Do this, Do that… Hearing God’s Voice

Ever get the feeling that you’re being torn in several directions? For me it seems like every day I let the ‘other’ voices render chaos in my life.  My decisions can be affected by pride, guilt, greed, prestige, etc… All those great attributes that I have acquired throughout my life. Oh I wish I could simply reach down and break those chains, but it’s not quite that easy!

I never really had time, nor the desire to read throughout most of my adult life; however, now I have found that desire but can’t find the time to sit down, be still, and read. I know it’s bad when I wonder how others could possibly have time to read novels… So what’s different about my life versus theirs… here it comes…. busy-ness. I think I am trying to fit in all the things I was unable to do while in active addiction, all 20+ years of them, into my current life and it’s not working. Sure I’m accomplishing great leaps and bounds through education, work, family, etc; but what about having time with God?

I am a music lover, and even study with music on. Well, maybe I should say that I used to. Up until recently I found being alone in a quiet room without distractions to actually be ‘louder.’ This may sound strange, or even familiar to some but the ‘voices’ I mentioned above were constantly yelling, vying for my attention. This made it near impossible to have some God time. You know, that is exactly what Satan wants to do, keep me from getting close to my Saviour and he does this through distractions, delays, and discouragement. Recently I have been turning to radio off while driving to and from work and finding an amazingly quiet, and peaceful feeling after inviting God into my day. A sense of calm has come over me when I turn off the distractions.

So, how do I may it easier to ‘hear’ God’s voice, let’s look at few things that work for me:

1. Through a quiet time and place. I get up early int he morning before the ‘world’ has started which allows me uninterrupted time to invite the Holy Spirit into my day

2. Through prayer. This allows me to have ‘one’ conversation at that moment, with God.

3. Through reading of scripture. While I have my bible open and reading, God is speaking to me as the bible is inspirationally ‘God breathed.’ This allows God to ‘speak’ directly to me through scripture.

4. Through other people. Attend Bible school. I can’t begin to express how valuable it is to have 15 other students providing their interpretations, and experience on scripture. God speaks to me through others, and I need others to break my denial and misconceptions.

The book of Hebrews tells us that we can train our ear to recognize the voice of God above all the noise. “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). It is by practising, by reason of use, that we are able to discern whether what we hear is of God, our flesh, or the Devil.

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”

So God will speak and you can hear His voice, but you must be careful, especially when you are a young Christ Follower such as myself. I need to objectively confirm that I am following the Holy Spirit and not another voice. Our own flesh can scream pretty loud as I mentioned earlier, especially when we are under pressure, or we want something very badly. And the Devil is the father of lies; he is the great deceiver.

So how can we know whether we’re hearing the voice of God? The Bible gives us seven basic keys. We are to carefully examine the thoughts and intentions of our hearts — and the words of godly people who may have influence on us by their words and actions — through the use of these seven keys:

1. Scripture: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17).
2. The Holy Spirit speaking to our heart: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them” (Hebrews 8:10-11).
3. The Prophetic (word of knowledge, word of wisdom, personal prophecy): “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (I Thessalonians 5:19-21).
4. Godly counsel: “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).
5. Confirmation: “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (Matthew 18:16).
6. The peace of God: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
7. Circumstances/Timing: “After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers” (Acts 18:1-3 – this relationship between Paul, Aquila and Priscilla — which happened as a result of circumstances — became one of the most important strategic partnerships in the book of Acts).

Many times the Lord will confirm His direction through three or more of these keys, especially when we’re in the process of making an important decision.I know that being patient is a key to hearing God’s direction. For the most part, when I am acting on impulse I am not hearing God’s word, but rather acting on self-will. It’s like sending an email when you’re upset or feeling anxious, if I am to wait until the next day, or even a few hours I will usually find that I don’t feel the same way.

I look forward to hearing more on our new series called ‘Whispers.’ Pastor J delivered an excellent opening hit last week, and now Pastor Rob can take us home…