A famous zoo in Germany purchased a great brown bear from the traveling circus. Until this point, this magnificent but abused creature had lived in misery. For the duration of its life the bear had been locked up in a tiny cage about 12' long. Every waking hour this bear took 12 steps forward and 12 steps backward in his prison. Finally he was sold to the zoo, freedom at last! But the bear refused to come out no matter how the zoo keepers tried to set him free. Eventually, they set fire to the cage so that the bear had no choice but to escape the fire by coming out. Even though his new compound consisted of acres of lush green grass with plenty of trees and sparkling pools of drinking water complete with other bears for companions. the bear was not interested. He started pacing 12 feet forward and 12 feet back - the exact dimensions of his cage!
Some Christians find themselves in a similar dilemma. Having become so accustomed to certain thought patterns of defeat and failure in some areas of their life, they convince themselves that things will never change and they remained locked in an invisible mental prison. They still listen to the voice of the past and the enemy's voice though they have been set free by Jesus. (Romans 8:1-2) God wants us to silence those voices of defeat so that we can hear from Him. Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM says that he has found three simple steps that have helped him and thousands to hear God's voice :-
1) Submit to His Lordship (2 Corinthians 10:5,Proverbs 3:5-6)
2) Resist the enemy in case he tries to deceive you (Ephesians 6:10-20)
3) Expect an answer from God (John 10:27,Psalm 69:13,Exodus 33:11)
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