Hearing and Acting by Faith
ICS Daily Devotions

Matthew 10:19 (NKJV) But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;

It takes faith to believe we have heard from the Holy Spirit and to speak it out.

We should cultivate a mind like Christ’s, recognising that hearing from God through our hearts is possible. Our soul must not be a hindrance to reasoning and rationalising it away. There will come a point when we recognise that we have heard from the Holy Spirit, because we have repeatedly yielded to His instructions regarding doing and saying what is right in our lives.

The key to the “hearing of faith” is yielding, and the key to understanding what we have heard and has been revealed is believing.

The spirit man (or the heart) can hear from the Spirit of God through the spiritual ear, not the physical ear. Hearing from the spiritual ear is a process of faith—it is the hearing of faith. The hearing of faith is necessary in all the operations of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to listen, then speak by faith what we have heard from God.

It would be helpful for us to identify areas in our lives where we have resisted the Holy Spirit’s leading in our hearts. We should work on those areas where our soul or mind has been hindering us from being led by the Spirit of God, and intentionally engage our spiritual ears to listen to what the Spirit of God says.

It is easier to hear from the Holy Spirit if we have established a relationship with Him. However, not all believers wish to hear from the Holy Spirit or maintain a close walk with God because they do not fully submit to the Lordship of Christ. Our conscience may become seared if we are not walking with God and practising the truth. Those who do not prioritise spending time in God’s presence have distanced themselves from Him, His values, and His principles. Therefore, if we cannot hear from God in our hearts, it may be a result of a broken relationship with Holy Spirit, because we have consistently failed to yield to the Holy Spirit when He spoke to us through our conscience, leading to a seared conscience, or because we have not been taught how to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

When we have a close relationship with Him, we will be joyful when we spend time in God’s presence and receive from Him. It is when you act in faith to speak out or act on what you have heard that you will know whether what you have heard is from the Holy Spirit. The voice of the Holy Spirit is more authoritative than your own voice. Once you speak out or act on it, it seals the conviction that what you heard is indeed the voice of the Holy Spirit. This will help us to improve in hearing the Holy Spirit’s voice and leading.

Sermon Series：The Norm in the New Era