Episode Description:
Trusting God enough that He will answer me is directly tied to our identity in God and what we believe about God. Is God trustworthy? Can I really trust that He is interested enough in me to answer me? An identity grounded in God means that when we think of who we are, one of the first things that comes to mind is our status as someone who God deeply loves. Join us as we explore the question, “Do I trust God enough that He will answer me?” and look at how viewing ourselves through the lens of a beloved child of the Most High God means that God will answer us.
Episode Notes:
First Principle: Father wounds affect our ability to hear God
- The starting place of identity is by looking at who God is. When we are in a relationship with God, we obtain our identity from Him. Thus, we need to know who God is and revel in Him with awe and wonder to understand then who we are, how God made us, and our identity.
- A great starting place is in the Bible. In Exodus 34:6-7, God explains who He is. He is compassionate, gracious, patient, loyal, faithful, loving, just, and forgiving. The Bible is full of who God is.
- Once we realise who God is, we receive our inheritance and generational blessings of identity. It is through our identity that we become those attributes of who God is. We can then become compassionate, full of grace and patience, loyal, faithful, just, forgiving, and full of love.
- God is a good, good father. Fathers are responsible for provision, for protection and for our identity.
- Provision – what did that look like? Did we know the big picture? The world is fallen.
- Protection – prayer ministry – where was Jesus at that time? Every time people see Him nearby.
- Psalm 139 – we are beautifully and wonderfully made according to God.
Second Principle: Look at how we perceive ourselves
- How we view ourselves will determine how we hear God.
- Are we getting our identity from the people around us or from social media?
- The world is currently in an identity crisis. People are finding their identity in the wrong places. Fear of man is paramount. Fear is dominating over love in many areas. People need to understand who they are and who they belong to.
- Not trusting God to speak to us, I believe, comes from insecurity. Rather than a curse, insecurity is an invitation. God is inviting us to find security in Him instead of in our false beliefs about who we are and what we’re worth. Our identity is who we understand ourselves to be at our core. It needs to be in who God says we are.
- Do you see yourself as being the absolute apple of your Heavenly Father’s eye? His beautiful and adored Princess?
- Often, however, a gap exists between intellectually knowing the truth about who God says we are and living it out. This can be affected by how we see ourselves, life experiences and the ways we allow the world to define us.
- What is my unique purpose on this earth (our identity shouldn’t come from what we do but who we inherently are), eg healer, teacher, stewarder of dreams, bringer of freedom, justice, etc
- God made us who we are so we could make known who he is. Our identity is for the sake of making known his identity.
- Imagine an aggressive army invading your country. You are powerless to fight back or take a stand. It is a time of hiding, becoming invisible to survive. The enemy sweeps through the country, killing every person and animal, destroying every crop and business. Becoming destitute and impoverished, living seems futile. But you try. You don’t give up. Gathering the remnants from your crops, you hide inside a winepress as you try to thresh these remains. Cowering in fear, you frantically try to preserve your produce whilst not drawing attention to yourself. This was Gideon in Judges 6. It must have seemed crazy, but an angel visited Gideon, telling him he was a mighty warrior, a man of great strength—the opposite of what Gideon was manifesting as he hid, cowering in fear. The angel gave Gideon instructions, which Gideon carried out. His actions, though, demonstrated he didn’t trust the outcome. He ‘hedged his bets’. The angel then gave him further instructions. Each time, Gideon seemed to become more courageous. Each time, Gideon asked for an additional sign. It was a journey of overcoming fear and finding courage. Fear still dominated but became less and less paralysing. Gideon slowly demonstrated that, yes, he was a mighty warrior. The more Gideon believed that which the angel told him, the more courageous he became.
- Hearing, meditating on, and believing our true identity is crucial. We cannot consistently act in a certain way if we don’t believe it.
- Growing in our identity is a journey. A journey of self-discovery, exploring who we are as God’s beloved children and the implications of that.
- When we embrace our identity and live fully in that, we are unconquerable and weapons of power in the Kingdom. Since that is such a threat to Satan, he loves to challenge that part of us the most – our identity. Satan tried it with Jesus in Matthew 4:3 & 6, saying twice, “If you are the son of God….” Thankfully, Jesus knew and was secure in his identity.
- When we are secure in who we are and whose we are, i.e. our identity, we more easily identify the games the enemy plays to ensnare us. We keep our eyes firmly on God, secure in Him and His thoughts towards us.
- The enemy will endeavour to throw you off the true path. He will do anything to have our identity distorted, damaged, or destroyed. When we partner with the enemy in this, we go down misleading and damaging paths. The Bible is full of people who struggled with their identity and ran from their true calling, often engineering circumstances differently—Gideon, Moses, Sarah, Rebekah, etc. I am currently reading the Book of Genesis in my daily devotions and finding it fascinating how these men and women of God tried to orchestrate their calling and prophetic words. They stuffed it up completely, often causing tragic circumstances that outlived them, negatively affecting their generations to come. When you examine the lives of these Bible characters, you realise they only complicated things even more. They often caused more harm and damage to their identity and self-worth.
- We defeat our internal giants before we take on external giants. Becoming the person God sees us as is claiming and possessing our inner territory. If we are insecure and fearful, we shouldn’t expect to overcome fear in the world. Start with yourself. If we are harbouring bitterness and unforgiveness, it is hard to bring love to a hurting world. If we are full of regrets and disappointments overwhelm us, it is hard to bring hope to a dejected world.
- Sanctification is the process of renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2) and allowing what God says and thinks about us to shape who we are and what we do. It is becoming more Christlike, transformed as we believe and live out our Biblical identity. Our beliefs dictate our behaviour.
- If we live out of our true identity as a beloved child of God and how God sees us, we no longer feel the need to find worth in our external circumstances. People’s opinions, work success, family life, friendships, looks, etc, no longer define us and determine our significance. We are then free to experience God’s unconditional love and worth afresh.
- My identity – that of discovering who God has created me to be, is a process. A journey of discovery. Of becoming that which we discover about who Father God, Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ says we are.
- Like an onion with many layers, as we spend time with God and deal with sin and hurts in our lives, we learn more about ourselves, who God says we are, and who He sees us as.
Third Principle: It’s hard to hear God through a lens of limitations.
- What language do you use? God’s language is limitless. His finances, his ability, His possibilities. Ephesians 3:20. “God can do immeasurably more than what we could ever ask, dream or imagine.” No lack. No poverty mindset. Freedom.
- Ask, is this encouraging me towards freedom in Christ?
- Start practising living in delight. In godly desire. Satan attacks our desire and corrupts it or crushes it. Delight in the Lord, as described in Psalm 37, and it will begin to cultivate your desire. Dreams will come and grow. Hearing clearer from God as on His wavelength.
- Start decreeing a thing, and it will be established. Isaiah 55:11 (Our words don’t return to us empty but accomplish what we say.)
- Camp in delight.
Practical steps to help build a Godly identity:
- Worship God
Spend time in awe and majesty, worshipping your Creator. When we realise who we belong to, we can then discover our value.
- Declare Scripture over yourself
To find out who God says we are means we need to spend time with God – listening, praying, meditating, asking, waiting, watching. It means devouring the Bible, God’s Word, to discover what He says about us and why He made us.
Many Scriptures help gain insight into how God describes us. You can easily google and find them. You can also take the time to read the Bible and allow it to sink into your mind and soul. Unfortunately, there is usually a gap between our heart and mind – intellectually knowing what God says and practically believing it and living it out.
I find an effective method is to declare Scripture over myself about who God says I am. I find Scriptures and write them out, and then declare them over myself. A great starting place is Ephesians 1. “I declare that Father God created me and blessed me with every spiritual blessing. He chose me before the creation of the world. I am called, chosen, special and equipped to spread the Gospel.” You will discover your identity changes when you declare over yourself how God sees you and believing that which is written in the Bible about yourself.
- Prayer
Several years ago, I created a prayer calendar for June based on our identity in Christ. There are 30 days of prayer from Scripture outlining our identity as children of God. I created this in June 2020 (https://www.raisingworldchangers.com.au/june-2020-prayer-for-the-identity-of-our-children/) to pray over our children to help them with their identity. I realise it is also powerful and effective to pray it over myself.
- Deal with faulty beliefs
Our perception can influence our thinking and beliefs. Often, we can incorporate lies or faulty beliefs into our lives through our perception of events or words. Often, a false belief has wedged itself between how God defines us and seeing ourselves in the same light. For example, the opposite of “pure and blameless” would be “impure, stained or guilty.” Perhaps a life experience has caused you to feel impure, so you believe God sees you this way. You, then, create and live out of an identity based on your actions, which is contrary to how God sees you.
An easy method to deal with this is to take a few moments to spend time with God and ask:
- Father God, is there any lie or faulty belief I am believing?
- Grab the first thought that comes to your mind and explore that.
- Ask God to show or tell you why you think that.
- Ask God if there is anyone you need to forgive. If anyone comes to mind, forgive that person. Bless them. Do you need to forgive yourself?
- Ask Father God to show, tell, or give you the truth.
Healthy self-esteem and identity come from being who we are designed and created to be in community.
Summary:
- Father wounds affect our ability to hear God.
- Look at how we perceive ourselves.
- It’s hard to hear God through a lens of limitations.
- Practical steps to help build a Godly identity.
Prophetic activation:
Turn your heart and thoughts to Father God and ask Him –
- “God, how do You see me clothed? (Eg warrior, princess, soldier, astronaut, etc) or “God, what am I wearing in Your eyes?”
- “God, if I lived as this type of person, how would that change how I live?”
Time Stamps:
[0:58] – Gary & Jane share how they have heard God this week.
[5:03] – Introduction to trusting God enough that He will answer me.
[8:00] – First principle: Father wounds affect our ability to hear God.
[13:59] – Second Principle: Look at how we perceive ourselves.
[18:29] – Third Principle: It’s hard to hear God through a lens of limitations.
[20:02] – Practical steps to help build a Godly identity.
[21:31] – Summary
[22:08] – Prophetic activation.
[23:30] – Gary & Jane both share a prophetic word for a listener.
[24:51] – Gary prays for you.
Resources / Links Mentioned:
Bible Verses Mentioned:
- Exodus 34:6-7
- Psalm 139:14
- Judges 6
- Matthew 4:3,6
- Ephesians 3:20
- Psalm 37:4
- Isaiah 55:11
- Ephesians 1
- Romans 8:1
Connect with Gary & Jane:
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