Pastor Rob Bray | 11-23-2025
Have you ever found yourself consuming endless Christian content—books, podcasts, sermons—yet still feeling disconnected from God? You’re not alone. Many believers today are living on what could be called “borrowed revelation,” relying on others’ encounters with God rather than developing their own direct relationship with Him.
The Problem with Spiritual Mediators
While Christian literature, podcasts, and sermons are valuable tools for spiritual growth, they can become problematic when they function as mediators between you and God. When you need these resources to relate to God rather than using them to supplement your relationship with Him, you’ve crossed a dangerous line.
This pattern reflects what Pete Scazzero calls “emotionally unhealthy spirituality”—using God to run from God. You might be doing all the right Christian activities while avoiding the Holy Spirit’s conviction about specific areas of your life. It’s possible to stay busy with religious activities while never actually connecting with the Creator those activities are meant to honor.
Why Do We Avoid Direct Communion with God?
The truth is, many of us prefer the safety of secondhand revelation. When we encounter God directly, He calls us out of hiding. He confronts our lies, hypocrisy, and unaddressed issues. It’s much more comfortable to worship from a distance, decorating the veil with Christian activities rather than entering the holy of holies where real transformation happens.
Remember the Israelites at Mount Sinai? When they saw God’s presence in the clouds and darkness, they told Moses, “You go hear from God and tell us what He says.” They preferred a mediator to direct encounter. Could it be that we’re doing the same thing—outsourcing our communion with God to avoid His conviction while staying comfortable in our spiritual comfort zones?
Jesus: The Only Mediator We Need
Scripture is clear: “There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus paid the ultimate price to tear the veil that separated us from God. He purchased direct access to the Father for every believer.
Your pastor isn’t your mediator. Your favorite Christian author isn’t your mediator. Your podcast playlist isn’t your mediator. Jesus alone holds that role, and He’s already done the work to give you direct access to God’s throne of grace.
The Holy Spirit: Your Personal Guide
Jesus promised that “when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Notice it doesn’t say your pastor, your books, or your Christian activities will guide you into all truth. The Holy Spirit Himself is your guide, waiting to lead you into deeper understanding and relationship with God.
What Truth Does the Spirit Guide Us To?
The Holy Spirit guides us to three essential truths:
- The Person of Jesus: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)
- God’s Word: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17)
- Walking in Truth: Living authentically rather than hiding in spiritual activities
The Balance of Abiding and Doing
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This isn’t a call to inactivity—it’s a call to productive abiding.
When you abide in Christ first, your time with God becomes like a coffee filter for all the Christian content and activities in your life. He helps you prioritize what matters, drop what doesn’t serve His purposes, and minister from overflow rather than obligation.
Some believers need to learn to slow down and abide. Others need to take what God shows them in quiet moments and actually apply it through obedient action. The goal is both: intimate communion that leads to fruitful service.
How God Speaks to Us Today
God speaks through five main categories of revelation:
1. Special Revelation
God’s primary voice through Scripture, supported by scholarship, history, and archaeology that confirms biblical truth.
2. Direct Revelation
Supernatural encounters including audible voice, angels, visions, and dreams—though these are less common, they remain biblical ways God communicates.
3. Personal Revelation
The Holy Spirit speaking directly to your heart through the still small voice, prophecy, conscience, and repetition of messages.
4. Corporate Revelation
God speaking through church leadership, preaching, godly counsel, and testimonies of other believers.
5. General Revelation
God’s voice through circumstances, hardship, nature, and even art—though this requires the most discernment.
Practical Steps to Hear God’s Voice
Create Space for Listening
Practice solitude and silence. Give God room to speak into your inner world without the constant noise of Christian content competing for attention.
Read Scripture Methodically
Don’t just consume Bible content quickly. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal timeless principles and specific applications as you read.
Respond Quickly to What You Hear
When God reveals something through His Spirit or His Word, obey immediately. Quick obedience keeps the communication lines open.
Ask Good Questions
Try journaling with questions like:
- Holy Spirit, how do you see me right now?
- What do you want me to change in my life?
- Where are you taking me in this next season?
- What lie am I believing, and what truth do you want to replace it with?
- Is there someone you want me to love, serve, or speak to today?
Life Application
This week, commit to spending time in direct communion with God before consuming any Christian content. Start each day with 10-15 minutes of silence, asking the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. Listen for His still small voice, then write down what you sense Him saying.
Don’t abandon your Christian books, podcasts, or church involvement—but let them become confirmations of what God is already speaking to you directly rather than substitutes for personal relationship with Him.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Am I using Christian activities to avoid God’s conviction in specific areas of my life?
- When was the last time I heard God speak to me personally, not through someone else’s teaching?
- What would change in my spiritual life if I prioritized direct communion with God over consuming Christian content?
- Is there something God has been trying to tell me that I’ve been avoiding through spiritual busyness?
You were created for direct communion with God. Don’t settle for borrowed revelation when the Holy Spirit is ready to guide you into all truth personally. The veil has been torn—it’s time to step through it and hear His voice for yourself.