Now it's very gentle. It's a very gentle flow. It's so gentle, it hardly feels like anything. That's why you've got to silence all the noise inside, free up your spirit with gratitude and praise, letting things go to God, focussing your attention on Him, expecting for Him to give you something; and then identify the impressions, the things you feel. I will sometimes, when I'm even studying or looking for messages, or things like that, I'll just feel no life on something. It's good but there's no quickening, no life on that. Wherever the spirit is moving, there's something comes alive, so you could have a whole page of things you're reading and look at, but there's just one you feel you're drawn to. That's where the life will be. That's where the spirit is leading you, and so it's very, very simple. Now this is not just something that happens once, or often, or when you're in a prayer meeting. This is something you build a daily relationship with God, time in His word, time in prayer, looking for God to speak to you; and if you're serious, you write down the things God's saying to you.
I have in my iPad, as I've been seeking guidance just recently; I have every little piece of guidance that I felt God giving me, is itemised in my iPad under 'Guidance.' Why? Because each little thing itself may not be very much, but together they form a consistent, and compelling, direction from the spirit of God. Are you getting the idea? Remember, it's not in the big; it's in the little. Jesus said: the kingdom of heaven is like the sower that sows the seed, if you don't understand the power of the seed, the devil will take the seed away. I believe that many of us, God has sown seeds to you, and given thoughts and ideas; but because you didn't understand it, and thought it was so little, you let the devil take it away, didn't understand it's significance in changing your life. This is one of the problems. When God gives us things, it's very, very little; but when we give ourselves to dwelling on it, pondering on it, thinking about it, asking Him for further insight, it grows. Within the seed, is a tree; so in all aspects of our life, within the seed is a tree. It's in the little thing, if you'll give yourself to it, and develop it, it begins to grow - - so hearing the voice of God.
Now let me just finish on how not to become an idiot at the end of it - we'll probably put it under that heading - or you could put it down under the thing of guidelines as to whether you heard the voice of God; but how not to become a spiritual idiot, how about we put it that way? So there's a few ways that people become a spiritual idiot, let me just give them to you. These are cautions about impressions you receive. Number one, here's the first question: does it agree with the word of God? If what you're receiving, is just contrary to what the Bible says - the Holy Ghost's not going to contradict Himself. I had some people say: oh, I just feel I prayed, and we feel it's right to move in with one another, and live together; and I say: what, you mean you're going to be having sexual relationships? How can the Holy Spirit be leading you to do that, when He says: abstain from fornication? Come on, help me understand how the one who wrote the Bible, now is telling you a different story,, and it's your story, it's so different because it's about you?
Actually this is what He says, so don't say that's guidance from God. That's coming from your own heart, it's all about you. So if it doesn't agree with the word of God - I hear all kinds of weirdness come, and people say: God told me this, God told me that, God told me, all kinds of things. I think: this is just weirdness. You're hearing from yourself; or you're hearing, even worse, from demonic spirits. If it's from the spirit of God, it'll never contradict the Bible. It may highlight things we haven't been aware of, and it may bring understanding of things, but it'll always have a reference base in the Bible, so your spiritual experiences need to be anchored back to the word of God. Getting the idea? How many can think of some weirdness already? [Laughs] Okay. Here's the second thing: what you're getting, does it edify, and exhort you, and stir you up, and build you up; or does it put you down?