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Joy
Dawson
Mrs. Joy Dawson is a woman of God with a world
vision who has taught on every continent.
Her teaching is marked with depth and
authority. It
is also very practical, coming from her knowledge of
the many facets of God’s character and an
understanding of the principles by which He operates.
Joy is frequently teamed with other
international Bible teachers in speaking at Spiritual
Leadership Conferences in many nations.
Joy Dawson is also author of several books.
Two that I’ve read are Intimate Friendship
with God Through Understanding the Fear of the Lord,
and Intercession, Thrilling and Fulfilling.
For many years, she taught on television and
radio. Joy is a member of Youth with a Mission, along with her husband and
two married children. They
live in Los Angeles.
This brochure has only a little bit of the
material which is in her tape set, Divine Guidance.
You
Must Qualify
My brochure titled, God wants to make your
life beautiful gives the first qualifications.
If you aren’t doing those, you shouldn’t be
trying to hear God’s voice at all. You will surely hear a demon who is pretending to be God.
I could tell you stories! So please get that
brochure and work on getting those qualities into your
life. And
realize this is going to take some time.
A person can’t change habits over-night.
These must become a way of life.
God doesn’t promise to talk to casual
inquirers, only diligent seekers.
The very first qualification is to make sure
you’re saved. Then
2, Prioritize your life. Your private times
with God in prayer and in His Word are most important.
3. Be a tither and a giver.
4. Hear and obey the Word of God.
The more you do that, the more you will know
God is working in your life.
And 5, Be patient.
Habits take time to grow. While you are waiting
to learn this, you can ask God to change your desires
to line up with His will.
Then give Him praise, and time to do it.
Three
voices
You need to realize that the thoughts in our
minds can come from three sources:
God, a demon, or ourselves. You must silence
the second and third before you should try to hear
from God. Joy tells about a situation where her
husband forgot to do this, and got some guidance that
was from a demon. So even great and powerful people
in the Kingdom of God can be tricked if they aren’t
very careful. In
order to silence the enemy, you say, “Satan and
demons, I silence you in the name of Jesus, for it is
written, ‘I have been given authority over all the
power of the enemy’” Luke 10:19 or some other
authority verse.
There are about ten in the Bible. Two more are
James 4:7 and I John 4:4.
Then in order to silence your own thoughts, you
have to say and mean it, “I (by an act of my
will) choose to be dead to all I think and all I want (human reasoning and human desire). If you have a
strong desire, you will surely get guidance in line
with that desire. (Ezek. 14:3-4) This is important! To
hear from God, you must become neutral about
it. Then
after you have said that sentence and meant it, you
praise God by faith that He has made it so.
If a thought comes to you from out of the blue,
always check it by doing these two steps.
You may think you don’t need to go through
all this to hear from God.
I could tell you horror stories of people who
thought they were hearing from God and got themselves
into a lot of trouble.
You should consider how weighty the decision is
that you need to make. The more weighty it is, the
more careful you need to be. There are times when you can follow the impression, and see
if it works.
Some Christians believe that God leads us
mainly by an inner pull or inclination. I’ve found
this to be true. However, there are some problems with
this. One
is that human desire or reasoning can be mistaken for
God’s leading. Just because you want something
doesn’t mean it’s God’s will.
Another is that sometimes you need words ~
clearer guidance.
In these cases, do the above steps. And an
added bonus is to have a partner who can also do this
and get confirmation for you.
With some decisions, the Holy Spirit may let
you know immediately what is right.
Then there are those where you should know
either from the Word or common sense what to do. But there are decisions you make all the time where there is
no right answer.
Either could be right.
In these cases, wait and inquire.
Other
Qualifications
God leads the humble or meek.
Pride
is something that God hates and it will prevent your
hearing His voice, and it makes it easy for a demon to
deceive you! When God reveals pride in you, confess!
God will sometimes withhold guidance to test
your humility. Will
you presume to know the answer, or will you be like
Jesus and follow the Father?
You must know the Word. Satan and his demons know the Word and are good at deception!
If something doesn’t line up with the Word or
God’s nature, reject it!
Ask simple questions that can be
answered yes or no. It’s not that God can’t handle difficult questions, but
this is so you can hear the answer clearly. The
problem is in the hearing!
Don’t dictate.
There are many ways God can speak to you.
Thoughts are only one of them. But leave the
method and the timing up to Him. Say, “Answer me in
Your timing and in Your way.”
A Yielded will is evidenced by obedience
to the Bible, to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
and to guidance already received. Disobedience to already known truth will hinder the receiving of
new truth. Why
would God give us new light when we haven’t started
walking in the light we have?
Be willing to wait, or
try again later after more prayer and praise.
Also, you may need to make sure you have no
un-confessed sin. A clean heart is an important
qualification. In
Luke 20:1-8 is a case where Jesus didn’t answer,
based on the condition of their hearts!
Have a thankful heart.
If you are worried or stressful most of the
time and then try to hear from God, it won’t work.
We enter into His presence with praise, Psa.
100:4.
On Joy’s tapes are difficulties that can make
it hard to be sure you are hearing from God. One is an
over-active mind. I found that if I got up in the
middle of the night, my mind was sleepy and I could
hear God! Joy says that the quieter your mind is, the easier it is for
you to hear from God.
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