01 June 2005 International YWAMer

Learning to Tune In

Value Three: Hear God's Voice
By Darlene Cunningham

I am so grateful that I was asked to write on YWAM Foundational Value number three: hearing the voice of God. This is a subject near and dear to my heart...and dear to God's heart! It is the basis of our relationship with Him: communication.

I remember working with John and Elizabeth Sherrill and Janice Rogers on Loren's first book. The Sherrills wanted to write the story of YWAM. For three intense days, they listened to Loren and me retelling all the stories of how YWAM began. They then went away and prayed regarding a theme for the book. The title reflects their conclusion: Is That Really You, God? The history of YWAM is just that: the story of a band of people seeking to hear God's voice, stepping out to do what we believed He was saying, and always asking "Is that really you?" How very grateful we are for His continual faithfulness to speak to us, then and now!

Listening as a Way of Life

The teaching in our first YWAM schools in Switzerland in the early 1970s laid the foundations for the whole of the mission. Our nearby neighbor from L'Abri, Dr. Francis Schaeffer challenged us: did we have a Biblical Christian worldview? If so, then our beliefs must include the foundation that our God is personal and He longs to communicate with the personal beings He created--us! Hearing his voice, listening to Him and obeying what He said needs to be a way of life.

Joy Dawson was another gifted teacher God brought to us in those early, foundational days. She taught from the Word and out of her own life that there are practical principles and conditions for hearing God: we cannot expect God to speak to us if there is sin in our hearts. This means asking the Holy Spirit to search our hearts for any uncleanness, and being committed to walk in openness and transparency before God and others. In order to hear from Him, we must be willing to obey, even before we know what He will say. Would we really live that way? Would we lead that way? Would we move out of our comfort zones and let Him direct?

Like Radio Waves

The Bible tells of God speaking in so many ways: through an audible voice, through dreams and visions, through angels, through that still small voice in our hearts, through the words of a friend or a teacher, through new revelation into the Bible. God even spoke through a donkey, so He can speak any way He wants to! What He is looking for is listening hearts.

Throughout 2005, I have the privilege of being directly involved with our DTSes in Kona, Hawaii. When we asked the 200-plus students in our January DTS what their expectations were, the largest response by far was, "We want to learn to hear God's voice." It has been a wonderful experience, sharing about this personal, communicating God and watching Him prove Himself great by speaking in detail to the students.

David Hamilton spoke to the DTS recently on this subject and told us that, starting with Genesis 1:3, there are more than 3,000 references in the Bible where God speaks. "If we're not hearing from God, it's not because He's not talking; it's because we're not tuned in."

He used the illustration of radio waves: "The air around us is full of radio waves, but we don't hear them. Why not? Because we don't have a radio." David pulled out a radio and set it on the stand, but it was silent. When David turned up the volume and began to move the dial, a variety of sounds filled the air: country western, rock 'n roll, news, sports. All of this communication was going on all the time, but because we had not taken the actions required to hear it, we could not "tune it in" and receive the benefit.

God's Voice Today

Back at that first YWAM school in Switzerland, after we had begun to hear God's voice, we rolled out a map of the world on the floor and asked, "God, where do you want us to go to share about you?" One person got England, another Germany, another Holland, another Afghanistan. In obedience to God's word, they headed out and saw God work and give them fruit that remained in each location.

Just a few weeks ago, in Kona, Hawaii leading the DTS, we had the same kind of experience: hundreds of participants asking God "where are we to go on outreach?" and He spoke to each one.

But it doesn't just happen on "outreach." We can all hear God's voice every day, anywhere if we simply fulfill His conditions and "tune in." What a God we know and serve!