To be vulnerable means opening your life to the possibility of being hurt; to be unprotected and open. This is what God calls us to be on a number of levels – in our relationship with Him, in our relationships with other mature believers, as well as with those we are discipling and mentoring.

Vulnerability is not something that comes naturally to any of us. By our basic human nature which is sinful we, like Adam and Eve, attempt to hide behind current day “fig leaves” and various “bushes” when it comes to relationships of any shape or form. We have socially acceptable masks that we wear – a different mask for each situation – often a different mask for each person we relate to. We are simply not free – or, at least, think we are not free – to be who we really are.

Being real and thus vulnerable with the people we relate to begins with being open, real and vulnerable in our relationship with God. It begins by opening our heart and our life to Him and allowing Him into each and every aspect of our inner world. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to shine His light in the dark corners so that we know that He knows absolutely everything about us – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Being vulnerable means actually making the Lord Jesus Lord. Coming under new ownership. Letting Jesus control and lead in all areas.

The second step before we can be vulnerable and open with others is to come to know and accept who we are – the person we discover as the Lord shines His light. The Bible talks about loving God and then loving our neighbor AS WE LOVE OURSELVES. We need to come to know ourselves and love the person we come to know. This means being comfortable with who we are and who we are becoming. Yes! There are a lot of things we know need to change and things to even dislike about who we are – but acceptance is the first step towards seeing that change. The first step in becoming free of alcohol is knowing and accepting that you are an alcoholic. It is the same principle here. Recognize who you are and so as not to be depressed – let the Lord show you who you are becoming (His plans and purpose for your life). And then accept and love who you are (not always what you do).

Once we have become real, open and vulnerable on these two levels – being ourselves with the Lord on a daily basis – and having come to know and accept ourselves … from that secure base of knowledge and acceptance we can begin to peel off the masks we wear with others and let them see the real person underneath. We can risk being known and being ridiculed and even rejected.

Because we know who we are and who we are becoming and are comfortable with that and know that we are totally known by the Lord and still loved and accepted by Him – we can risk having others not like us and even reject us. We are secure in His love and acceptance and know that we no longer have to pretend to be someone or something else with others. We can be open. We can invite others to come to know us and thus be vulnerable.

Today’s younger generation is looking for this type of authenticity, this type of reality, the integrity of faith that is so seldom seen in today’s religious world. They see the rigid legalistic world of organized denominational religion and the flakey and scary super-spirituality of the Charismatic Church and reject both. But when the youth of today meet up with someone who is open and not defensive, accepting and not judgmental, vulnerable and not closed up within themselves – they recognize that there is something there for them and gravitate to this type of person. They are sceamingly hungry for reality and somehow know that they can only find this within relationships that are real and vulnerable.

Once they see that in a person they will literally follow you until they too can become vulnerable and open – which means born again and in a relationship with God. And, as a result, you will never find yourself short of younger people following you wanting to be discipled and mentored. Welcome to the ministry as it should be.

I minister prophetically and so I hear God speak from His heart about issues, circumstances, situations, that have been, currently are, and will be – past, present and future for hundreds of people a year. However, in my walk with Him, my personal walk, I sometimes fail to hear His voice. This is because He is silent on the issues I am bringing before Him.

That use to concern me and no longer does. The Bible states: “Truly you are a God who hides Himself, O God and Savior of Israel.” (Isaiah 45:15) And when He is silent it seems like He is hiding from me.

He will, at times, simply be silent – hide Himself – and not speak and reveal His will or His wisdom for the situation or circumstance. “Heaven is like brass” I think is the common way of saying what that feels like. Ever been in that situation? Certainly, we all have been from the youngest to the oldest Christian. And here is what I know when I hit that situation.

I know that God loves me unconditionally and so He is not withholding information or His insights because He is mad at me. In fact, 1 John 5 states that I can have a deep assurance of His love for me. I never need to question the extent of that love because His love sent Jesus to the Cross to die for me and to reveal to me just how much He loves me.

I can trust Him completely even though I am not hearing His voice in the situation. He has proven to me over and over again that He wants nothing but the best for me. I know deep in my heart that His plans and purposes are always that I experience His best for me at all times. It says so in Jeremiah the prophet. And I know for certain that all things (the good, the bad, and the ugly) work together for good to those who love Him and His purpose. So, I rest in that truth and trust Him completely in spite of His silence.

I realize that if God is being silent that it is a good time to examine my heart and my motives. Maybe, you know – just maybe – there are some things that need a bit of adjusting or fine tuning. Maybe I am not hearing the whisper of His voice because I have allowed some things in my life that should not be there and they are causing spiritual static and thus making it difficult to hear Him as He quietly speaks.

Oswald Chambers once asked, “Am I close enough to God to feel secure when He is silent?” And, after some thought, I realized that “yes, I am” and it does not concern me when He is being silent on a certain issue I am facing. I know He loves me unconditionally; I know I can trust Him completely; and I realize there is always a good reason for the silence. And, my relationship with Him is solid enough to handle the silence… and because I am an introvert I even appreciate the silence at times.

It is hard to seek the mind of the Lord when our own minds are already made up. And that is often the case for believers today. We know what we want to do. If it does not work out satisfactorily then we sometimes go to God and ask for His help. When we do it is often not to know His mind but to ask Him to bless what we have planned and that has not yet worked for us.

If things get really tough we go to Him and admit that our idea has not worked and that we need His help. However, we are still not seeking the mind of Christ on the issue or situation because we still have other ideas we are turning over in our heart and mind. So, when He tells us something we take it as a suggestion (often one of many) and end up discussing things with Him, negotiating and even arguing about what He is telling us to do. We treat it as a suggestion and often one of many we are receiving. So, we are asking Him for a plan but we still have plan B if we don’t like His plan A. This is not the way to find out the mind of Christ on a matter.

To know the mind of Christ we need to come to God humbly without a plan – without our mind made up. Then we can hear His thoughts and ideas – His plan for our day or even our life. However, we need to come to Him already having decided that the answer to what He is about to say is “yes” because it will be the best plan and for our own good. God’s plans and purposes are always good and always beneficial for us. So, if He is truly Lord then you trust Him and can say “yes” before you hear what He has to say. Then you will hear the mind of Christ.

However, we must not be so open-minded that we are stupid about this… We must come with our hearts and minds filled with His Word. His revealed will found in the Word (your Bible) is the only standard that we have through which to judge what we believe we are hearing Him say pesonally to us today. So, when we think we have heard His voice and thus His mind on the subject we can judge what we believe we heard to His revealed will – the Bible.

This means that we need to be regularly meditating on His Word so that our spirit (heart) is filled with the Word and we need to be reading and studying His Word so that our minids are being renewed and our lives transformed on a daily basis by His Word. Then, when we seek His mind and His will on a matter we will have the right heart (motive) and our minds will be able to grasp and understand what He is saying and we will correctly judge what we heard to determine if it is truly the Lord speaking to us.

Today as I travel from church to church and visit nation after nation many believers do not know the mind of Christ on the important matters they face daily in their lives. That is often why they come to our meetings – to hear God through the ministry of the apostle (they usually call me a prophet – which I am not) and to receive a personal word from the Lord. This is so wrong. First we should hear God for ourselves and then the prophetic word can be simply a confirmation of what we have already heard directly in our time with God.

Here’s the problem – Christians have become lazy and irresponsible. They no longer do the hard work of learning to hear God’s voice and practicing until they get it right. Instead, they have allowed the fact that someone has worked hard and long at learning to hear God accurately (a prophet or apostle) to let them slack off. Why work hard at hearing God and discerning and judging what you heard? Just let the prophet or apostle give you the word and be done with it. Sad! Easy way out. But, let me ask, what do you do when there is no prophet or apostle around? Why you wait, of course. And wait, and wait, and wait…. what a waste.

It is time to recognize that every believer needs to be hearing God’s voice and knowing the mind of Christ daily for their own lives … and then the apostles and prophets can get on with their work of laying the foundations for the Church and not simply ministering to lazy believers.

Jim Cymbala, a pastor in New York, states: “Don’t worry about bringing small things to God, for with God everything is small.” I totally agree and would add: “Therefore bring the large things – the major issues in your life – to Him as well.” In fact, good advice to heed would be – bring everything to God in prayer … everything. After all, as it states in Luke’s Gospel “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Why don’t we take everything to Him in prayer? Because we trust in our own strength and wisdom; we believe in our own plans and follow our own agenda. We think we know enough and are smart enough to solve the issues on our own and without His help. But, when eveything fails, we do admit, in a way, that we can’t do it on our own because then, and often only then, do we pray about it. What stupid people we, as believers, really are.

One of the churches that I work with here in Canada sent over a short praise report a few weeks ago – just before Christmas. It said: “Just wanted to share a couple of awesome testamonies that were shared at our Christmas breakfast Sunday morning. A couple were feeling a financial crunch and just prayed for God to help them out the other day just driving along in the city. Then later that day they received a cheque that they weren’t expecting for some time and it was for at least double the amount expected! Then, we had prayed for a lady … for swelling in her ankles that had become quite serious, about 3 weeks ago . She said she noticed that her ankles were not swelling anymore (about 2 weeks ago) and there has been no swelling since. Praise God!! He is so faithful.” [I changed the names into generic “she” and “they” removing the actual names of real people]

Reports like this should be a daily thing as God is always wanting to be involved in the daily affairs of our lives. Our lack of fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and then not taking our requests – small and large – to God our heavenly Father in prayer causes us to live way below our potential. As a result we struggle with things we should not be struggling with and face situations alone when God wants to handle them with ius and often for us (so that we are not even involved). We fight many battles we don’t need to. If we would only listen for His voice we would hear, as Jehosaphat did, “stand still and watch the Lord fight your battles.”

I have begun a prayer journal in the last few weeks. I miss so many opportunities to praise Him and thank Him because He is constantly answering my prayers and yet I miss this fact because I often forget that I prayed about it. But, He never forgets and brings the answer to our prayers in His perfect timing. However, by then the prayer request is long forgotten. So, I simply record the things I speak to Him about on the left hand side of a journal’s double page – and then, every few weeks, I review what I have prayed about (and written down) and record the answers that have been received on the other blank page on the right hand side opposite the request. I date the requests and the answers … facinating exercise and really encoures me to pray about even more things – including the small and often apparently insignifigant things.

Thanks Pastor Jim. Blessings on you and your ministry.