Lesson 9. Reticular Activating System. The “How to Hear God” School was held at Father’s Blessing Church. Author: John Paul Jackson. Teacher: Dmitriy Leo
What Is It?
God created the reticular activating system, and it is one of the important components of the human body. The brain processes 60 billion bytes of information per second, so a filtering system is needed to manage this process.
The reticular system filters out insignificant stimuli and helps us focus on what is most important at a given moment. As soon as you recognize the value of certain thoughts, ideas, or sounds, your RAS begins to operate.
The RAS is a guide for the work of our minds. It is a selector and sorter.
Example:
You are walking down a city street. Dozens of people are coming toward you, a highway with dozens of cars is nearby, and on the other side there are shops, cafés, houses, and so on. But you are looking for your friend, who is supposed to be waiting for you somewhere ahead at the intersection. Your RAS focuses your perception on your friend’s appearance, while everything else around you fades into the background.
If we did not have the RAS, we would literally go insane from the overload of information. It is hard to imagine being someone who simultaneously observes and analyzes all the cars, people, shops, road, sky, sounds, clothing, hairstyles, building façades, shop windows, and so on.
Thus, the RAS helps us concentrate on what matters most at a given moment.
For example, when we lose a coin in the grass, the RAS focuses our attention between the blades of grass, and at that moment it switches off the analysis of the color, shape, and size of the blades. You are looking for money, and the RAS helps you find it. But when you examine the grass, the RAS will focus you on the grass, and you may not see what is lying in it (for example, a coin).
The same thing happens when listening to the voice of God. When we focus on listening to His voice, the RAS activates the parts of the brain and the sense organs connected with this.
Of course, this is not the only condition for hearing God; there is also a spiritual aspect, but it helps us focus precisely on the goal we have set.
Example.
Suppose you need to receive an answer from the Lord concerning an important question.
Wrong actions:
– you prayed about it, asked the Lord to answer you, said “amen,” and went about your daily activities, hoping to hear an answer. At the end of the day, as a rule, you have no clear answer, or you have one but doubt whether it is from Him or from you.The mistake is that throughout the day, the RAS switched to other things hundreds of times instead of focusing on hearing, so the RAS was not active in the area of hearing for most of the day. Accordingly, the likelihood and accuracy of the answer decrease.
Right actions:
– you prayed about it, asked the Lord to answer you, and remained in stillness for some time, focusing on listening to His voice. You are not in a hurry, and you have time available. At that moment, your RAS activates all five of your senses in order to hear. By doing this, you will be able to hear more answers from the Lord, and hear them more accurately.
Of course, God has no formulas or templates. He speaks in many different ways throughout the day and answers us at moments when we may not even be thinking about it. But there is a more effective way to hear His voice. We need to develop and improve our listening skills.
If we remain at the level where we were, we will have only what is available to us at that level, and no more. More is available to us, and we should strive for it.
Hab. 2:1 “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the tower; I will watch to see what He will say to me, and what answer I will give concerning my complaint.”
The prophet used RAS to find out what God would say. This is right because when we calm down and focus on listening, we will hear.
The same applies to visions.
Habakkuk wanted to hear, but God also showed him a vision;
Habakkuk 2:2: “And the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision and make it clear on tablets, so that the one who reads it may easily read it, for the vision is yet for an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, for it will surely come; it will not be canceled.”
When we focus on seeing, our RAS activates our ability to see.
Many Christians began seeing visions after they were taught to expect them and look intently.
At first, in the early stages, we may see pictures in the spirit with the eyes of our hearts. They are more like our imagination and are easily changed by it. But as we grow spiritually and practice, we begin to see clear, meaningful, colorful pictures that simply come from Heaven.
Can we see angels?
We can. If we focus the eyes of our hearts on angels, we will begin to see them. But not everyone will see angels.
How can this be?
- – those who want to hear God's voice and focus on listening hear it more clearly
- – those who want to see visions and focus on seeing them see more visions
- – angels are seen by those who want to see them and focus on seeing them
Practical Examples and Advice
Ministers who teach about visions do not focus during seminars—for example, while having dinner—but they remain open to seeing. They observe with the eyes of their hearts and listen for the voice of the Spirit.
Their RAS is directed toward seeing; thus, they teach while also being able to see at the same time. Sometimes I preach or teach and receive a vision simultaneously, which I immediately use as an example. Some of you will be listening to a person and, at the same time, see a vision about them.
Those who teach about hearing the voice of God devote the most time to listening. They keep journals, carry a notebook, spend more time sitting quietly and listening, and enjoy being alone in a garden, in the mountains, by a lake, and so on.
What does this mean?
This means that their RAS is constantly activated for hearing. They hear more than others. Are they more spiritual than you? Perhaps not. They are simply focused on it.
Ministers who teach about angels, when they enter an auditorium or stand at the pulpit, do not pay much attention to the stucco, chairs, or carpeting; instead, they look with the eyes of the spirit, ready to see angels or demons in the auditorium. Some see them occasionally; some always see angels. Some have never seen angels but sense their presence and form.
Once, while we were conducting a service, the doors of the auditorium opened wide, and white, transparent beings entered through them and filled the entire hall where we were sitting. I do not know who they were, but they looked like light, or as though they were made of light.
Those who teach about the glory of God see the radiance of His glory in the sky, over the city, in the auditorium, on people, and so on.
Conclusion
The reticular activating system helps us focus on physical and spiritual things.
When a thought, idea, or desire arises in us, our RAS begins to activate to bring it about.
Everyone has an RAS; it’s just that not everyone has learned to use it consistently.
To grow effectively in the prophetic gift, we need to learn to use the RAS constantly.
End of lesson.
Father’s Blessing Church
Author – John Paul Jackson
Teacher – Dmitriy Leo
