Sunday Message - Fountain of Grace International - Pretoria North
The Prophetic Reset: Hearing, Seeing and Speaking Heaven Again | John 10:27
Have you ever felt like God is speaking but you cannot quite pick up what He is saying? This sermon kicks off a 4-week Prophetic Reset series designed to help ordinary believers - not just special prophets - tune back into the voice of God. Pastor Ricardo Zaal unpacks why hearing God is your inheritance, how He speaks through scripture, His Spirit and creation, and what simple disciplines will open your ears again.
Pastor Ricardo Zaal - Fountain of Grace International, Pretoria North - 12 October 2025
Why Every Believer Has the Right to Hear God's Voice
One of the most damaging assumptions in the modern church is the idea that only a special category of super-spiritual prophets can hear directly from God. Pastor Ricardo Zaal dismantles this myth head-on by anchoring the entire series in John 10:27, where Jesus says plainly, 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.' The word 'sheep' is not an elite title. It simply means anyone who belongs to Jesus. If you are born again, hearing God is already part of your spiritual inheritance - not something you have to earn or wait to be granted by a ministry leader.
Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 14:31, teaching that all can prophesy, one by one, for the edification and encouragement of the church. The Prophetic Reset series is built on this foundation. Week one deliberately begins with retuning - helping believers strip away the false filters and rediscover the intimacy with God that was always meant to be the norm, not the exception. Pastor Ricardo's goal is that by the end of this first session, every person under the sound of his voice would leave knowing that hearing God is their right in Christ, not a privilege belonging only to a few.
How God Speaks - Three Channels You Already Have Access To
God's communication is constant. The difference between those who seem to always hear Him and those who struggle is rarely about God's volume - it is almost always about the listener's tuning. Pastor Ricardo identifies three primary channels through which God speaks. The first and most consistent is scripture. God has already spoken into every major area of human life through the Bible, and most believers miss His voice simply because they are not reading it. If the entry point to hearing God prophetically is opening your Bible daily, then the uncomfortable truth is that many people are not even standing at the door.
The second channel is the Holy Spirit, experienced as an inner unction - a rising sense that you need to say something, go somewhere, or stop what you are doing. This is the still small voice that shows up as a check in your spirit before you make a decision you will later regret. The third channel is creation. God speaks through the natural world in ways that carry prophetic weight when you have eyes to see. A vulture circling is not just a bird - in the hands of a prophetically tuned believer, it becomes a picture of the enemy patiently waiting for your downfall. Learning to read these channels is not mysticism; it is what Jesus modelled constantly in his parables and what the prophets of scripture practiced throughout their lives.
The Four-Week Prophetic Reset Framework
The series moves through four intentional stages, each building on the last. Week one focuses on retuning - breaking the spiritual static that has accumulated through neglect, hype and false models of prophecy, and returning to the simple, intimate practice of hearing God. Week two moves into reinterpreting, which covers understanding the language of the Spirit, including how to decode heaven's symbols. Just as the dove that descended on Jesus at his baptism became a symbol of the Holy Spirit, God regularly uses symbols in dreams, visions and natural events to communicate messages that require spiritual interpretation to unlock.
Week three tackles repurifying - the confronting work of examining the mental framework and personal motives behind prophetic ministry. Manipulation, pride and the desire to impress people are among the most common ways prophetic gifting gets corrupted. This week takes its cue from Elisha's request for a double portion of Elijah's anointing - an example of asking with the right motive, which was to serve others rather than to elevate himself. Week four then focuses on rebuilding: establishing within the local church a culture of revelation that is also accountable and soaked in love. The goal is not a church that is famous for spectacular prophecies, but a community where Christ is consistently revealed, and where prophetic words are tested, treasured and walked out faithfully.
Journaling, Disciplines and the Danger of Letting Words Go Unrecorded
One of the most practical habits Pastor Ricardo introduces in this first session is journaling. When God speaks a word to you - whether through scripture, a dream, a vision or a strong inner impression - write it down. The reasoning is straightforward: prophetic words do not always come to pass immediately. Some words are seeds that will only germinate when the person receiving them is spiritually and practically ready for what the word promises. Joseph's dream about his family bowing before him was given to a teenager but fulfilled decades later to a mature ruler in Egypt. If he had not remembered the dream, the moment of fulfilment would have passed without recognition.
Pastor Ricardo is direct about the gap between emotional Sunday experiences and Monday morning reality. Hype produces a spike in the emotions that collapses within 24 hours. True prophetic culture produces something that anchors you and grows over time. The practical activations for this series - listening exercises, scripture meditation and journaling - are all designed for the Thursday sessions at Fountain of Grace, where participants can practice in a safe, accountable environment rather than simply receiving teaching and walking away unchanged. The entire reset is built around one conviction: that hearing God is not a performance, it is a relationship - and like every healthy relationship, it is sustained by consistent, honest, two-way communication.
"God is always speaking. Whether we hear or not is where the difference comes in. My sheep hear my voice - that's not a special few, that's every one of you."
- Pastor Ricardo Zaal
What to Do Next
- Open your Bible daily this week as the entry-level prophetic discipline - God speaks most consistently through scripture, and you cannot hear what you are not reading (Psalm 119:105).
- Start a prophetic journal and record every impression, dream or scripture that stands out to you, noting the date - some words take time to mature, and Joseph's story shows why writing them down matters (Genesis 37:5-7).
- Ask God one honest question each morning this week and then sit quietly for two minutes listening - practice recognising the inner unction of the Holy Spirit rather than waiting for dramatic confirmation (1 Kings 19:12).
If you are in Pretoria North, come on a Sunday - these messages are preached live every week at Fountain of Grace International, 323 B Danie Theron Street.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does John 10:27 say about hearing God's voice?
John 10:27 in the KJV says, 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.' This verse makes clear that hearing God is not a gift reserved for a select few prophets - it is the normal experience of every believer who belongs to Jesus. The relationship itself carries the ability to hear.
Why do I feel like I can't hear God speaking to me anymore?
Spiritual static builds up through neglecting the Word, allowing manipulation or hype to replace genuine encounter, and letting wrong motives creep into the prophetic. Pastor Ricardo teaches that God never stopped speaking - the problem is almost always on the receiving end, not the sending end. Returning to scripture, prayer and honest journaling are the first steps to clearing that static.
How does God speak to believers today according to the Bible?
According to this sermon, God speaks primarily through scripture, through His Holy Spirit as an inner unction or impression to say or do something, and through creation. Romans 1:20 affirms that creation itself communicates God's invisible qualities. The key discipline is learning to recognise and respond to each of these channels consistently.
What is the difference between true prophecy and prophetic hype?
True prophecy keeps Christ at the centre, is delivered in purity and humility, and produces lasting fruit in the life of the hearer. Prophetic hype spikes emotions in the moment but fades quickly, often leaving people more confused or manipulated than built up. Pastor Ricardo teaches that genuine prophetic ministry is accountable, rooted in love and never used to control or sell outcomes to people.
Join Us This Sunday
Fountain of Grace International meets every Sunday at 09:00 at 323 B Danie Theron Street, Pretoria North. Come as you are.