Acts 2:17-18

“In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy.”

Peter responded to the suggestion that Jesus’ followers were drunk by making the practical observation that it was far too early in the morning for anything like that! He then went on to point out that Joel, in the 9th-century BC, had prophesied that in the last days the Spirit would be poured out upon everyone in exactly this way. In Old Testament times the Spirit came upon people, but it was normally the prophets, priests and kings. In this new era of the Spirit it would be fundamentally different. The leaders of the Church would continue to play a crucial role, but now the doors were flung open to everyone to receive the Spirit and to hear God speak with them.

We are still living in the last days, so should expect to hear God speaking through one another as His Spirit comes upon us. I find this incredibly exciting. We thank God for those He has called to be church leaders and for their faithful declaring of God’s word. But we should be expecting to hear God speak to us through everyone else in our churches as well – through the shy, retiring people just as much as through the bold, talkative ones. We need to do what I love to call ‘deep listening’: because we know that God loves to speak to us through one another within the Church, we need to give our best attention to one another. Deep listening takes time, effort and much love but, as we listen, we can be sure that we will hear God speaking to us.

Question

Who are the people who have spoken God’s word to you most clearly in recent months?

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, that You love to speak. Help me to listen out for Your voice speaking through my Christian brothers and sisters. Amen