In Genesis 3:8-9 Adam gives us three principles or elements for an effective or effectual fervent prayer life, an ‘E.F.P.’ The first principle is that, ‘They heard the sound,’ ‘The voice of the LORD God.’ They heard (shema) to hearken, hear and obey, God’s voice. Deuteronomy 6:4 is what the Jewish people call ‘The Shema,’ Their first prayer in the morning and their last prayer at night and its prayed several times during the day, declaring their belief in the one and only true God. “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” To hear and to do something about it. I love Mal. 3:16, “Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another and the LORD hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them, that feared the LORD and that thought upon His name.” Sometimes people ask me, “Don’t you ever talk about anything except Jesus?” My response is, “Well sometimes I talk about Christ!” What else is there to talk about, the weather? Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, whether the weather be good or whether the weather be not, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather whether we like it or not. Amen? So talk about something that has chutzpah, like Yeshua, He has chutzpah. The Hebrew word for voice or sound is (kole-to call aloud) He talks and we listen or at least we should listen. Amen? Now there is a lost art today, especially in prayer, Amen? Listening! We come with our grocery lists, regurgitate them before God get up and leave and never give God a chance to speak. How insulting and demeaning to the Creator.

They knew His voice, why? They were accustomed to its sound that’s why! Question, are you accustomed to the sound of His voice? Are you? I Samuel 3:19-21, “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh, for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.” And He does the same thing today, He reveals Himself to His people in His word. You will never be more filled with the Spirit then you are filled with the Word! They knew His voice! Like my children Adam, Sarah, Rebekah I have slipped into chapel and during the service said Amen and they said, “My dad is here!” Why, they knew my voice! Our dog Lexi would get out and no body could get her back, I would step on the porch call her one time and she would fly to me, why? She knew my voice! WHY? They were accustomed to the sound of it and there my friend lies the key, accustomed to the sound of it!

John 10:4 says, And when He puts forth His own sheep, He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice!” How? They listen to the sound of it, they are used to hearing it. John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Voice (phone`) sound, tone (telephone, phonograph) How? They are in His WORD! Col. 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom…” Eph. 5:18-21. Let me say it again, you will never be more filled with the Holy Spirit than you are with the Word of God. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly and the Spirit of God will be at home in you also.

What is the first thing you do when your telephone rings after you say, ‘HELLO!’  You, Listen!’ The lost art in the ministry of prayer which needs to be cultivated again is, ‘Listening.’ And the words listen and silent have exactly the same letters. You can’t listen unless you are silent and still. I love Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know ‘YADA’ God.” The words ‘I Am’ are in italics which means they are not in the Hebrew text. So, Be still and YADA God, have spiritual intimacy with God! So the first principle of prayer we see in Gen. 3:8-9 is to hear and know His voice. How? Get in His Word, and let His Word get in you! meditate on it, memorize it, chew on it, soak it in, peel it back like an onion, taste and see that the LORD is good, don’t read a verse, ruminate on it until it becomes marrow in your bones and honey in your mouth.

Adam was a man just like us but he had personal, intimate, fellowship with his God before the fall, pure sweet, intercourse with his Sovereign Creator. Interesting Adam knew the place, (The garden) the time (The cool of the day) early morning, and he knew the voice (The sound) of God. It’s no different for us today, to communicate with God on an intimate regular basis. We just need a secret place, alone and quiet, a specific time, early morning before the cock crows or late night after every one is down, and we need to hear and know His voice. How precious that is; for those of us that have heard it, chills run up and down your back, your palms get sweaty. His sheep follow Him and know His voice, “Oh, LORD, may I know Your voice once again, may I hear it daily, all day long, may I listen for it, LORD may I have that special place just to get alone with you and commune, a secret garden, a pantry of nourishment, and LORD get me up in the cool of the day, before the cock crows, before the sun burns up the manna and drys up the dew, before the rush of the day destroys the hush of the night.”  Baruch ha Shem!          “Between The Lines”

“Portraits of Prayer in Genesis”  (Adam – Part #4)