One of the most essential parts of our walk with God  is being able to communicate with Him. This involves talking (praying) and hearing him talk back. It is true that God speaks to us through the written word – the Bible. However, God is not limited to speaking to us just through His (written) word.

Being able to discern the voice of God is a very important part of our growth journey with the Father.

First things first! Before you worry about not hearing God’s voice, establish that you are God’s child. If you have truly given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are now God’s child and God’s children listen to His voice and obey. We are like sheep and becoming a sheep of Jesus Christ is a rudimental thing as far as hearing God is concerned.

Jesus, in John 10:11 says that, “my sheep hear my voice and they follow me”. A sheep is a meek animal that easily follows directions. So, if you’re someone else’s sheep and not yet a sheep of Jesus, you can not hear His voice. To be a sheep of Jesus is becoming born again by His Spirit. Are you born again? If yes, then you are on track. Let’s move!

Getting to the crux of the matter…

Read Also: Seeking God’s Truth

God wants you to hear His voice and be directed by it. Just like our human relationship with our earthly fathers, our relationship with God could function in the same way. A good father wants to see his child eat properly (so does God in Jeremiah 3:15), wants to see his child grow well, a good father wants to provide the needs of his child (Phil 4:19), wants to see his child prosper in every good thing (3 John 1:2) and be a good example wherever his child goes (so does God in Matthew 5:16) and finally, a good father wants to talk to his child and let him or her know all the wonderful things he has in store for them. God is that good father – I mean, if our earthly fathers who are imperfect and sinful, have such good desires for their children, what more of the Holy and Righteous God (Matthew 7:11)? God desires to talk with you personally and express His desires uniquely for your life.

A lot of us go about our day, working or doing whatever that occupies us and forget to ask God, “what would You have me do with my life”? All of us were born with a unique purpose and if we stay at just the level of obeying scriptures (which is still so important and key to our Christian lives) we will miss out our uniqueness. It’s time to go a step deeper!

There are many reasons why we need to discern God’s voice (hearing and recognizing it when He speaks) and in most cases, when we talk about hearing God, it in many ways precedes obedience to that voice. However, the difficulty in hearing God for many children of God comes because they are yet to submit their will and desires under God’s authority. That is why Jesus wants us to be like sheep. It is pointless asking God for direction about issues of your life when you already have your path planned out; you will find it easier to go your own way when you have already made a decision on where to go without seeking God’s opinion first. A clear example of this is King Ahab in 1 Kings 22 (emphasis on verses 7-18). Ahab was already decided to go to war and so, he preferred to listen to the lying words of the 400 prophets who told him he would have victory in the battle instead of the voice of the Lord through prophet Micaiah who told him not to go to war. Indeed, as you read till the end of that chapter, you see that King Ahab’s death (which could have been avoided) was a tragic one.

HOW TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

The key to being able to hear God’s voice clearly is consistent study of God’s word in scripture and obedience to that which He has already said in His Word. You will most likely hear the voice of someone you are very willing to obey. So, it starts with you loving God’s word and obeying scriptures then, it will be easier to hear his voice and obey too.

TASK: Make a conscious decision today, that during your prayer time, you would practice actually being quiet to listen to God’s voice. Be calm in your spirit.

Expect the voice of God. It is His desire to speak to you so expect to hear His voice because, He will speak.

Ask Him anything you like starting with simple stuff and listen for his response. Don’t think too much about it, no planning of answers in your mind – just humble surrender to His will and a complete openness to whatever he may say. That should be the posture of your heart.

Read Also: Align Yourself

HOW TO KNOW IT IS GOD’S VOICE

As a student of the holy scriptures, you are already familiar with the teachings of the Lord in those pages and so, one of the ways you will know that it’s truly God,  is that it would align with what you know to be true from scriptures. Also, in one, two or more ways what God has told you will be confirmed. Sometimes you may hear a servant of God say the same thing, situations in your life will match what God had said as well as He – God – is able to do certain things you ask of Him in order for you to know He actually said what He said.

Remember, you get better at hearing His voice with more prayer, study and understanding of God’s word. So don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear right sometimes and God will perfect this good work in your life as you keep cultivating the art of being still in your soul to hear from your Heavenly Father.

God bless you!

By Kathy-Ekong N.N (Pure Love)