I was in a minivan with colleagues, traveling to a conference. On the way, I got a call from my lawyer about my work permit application. He said that my application had been forwarded to the authorities concerned and they would decide whether to grant it in their bimonthly meeting that was coming up in a few minutes.  Normally, an application of this type would be routine, but my file had some complications, and the lawyer told me that there was a chance that the authorities would raise an objection.

After the call, I messaged some friends and asked them to pray. I prayed as well. After about 15 minutes, I received an impression from the Lord that I should stop praying about this. Not only should I stop praying, but the Lord would be displeased if I kept praying about this matter.

I messaged the same friends and told them, “I believe the Lord is saying we’ll get it, and I don’t need to pray anymore.” Then for the next four days I was assailed by fears. My fears said to me: You won’t get the work permit and your credibility will go down in the eyes of your friends when they hear about it.

Four days later, I received the news that my application had been granted, and I had received my work permit. What was going on? Why did I have all the fears?

Praying for a Friend

Later the same month, a friend messaged me to say that his child had some health concerns and that they were doing some tests to see if their child had cancer. The following day I was fasting and praying about some matters on my heart, and I prayed for my friend’s child as well. As I prayed, a conviction rose up within me that their child did not have cancer.

At the end of my prayer time, I texted me friend to say, “I believe the Lord is saying that it is not cancer.” That evening, I was again assailed by fears: Neil, this time you’ve gone too far. You can really hurt people if you make mistakes in this sort of thing.

The next morning, I saw my friend’s response, thanking me for the comfort but telling me that the results wouldn’t be available for two weeks. Two weeks later they received the news: the cancer test had come back negative. I had indeed heard the Lord correctly.

Analyzing My Fears

What can we learn from these two stories? Why did I have such fears even after I heard the Lord correctly? Here are a couple of observations.

Observation 1

God speaks as we pray about the matters on our hearts. In these events, God spoke to me as I prayed. I wasn’t asking God to speak to me, I was simply interceding for matters that were on my heart. As I prayed, God spoke.

We see biblical precedent in this in Acts 13. The gathered body of believers were praying. I don’t think they were asking God to speak to them, they were simply worshiping and praying. As they spent time with him in prayer, God shared what was on his heart, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2) As we pray, either individually or corporately, we should be open to the possibility that God might have something to say to us.

Observation 2

When God speaks, we often face spiritual opposition in the form of doubts and fears. Satan, our enemy, does not want us to believe when God speaks to us. When you hear God’s voice, you may also have to deal with the voice of the enemy trying to get you to doubt that you have heard God correctly.

What’s the solution? I believe a good part of the solution is moving forward despite our doubts. This is what Peter did when he started to walk on the water. He wasn’t completely sure that it was Jesus who was calling him, but he took the first few steps anyway. Unfortunately, he gave in to his doubts and began to sink (Matthew 14:29-30).

May we be people who continue our conversation with the Lord despite our doubts and fears. In week 3 of the Listening to God Course we talk about doubt.

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash