The bible is a fantastic tool, but I dont like it being used to suffocate the people it was written to help.

Mark Holloway's picture

God you might as well drag me outside and shoot me now! If you keep saying that kind of thing and expecting me to write it down I’m always going to have someone on my back. I’m sick of it God! I’d just like a quiet life, I’m over being a trouble maker. But it’s as though you purposely want to annoy people. Almost like you’re trying to pick a fight God?!?

You know what God!?! You’re like that annoying cousin that your mum makes drag along with you, but you just know they’re going to say something embarrassing and make you wish you didn’t take them. Sometimes hanging out with you is just a pain God, it really is. A lot of the time I don’t want to ask you questions because you say things that get me offside with people.

What if I do want to annoy people Mark?

Well you could at least use someone else to do it! Why pick me?

Because you keep asking me questions Mark and expecting an answer.

So?

Anyone who expects answers from me is going to get them Mark.

Matt 7:7 ‘Ask and keep on asking’.
Luke 11:9 ‘Ask and it will be given to you.’

But let me ask you a question Mark. What do you think I’m about to say to you?

I don’t know God? But did you say yes I do?

No.

So I don’t know what you’re about to say right now?

No. Not really. And I want you to realise that – not knowing what I’m saying encourages conversation Mark. It’s the same in any relationship. Conversation comes from a desire to know what the other is thinking and the realisation that you don’t. Unfortunately you Christians think you already know what I’m saying. You think if you hear my words from the bible (what I have said in the past) you’ll know what I am saying now.

Is that a mistake? Oh oh I wish I hadn’t even asked that God!! Even just asking you that will get me in hot water – and I daren’t even think what your answer will be. I’m pretty sure whatever it is people will tell me I’m deceived, they’ll say you wouldn’t possibly say whatever it is you say, and then it will end up being me who’s in trouble, not you. You’ll say something, but I’ll be the one who ends up in trouble for what you’ve said and you’ll get off scott-free.

On the contrary Mark – if you’re in trouble I’ve got your back and if they want to stab you in the back they’ll be running that knife through me.  So let’s continue. The answer is yes Mark. Yes it’s a mistake to think that if you read what I’ve said in the past that you’ll know what I am saying now.

Those words were written by people who could hear what I was saying then. Reading them gives insight to what I’m like. I haven’t changed. But I am talking today too. I have never stopped talking.

JOHN 16:12-13 ‘There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.’
 

So Mark answer me this question; which is better, to know what I said back then, or to know what I am saying now?

PSALM 32:8 ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.’

IS 30:21 ‘a voice will say, "This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left.’

I refuse to answer God on the grounds that I might incriminate myself!

Yes, good advice Mark. I’ll answer it then.

No don’t please God! I get the message, and whatever your answer I have to write it down, and the religious will just think I’ve made it up and am deceived.

The answer is critically important Mark and those who are able to discern my words need to hear it.

Ok then, go ahead if you must God.

Mark if you have to choose it is better to hear what I am saying now. What I said in the past is a benchmark. It enables you to judge what I am saying now against it. But it is not crucial. The men and women who wrote the bible were average men and women just like you. They were able to hear me just as any man or woman today is able to hear me.

It is great to have a benchmark, but not crucial. There have been many nations where persecution prevented people having access to the bible and yet the church boomed. The early church had no bible. And Mark living in the past is a danger. To make real progress in any relationship you need to be living in the ‘now’ of that relationship. It is no different with me. If you want a proper, real-live, happening-now relationship with God and not this religious diatribe that has been sold to you Christians then you need to hear me now.

Can you see the cunning of your enemy? He uses the very things that I really did say to others in the past to build a list of imaginary rules that keep you from hearing what I am saying to you personally right now. The Pharisees did the same, they used the words I had said to prevent people getting in to the kingdom of God.

MATT 23:13 ‘What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either.’

I want a relationship with you personally. I want it with every single person alive but the enemy is teaching you all to have that relationship through the relationships that others had with me thousands of years ago. The bible is a great tool but not when it used to suffocate the life out of the people it was designed to help. And Mark the word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword is the word that proceeds from my lips, not things written in the past.

I am God. I am not confined to speaking from any book. Yes I can speak to you from those written words but I can also speak direct to your heart and that is how I prefer to speak for the most part. Paul made that abundantly clear and he copied me.

The bible is fantastic Mark. It is the words I spoke but it is not and never will be a substitute for a conversation direct with me. The teachers of the law are terrified that if you listen to me direct you may mishear me. And of course they’re right. Learning to hear me takes time and practise, but that’s exactly what I want.

1 JOHN 2:27 ‘so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie’.

And the teachers of the law forget one thing; it is just as easy to mishear me when you read scripture. The Pharisees who crucified me and Paul on his journey to Damascus received their ‘guidance’ from scripture. The word that was a lamp to David’s feet was the words I spoke direct into his heart. Look up the original if you’re not sure.

PRAISE FOR THE FREEDOM DIARIES

The Freedom Diaries will stretch you. It describes Mark’s real life struggle with Doubt as he discovered that he could hear God’s voice every day.Dr Mark Virkler. Author of 4 Keys to hearing God’s Voice. Buffalo. New York.

Like a child on Christmas morning, I was delighted to discover how simple yet wonderful it is to place my hand into the hand of God and listen to his whispers and enjoy his affection.  I could only ask why no one had ever told me he was this good and this close.  I wish I had read this book a long, long time ago.  Daniel Walker. Founder and Executive Director of Nvader. Author of God in a brothel.

This is new and exciting. It’s not the idea of hearing from God that’s new, it’s having conversations back and forth, question and answers. That’s new for most of us. Now I am enjoying my own conversations with God, which always leave me with hope. David Garratt of Scripture in Song. Hawaii.

You can purchase your own copy of Mark Holloway's book, 'The Freedom Diaries - God Speaks Back' on this website.

IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE THINKING IT'S YOUR OWN IMAGINATION WHEN YOU TRY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH GOD - read the 'Practical Tips' section. How to have your own conversation with God in The Freedom Diaries 

 

Related Resources: 

How to Hear God's Voice!   

Related Blogs: 

How to Hear God’s Voice   
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Anonymous's picture

Once again I want to thank you Mark for posting your communication with God.
I feel very much helped by this, and it answers many of my questions, and gives me peace.
I feel like I am exactly one of those many people God mentioned for whom it was critically important
to hear what God had to say through you. So thank you, and take care!

Alice

Anonymous's picture

Thanks for having the courage to put these difficult conversations up. I've been learning to hear from God this year and he's been saying many of the same things to me, and more besides! So it's encouraging to see that he's challenging you with this stuff too.
These days when I read the Bible, God often points out various things in the passage that I'm reading and uses them as a starting point to talk about my life, and he shows me how he did this with Paul as well. Gone are the days where I used the Bible as a book of religious doctrine!
From conversations with God I've been starting to understand how deeply he hates religion, hates the doctrine of eternal torment in hell (he called it "utterly ridiculous" and told me to have nothing to do with people who preach it), and above all, hates the way people use the Bible to bash others over the head with doctrines and laws.
He's told me that we are completely free in him. That includes being completely free to learn, and being free to learn means being free to make mistakes. So I'm not worried that I might hear something incorrectly and I'm not worried if you or others do either. The main thing is to keep asking, keep listening. The simple act of listening puts us on the right path, whether we've heard correctly or not.

Mark Holloway's picture

Thanks for your encouragement. I'm glad my conversations with God are helping you. Of course the conversations that will help most are your own. So keep having them and encouraging others to do so too. It completely changes our relationship with God when we discover he talks back. I only wish i had known this all my life. Living in religion wasted so much time and destroyed so many things 'in the name of God'. Thanks again. Mark H.

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4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 305 Pages | Retail: $16.99

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond?


Price: $14.95

Dialogue with God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 296 Pages

This top seller for 30 years from Bridge Logos provides a narrative, right-brain presentation of the principles of how to hear God's voice. Especially enjoyable for personal use, it makes a great gift for introducing a loved one to the voice of God. This book teaches the four keys to hearing God's voice in readable style, and also devotes two entire chapters to moving samples of people's journaling (i.e. their two-way dialogue with God).

Price: $17.95
Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

9 Books | 10 CDs | 10 DVDs | Save Over 20%

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond? When things don't seem to be going your way and your prayers aren't answered the way you had hoped, wouldn't it be great to hear Him tell you where He is in the midst of it, and what He is working out in your life? Are you ever just a little bit jealous of others who say with such confidence, "The Lord said...."?

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How to Hear God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 317 Pages

We recommend that you order the newest revision of this book titled 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice. It includes 95% of the content of How to Hear God's Voice but is reorganized so it fits perfectly with the 10 DVDs on this subject by Mark Virkler. In addition, it gets you started using the four keys earlier in the book and gives you more journaling samples and exercises. Since we have removed the large margins, it is a smaller and less expensive book.

Price: $24.95

Prayers That Heal the Heart - Revised & Expanded 20th Anniversary Edition

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 320 Pages

Prayer counseling that breaks every yoke! Everything you need to experience deep healing of your soul and spirit.

Did you know that you don’t need to be continually plagued by negative thoughts, feelings, pictures or memories?

It is not part of the "human condition" to feel the constant nagging of doubt, insecurity, or anger. No matter what sin you are trying to overcome, what lie you think you’ll always believe, or what traumas your heart has suffered in the past, you will receive total freedom and restoration by praying these prayers in faith. 

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Twelve Weeks to Spiritual Mastery - Group Coaching

A group coaching experience with Mark Virkler

Because I could not find a Spirit-anointed teacher/coach, I spent ten extremely frustrating years seeking to hear God’s voice!!! Suggestions offered did not help me, things like: “You just know that you know. It is a still small voice. He speaks from your heart.” No one could give me the answer I needed which was: Hearing God’s voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, recognizing His voice as spontaneous, flowing thoughts and writing down His flow as it is coming. Test what you have written after the flow is done, NOT while it is occurring.

Price: $1,200.00

Counseled by God

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 146 Pages

Have you ever been defeated by negative emotions such as anger, fear, guilt, inferiority, condemnation or depression? Have you tried to fight them off unsuccessfully? Is there an answer that is deeper than simply trying to mentally reason yourself out of these emotions? Is there a way that Jesus can speak a word of life into the depths of your emotional despair and bring healing on a deep level? Is there a form of Christian counseling that begins and ends with the movement of Christ within your heart, rather than simply with the words of man?

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Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook Cover

Hear God Through Your Dreams Workbook

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 92 Pages

A newer book has been released that accompanies this workbook: Click here for Hearing God Through Your Dreams by Charity Kayembe and Mark Virkler (featured on Sid Roth's "It's Supernatural", with almost a million views just on YouTube).


Do you often wake up feeling there was a significant message in your dream, but you’re just not sure what it is? Like Daniel and Joseph, do you long to be able to help others understand their own dreams and win them to Christ as you explain His night messages to them? Wouldn't it be nice if you could receive mid-course corrections from the Lord while you sleep? Do you wish you could be receiving divine inspiration, creative solutions to problems, and direction from the Lord during that third of your life that you’re “just” sleeping?

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Hearing God Through Your Dreams

by Mark Virkler and Charity Virkler Kayembe | 292 Pages

Learn How to Hear God’s Voice, Even When You Are Sleeping

It is always fun to be on the winning team. Well look what God has done with Charity's new dreams teaching. It has taken off like a rocket with a live TV interview on Cornerstone Network and her Sid Roth interview which has almost a million views on YouTube!

Price: $16.99

Everyday Angels

by Charity Virkler Kayembe and Joe Brock 289 Pages

You can partner with Heaven’s angelic hosts!

Do you have guardian angels? Does God want you to know them? Find out what Scripture reveals and how YOU can interact with the company of Heaven!

The supernatural realm permeates our natural world! Therefore, experiencing angels should be an everyday occurrence–we simply need to open our spiritual eyes to their reality and role in our lives.

Price: $16.99

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