Living the Reclaimed Life

Is That You, God? How Does God Speak? ~ Norma Donovan Ep. 93

February 13, 2023 Season 2 Episode 93
Living the Reclaimed Life
Is That You, God? How Does God Speak? ~ Norma Donovan Ep. 93
Show Notes Transcript

How does God speak to us?  What prevents us from hearing God's voice?  In today's episode, Norma Donovan of Restoring Hearts ministry will give you 8 ways that  God speaks today in your everyday life, including inspiring stories of what can happen when we are attuned to hear His voice.

This month, in Feb. 2023 we are giving away 2 free copies of Norma's book, "Restoring Your Heart to Deepen Intimacy."

 Follow us on IG or FB at Reclaimed Story. Comment on one of our posts this month and share a story of a time when you heard from God; let's encourage each other as we engage in the adventure of hearing God's voice. Every comment is 1 entry!


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Transcripts are auto-generated. 

[00:00:00] Denisha: How does God speak to us and what are the obstacles, the things that prevent us from hearing his voice? In today's episode, Norma Donovan of Restoring Hearts Ministry will give you eight ways that God speaks in our everyday lives, including inspiring stories of what can happen when we are attuned to hear his voice.

[00:00:23] Denisha: And this month, in February 23, we are giving away two. Free copies of Norma's book, restoring Your Heart to Deepen Intimacy. Simply follow us on Instagram or Facebook at Reclaimed Story. You will see Ways to Win Norma's book. And today I can hardly wait for you to hear this episode with Norma Donovan.

[00:00:48] Denisha: Let's learn how God speaks today. Welcome to Living the Reclaimed Life podcast. I'm Danisha. We're glad you. For conversations that revive hope, inspire [00:01:00] healing, and encourage you to live a vibrant life with Christ. So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest. If you guys dialed in last week to hear the podcast.

[00:01:12] Denisha: Oh, what a Jim. Uh, this interview with Norma Donovan was just amazing. She talked about why she's so passionate about hearing the voice of God, what the process looked like for her to learn to hear God's voice. and why God speaks to us, and it was such a powerful episode. If you missed it, jump back to last week and be sure to pick up that one, because today, Norma, we are gonna build upon last week, and so I am so excited if you, this is a first time you've heard Norma.

[00:01:45] Denisha: She is an author, a speaker, and the founder of Restoring Hearts Ministry with a Master's degree in Counseling. You will hear even her words that her passions include mentoring women, being intimate with God and seeing others' hearts [00:02:00] restored. Norman and her husband live in Kansas and have two grown children, and Norma has a book on Amazon called Restoring Your Heart to Deepen Intimacy, and it is a fantastic book.

[00:02:13] Denisha: So much so that we want to get it into your hands this month. Be sure to follow us on social or subscribe@reclaimstory.com and we'll send you the. And post the ways of how you can win one of Norma's books this month. So Norma, we are gonna get the message out that God has put on your heart, and I'm so excited to have you back to the podcast today.

[00:02:36] Norma: Oh, thank you for doing that. And thank you for having me back. I love talking on this subject. 

[00:02:42] Denisha: Oh, I love hearing you talk on this . So yeah, last week we covered kind of, you know, why are you so passionate and what does that process look like? And so today let's talk about the how. Okay, so how does God speak to us?[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] Denisha: What are some of the different ways or means that God uses to communicate to us? 

[00:03:06] Norma: Well, the first way, and I think this way, he uses it the most in my life. It's the god's still small voice. You know, I don't hear God's audible voice with my ears. It's within my spirit. So it's his spirit, the Holy Spirit talking to my inner spirit within me.

[00:03:26] Norma: So it's an inner voice. And like we talked about last week, it's been a process to recognize what God's voice sounds like. And we will discuss this even in a later, I think, next week's podcast, but in the story of when the Lord appeared to Elijah in one Kings 19 verses 11. Through 13, the Lord said this, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord.

[00:03:54] Norma: For the Lord is about to pass by then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains [00:04:00] apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake. After the earthquake came up fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came, a gentle whisper.

[00:04:15] Norma: When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Last week, we talked about how God doesn't shout, but he whispers to us, and he does that because he wants us to draw close to him. A closer relationship with him is what God desires, so that's one. Is through a still small voice.

[00:04:40] Norma: Another way we hear him is through dreams. Joel 2 28 says that I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. I have a, a young friend, Danisha, who is. . God constantly speaks to [00:05:00] her through dreams and she journals them and she gets prophetic insight and direction from them.

[00:05:07] Norma: I personally don't dream that often, but the ones that I think are more of a spiritual nature, if I may describe it like that, those are ones that I remember. , they stay with me throughout the day. The memory of it might keep returning to my thoughts and it may contain much detail. And again, you know, if you have a dream, ask the Lord.

[00:05:32] Norma: What does it mean? What does it you're trying to say to me? Another way we hear God speak is through visions, and so dreams happen when we're sleeping, but visions happen while we're awake and it's like we're seeing a video or a movie right in front of us. Again, I haven't had too many of those, but a little over a year prior to our move to Wichita, I happened to be in Wichita.

[00:05:59] Norma: With [00:06:00] two of my Omaha friends and we were connecting with the other part of the Fab four. That's what we would call ourselves. I love it. Yeah. And we were at a Beth Moore conference and it was during worship and my eyes were open, and what I saw was like a movie of Jesus and I were in the shallow end of a pool and he turned and grabbed my hand and started walking towards the deep.

[00:06:29] Norma: And this was a year and a half before we moved to Wichita. So Wichita wasn't even on my radar screen. And you know, I've asked him what does it mean? And I think one of the interpretations is just that because we were in Wichita at the time of the vision, he was going to take me deeper in him while we lived in Wichita.

[00:06:51] Norma: And he has done that impressions. is another way that God speaks to us, and these to me are gut level feelings, [00:07:00] what I would call an inner knowing. It's like I know I'm supposed to do something or a certain direction God wants me to take, and I have no doubts. I might not have reasons behind it. I just have.

[00:07:13] Norma: and inner knowing. It's just something that he's solidified in 

[00:07:17] Denisha: me. It may make most sense to your natural mind at all, right? ? Yes, 

[00:07:22] Norma: exactly. . Another one is word pictures. , and so this is when I see a picture in my mind's eye. If you get a word picture, I wanna encourage people to ask the Lord, what does it mean?

[00:07:37] Norma: I typically like to take time and listen to the Lord for a word from him, from his heart to share with my friends in their birthday cards. . And I remember one time I was praying for a young woman that I was mentoring for her birthday card and you know, sitting still not getting a thing, did this several times.

[00:07:59] Norma: And then, [00:08:00] you know, days later, I was stopped at a red light and I saw a strand of pearls in front of me. You know, I mean, in my picture, in my thoughts. And ask the Lord, you. What do you mean by this? I'd be glad, you know, to write that in her birthday card, but he was just showing me an encouragement how to encourage her through pearls are, you know, made something beautiful, is made through hard times through irritations in an oyster shell.

[00:08:30] Norma: So again, word pictures give you some direction to know whether it's for you personally or a word you're giving to someone. Another way he speaks is he highlights scripture. He may give me a part of a verse in my thoughts, okay? In my mind. Or he might give me a scripture reference that he wants me to pray into for someone else or for a particular situation.

[00:08:57] Norma: So he makes the verse stand [00:09:00] out to me some way, and then I hear a. He uses this one a lot. Again, I've never heard God speak to me audibly, although I know others have, but sometimes. Said things so emphatically or emphasized that it almost sounds like it's audible. It's so loud in my spirit, if I may say it that way.

[00:09:25] Norma: One time was in the year 2000, I talk about how I'm just minding my own business, you know, doing my quiet timer, whatever, and the Holy Spirit interrupts with a word. And he said to me, mentor the. And you know, we've talked about how one word changes everything. That one word changed everything. I was dabbling in writing, but hadn't published anything.

[00:09:51] Norma: I wasn't doing any speaking at the time. So it's like, well, how in the world do you mentor the masses? You know, you can't do that one-on-one, you know, as far [00:10:00] as masses. But that was a word that sent my life on a trajectory. It was like, this is your destiny. Is to mentor the masses. Another time I remember I got off the couch and walked around the credenza and I heard him declare you were created for greatness.

[00:10:21] Norma: With my struggle with shame and feeling unworthy, that was a word that was going to change everything in my life. Let me just interject here, Dan. When God gives someone a word, let's say, I remember one time I was in a prophetic meeting and this guy from Bethel Church was giving all these prophetic words, and there were a couple of them that he gave, not to me, but to someone else.

[00:10:51] Norma: And with the words in particular, I thought they resonated within my heart. And so if there's a word that God has given [00:11:00] me that's resonating in your. I want the listeners to grab a hold of it. Amen. It's for them as well. Yes. Piggyback off of it or draft off of my word that he gave to me. Because if you hear like a yes in your heart, grab a hold of that.

[00:11:19] Norma: It's for you as well. . Amen. 

[00:11:21] Denisha: You know, I remember I was at just a church service one evening, and this young man, I'll bet he was probably 19 years old. He got up and I, he said, I have a word for someone in here. And the pastor had just said, Norma, what You had, what you just said. He said, if a word is given tonight, and it's not given specifically to you, and this may be new to some of our listeners, but yes, some churches have these evenings of the prophetic of listening to God's voice and sharing those thoughts with other people and with even sometimes specific people and specific words for their life right now.

[00:11:58] Denisha: And I remember the pastor said, [00:12:00] if somebody gives a word tonight that resonates with you, just like you just said, he said, . And I remember I was thinking in that moment and I thought, but it's not my word. You have to call on me out of this crowd of hundreds of people and give it to me. For me to know it's mine.

[00:12:15] Denisha: Like that would be crazy to do that. And I thought that, so I just wanna say if any of our listeners are going, but how could I take. You know, greatness or you know something that's Norma's word. Well, let me tell you what happened next. So the next thing I knew, I got this word in my spirit. And Norma, you and I have a lot in common with this call to more, but this feeling of I'm not qualified or this is wrestling.

[00:12:41] Denisha: I sense it in your stories as well. I hear it and I remember I heard the word bold. In my spirit and I thought, well, I always wanna be bolder, but I don't know. You know, I don't know if I can be. And the next thing I knew, this 19 year old young man got up and he pointed at another woman in the audience and said, I [00:13:00] have a word for you.

[00:13:01] Denisha: And he said, it's boldness. , the Lord is calling you to boldness. And I thought, I just heard that word in my heart and then I thought, okay, now I can't argue with what the pastor said. . Like if it's a word for someone else, grab it. And it was almost like the Lord was showing me. I know you just think you can't take this word that was somebody else's and own it and anchor it in your life.

[00:13:23] Denisha: But watch what I'm gonna do. And it was just such a cool moment. And I thought after that, if it's a word that resonates with my heart that yes in my spirit, like you just described, I'm gonna take it now. So , yes, I wrestled with that and I thought, oh, is that really true? Cuz you hear these amazing words.

[00:13:39] Denisha: You know, you're called to the nations, you hear these crazy words, but there are times that your heart says that's for you. 

[00:13:47] Norma: Yes. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. If there's a yes, yes, grab it. It's not being greedy. Yes. I want everything God wants to give me. . And if that means [00:14:00] when someone else receives a specific word in a congregation or a conference or whatever, but it resonates with me, then by golly I want to grab a hold of it.

[00:14:10] Norma: Because you know, the more we are who God's created us to be, the more glory he will receive. And so, yeah, go after it. I'm glad you had that experience. I love that you mention. So, okay, so I've heard phrases, and again, we've talked about, I think last time taking shorthand from a boss. You know, he'll gimme those phrases which turn into sentences and into paragraphs, and I'll just keep.

[00:14:39] Norma: writing down what I hear him say. And so that's another way he speaks to us by taking shorthand. And then lastly, for me, I see what I call a ticker tape going across my mind. It's like my mind's eye. I just keep seeing the same phrase. over and over and over again. [00:15:00] Danisha. Which of these ways have you experienced hearing God's voice?

[00:15:04] Norma: Are there any examples you'd like to share from your life you just did with the boldness? You 

[00:15:09] Denisha: know? Oh boy. Yeah. That one was, that was a good, that was just such a moment. I remember, and this is gonna sound a little bit odd, this was not something that God began birthing in me over time. And I remember I saw very clear the word freedom.

[00:15:26] Denisha: one day, and I saw a picture of rocks underneath that word, freedom and a little narrow path of water between the rocks. But the rocks were very, um, I guess this would be maybe a vision or a word, picture perhaps. Um, the rocks were very bumpy and there were very sharp edges, and there was a little narrow pathway of water, and there was the word freedom written in the water.

[00:15:49] Denisha: This picture popped in my head and Norma, it was so fast that honestly, I could have missed. Yes. And I remember I was walking in the mall one day and [00:16:00] I walked past this young woman and she was very energetic trying to sell nail files, . And so I walked by her and she grabbed my hand. She was an aggressive, you know, a worker in the middle of the mall and those kiosks, yes.

[00:16:15] Denisha: That's where I started my jewelry career. And so I had a heart for her. You know, she was aggressive. She grabbed my hand as I walked by, no eye contact, anything, and pulled me over. And she was very, very bubbly. And she grabbed my hand and said, I'm gonna make your nails look so beautiful. You're gonna scream in the middle of the mall.

[00:16:35] Denisha: Oh. . And I said, okay. And I thought, I've worked at a kiosk. I know it can be lonely as people just walk by, you trying not to make eye contact. And so I thought, okay, all right, you can file my nails, whatever. So she's doing that and as she was, I saw that picture in my head again. Hmm. , and I knew at that moment that that was for her.

[00:16:55] Denisha: And so she'd filed my nails and she took me over to the counter and I [00:17:00]didn't know what to say. I had this picture, I'm like, do I draw it? What do I do with this? And I asked her, I said, I share something with you. Do you promise not to scream in the middle of the mall?

[00:17:14] Denisha: So she laughed and she was just so bubbly and vivacious and you know, I mean, she grabbed my hand of a stranger walking by and she said, okay, I promise. And I said, all right. I said, I wonder if you're at a point in your life right now where things are very rocky. Where maybe you feel like you're, you're being pinched and kind of pulled in and you're getting scratched and scraped, and you're looking for something to nourish you, for something to fill you, and you're looking for freedom.

[00:17:43] Denisha: And she immediately began to burst into tears. And what she shared with me that day was that that morning she had left a message on some counselors and she went from that bubbly, vivacious young girl, young woman, [00:18:00] into just sobbing on me. And she said that that morning she left a message at a counselor because of the fact that she was suicidal, she was beginning to make plans to her.

[00:18:11] Denisha: Hmm. And. When she told me this, I start crying. She starts crying, and she was from Israel. She was Jewish and her whole family, she'd come over here to get an education and she was very, very lonely. And the loneliness had led to depression. And then thoughts of ending her life. And so as she shared this with me, I said, wow.

[00:18:32] Denisha: I said, so you're Jewish? And she said, yes, I am. And I said, well, I'm a Christian. And she said, oh, okay. She says, we kinda believe the same things. And I said, you know, yeah. And so, and as we're talking, I said, you know, I said, as a Christian, I believe that the greatest counselor, the greatest comforter is the Holy Spirit.

[00:18:50] Denisha: And I said, here's a weird story. But this morning as I was getting ready, , this is the picture I saw and I sketched it out now on paper and I said, and when you had my [00:19:00] hand, I said, I really felt him say this is for you. And she was just crying and she allowed me to pray with her. And it was just such a beautiful moment, and it was just a quick flash, Norma.

[00:19:12] Denisha: It wasn't something like Lord, you know? It was literally just a picture that, like you said, kind of hung with me and then it came back and this is for her. And so when I shared that and I remember thinking, Lord, don't ever let me miss you. And I know I missed him a lot, but I remember after that moment and I, I gave her a card to a local ministry cause I was out of town and, and I just thought, wow, we never know what God has for us or for someone else just by listening to that small voice.

[00:19:42] Denisha: So that was one thing that came in mind when you asked 

[00:19:44] Norma: that. Aren't you glad you obeyed the Lord in that? 

[00:19:49] Denisha: I'm so glad she grabbed my hand. . Yes. 

[00:19:52] Norma: She, and you could have just ignored it. Like, I don't have time for this, you know? But the Lord wanted to [00:20:00] speak to her. Yeah. Again, that's one of the reasons why he speaks, is to birth life.

[00:20:05] Norma: Mm-hmm. , whether it's to birth life in us, or to give that away for someone else like you did. 

[00:20:12] Denisha: And I wanna be honest and say I was too. . I actually was on my way to do something quick, in quick out and in my heart. I would've missed that if she had not grabbed my hand. I wasn't looking around. I wasn't asking the Lord, what would you like to do today?

[00:20:29] Denisha: Yes. I wasn't saying, Lord, show me your heart for the people around me. I literally was like, I'm gonna zip in, hit this store, hit out and I'm gone. And it was her grabbing my hand and. very clear picture and he had showed that to me before that morning. And so that's what hung. So I just wanna say I didn't, I wasn't out like I'm gonna go and you know, do something today for God.

[00:20:49] Denisha: I was just going about my day. And I think we have an as you go gospel, as you go to Target, as you go to the mall, as you go to the grocery store, we take his presence with [00:21:00]us and just to be open to those moments when God shows us something, that ticker tape that you know, however he decides to use. 

[00:21:08] Norma: and you weren't sitting still earlier that morning, like, I wanna hear a word from you.

[00:21:13] Norma: But I think the more we do it, the more then we grab a hold of those opportunities as we're going. You know where our ears are in tuned to his whisper. Yeah. You know one thing for sure, Danisha the enemy does not want us to hear God's voice. The last thing Satan wants us to have is an intimate relationship with God.

[00:21:34] Norma: So he'll put up those roadblocks to deter us and to prevent us from making time to listen to God's. . 

[00:21:42] Denisha: Yeah, boy, that's so true. And you know, I can imagine the enemy obviously, but what are some other obstacles that keep us from hearing 

[00:21:50] Norma: God's voice? Distractions is a big one for me personally. It's a big one.

[00:21:55] Norma: Oswald Chambers writes this, that what hinders me from hearing [00:22:00] is my attention to other things. So the obstacle of distraction was a big one for me and can still be a big one for me. Because of my Attention Deficit disorder, it was initially hard for me to just settle down and to sit still, to quiet myself internally and to focus.

[00:22:19] Norma: I'm hearing what God wanted to say. It was a definite thing that he had to train me in through practicing it over and over again. And one solution for me, just a practical solution, was to have a pen and pad a paper next to me so that if an item on the grocery list that I need to add comes to my mind, I can just jot it down on that piece of paper and get it off of my bandwidth and free me from that distrac.

[00:22:47] Norma: In the fall of 2011, I heard the father say this. It doesn't bother me, Norma, when your mind bounces off onto many things, when you're trying to sit still and hear my voice, [00:23:00]what matters more to me is that you want to spend time alone with me to hear. Seeing your heart and its desire is what counts most to me.

[00:23:10] Norma: So, Is one obstacle, a lack of listening that comes from not making it a priority is a second obstacle. Isaiah 66, 4 says, for when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, no one listened. I think that's one of the saddest verses in the word of God. God has invested more interest in speaking to. than I believe we have in listening to him.

[00:23:40] Norma: Space doesn't just happen. We all have busy full calendars and margins in our lives don't magically appear. So time with God sitting still to listen to his voice must be made. We need to intentionally choose to create that space and carve that time out of our [00:24:00] day and schedule it into our. Another obstacle that prevents us from hearing is busyness and quite frankly, sometimes busyness through serving God.

[00:24:11] Norma: I once heard Elizabeth Elliot say at a women's retreat, if Satan can't get you to sin, he will keep you busy. and because of, you know, my past story when we talked on the Unashamed podcast with you, because of trying to compensate for my shame, I hooked into performance Danisha, I never felt I was good enough.

[00:24:32] Norma: So my identity became rooted in ministry and what I did instead of who I am as God's daughter doing was more important than being and my busyness serving. Got in the way from me hearing his. The barrier, this barrier of being so busy and serving God reminds me of the passage in Luke 10 versus 38 to 42, and we briefly talked about [00:25:00] this in last week's podcast.

[00:25:02] Norma: This is the story of the two sisters, Martha and Mary. He writes this as Jesus and his disciples were on their way. He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said, but Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

[00:25:22] Norma: She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do work by myself? Tell her to. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered. You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed or indeed, only one Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.

[00:25:44] Norma: Another thing that prevents us is simply unbelief or ignorance. We don't know about it, so I'm so grateful that you are having a whole month's. on this topic, Danisha, because quite frankly, it's not always, you know, spoken about and [00:26:00] unless a friend introduces you to hearing God's voice, you might not even be aware.

[00:26:05] Norma: But I think we need to expect and anticipate that God not only wants to speak to us, he will speak to us. Frequently. I'll pray Mark 9 24. I do believe, but Lord help my unbelief because we always have belief to a certain level. I remember one of our first board members for the Restoring Hearts ministry that we have was a man that I think has the gift of faith, and it was like, I believe one of the reasons the Lord wanted him on the board was for me to draft off of his.

[00:26:40] Norma: I needed to believe. So if we don't have Faith Danisha and believe that God speaks to his kids, then we're not gonna take the time to listen. We won't create that space. What we believe or don't believe always affects our actions. And then another one that [00:27:00] prevents us from hearing God's voice is our own woundedness and unfor forgive.

[00:27:06] Norma: Both can hi, hinder us from hearing his voice because they can lead to deception where we don't hear his voice accurately, and that's why it's so important to repent of our sins, to restore our relationship with God as well as to forgive those who have heard us. First John two, nine through 11 says this, anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

[00:27:32] Norma: Whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded. . We had some new friends over in Omaha like six years ago over for dinner.

[00:27:53] Norma: It was a couple, and at one point I put on my glasses and everything was blurry, and [00:28:00] quite frankly, I thought I was having a stroke. I didn't know what was happening. And so I had them on and I said, John, John, John. I took off my glasses only to discover. It was our friend's glasses. Oh, . I. And what, but when we're, I thought it was a great word picture that the Lord gave to analogy.

[00:28:25] Norma: Uh, to show that when we're wounded and when we have unforgiveness in our lives, it's as if we're walking around wearing the wrong prescription glasses. We see and interpret things from those glasses and can't see clearly since our perception is. Oh, that's so good. That's 

[00:28:45] Denisha: such a great picture of, do we have our glasses on?

[00:28:48] Denisha: The ones that God gave us? Yes. Yes. Not the ones that God gave our 

[00:28:52] Norma: friends too. Yes. And are they clean? You know? Yes. Clean from sin and have we forgiven people? 

[00:28:59] Denisha: Yeah. Yeah. [00:29:00] Oh, there's so many parts that I can just resonate that resonates with my heart in what you just said. And I think the. Busyness. Oh, busyness is probably one of my biggest struggles, and I wrestle with the performance too, and sometimes I don't even realize it, but the more I'm digging in, I realize more how performance leads to busyness leads to all the things, right?

[00:29:25] Denisha: Mm-hmm. and that unbelief piece. Like I remember feeling like I wasn't qualified to hear God's voice the way other people were. Like, that was for them, not for me. But that's not biblical. Right. My sheep hear my voice, 

[00:29:38] Norma: so, ugh. And you want, I mean, if you think in the natural, your child needs to hear the mama's voice needs to hear the father's voice.

[00:29:49] Norma: It's no different. And it's not because you speak to your child, not because they're great, but because of your love for them. You know, they're yours. They belong [00:30:00] to you. We belong to God the Father. And so he wants to speak to. . 

[00:30:05] Denisha: I think one of the other things also that pauses me in hearing the voice of God is fear of man is just fear or being afraid of what other people will think.

[00:30:15] Denisha: You know, like we mentioned in the last podcast, not everyone is comfortable with the fact that God speaks to us. so we can be portrayed as weird or you know, that's too strange or you know, and I think that that has held me back at some times. I mean, I gave that example of being in the mall, you know, with the gal who worked at the kiosk.

[00:30:35] Denisha: But there are many times I think that just straight fear of what other people will think has held me back from implementing or stepping into check and see if what I think I heard from God was accurate. So many good things. Norma, you've covered the obstacles to hearing God's voice, right? Distraction, a lack of priority, busyness, unbelief, woundedness.[00:31:00]

[00:31:00] Denisha: What else prevents us from hearing God's voice? 

[00:31:03] Norma: Sin, , that's probably one of the major ones, and it's sin in its various forms such as pride, disobedience, impurity, fear that you had mentioned, or rebellion. These all desensitizes. From being able to hear the father's voice because sin hardens our. If we don't repent of our sin, our hearts will become callous.

[00:31:29] Norma: And my pride in the disguise of the fear of man Danisha. I just love how we're so much alike and caring too much about what others think. Having my reputation become an idol, those are all ways that sin has deterred me from. Obeying God's voice. You know, even just last week, I'm an Enneagram too, and I've been reading it, doing a 40 day devotional on that and just discovering who I am.

[00:31:56] Norma: You know, it's just the light bulbs keep turning on. [00:32:00] And one of the things I discovered was, the reason why I have that fear is because I put too much stock in what others? And you know, fear of man's always been big to me. It's kind of like I've conquered certain areas in fear of man. So like with mentoring, I don't hold back, but there are still other areas that I do hold back because I care too much about what others think, which when you spiral it back to the root, that's.

[00:32:30] Norma: And so I hear you and there's one time I'd like to share about that almost kept me from obeying the Lord was when I feared looking foolish. When we first moved to Omaha, I happened to be on the phone with my mom and at some point she just happened to mention that she never owned her own. . I knew she was from a large family and her dad died when she was only [00:33:00] nine.

[00:33:00] Norma: And you know, there was a lot of poverty. So it made sense that it gripped my heart that this little girl never received her own doll. And weeks later or months later, I was sitting on the couch again, mining my own business during a quiet time. And the Lord said, I want you to buy your mom, your 57 year old mom a doll for.

[00:33:24] Norma: and I just thought, oh no, you've got to be kidding, Lord. My dad didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus at the time. And all I kept thinking about and I kept arguing. I mean, I felt like the Holy Spirit and I were doing, you know, arm wrestling with this. And all I kept thinking about is, what is my dad going to say?

[00:33:43] Norma: He is just going to think I fell off, you know, my rocker. And so I said to the Lord, I said, would you confirm? . And then I got to the point, Lord, I'm going to obey you. I will do what you say, whether or not you confirm it. And so I [00:34:00] remember going to Sam's purchasing a porcelain doll. Wrapping it up, shipping it to Arizona and the week, or actually probably just a few days before Christmas, my preschool age son and I were running errands and he happened to fall asleep in the car, and so I thought, oh, I can turn off the salty cassette tape.

[00:34:25] Norma: I don't have to listen to that right now, and I could turn on the Men Meyer Christian Counseling program. and they happened to have a call in program and it was for people to share their most memorable Christmases. And this man called in and he shared. My favorite Christmas was when my 57 year old mom received her first all, oh my word.

[00:34:53] Norma: And she grabbed it and she wept. And now I'm weeping. I could barely see, you know, [00:35:00] driving down the road. The Lord did not have to confirm that with me. You know, if he, whatever he says I need to do. , you know, without asking questions. I mean, yes, we can have dialogue, but he's the one that's supposed to win the arm wrestling every time.

[00:35:18] Norma: But that was a time, and it did have the same effect on my 57 year old mom and my dad did. If he thought I was off my rocker, he did not say it, . And so, but it, you know, it, it always pays to obey the Lord. You just never know. Just like with your time with the woman at the k. , you have no idea what that seed, the ramifications, the pebble in the water, the rippling effect that, that one word had for her.

[00:35:49] Norma: Yeah. So another time, well, let me back up. First, we hear God's voice to heat it. We listen in order to follow. John [00:36:00] 10 27 says that my sheep listened to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. And James 1 22 says, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. So I remember one time going to our church in Omaha, their mission conference, and it was, they're part of a bigger church group, you know, an international group.

[00:36:22] Norma: And so the conference wasn't live, it was simultaneous cast at our church. And you know, the last evening they had an altar call and I wasn't feeling convicted about anything. I wasn't feeling like I needed to make a statement. or anything like that. Do you see what I mean? I didn't, but I kept hearing one word and the Holy Spirit kept saying, come.

[00:36:51] Norma: And you know, again, I was wrestling, but Lord, you know, there's no one else going forward initially. And he said, come [00:37:00] And I kept. throughout the evening, I did not go forward Danisha, and the next morning after my disobedience at the mission conference, this is what God spoke to me. Even if you're the only one, Norma, even if you're all alone, if I say Come, then I want you to do just that.

[00:37:22] Norma: Faint whispers, repeated commands are all for your benefit, for your good and for my glory. You have no idea what you miss out. by disobeying me, the empowerment that could be bestowed upon you. The equipping for the call, the sense of my pleasure. All of these could have been yours. Yes. Even though you didn't feel anything, any step towards surrender releases more of me.

[00:37:50] Norma: Oh yeah. Fortunately though, Danisha, that when we've sinned, God has provided repentance to restore our relationship with him. [00:38:00] One John one, nine says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Sometimes our fear in the form of people plea.

[00:38:14] Norma: and fairy man or fear that God might ask us to do something that might cost us. Like what Darryl Evans years ago saying, please don't send me to Africa. You know, those things can prevent us from obeying God. Rebellion in the forms of not wanting to be held accountable or not wanting to submit to God's authority will also lead us to disobedience, and the secret to not Sinn.

[00:38:41] Norma: is to fall more madly in love with Jesus because you want to. Those that you love. Priscilla Shire writes this, that God doesn't just speak to be heard, he speaks to be obeyed. So if we're serious about wanting to hear God speak to us, then we need to be [00:39:00] equally serious about obeying him. One of the things that hold us back from obeying the Lord is that we have a wrong perception of who God is.

[00:39:09] Norma: So Danisha, what are some words you would use to describe who God is to you? . You know, one word things God is good. 

[00:39:19] Denisha: Yes. We hear that a lot. Yes. God is distant. I hear that a lot. 

[00:39:25] Norma: Mm-hmm. and he's loving. I mean, who is God to you, I guess is what I'm asking you? Oh, who is, yeah. You 

[00:39:32] Denisha: know, I have to say sometimes I have really wrestled with the feeling of distance also, that God is good.

[00:39:38] Denisha: He is loving, he is. . That's one of my favorite things to describe Yes. Of God is that he is with us. Um, yeah, he's present. He is our comforter. He is our counselor. Yes. You know, just all of the words, you know, from scripture, prince of Peace, mighty God, holy one. Right. Although those thoughts come to mind when you say God [00:40:00] is, and it's so true.

[00:40:01] Denisha: Who we believe God is. Maybe not dictate, but does sway maybe dictates but sway how we believe we can hear from him, 

[00:40:10] Norma: or if we believe Yes. Yeah. It has a huge influence. Yeah. Because if we really believe those attributes were true about God, I think we would trust him more and that would cause us to obey him.

[00:40:23] Norma: You know, it's easier to obey someone that we trust and someone that we know. And so an easy way to get to know the Lord is by reading his word. That's his love letter to us, and by watching him work in your life or in other people's lives. For those of you who are parents, how would you feel if you asked your kids to do something and they either ignored you or disobey?

[00:40:49] Norma: How would that affect your relationship with them? For me, I would still love my kids. That would not change, but I would be disappointed. I'd be [00:41:00] grieved. I'd be displeased because I wouldn't feel like they respected or valued me, valued what I was asking them. So their disobedience would not affect my love for them, but it would put a breach in our relationship.

[00:41:13] Norma: So how do you think the Lord feels when he. and asked us to do something and we ignore or disobey him. Contrary to that, if you asked an employee or a friend to do something and they didn't do it, or they procrastinated doing it, or they didn't fully comply with your wishes, and this happened repeatedly, , would you trust them?

[00:41:37] Norma: But what if the opposite were true? If your employee or friend completely and instantly did what you asked them to do, would you tend to trust them even more with greater responsibility? I think God is more apt to trust us when we consistently obey him, and the effect of that is he'll speak more frequently.

[00:41:59] Norma: [00:42:00] Commentary writer Matthew Henry says that we do not truly desire to know the mind of God if we do not fully resolve to comply with it when we do know it. So if you haven't heard God's voice in a while, I wanna encourage the listeners go back to the last thing he spoke and asked you to do, and then do it.

[00:42:21] Norma: Obey him. You know, I encourage people, don't ask for a fresh. until you've obeyed the last word that he gave to you. So those are the obstacles that I have come up with. But next week's podcast, we'll cover the topic of how we can better position ourselves to hear God's voice. And I think there are some practical steps that we can take and character wise within our heart, attitudes to prepare our hearts to listen to our father speak.

[00:42:52] Norma: Amen. 

[00:42:53] Denisha: And along the way, as we learn these skills, as we pick up these maybe perhaps even new, [00:43:00] you know, ideas and concepts of hearing from God, he is so patient. He's so patient and he woos us and draws us in. I think that patience piece of him is so beautiful to see. Well, Norma, thank you again for sharing you're wisdom, wisdom and strategy to hear the Lord's voice.

[00:43:19] Denisha: As we talked about in the last week's episode, that is one of the most important things that we can do is to hear the Lord's voice, to be known and to know him. So thank you so much for sharing. 

[00:43:30] Norma: Oh, you're welcome. That's the place where real. intersects with a real God. 

[00:43:36] Denisha: Amen. That's the place I wanna be.

[00:43:38] Denisha: How about. Me too, . Well, we'll see you same time, same place next week. And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed story. That is the name of the ministry that houses this podcast, living the Reclaimed life. We'd love to see you there. We are gonna share some opportunities to win [00:44:00] Norma's book.

[00:44:01] Denisha: So we'll see you on social. Until next week, thanks for listening. I pray you found hope in today's convers. And maybe even feel a little less alone in your story. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at Reclaimed Story. Wanna learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of our growing community of Reclaimers?

[00:44:24] Denisha: Check out our website@reclaimedstory.com. All of those links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this inspirational podcast, be sure to subscribe, rate and review. Not only will you be the first one to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help in helping us reach more people to live the Reclaimed Life.