I recently heard a message preached that sent me into a time of study and meditating on the word of God. He was teaching on Romans 10:17; faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We have all heard that scripture over and over – we have all been taught that faith comes when you hear the word of God preached, right? Then why is it that it works for some and not for others? I have often wondered that, how about you?
How and why does that happen? I know many people who read a book on the seven steps to prosperity and follow those steps diligently, only to remain in lack. Why didn’t it work for them the same way it worked for the author?
On the other hand, you may hear a message about sowing seed and it bears witness with you, you sow a seed and a harvest comes immediately, I have had both these scenarios happen to me in my life.
In this message I heard, he wasn’t speaking about hearing the word of God preached only, but the voice behind the word. He stated that you have to hear the VOICE of God for real faith to be present in your personal circumstances.
I thought hmmm. I haven’t heard it that way before, so I began to study. God took me straight to Matthew 4:4, let me share it with you:
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
I looked up the word ‘word’ and it means rhema which means something spoken by a living voice. Now, we know that the Bible is the inspired word of God – the entirety of the word of God is inspired by God Himself, however, different people are relating God’s message throughout the Bible.
The rhema word of God is what you hear when God speaks to you directly or when His spirit confirms what you have heard spoken by a minister of God or even a friend. Rhema is spoken by a living voice, spoken by God.
Through this we see why Jesus always had success; in everything He did, HE only did what He heard the Father SAY. He didn’t move until He heard God speak to Him directly, He didn’t go ONLY by the Bible (word of God) but by the word of God coupled with the spoken word from God. Oh my, I hope you are getting this today.
This explains why two people can hear the same scripture and apply it and one will have good results and the other one doesn’t. One waited until he heard God speak, the other moved forward on knowledge alone.
If you hear me teach on giving an offering and it bears witness with you and you sow a seed – YOU WILL REAP A HARVEST. However, if you hear me teach on giving and you think, ‘well, it worked for her, maybe it will work for me.’ Then it may not work the same for you, you are hoping it will work, but it is not rhema to you, you didn’t hear the ‘voice’ behind the message so for you it is just information. On the other hand if you heard that message and your spirit leapt within you and you knew in your heart it was YOUR word – it will produce what it was sent for. We simply must seek and hear God’s direction for us personally – it may or may not be the same thing He speaks to someone else.
You may recall in the Old Testament how the prophets of God and people of God sought God for each individual battle, they didn’t assume they would win their current battle the same way as the previous battle, instead they sought His rhema word for each battle. Sometimes God told them to go fight and they would recover all. Sometimes He told them to stand still and see His salvation. Sometimes He told them to shout. The important thing is that they sought His voice each individual time and when they followed His voice, it lead them to victory!
Oh, my friends, reading and hearing the word of God (the Bible) is awesome and much needed, but we can’t stop there, we must press in to hear the VOICE of God also, this is where true faith comes, when we hear that ‘rhema’ word, spoken by God, directly to us.
As I studied this, I thought of all the times I had heard God either confirm something I heard taught or speak something directly to me. When that happened and I responded to what I heard, I always, always saw results. I think about the time I heard a preacher teach on sowing a seed for a job or a particular thing, I sowed a seed that night for a job that would enable me to work with the word of God daily and have all the time I wanted to spend with God. That was a rhema word to me, it has been over 25 years and I have worked with the word of God daily since, I spend all my time with Him. That was a rhema word and a rhema seed.
Those of you who have heard the word taught and then heard the voice of God confirm or it witnessed with your spirit, that thing will come to pass, you will have success, as assuredly as Jesus did.
If we will do as Jesus did and only do what we hear the Father say, we will see the same results He did. So, today, I urge you, as you read this, listen…for the voice behind the message, listen for the Father to give you a rhema word and then follow it, it will bring you much success and you will walk in the God kind of faith, you will literally begin to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
