship w/ the Lord and spend mega time in scripture, they're very firm on obeying God, they're very giving, they have a constant indepth prayer life & are serving Him in some sort of ministry or another - deeply committed & serious.
ONLY THEN did God open up to me and share a few visions (that I actually used at the time to help another Christian who was being set up by someone else) and a Word that saved my marriage.
But not before that. Those are my experiences personally and of those I do know that hear & see from God and are used MIGHTILY in the kingdom of God.
The comment on the 'mature sheep' post has some wisdom in it too imo. I tend to agree. At least if not mature, God seeks A HEART THAT IS AFTER HIM intently and fervently and He works MOST often with them.
As Jesus' parable taught, if you can be trusted with just the little things, God can give us more to be trusted with.
If we fail in the little things, how can He trust us with any more?
As God said, "
come near to me, and I will come near to you"
