- ‘TAWG?’ is when God speaks to us and we can hear from him.
- How to hear God’s voice” - john 10:27?

According to Jesus, if we are his sheep, we will be able to hear and recgonise God’s voice. Are you his sheep? If so, be assured that god wants to speak to you, and that you can hear from him.

- tawg is not a legalistic thing about sitting down and reading the bible. –kneel?

It’s a time when we are meeting a real person, God himself: a god who loves you very much, who desires to speak to you, guide you, encourage you, and rebuke and correct you when you are wrong.

Part 2: the secret place

-2 timothy 3:16-17

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God uses his word to correct; to make straight what has to be straightened; to nurture and educate, discipline at times

God gives us principles from his word, to make us wise, so we can choose correctly.

His word is also an expression of his love towards us

QN: If God’s word has all these qualities, do you still struggle frequently with feeling disconnected form god? Do you strain to feel his presence when you pray? Do you feel distant from him? Do you long to know that he is with you, right now, drawing to you?

Matthew 6:6 - But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is in the secret place. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Be in the secret place; I have gone ahead of you, I am waiting for you. The moment I get into the secret place, I am in the immediate presence of my father in heaven.”

-When I enter I room, I shut my door, close off every distraction, I am in the presence of my father. It matters not how I feel; regardless of my soul’s climate at that moment, I know with absolute confidence that I have stepped into the chamber of my father in heaven.

- when God speaks…his words are like a gong, they resound in your spirit…after which, a deep sense of conviction follows.

- the secret of refuge

Psalms 27:5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the secret place of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

There was this couple—chris and ann--who were feeling overwhelmed by a looming financial challenge. In desperation, they took some time late one evening—after settling their kids into bed—to pray and seek the lord’s help. As they sat together on their living room couch, making their petitions known to god, suddenly an audible voice began to speak, “If you need help, call 9-1-1. If you need help, call 9-1-1.”

They heard the voice say this about four or five times, and then it stopped. Mystified, Chris and Ann just looked at each other.

The voice seemed to be coming from the next room. So they cautiously opened the door, and switched on the room lights, not sure what they would find. Everything was in place except for a small toy ambulance, belonging to their son, that lay by itself in the centre of the room floor.

Chris picked up the ambulance, pushed a button next to its emergency lights, and the voice began to speak, “If you need help, call 9-1-1.” As they wondered aloud how the toy had activated on its own accord, suddenly the holy spirit seemed to nudge Chris with these words, “If you need help, call 9-1-1—psalms 91:1.” Going back to the scriptures, the verse had an entirely new meaning to them as they read it together. “He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Chris and Ann understood that this was God’s way of directing their hearts to that secret place relationship with Him. The inference was that God would direct their steps related to their financial needs as they gave themselves to the intimacy of abiding in the presence of the Almighty.

-don’t just read, but saturate your mind, your entire being with His word, and just bask in his presence as you wait upon him.

-in short, tawg is not just about the readg; it is about encountering god in the secret place.