How Religion makes it harder to hear me

Mark you know this is me talking. You know it without a doubt. Yes the religious tell you that it’s not me, but you know it is, and thousands of others know that too now. Now that they’ve experienced it themselves they know it’s me.

Yes of course you experience doubt, even John the Baptist struggled with Doubt. And yet at the same time you know this is me.

You know that there’s no way that you could make up words that bring you the complete sense of restoration that these words do.

Think about it Mark, when we talk like this you feel completely restored. You’re not grovelling around asking my forgiveness and I’m not focusing on your sin.

God there’s a problem right there. We’re supposed to always be beating ourselves up, feeling guilty, saying sorry, asking your forgiveness, and you’re supposed to be all sad and full of anguish because we’re such terrible people.

Yes that is certainly the rule Mark.

Well?

I’ve never really been one for rules Mark.

Stop it God!! You know that’s not true. That CAN’T be you. You’re always on about rules and focusing us on obeying them all.

No I’m not. That’s your enemy, that’s Religion not me. I’m the God of the Spirit. The Spirit that gives life, whereas rules bring death. Mark you know this is me because even though it doesn’t fit with Religion’s rules for me, you can feel it’s me. You feel completely restored as we talk and how could you not be? This is the very same talking that created the worlds.

You are a product of what you listen to. The things you hear build or destroy you. There’s no middle ground. I’m not talking about sinful thoughts or good thoughts. Drop the whole sin thing for a while will you please? What destroys you is what you hear, NOT what you do.

Sorry God, but I can’t agree with that, it doesn’t sound like what I’ve been taught.

No it’s not. Mark there are few who agree with what I’ve just said, and for that reason they do not experience a very talkative God. They silence me by forcing Religion’s dark rules on me instead of listening to what I’m saying.

You’re always listening to one of us Mark – him or me. You can’t avoid it. It’s like breathing, it’s involuntary. You’re always breathing something – oxygen, CO2 – if you’re held under water long enough you’ll even start breathing water. It will kill you but the inbuilt involuntary urge to breath is too strong to resist. The urge to listen with your spiritual ear is no different. It’s far too strong to resist. You are constantly listening. Make no mistake about it. You can hear me and you can hear him. When you’re not listening to me (which is most of the time) you’re listening to him. The problem is that he is so easy to hear.

Is that because we’re too sinful God?

NO! Your behaviour has nothing to do with it. You can hear him because you’ve been created with the ability to hear spiritual voices. I need you Christians to understand that. Your ability to hear me is NOT related to how good or bad you are. The bible is filled with people, much worse than you, having proper back and forward conversations with God. Cain before and after killing Abel, and Paul on the Damascus Road are just two examples.

No matter what your life is like you can hear spiritual voices, mine and his. Angels and demons. It’s a biblical fact Mark, it may not be recognised as a fact in your denominations, but it is in my bible.

Mine is a spiritual voice, and so is his. The reason he is so easy to hear is that he screams and shouts – hollers, postures and prances. He’s proud and foolish and demands attention. Religion teaches that you have chosen to hear him. But Religion lies – of course you haven’t chosen to hear him, who in their right mind would do so?!? Even those dogged by his many voices strive to block the sound.

That’s where Religion has misguided you all. He has convinced you it’s all to do with good behaviour and bad. But he lies. It’s actually because he shouts, when I speak in measured tones. He screams when I sing softly to you. Sinner or a saint, you can hear us both.  It’s involuntary, you can’t go more than a few minutes without breathing something and listening is the same. You can’t go very long without listening to something in the spirit – him or me.

You were made that way so you could be listening to me constantly. If you wanted to. But your enemy entered the picture and made everything a mess. The plan was that there would be two alternatives – two options: Option one was supposed to be peace and beauty and harmony. And then Option Two? The same as option one, but with one addition, me. Peace, beauty, harmony and me.

Life was designed to be beautiful, whether or not you listened. You don’t pick on your kids if they’re not listening to you. That’s not wise. Behaving like an ogre is never going to encourage them to listen. Patience and love does that. I’m no different. I don’t pick on you when you don’t listen to me. What would be the point? I designed human nature, l like it, it was my idea. The way I designed you means you don’t respond well to force or threats.

Mark you’re hearing me, you’re hearing him. You hear us both. The question is which of us do you WANT to listen to?

God that’s not really fair. Everyone would prefer to listen to you if they knew the truth of this. It doesn’t matter how bad they are, if they knew they were listening to him and yet had the choice of listening to you – everyone would want to listen to you.

Of course, man was made to listen to me, good or bad, saint or sinner. And yet they don’t. Tell me why that is Mark?

They don’t know it’s possible?

Yes, but why don’t they know it’s possible? Deep within them is a desire to listen to me that they can’t suppress, an involuntary desire that is strong whether they are a good person or bad. In fact sometimes the worse they are the stronger the desire. So why don’t they know it’s possible? How can they be hungering for it yet not knowing they can have it?

God you told me that you don’t shove it in our face, that you conceal how easy it is to find you on purpose. You conceal it just a little so that we have to search for it.

Yes but why?

Well Religion says it’s so you can test us but you keep telling me you’re not nearly as focused on behaviour and motive and testing us as Religion says you are.

Mark Religion lies to you. Organised religion pretends to draw you closer to me, but the truth is that it makes it more difficult for you to hear me. It shifts your attention away from the things I am really focused on, things like talking with you, and puts it on other things like your churchy culture, and customs and ultimately how bad your behaviour is and how anguished I am about it and how fortunate you are that I overlook your ‘unworthiness’. Actually Mark I’ve had enough of listening to all that. None of those things helps you or makes it any easier for you to hear me.

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.