Shot Out of a Cannon
By Steve Backlund
We used to have a yellow Labrador named Snoopy. He seemed to sleep all day in our house, but there was one thing that would jolt him out of a deep slumber. It was the moving of his leash on our laundry room shelf. Even if the leash was accidentally and only slightly moved, it didn’t matter to Snoopy. When he heard this good news, he was like shot out of a cannon and bound into the laundry room with eager anticipation. Because of this, he often pulled future walks into his present experience. His incredible hearing caused abundance in his life.
Snoopy illustrated powerful truths about hearing. “Then (Jesus) said to them, ‘Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him’” (Mark 4:24-25). “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (Luke 8:18).
Many of God's people are bound to lack and restriction because they have become dull of hearing. “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Hebrews 4:2). “Mixing faith” with what we hear is not only how we get into the kingdom, but how we advance in the kingdom as well. “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:2-3). When we focus more on our behavior than the hearing of faith, we have then moved into trying to be made perfect in the flesh.
When we prioritize intentionally hearing good news of the kingdom and mixing faith with it, we set ourselves up for great “profiting” in every area of life. We, like Snoopy, will have our ears tuned for a “jangle” in the Spirit to agree with. To help us walk in this “Snoopy anointing”, here are four things we can do to increase the likelihood it will happen:
Recognize it is New Covenant Living – Galatians 3:1-5 and Romans 10:13-17 confirm this.
Expect to hear a life-prospering word at any moment – Expectancy is another word for faith. When we expect to hear these “jangles in the Spirit” for our lives, we will increasingly hear them (no matter who the source is).
Be excited about what you hear – Bill Johnson, the senior leader at Bethel Church in Redding, has inspired us at Bethel to respond with enthusiasm to every testimony we hear. Similar to this, African American preachers often create cultures of demonstrative responses to sermons preached. These types of practices help us resist becoming dull of hearing (Hebrews 5:11), and are a demonstration of being shot out of a cannon with anticipation of good things coming.
Declare what you hear – Jesus declared Himself into victory in Matthew 4:1-11. He spoke Scriptural promises that had been made real to Him. He sets the example for us to declare God’s promises over our lives.
Snoopy taught me much about the power of hearing. I bless you with the Snoopy anointing to believe you will hear something incredible today.