Hearing from God
If prophetic art is “saying what God is saying,” (as I teach), then how do we hear from God? The basic truth is that we are to learn what the Bible says about God’s mind and will—the Bible is the written repeat of what God spoke to prophets, apostles, and “ordinary” people (if there is such a thing as an ordinary person). Anything we do, say, paint, etc., prophetically, must line up with the Bible—the Word of God. It doesn’t have to have biblical imagery or symbols, but must be consistent with what is taught in the Bible, and not contradictory.
Immerse yourself in Scripture to know it well—in context. This will be the framework for hearing clearly.
“If the Lord quickens a Scripture to your heart and impresses it upon you, pay close attention. It’s for a purpose.”
Henry Blackaby
When doing what I call live story painting on the Camino de Santiago a couple of summers ago, I needed to change—at the last minute, from painting about Mary of Bethany lavishly pouring out her expensive perfume in response to Jesus’ lavish forgiveness, to another story. In prayer, it came to me to paint the parable of the Prodigal Son, but I only had about ten minutes to prepare before our event began! This parable that I love was in my heart, so it wasn’t too hard to be ready.
Is there more? Yes. Jesus is the Word (John 1:1,14); the Word always has something to say. The Word has not stopped speaking. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27
If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re his sheep and you can hear his voice. How do you know what you hear in your mind is God’s voice—or your own, or even the devil’s? Jesus’ sheep know how to recognize his voice and turn away from the voice of a stranger—by practice. Linger in prayer and don’t do all the talking–listen. If the voice in your head says, “Punch your friend in the stomach!” (People have actually said that; others have said that if you’re worshiping, absolutely anything that comes into your mind is from God—sorry, no), it’s not the voice of your Shepherd, not the voice of God, but of a “stranger.” Again, does it line up with Scripture—particularly the New Covenant/New Testament? (Many things that were appropriate for those under The Law in the Old Testament, are no longer right for those who follow Jesus and are under grace instead.)
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5
Are you following James’ instruction to ask for wisdom?
Wisdom will help you recognize God’s voice but there’s a catch. James said you have to believe that God has given wisdom to you—or you won’t get it.
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. James 1:6,7
Does God speak to his people audibly anymore? Most of the time, we hear God’s voice referred to as “the still small voice.” Scripture and experience say that God’s voice can be loud and insistent, even in ones mind. Some say they’ve actually heard his voice with their physical ears, though most teach that God doesn’t do that anymore. Why not? I haven’t heard him audibly yet, but I hope to. Maybe it’s not so much that God has ceased speaking, but that we don’t expect to hear him. If we have to believe that he gives us wisdom when we ask, then shouldn’t we believe he’ll speak to us—even audibly, if we ask? (However, it’s nothing to take lightly since the people in the Bible, who heard God’s voice audibly, were often overcome by the power of it.)
The more you—or I, tune out worldly influences, the clearer God’s voice will become.
What have you learned about hearing God’s voice?
God is Speaking–Are We Listening?
He had a dream from God about a musical instrument…his obedience to the dream brought the gospel to a little known tribe. This is a testimony of prophetic art. It’s not a matter of whether God is speaking–the question is, are we listening? Are we obeying?
The Prophetic in Many Arts
A friend recently asked, “What about non-visual art through spontaneous songs (prayers, blessings) from the heart?”
Non-visual art can definitely be prophetic too-anything that says what God is saying can be prophetic. Spontaneous songs, prayers and blessings are lovely—and can be powerful prophetic creativity. Theresa Dedmon, in her book Born to Create, writes a lot about these forms–and an amazing variety of other arts God uses. I emphasise the visual here because that’s what I do and know best; visual art needs a voice in Christian circles these days, but yes, the prophetic can take lots of forms. When I was on an arts outreach in Albania, a dancer danced a blessing over me.
You Are Creative!
As a reader recently commented, since God created humans in his image (male and female!), every human being is in some way creative. Sadly, I often hear, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” When we do what God, The Creator does, we’re being creative! When we do what God tells us to do, we’re being creative! We often use the term “creatives” to describe visual artists, musicians, songwriters, actors; while this does have some benefit, it’s incomplete since everyone is creative. Creativity comes in many forms such as creative problem solving, cooking, communicating, and so much more. Creativity has been used for wonderful purposes but also for heinous ones. It originates with God but not all of it is of God. The goal of prophetic art is to receive our creativity from God and present it back to him for his glory.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27
“Your Art Says What God is Saying”
It’s taken me a long while to get started writing this blog—I wanted to get it right, besides, where does one start writing on such a big subject as prophetic art? At the beginning, of course—the beginning of my understanding of prophetic art. When I was first told my art was prophetic, I already thought so myself, but I wondered what my new friend meant when she said, “Your art is prophetic.” “Your art says what God is saying.” At the time (late 1990’s), I was painting vibrantly coloured flowers, gardens, and palm trees. No lions, lambs, or doves.
When I graduated with my art degree in 1997, I asked God, “What now?” He showed me that I could tell his stories through slides of my art, so I travelled with my slide projector to art groups in my region, telling stories of Jesus while showing images of my art. Artists would often come to me after my presentation, tearfully thanking me for my “bold witness,” while furtively looking over their shoulders, afraid to be known as Christians. Though we lived in the American “Bible Belt,” there was indeed persecution. Christian artists needed the encouragement. Others would say, “I love your vibrant colours!” I responded with, “They represent the joy and freedom I’ve found in Jesus.” One woman nodded repeatedly, saying, “I can tell!”
What has God already said in his living, active, dynamic word? What stands out to you as something he’s especially teaching you? What does our world especially need to hear from God today? Paint, draw, collage, sculpt it!
Visually Prophetic 