Hearing God’s Voice Isn’t Hard
Hearing God’s voice is a game changer. One day it dawned on me while reading Isaiah 6:8 that God wasn’t addressing Isaiah directly. Since God spoke everything into existence, it stands to reason He likes to talk with His children. Unfortunately, not everyone hears Him because they’re spiritually deaf.
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isaiah trained himself to hear God by disciplining his thoughts and conduct, and associating frequently with God. When God speaks, you hear His voice coming out of your heart where the Holy Spirit dwells. He lives inside every believer so we hear Him spirit to spirit.
Hearing God’s Voice: Discerning When He Speaks
I took my job seriously to keep my daughter safe. Throughout those years, my family soon learned I was an anointed “Black Widow Whisperer”.
For some reason, we had an abundance of Black Widow spiders in our garage and on our property. One day she was swinging happily outside as I watched from the kitchen window. An internal alarm went off inside of me as I ran outside and told her to stop swinging.
I knew there was a Black Widow somewhere close but didn’t see it. I looked on the swing set frame, in every nook, and inspected her clothes. Suddenly I saw the spider on the ground at our daughter’s feet.
These spiders don’t normally crawl on the ground but there it was. God built into me a spiritual defense mechanism to ward off danger. He knew that in an emergency, I shouldn’t be asking, “Was that you Lord, the enemy, or me?”
Hearing God’s Voice Requires an Ongoing Relationship with Him
Doesn’t it stand to reason that your spiritual ears hear better when you know the other person intimately? God never pleads with us to follow Him just as Jesus didn’t when He said, “Follow me” to His disciples.
That’s why people refer to hearing God’s voice as “the still small voice.” Have you ever felt the mountains, beaches, lakes, and nature calling out to you to come near? That’s how it feels when God speaks. His voice is familiar.
Parents seek out their children to find out what’s going on with them. The same is true in your relationship with God.
Jeremiah 29:13 – And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
The desire must be in our hearts to know God personally (the same effort it takes to seek out our children to know them). You recognize each of your children’s voices immediately because you spend time with them. The same is true for God’s voice when you hang out with Him.
Hearing God’s Voice Is Know How He Speaks
Gloria Copeland said the first thing God told her was that the car’s glove compartment light was on. She kept dismissing the thought but God kept repeating, “The glove compartment light is on.”
Sure enough, when she checked it was. If the car battery drained, she and her two children were alone, without transportation.
God tells me what to buy relatives and friends. Many times they say, “How did you know?” Don’t dismiss thoughts in your mind such as to take a different road home or stop by someone’s house to check on them. You may not hear a voice but you have a strong impression to do something.
Once after a job interview, I walked to my car and heard, “That job is yours if you want it.” The tone wasn’t harsh or demanding. I could keep a pressure-cooker job that adversely affected my health or take the less-demanding job. The employer offered me the job (as God said) and I accepted.
You might hear God say to “clean out the garage”, “get your house ready to sell”, or “stop watching certain TV programs.” God addresses the issues that keep you from growing spiritually even though you don’t see any reason to make small changes. You may wait for a spiritual promotion because you don’t pay attention to what He tells you to do now.
God has unlimited knowledge, making Him the consummate helper. He knows how to make pancakes, fix a dishwasher, and balance a checkbook. Seek Him for these seemingly small answers. As you grow in your relationship with Him, He will respond to hard questions no one else can answer.
How to Hear the Voice of God
How do you know when God is speaking?
Sometimes, I tune out people when my mind is on something else. That behavior communicates that I have no interest in what the person says. That has also happened to me.
For example, I once ended a personal relationship with a friend of 15 years because it was obvious I wasn’t important. Every year when I called to wish her a happy birthday (I gave presents too), she would say, “I’m putting your birthday on my calendar right now.”
She missed my birthday every year. It finally dawned on me (I’m a slow learner) that even though I was her friend, she wasn’t mine.
We do this with God too. We make excuses and say, “God doesn’t talk to me” but we don’t make the effort to get to know Him. God is talking all the time but people never hear Him.
Hearing God’s Voice Is Important
God wanted a family He could talk to and enjoy. That’s you and me. We settle into a lifestyle of hearing God’s voice by reading The Word and praying to renew the mind and push out carnality. By knowing The Word of God, frontward and backward, you recognize voices other than God’s. Remember, whatever He says NEVER contradicts His Word.
Equally important when hearing God’s voice is identifying peace in your heart. Pay attention to a persistent nagging feeling that you shouldn’t move forward. That’s God saying to put on the brakes!
God may even send someone to deliver a personal word to change your outlook. Sometimes, God stays silent because you’ve matured spiritually and He knows you can handle what’s next.
A lifestyle of expecting to hear God’s messages develops as you practice hearing Him and staying obedient. Before you know it, you’ll say like Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (I Samuel 3:10).