Something odd is going on in rural Missouri at a church called The River. No, it is not the building shaped like an ARK off I-44, but yes, that is odd to be sure. It is a church meeting that started in June this year every Tuesday with the only goal of providing people with a space to hear God.
Stepping into this meeting, you may find yourself trying to figure out what is going on. You will see dozens of people across the sanctuary sitting quietly with notebooks open. Some nights you may hear “soaking music” faintly playing in the background, or silence filling the sanctuary. On occasion, a person may be quietly playing an instrument. Occasionally, you will see someone get up and leave and others show up in the middle of the meeting, but they simply come in and quietly sit down.
This happens every week for nearly two hours. Can you imagine sitting quietly for two hours without expectations, programs, or agendas? Yet, this is the most talked about thing in our area. Why? Because God shows up and talks to His people. Not only does He talk, but He seems to enjoy showing off at times with people being set free from addictions, physical healings, and emotional hurts being healed.
Over the past decade since being introduced to 4 Keys to Hearing God, I have been convinced that this is the most vital piece of the puzzle in our Christian life. It allows us to build a relationship with our creator instead of practicing a religion. Every time I have had a chance to share the 4 Keys with others, I do. As the leader of our small group's ministry, I have even made this teaching required for our leaders.
Over the past 10 years, the number one item that I kept hearing was that “I don’t have time”. Everyone sees the importance of tuning to flow, but daily life seems to crowd it out so often. So when praying about what to do for our summer small groups, the seed was planted to have one group and simply make it a time when people can get away from it all and just listen.
So here is what we did. We used our old church sanctuary (currently our youth building) and set it aside for listening. Since only a small number of our church had gone through 4 Keys training, we ran a small 4-slide PowerPoint (Fig 1-4) continuously so folks could try and figure it out on their own. Although we offer help, no one asks. Talking is prohibited and if folks need to chat, we have a cafe area in the building where they can visit without disturbing others that are tuned to flow. No one starts the meeting, no one gives directions, it is just a quiet space for people to enter.
After the first hour, a few folks experienced with the 4 Keys are available to pray with anyone who needs ministry. Although there are no restrictions, it is mostly meant to be a chance for folks who have heard something from God but don’t know what to do with it to get some direction. We simply pray with them, both parties tuning to flow to move understanding forward.
During our first night, in my listening, I heard God tell me to go ask people what they were hearing, so about 15 minutes before we were to finish, I asked if anyone wanted to share what God was talking to them about. After the first person shared, then a second spoke up and said, “God told me the same thing…”. Others shared and there was a definite thread that ran through everything God was talking about that night. Because of that, a testimony time at the end of the session has become a vital part of the evening. I often hear that the sharing time gives confirmation (confirmed by the witness of 2 or 3) or similarly, if a person was new to the 4 Keys, it was confirmation that they had heard from God.
One of the other occurrences we have seen is the proliferation of visions. Many folks had never seen a vision or if they had it was years between occurrences. Mike’s vision is not unusual. One of our senior saints, I guess Mike is in his 70s and has many years of walking with God. Mike had never been trained in the 4 Keys, but still came with his wife and like everyone else, read the PowerPoint, sat quietly and when he focused on Jesus, he experienced his first vision. As he tells it, “I was trying to picture Jesus and then all of a sudden, there He was. Behind Him was an arm reaching down from a bright light that was behind the pulpit area. I just knew this was the Father’s hand. Jesus told me not to be afraid and to take the Father’s hand. I was thinking that I was a sinner, but when I reached out and took His hand, it all changed, I knew how much I was loved.” As Mike shared this with me, he was visibly shaken with tears in his eyes. "I never knew it could be like this" were the final words of his testimony, and I can tell you there was barely a dry eye in the room after that.
Our group was slated to end at the end of August. However, we heard from several people that these meetings “could not stop.” One of the pastors heard in her journaling that it is “vital” that these meetings continue for what God has planned at our church. Everyone on our leadership team agreed, so our listening meeting will continue year-round until God tells us otherwise.
Fig 1
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About the Author
Jay Fernandez is the Small Groups Leader at the River in Waynesville, Missouri. Jay was introduced to the 4 Keys and Dr. Mark Virkler at the Catch the Fire Leaders School of Ministry in Toronto after coming off the missions field in South Sudan. He has authored two books on God’s Grace that both include the 4 Keys as vital pieces of our Christian life.
About the Church.
The River is an interdenominational, intercultural, full-gospel church passionate about seeing God transform people’s lives through an intimate, personal relationship with the living Savior, Jesus Christ. It is located in Waynesville, MO just outside the Army’s Ft Leonard Wood training post.
Testimonies
Howie Malone, Lead Pastor, the River
I was excited when Jay proposed the “soaking time" every Tuesday night through the summer, instead of our usual “Streams” small groups. I had no idea what God had in store and what we were in for. It has blessed me so much as the pastor to see so many people connecting with God in a more direct and personal way, through these sessions. It blessed me too, to force myself to sit quietly and just listen to God, rather than rattle off petitions and concerns, like we do so many times in prayer.
Kelly Tillott
Before attending the soaking, I had attended a stream (small group) at Jay’s house on Hearing the Voice of God. I wasn’t sure what to expect at this small group but I desired to find out if God speaks to me. I believed he did but wasn’t sure if I was hearing his voice. I have come to understand that God speaks to me all the time. In my busy life, this weekly time has become vital for me. It is my appointment with the Father to hear what he says about my life, the Church, and our community.
Brenda Sands
In 2013, I learned a simple way of recording what the Word says to me. It changed everything. In 2023, I learned about the 4 Keys at Jay’s home group to quiet my head and simply listen after asking God questions. It changed everything again. Our Tuesday nights provide a time to just be quiet before Him. Who knew I could trust Him in this way? He surely did. Wow! I’m so thankful to have the rest of my life to keep going deeper.
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