HEARING GOD'S VOICE
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27
John 10:27
HEARING GOD'S VOICE
There are scores of verses in the Bible that show how God speaks to His children and to those that He draws unto Himself. “Hearing God's voice” is the key to living a victorious and fruitful life for all Christians. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we could never know the calling that God has for our lives or be able to live our lives to the fullest.
When Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, they broke the only command that God had given to them and because of the sin they had committed, the open communication between mankind and God was disrupted. After they ate “of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,” they certainly acquired the knowledge of “good and evil” (Genesis 3:3-5). Since then, our conscience, the knowledge of “right and wrong,” helps us to distinguish good from evil whether we are born-again Christians or not. No one can say that they do not know the difference between right and wrong unless they have silenced it by continually ignoring its warnings.
Maybe you have desired to hear God's voice for a long time and no matter how hard you have tried, you could not hear Him. In my early years after becoming a Christian, I thought that God would speak in an “audible, serious, thundering voice” and because I was not hearing anything in that manner, I thought that I must not be good enough for God to speak to me and that He then must only speak to special Christians. It took me a while to realize that God speaks in many ways and that He speaks all the time. He speaks through the His Word and often as a still small voice, through thoughts, strong instinct or impression, dreams, visions and other gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As we grow in understanding God's Word, we hunger more and more for His presence and as we seek the revelation of the Holy Spirit about whatever God wants to show us in the verses that we read, we become more sensitive to His voice and we hear Him clearer and clearer.
“Hearing God's voice” is a broad term that actually refers to “hearing with the spiritual ears”of the spirit and not just with the physical ones. We hear with the “spirit” or the “heart,” also called by Paul “inward man” or “hidden person of the heart” by Peter. In our spirits, we have all the senses that we have in the natural bodies and as we grow in the spirit, we learn to identify these senses and benefit from using them. We see the visions that we receive from God with the “eyes of the heart” and when God speaks to us through dreams, we receive them in our spirits also. God created us to function perfectly, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit united with our spirit. Since the fall, man lost the union and the clear direction of the Holy Spirit as they chose to be led by their own mind, will and emotions. Jesus Christ came to restore this relationship. When a person repents of their sins and receives Jesus as Lord, they become born-again, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in them, in unison with their spirit. (If you have not had this experience yet, or are not sure, and want to know that you are truly saved, you may read more in the article “Salvation – How to Spend Eternity in Heaven”).
When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is not as an external voice that addresses us in the second person and that is the main reason we confuse it so easily with our own thoughts and ideas. God the Father and Jesus live inside of us through the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul writes that our bodies are "the temples of the Holy Spirit.” That is why the Holy Spirit speaks to us from the inside of our spirit and it seems as in first person. We need repetition to be able to identify the source of the thoughts or impressions that we receive. If we test what we “hear” with the “biblical tests” presented later in this article, we learn to identify the source better, we become more sensitive to the voice of God and we grow in hearing Him.
Most of the time, God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. Many times, in deeply studying the Scriptures, when we disconnected ourselves from the daily stress and quieted our minds down, the Holy Spirit quickened certain Bible verses so they became very real and alive, and brought light into the situation or problem that we faced at the time and strengthened our faith.
The result that God is looking for in us is holiness, transformation and change produced by the power of His Word. Until the Holy Spirit quickens our hearts, the words we read, remain just words with a logical meaning and nothing more. But when we ask the “Helper” sent by our Heavenly Father to be there for us and “guide us into all the truth” (John 16:13), the verses that we read begin to speak to us personally. God's promises do not seem so “general” anymore, but become personally powerful for us. Many times, when I needed to make an important decision, as I would seek God's direction in prayer and with a deep desire to hear His voice, the Holy Spirit directed me to certain Bible verses that had the solution I needed. Other times, while reading the Bible, certain words started to have more meaning and “jump off off the page” to catch my attention and give me more understanding of how it applied to my situation. The peace and fire of the Holy Spirit's presence would fill my heart with the confirmation that I had God's answer to my problem.
The apostle John is the only one that called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” The Lord loves us all the same, with perfect “agape” love. He could not love us more. But how many of us truly believe this deep truth? The “apostle of love” as many scholars have called John, understood how great the Lord's love was for him and he lived keenly aware of this major truth. Because he received Jesus' love and he knew that the Lord was always there for him, ready to give him all the guidance and help he needed and that “no one could snatch him out of God's hand,” it was not hard for him to write about love.
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on different occasions. One of these encounters is presented in Luke chapter 24 as Jesus joined two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. He talked to them “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”(vs. 27)
After Jesus talked to them and unveiled the prophecies about Himself, their spiritual eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord, overcoming their unbelief.
As Jesus spoke to them, explaining the prophecies about His death and resurrection, He also speaks to us, revealing His Word for our understanding. He opens our spiritual eyes so we may know Him and understand what His Word says, by speaking to our hearts. When God quickens His Word, we feel His fire in the “inward man of our heart” and we can understand why the disciples said that their “hearts burned within” themselves, while Jesus spoke to them and “opened the Scriptures” explaining their true meaning. The verses that the Lord explains to us, become “living and powerful” in our hearts and give us the strength and trust to move forward and accomplish what He is asking us to do, even if by human logic it seems impossible. This is the kind of word reference in Hebrews 4:12. The words that have helped me grow in faith and are transforming my life to become more like Jesus, are those that He has quickened my heart with. The joy and excitement that come from these kinds of revelations are beyond any type of “worldly happiness” and make us want more of God's presence and to get deeper in His Word asking the Holy Spirit to teach us more! The hunger and passion to study the Bible is rooted in these types of revelations that we receive while spending quality time with our Lord.
What are these verses really saying? Verse 9 is quoted by some of those who believe that the Spiritual gifts ceased once the apostles died, to prove that God stopped speaking to us, His children, because we now have the written form of the New Testament and that is all we need. But the following verses demonstrate exactly the opposite. Through the Holy Spirit, God has revealed the mysteries of the spiritual world to the early Church and continues to do the same for us today. The same Holy Spirit that came down upon them at the Pentecost, lives in our hearts today and there are no verses in the Bible anywhere that say that the gifts and the ministries of the Holy Spirit ever stopped. In the article “Baptism Of The Holy Spirit” this subject is explained in more detail, including 1 Corinthians 13:8, which references the time when Jesus will come with clouds to Rapture His Church (vs. 10) and when the Holy Spirit will leave the earth together with God's saints naturally causing the end of the spiritual gifts. We have so much proof in the body of Christ today with the miracles that the Holy Spirit is working through God's children and how He continues to speak and bring revelation to those who seek God with all their hearts.
God has given us His Word to read and empower us to live according to His direction. The Bible's purpose is not to be an expensive, beautiful book on a shelf collecting dust, or something read only to be used to correct others.
If we are not interested in what the Bible says and it has never crossed our minds to obey its commands, then we cannot expect God to personally speak to us on specific matters.
The first step to hearing God is to know what is written in God's Word and obey it. Jesus obeyed His Father in all things and He fulfilled all that the Old Testament prophesied about Him, as we find written in many verses: "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49, and also John 5:30, John 8:28, John 14:10 and so on).
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He showed that man not only lives with natural food but also must be fed with “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” In the original Greek, “every word” comes from "rhema” which means “the received word which is powerful and alive.” Without this food, the “inward man of the heart” dies of starvation.
The Bible is the perfect guide for each of our lives. On it's pages we find the necessary and vital principles of Christian living and if we follow them, we will be spared much of life's failures and pain. Even so, we cannot ignore hearing the voice of God for the specific situations we face in our daily lives. For example, the Bible says: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14), and also says more about what a future spouse should be like, but there is no record about the name of the person we should marry. To be sure we make the right decision, we need to hear what God has to tell us. This same truth applies to all decisions we ever have to make, big or small, as the quality of our lives is dictated by the decisions we make on a daily basis. In our family, since we learned to ask God about what products to buy, where from and in what quantity, we've been so blessed with the results and our finances are used so much more efficiently too. Yes, the Holy Spirit wants to tell us all we need to know and to help us make the right choices all the time. Jesus presents the main ministries of the Holy Spirit in chapters 14 and 16 from the Gospel of John. Let's take a closer look at three of these verses:
“All truth” and “all things that the Father has” means “all” - nothing is excluded. In other words, the Lord wants to tell us all that we need to know, which is why we can dare ask Him and can expect to receive the answer. There are numerous verses throughout the entire Bible of God speaking to people. From these verses we can learn much about how God speaks. Over time, He has guided His children and still continues to do so for us today, when we listen and are obedient to His direction.
How could we ask for more? If we live for our Lord, who has redeemed us with the most expensive price possible, His own life, and if we follow His guidance, then in our hearts the spring of the Holy Spirit will never run dry and our strength will constantly be renewed and our souls nourished, even if it seems to go wrong all around us.
The Christian life is led by the Holy Spirit, not by the law. It is a living and true relationship with our Lord and He wants the best for us, even more than we do. In His perfect love, He speaks to us all the time, counseling, guiding, warning us of danger and showing us the right choice, no matter how important or unimportant it is. God is the perfect Father, that loves His children with all His heart and He wants us to be with Him for all eternity in heaven. In order to make it, our life on earth is a long series of testes and trials that we can pass successfully only by being led by the Lord and living for Him. God's main purpose for us is not to prosper financially or build fabulous careers, but grow spiritually. He wants us to become more and more like Jesus; His character to replace our own; His love and righteousness to sanctify us and for us to finish our race in His arms. If we are to be able to live our lives pleasing God, it is crucial to be able to hear what He has to tell us and then to act accordingly.
Through the Holy Spirit we can access the unlimited wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit communicates to us all that we need to know to live as God wants us to live and to fulfill His plan for our lives.
The following verses show that God speaks also through dreams and night visions:
Throughout the Bible, there are more than forty references to prophetic dreams (more than twenty in the book of Genesis alone) and to more than fifty visions. Through them, God not only spoke to His children but also to some leaders that did not follow Him. The Pharaoh's dreams are well known. God used them to promote Joseph, by giving him their accurate interpretation (Genesis 41:9-49). Through Joseph, God saved the Egyptians and the household of Jacob. The dreams and the messages God had through them, were vital to their circumstances. God has never stopped speaking to us through dreams and visions, but He does not force us to accept them or to act upon their messages.
God uses dreams to tell us what we need to know. The dreams may warn us, they may prepare us for a hard season that is about to come in our lives, they may help us understand some past or present experiences, they may reveal some details about God's plans or calling for our lives, etc. Like all the others ways that God uses to speak to us, dreams and visions should pass the biblical tests, to prove whether they are from God or not. Further in this article, you may find the list of tests according to the Bible, that may help us determine the difference between what comes from God, our own mind or the enemy. It is a well known fact, that the enemy does all he can to copy how God works, in order to deceive and destroy. All that comes from the enemy has as opposite result of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Fear, anxiety, terror, condemnation, revenge, hate, fight, lack of unity or any other evil never come from the Holy Spirit, but always come from the devil or our own selves.
During the first fourteen years of my Christian life, I had only a few dreams, at different times, that had a big impact and I knew they came from God. Then night after night, I started to have prophetic dreams, I knew that a big change was just around the corner. Because I did not want to hear what the Holy Spirit was speaking into my spirit, the Lord spoke to me through dreams, to get me ready to “step out of the boat” and to give me the assurance that it would be God's will. It was very difficult to accept the change and the challenges that were ahead of me, even if I knew that I could not continue where I was. The dreams played a huge role in preparing me for what was to come and even if I was not happy about the change, deep in my heart, I had the peace that could only come from the Holy Spirit and doing the right thing.
Sometimes, when we are stubborn, the Holy Spirit speaks to us through dreams, because while we are asleep, our minds and logic cannot fight against Him. In this way, the Holy Spirit “opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction” that we often ignore while awake or when we refuse to believe that God is the One who has been trying to direct us.
When a dream is from the Lord, it is important to recognize its action, setting and subject. It also matters what kind of emotions we have during the dream and when we wake up. Most of the time, if we are active in the dream, it talks about us. If we are just observers and we simply watch what happens to someone else, the dream might refer to another person. If when we wake up, we write down or record the details of the dream, we have a better chance to interpret it correctly, as we seek the help of the Holy Spirit. We might receive the meaning of the dream quickly but it also may take some time until we really know what God was saying to us, as the message might be about the future. God speaks through dreams and visions and even if they have a very deep symbolic meaning, He wants us to understand whatever He is communicating, so that when we sincerely ask Him, He will reveal the meaning to us.
Can we hear what God has to say, when we desire to hear Him with all our heart? We certainly can. Hearing God's voice is the best part of our relationship with Him and is the most wonderful privilege of the Christian life. The prophet Habakkuk, led by the Holy Spirit, has recorded the main steps to hearing God in the following verses:
The first step is to quiet ourselves down, silencing our own thoughts as we retreat to a quiet place, where no one can disturb or distract us, making ourselves available to hear whatever God has for us. Whenever our minds occupied with our own thoughts, worries, concerns, plans, etc., we cannot hear the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever we seek to enter in God's presence and quiet our minds down, the devil will bring into our attention all the things we need to do and suddenly, they are all urgent tasks. If we will simply write the needed tasks down, we can make sure that we will not forget them and it will be easier to oppose the attacks of the evil one, putting away those thoughts and focusing on God and whatever He has for us.
It is so important to take time to stop and “be still” recognizing the supremacy, sovereignty and the leadership of God in our lives, so that we can hear what He has to say.
Listening instrumental worship music, oftentimes makes it easier to get into God's presence. In the process of learning, it takes time and effort until “by repetition” we build the permanent memory in our brains, with the unconscious mind, where the new learned process is stored and becomes easier to repeat. It is the same thing with learning to quiet our thoughts, so that we may recognize the thoughts, impressions or visions that come from the Holy Spirit. The more we practice entering into God's presence, the less time it will take to get there. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and you have received the “gift of speaking in tongues” then you already know that by praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying, and while our “understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14) it is the easiest way for us to quiet our minds down and enter into God's presence (You may read more about this in the articles: “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit” and “The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit”)
Through our new birth in Christ, our spirits becomes totally new, pleasing God and in union with the Holy Spirit. In the spirit, we have the mind of Christ and are perfect, but the status of our “body, mind, will and emotions” remains the same. This is why Jesus says that in order to follow Him, we have to “crucify our flesh” daily. Only by dying to our old selves and renewing our minds, by replacing our old ways of thinking and correcting our value systems in accordance to the Bible, can we truly become the children of God.
How can we access “the mind of Christ” that we have in the spirit? We know that when we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying through us and our “understanding is unfruitful.” Even scientists have proven that while a person prays in tongues, their brain is inactive. So, praying in tongues is done with the “mind of Christ” which knows everything and is in one accord with Father God. The apostle Paul has urged us to ask for the gift of interpreting tongues, once we receive the gift of speaking in tongues, so we then will be able to understand with our physical minds what we already know in the mind of the spirit. Many times, after we pray in tongues, seeking God's will for something, we receive the answer as an impression or a thought, whether or not we have the gift of interpretation of tongues.
The peace and quiet that we find in the presence of God, is priceless and cannot found any other way in the busy and noisy world we live in. But these are not the only benefits we have in the fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
The second step is listening. No one can hear God's voice without taking time to listen. The Lord is speaking to us all the time, but it is up to us to identify the thoughts or the distinct impressions that He sends to us.
The Greek word used for “listen” is “akouó” and it means to yield obedience to the voice, according to “Thayer's Greek Lexicon” So, we as Christians must not only hear God's voice, but we must also be obedient.
If we do not tune in to the Holy Spirit or pay attention to Him, we cannot hear what He has to say. The Lord answers those who pray and expect to receive an answer. Sometimes, God is warning us of an imminent danger or He counsels us about the next step we are about to take, but it is up to us to recognize God as the source of that thought or impression. It has happened to us all, where we have had a thought that we ignored, thinking it was just our mind and when it came to pass, we regretted not praying attention to it. The Holy Spirit wanted to spare us of that failure or pain, but because we did not receive the warning, we paid the price.
The third step is to write down what we hear. Even if you hate writing, it is important to record what you hear by whatever method that is easier for you: notebook, phone, tablet, computer, etc. If we have the message in “black and white” we may verify if what we have heard came from God. We will also be able to review and understand it in a deeper way. We may also check with other mature Christians that have experience in hearing God's voice, to verify if we have really heard from God or not. It should not surprise us that what we hear reflects our personality. The books of the Bible are all inspired by the Holy Spirit to the authors and at the same time, each of the books reflect a little of the personality of the author, without diminishing one bit of its authenticity and source. It is the same with us, as the Holy Spirit speaks through each of us, our personality will show in the received message.
The fourth step is to make sure that what we heard comes from God, not from us or the devil. There are tests based upon biblical principles that can help us identify the source of the received message and if it passes all these tests, we may know that it came from God.
Any message (thought, vision, dream, prophecy, word of knowledge or wisdom) that we receive through the Holy Spirit, has to be in agreement with what the Bible says and in accordance with biblical principles. We know without any doubt that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He never contradicts Himself. ("Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17b).
Any message about revenge, lack of integrity, hate or anything that would lead to any kind of sin, does not come from God. All that comes from God respects His attributes, reflecting: love, goodness, kindness, mercy, compassion, harmony, unity, self-control, patience, faithfulness, joy, peace. You may read more in the articles: “The Truth of Who God Really Is” and “Who the Holy Spirit really Is.”
It is very important to store God's Word in our hearts, so we will not sin against Him (Psalms 119:11). The better we know what the Bible says, the easier it will be to identify whether what we hear is from God or not. If we occupy our minds with God's Word and meditate upon its message then we will delight ourselves in the Lord. By doing so, we will not want to commit the sins of the world, because we are happy and fulfilled in our Lord. Psalms 119 has 176 verses and all of them are about the great value of the Scripture and all the benefits that come from knowing it deeper and deeper.
If you like, you may read more in the "The Power of The Word of God."
Does the message that we have received, direct us to become more like Christ? The Lord would never lead us to do something detrimental, on the contrary, God's desire is to help us be more Christlike. As we read in the Epistle of James, when God is the source, we receive pure wisdom that leads to peace, unity, gentleness, obedience, mercy, objectiveness, sincerity and good fruits.
Can we share what we have received with our brothers and sisters in Christ? When what we have heard is from God, then we are confident to be able share it, without being afraid of whether anyone would believe us or not, or that we would be rebuked. The Bible urges us to confirm what we believe with two or three witnesses. This is true when it comes to the messages we hear from God. This does not mean to seek confirmation from Christians who do not believe that God still speaks to us, on the contrary, it should be sought from believers who know that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still active in the body of Christ today and that they have experience in discerning God's voice. If we are afraid that no one would believe that what we have received came from God, then we have to be very careful and ask God for more confirmation before acting upon it. It is very beneficial to be part of a smaller Bible study or prayer group with other serious, devoted Christians. With such close fellow believers, we can safely test what we believe that we have received from God, but in the end, the final decision is up to us. When we deal with any major decision, it is best to wait for more confirmation coming straight from God or through other believers, before actually applying it. God wants us to have peace and faith in Him and to always make the best decision.
Is the message in accordance with what God has spoken to us on other occasions and with the gifts He has equipped us for? God is consistent. He is shaping us into becoming what He planned us to be, step by step. The Lord will not lead us to start a ministry that is not appealing to us and for which we have no skills. For example, if we love working with children and teaching them the Bible, even those around us will notice that we are gifted in that area. It is important to know that “what we think we are called for” is true. Many times people have thought they were called to sing, but in reality they could not even carry a tune. Some have thought they were called to preach when in reality it was their own (fleshly) desire and God did not call or equip them for it. It is important, to truly hear from God and have His direction on how to follow our calling. He will open the right doors for us, if we listen to Him step by step. This is also true about the profession the Lord wants us to have. He will guide us to follow the right training steps in order to excel in whatever He has gifted us to do.
Each of us, have to personally hear what God has to say to us. Many people believe it is their ministry is to judge or rebuke others. Sadly, they believe that all that comes to their mind comes from God and are very diligent about correcting others. Their approaches usually start with something like: “The Lord says that...” In truth, God loves order and unity and even if He is uses one to speak to another, He does not do it for us to hurt each other, on the contrary, the Lord does it to edify and build up one another. If we truly have received something about someone else, it is better not to rush and let them know. We should wait and pray about it, asking God to show us what He wants us to do with what we heard. It is possible that God wants us just to pray for that person, without them ever knowing what the Holy Spirit revealed to us about them. For something important, God will bring confirmation through one or more people, so we know it is His will.
Do we have full peace about what we have heard or makes us nervous, fearful or deeply sad? Jesus is the Prince of Peace and He will never tell us something that would produce the opposite in our hearts. It is true that at some point He may tell us something that we do not want to hear and that we might have “run from” in the past, but when God wants something from us or for us, that message will be accompanied by His peace, even if at first our flesh is not happy about it. When we have two options and no real peace about either of them, for whatever reasons, the option that comes from God will bring more peace than the other one.
Does what we heave heard, condemn or convict of sin? When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, He never does it with hate or pressure, but in love. He always shows us what we need to correct in our lives. His desire is to help us sanctify our lives and not to destroy us. On the other hand, the devil tempts us to sin and then he condemns us with hate and wickedness, attacking every sensitive and vulnerable spot we have. His purpose is to get us to where we believe that there is no longer any forgiveness for our sin. If he can convince us that we are failures as Christians and for some, even to the point of renouncing the lordship of Jesus, he would be able to totally destroy us. In John 8:44 and in John 10:10, Jesus calls the devil a thief, murderer and liar that plans our destruction, but our Lord came to give us life and life more abundantly!
What is the desire of our heart, when we delight and are fulfilled in the Lord? When God tells us to do something specific, He will change our hearts so we will do it with pleasure, from all our hearts. He will never ask us to start doing something He did not already equip or train us for.
What marvelous Scripture! Unfortunately, some Christians use these verses to justify their sinful living, saying that they are rightfully following the desires of their hearts. In order for God to give us the desires of our hearts, we have to “delight ourselves in the Lord” first. When we are fulfilled in the Lord and we truly find pleasure in spending time with Him, worshiping and praising Him, studying His word and talking with Him, we cannot continue to love sin, because God places His desires into our hearts. We end up loving what He loves, seeking what He seeks, desiring what He desires and we are the happiest when we follow His ways and His guidance. When we delight in God, what we desire in our hearts may be what God is speaking to us. When we realize that what we loved to do with all our hearts, until not long ago, becomes uninteresting or we even start to hate, it is possible that God is preparing a shift in our lives. To make sure we hear God and it is not our “flesh talking,” we have to analyze it objectively, to fast and pray, until we are sure that God is the One who changes our hearts. Our flesh is easily tempted to renounce anything that may offend us or deprive us of our personal comfort and because of that we have to make sure we are not falling into the enemy's trap, thinking it is God that wants us to change what we have with something we believe is “better.” If during our fellowship with God, while we enter into His presence and we quiet down our flesh thoughts and emotions, we continue to have the same desire and even stronger, it is possible that God is its source, and we should consider it. But if the desire to change starts to fade away, the more we soak into God's presence, it is almost certain that it was our flesh and not God. To be sure we hear God, we need to test that desire with the other biblical tests listed here and continue to pray and seek God's face, until we know we are safe to follow the “desire of our heart.”
When the message we have received from God, passes all these tests and the peace of Jesus fills our hearts, we will be safe to act upon it. The more often we enter into God's presence and seek to hear what He has to say, the faster and clearer we will hear Him. If we just hear and not obey what He tells us to do, we will never advance, but we will continue to hear the same thing until we obey it. God does not speak to us in vain; He does it with a certain purpose, that is always in our best interest for fulfilling His plan for our lives. The Bible says we are responsible to obey its commands and whatever God tells us to do (Deuteronomy 18:19, Acts 3:23). Because He loves us, God will not tell us more, if we fail to obey what He has already said in His Word, because it would make us responsible for even more disobedience. The obedience to God's Word is the beginning to receiving specific, personal messages from God.
In 1 Kings, chapter 17, we read how courageous the prophet Elijah was to present himself in front of the evil king and tell him that God chose to punish Israel with severe drought, for their sin of worshiping other gods. This was king Ahab, that allowed his wife, Jezebel, to kill God's prophets, so Elijah risked his life to obey what God told him to do, without having a plan B. Only after he left the presence of the king, did God speak to him again and giving him directions about his next step that was to preserve his life, as he was to drink water from the Brook Cherith and the ravens were to bring him bread and meat. He received the following step, only after the brook dried out. God sent him to a certain widow in Zarephath, that was part of Sidon. In that house, the little oil and flour never ended till the rain returned and there were crops again in the land. Elijah would never have had the big miracles, if he would not have obeyed God in the first place, even if it meant risking his life. This principle is true for us today. God will tell us more, when we obey what He has already told us to do.
Only after we are familiar with identifying the thoughts or impressions that come from God within our spirits, as answers to our questions, is it safe to ask the Lord for the more important questions in our lives. As we get used to testing these types of thoughts and impressions, making sure they are in accordance with the Bible, we learn to recognize and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us more easily. None of us are skilled at this when we first become Christians; we all learn and grow in hearing God better. The Christian life is a process in which we continue to grow and mature, day by day, seeking God diligently. Communication with God is an intrinsic part of it.
The spiritual gifts are very important for living fulfilled lives with God. Only after we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, may we receive and operate in His gifts. The “speech” or “revelation gifts” are important ways that God uses to speak in our spirits for us or others. (If you are interested, you may read more on this subject in the article “The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit”)
Since the first time I prayed for something specific for somebody which there was no way I could have known in the natural (to the total surprise of that person) I understood that the anointing of the Holy Spirit was upon me, giving me a “word of knowledge” that I could have received only through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This showed me that I was truly hearing what God had to say. It was an occasion of great joy and has been followed by many others. The more we desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we seek to have fellowship with Him, the better we will get to know Him and to recognize His ministry in us and through us. In the course of time, operating in the gifts of the Spirit, including the revelation gifts such as words of knowledge, become easier, more natural and even indispensable in our daily walk with God.
The key to a perfect relationship with God is to love and serve Him “with all our hearts.” We find this all throughout in the Bible. Here are some of the many verses:
When we get to where we give it all to the Lord and do not care to satisfy the lusts and desires of our flesh, we have access to all the promises we find in God's Word and to the specific guidance of the Holy Spirit. We cannot mature spiritually without the Holy Spirit working in us and hearing God's voice.
Jesus says that we can follow Him if we hear His voice. That means that we cannot truly follow Him, if we do not recognize His voice. When we are called on the phone, by someone that we know and are used to hearing their voice, there are no introductions needed, because we already know their voice. The more we talk with our Lord and “hear His voice,” the easier it becomes to identify Him.
Most of the time, God speaks through thoughts, impressions, visions or dreams and very rarely does He speak with an audible voice. To make sure we “hear” God, we have the biblical tests to help us.
The Lord speaks to all of us, but only those who take time to quiet ourselves and to listen, can hear Him. Those that live with God's continual guidance daily are efficient with their time as they purposefully take time to spend in the Lord's presence. Sadly today, many Christians waste so much time on television and social media and use the excuse that they are too busy so they have no time to spend in God's presence, missing their chance to be closer to God and living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
What could be more valuable than being able to access God's wisdom and counsel at any time? There are so many examples in the Bible, of believers that accomplished extraordinary things because they lived close to God. They were asked God for guidance and they received it. Because Joseph preferred to go to prison, rather than sin against His Lord, God changed what seemed to be for his destruction into a major step to promote him to be the second in power, after the Pharaoh. Because he was faithful to the Lord, while in slavery, after he was sold by his brothers who were jealous on him, God's favor and provision followed him through every situation. Since his childhood, Joseph received dreams from God, telling him that he would lead over his brothers and parents. He never doubted God or what He spoke to him, not even while in slavery or in prison. He never rebelled against God, for the situations he was in, but he chose to praise God and live in obedience to His Laws. Do you think it was easy for him? Certain it was not. But he chose to trust God and to believe His promises instead of sinning. He chose to forgive and save his brothers who wanted him dead, and he even told them: "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5).
All of us will experience situations like Joseph at some point in our lives. When everything will seem to be against us and we have to continue to be faithful and true to our Lord, believing what He has spoken to us and continuing to be obedient in what God has told us to do. Joseph's example is iconic and encourages us not to backslide when we face suffering and trials that seem to have no way out.
The prophet Isaiah recorded his prophecies about seven hundred years before Jesus was born through the virgin Mary, about the His life, ministry and relationship with men. The prophecy from the following verses hold the keys to good communication with our Lord, which is to draw us closer and be able to hear what He says.
No one can truly hear what someone else says from far away, because whatever comes in between them, will distract their attention, any noise will affect the speaker's voice and the listener will lose interest in hearing. Drawing close to God and having a pure, sincere relationship with Him, enables us to hear His “still small voice” and be obedient. If we live like this, the Lord will teach us all that we need to know and will lead us on the path He already has prepared for us.
When Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, they broke the only command that God had given to them and because of the sin they had committed, the open communication between mankind and God was disrupted. After they ate “of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,” they certainly acquired the knowledge of “good and evil” (Genesis 3:3-5). Since then, our conscience, the knowledge of “right and wrong,” helps us to distinguish good from evil whether we are born-again Christians or not. No one can say that they do not know the difference between right and wrong unless they have silenced it by continually ignoring its warnings.
Maybe you have desired to hear God's voice for a long time and no matter how hard you have tried, you could not hear Him. In my early years after becoming a Christian, I thought that God would speak in an “audible, serious, thundering voice” and because I was not hearing anything in that manner, I thought that I must not be good enough for God to speak to me and that He then must only speak to special Christians. It took me a while to realize that God speaks in many ways and that He speaks all the time. He speaks through the His Word and often as a still small voice, through thoughts, strong instinct or impression, dreams, visions and other gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As we grow in understanding God's Word, we hunger more and more for His presence and as we seek the revelation of the Holy Spirit about whatever God wants to show us in the verses that we read, we become more sensitive to His voice and we hear Him clearer and clearer.
“Hearing God's voice” is a broad term that actually refers to “hearing with the spiritual ears”of the spirit and not just with the physical ones. We hear with the “spirit” or the “heart,” also called by Paul “inward man” or “hidden person of the heart” by Peter. In our spirits, we have all the senses that we have in the natural bodies and as we grow in the spirit, we learn to identify these senses and benefit from using them. We see the visions that we receive from God with the “eyes of the heart” and when God speaks to us through dreams, we receive them in our spirits also. God created us to function perfectly, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit united with our spirit. Since the fall, man lost the union and the clear direction of the Holy Spirit as they chose to be led by their own mind, will and emotions. Jesus Christ came to restore this relationship. When a person repents of their sins and receives Jesus as Lord, they become born-again, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in them, in unison with their spirit. (If you have not had this experience yet, or are not sure, and want to know that you are truly saved, you may read more in the article “Salvation – How to Spend Eternity in Heaven”).
- 1 Corinthians 6:19a Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?
When the Holy Spirit speaks to us, it is not as an external voice that addresses us in the second person and that is the main reason we confuse it so easily with our own thoughts and ideas. God the Father and Jesus live inside of us through the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, Paul writes that our bodies are "the temples of the Holy Spirit.” That is why the Holy Spirit speaks to us from the inside of our spirit and it seems as in first person. We need repetition to be able to identify the source of the thoughts or impressions that we receive. If we test what we “hear” with the “biblical tests” presented later in this article, we learn to identify the source better, we become more sensitive to the voice of God and we grow in hearing Him.
Most of the time, God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. Many times, in deeply studying the Scriptures, when we disconnected ourselves from the daily stress and quieted our minds down, the Holy Spirit quickened certain Bible verses so they became very real and alive, and brought light into the situation or problem that we faced at the time and strengthened our faith.
- Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The result that God is looking for in us is holiness, transformation and change produced by the power of His Word. Until the Holy Spirit quickens our hearts, the words we read, remain just words with a logical meaning and nothing more. But when we ask the “Helper” sent by our Heavenly Father to be there for us and “guide us into all the truth” (John 16:13), the verses that we read begin to speak to us personally. God's promises do not seem so “general” anymore, but become personally powerful for us. Many times, when I needed to make an important decision, as I would seek God's direction in prayer and with a deep desire to hear His voice, the Holy Spirit directed me to certain Bible verses that had the solution I needed. Other times, while reading the Bible, certain words started to have more meaning and “jump off off the page” to catch my attention and give me more understanding of how it applied to my situation. The peace and fire of the Holy Spirit's presence would fill my heart with the confirmation that I had God's answer to my problem.
- 1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
The apostle John is the only one that called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” The Lord loves us all the same, with perfect “agape” love. He could not love us more. But how many of us truly believe this deep truth? The “apostle of love” as many scholars have called John, understood how great the Lord's love was for him and he lived keenly aware of this major truth. Because he received Jesus' love and he knew that the Lord was always there for him, ready to give him all the guidance and help he needed and that “no one could snatch him out of God's hand,” it was not hard for him to write about love.
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on different occasions. One of these encounters is presented in Luke chapter 24 as Jesus joined two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. He talked to them “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”(vs. 27)
After Jesus talked to them and unveiled the prophecies about Himself, their spiritual eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord, overcoming their unbelief.
- Luke 24:31-32 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
As Jesus spoke to them, explaining the prophecies about His death and resurrection, He also speaks to us, revealing His Word for our understanding. He opens our spiritual eyes so we may know Him and understand what His Word says, by speaking to our hearts. When God quickens His Word, we feel His fire in the “inward man of our heart” and we can understand why the disciples said that their “hearts burned within” themselves, while Jesus spoke to them and “opened the Scriptures” explaining their true meaning. The verses that the Lord explains to us, become “living and powerful” in our hearts and give us the strength and trust to move forward and accomplish what He is asking us to do, even if by human logic it seems impossible. This is the kind of word reference in Hebrews 4:12. The words that have helped me grow in faith and are transforming my life to become more like Jesus, are those that He has quickened my heart with. The joy and excitement that come from these kinds of revelations are beyond any type of “worldly happiness” and make us want more of God's presence and to get deeper in His Word asking the Holy Spirit to teach us more! The hunger and passion to study the Bible is rooted in these types of revelations that we receive while spending quality time with our Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 2:9-10,12-13 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God... 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
What are these verses really saying? Verse 9 is quoted by some of those who believe that the Spiritual gifts ceased once the apostles died, to prove that God stopped speaking to us, His children, because we now have the written form of the New Testament and that is all we need. But the following verses demonstrate exactly the opposite. Through the Holy Spirit, God has revealed the mysteries of the spiritual world to the early Church and continues to do the same for us today. The same Holy Spirit that came down upon them at the Pentecost, lives in our hearts today and there are no verses in the Bible anywhere that say that the gifts and the ministries of the Holy Spirit ever stopped. In the article “Baptism Of The Holy Spirit” this subject is explained in more detail, including 1 Corinthians 13:8, which references the time when Jesus will come with clouds to Rapture His Church (vs. 10) and when the Holy Spirit will leave the earth together with God's saints naturally causing the end of the spiritual gifts. We have so much proof in the body of Christ today with the miracles that the Holy Spirit is working through God's children and how He continues to speak and bring revelation to those who seek God with all their hearts.
- Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
God has given us His Word to read and empower us to live according to His direction. The Bible's purpose is not to be an expensive, beautiful book on a shelf collecting dust, or something read only to be used to correct others.
- James 1:21-22 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
If we are not interested in what the Bible says and it has never crossed our minds to obey its commands, then we cannot expect God to personally speak to us on specific matters.
The first step to hearing God is to know what is written in God's Word and obey it. Jesus obeyed His Father in all things and He fulfilled all that the Old Testament prophesied about Him, as we find written in many verses: "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49, and also John 5:30, John 8:28, John 14:10 and so on).
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He showed that man not only lives with natural food but also must be fed with “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” In the original Greek, “every word” comes from "rhema” which means “the received word which is powerful and alive.” Without this food, the “inward man of the heart” dies of starvation.
- Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
The Bible is the perfect guide for each of our lives. On it's pages we find the necessary and vital principles of Christian living and if we follow them, we will be spared much of life's failures and pain. Even so, we cannot ignore hearing the voice of God for the specific situations we face in our daily lives. For example, the Bible says: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14), and also says more about what a future spouse should be like, but there is no record about the name of the person we should marry. To be sure we make the right decision, we need to hear what God has to tell us. This same truth applies to all decisions we ever have to make, big or small, as the quality of our lives is dictated by the decisions we make on a daily basis. In our family, since we learned to ask God about what products to buy, where from and in what quantity, we've been so blessed with the results and our finances are used so much more efficiently too. Yes, the Holy Spirit wants to tell us all we need to know and to help us make the right choices all the time. Jesus presents the main ministries of the Holy Spirit in chapters 14 and 16 from the Gospel of John. Let's take a closer look at three of these verses:
- John 16:13-15 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."
“All truth” and “all things that the Father has” means “all” - nothing is excluded. In other words, the Lord wants to tell us all that we need to know, which is why we can dare ask Him and can expect to receive the answer. There are numerous verses throughout the entire Bible of God speaking to people. From these verses we can learn much about how God speaks. Over time, He has guided His children and still continues to do so for us today, when we listen and are obedient to His direction.
- Isaiah 58:11 “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
How could we ask for more? If we live for our Lord, who has redeemed us with the most expensive price possible, His own life, and if we follow His guidance, then in our hearts the spring of the Holy Spirit will never run dry and our strength will constantly be renewed and our souls nourished, even if it seems to go wrong all around us.
- Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The Christian life is led by the Holy Spirit, not by the law. It is a living and true relationship with our Lord and He wants the best for us, even more than we do. In His perfect love, He speaks to us all the time, counseling, guiding, warning us of danger and showing us the right choice, no matter how important or unimportant it is. God is the perfect Father, that loves His children with all His heart and He wants us to be with Him for all eternity in heaven. In order to make it, our life on earth is a long series of testes and trials that we can pass successfully only by being led by the Lord and living for Him. God's main purpose for us is not to prosper financially or build fabulous careers, but grow spiritually. He wants us to become more and more like Jesus; His character to replace our own; His love and righteousness to sanctify us and for us to finish our race in His arms. If we are to be able to live our lives pleasing God, it is crucial to be able to hear what He has to tell us and then to act accordingly.
Through the Holy Spirit we can access the unlimited wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit communicates to us all that we need to know to live as God wants us to live and to fulfill His plan for our lives.
The following verses show that God speaks also through dreams and night visions:
- Job 33:14-16 "For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”
Throughout the Bible, there are more than forty references to prophetic dreams (more than twenty in the book of Genesis alone) and to more than fifty visions. Through them, God not only spoke to His children but also to some leaders that did not follow Him. The Pharaoh's dreams are well known. God used them to promote Joseph, by giving him their accurate interpretation (Genesis 41:9-49). Through Joseph, God saved the Egyptians and the household of Jacob. The dreams and the messages God had through them, were vital to their circumstances. God has never stopped speaking to us through dreams and visions, but He does not force us to accept them or to act upon their messages.
God uses dreams to tell us what we need to know. The dreams may warn us, they may prepare us for a hard season that is about to come in our lives, they may help us understand some past or present experiences, they may reveal some details about God's plans or calling for our lives, etc. Like all the others ways that God uses to speak to us, dreams and visions should pass the biblical tests, to prove whether they are from God or not. Further in this article, you may find the list of tests according to the Bible, that may help us determine the difference between what comes from God, our own mind or the enemy. It is a well known fact, that the enemy does all he can to copy how God works, in order to deceive and destroy. All that comes from the enemy has as opposite result of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Fear, anxiety, terror, condemnation, revenge, hate, fight, lack of unity or any other evil never come from the Holy Spirit, but always come from the devil or our own selves.
During the first fourteen years of my Christian life, I had only a few dreams, at different times, that had a big impact and I knew they came from God. Then night after night, I started to have prophetic dreams, I knew that a big change was just around the corner. Because I did not want to hear what the Holy Spirit was speaking into my spirit, the Lord spoke to me through dreams, to get me ready to “step out of the boat” and to give me the assurance that it would be God's will. It was very difficult to accept the change and the challenges that were ahead of me, even if I knew that I could not continue where I was. The dreams played a huge role in preparing me for what was to come and even if I was not happy about the change, deep in my heart, I had the peace that could only come from the Holy Spirit and doing the right thing.
Sometimes, when we are stubborn, the Holy Spirit speaks to us through dreams, because while we are asleep, our minds and logic cannot fight against Him. In this way, the Holy Spirit “opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction” that we often ignore while awake or when we refuse to believe that God is the One who has been trying to direct us.
When a dream is from the Lord, it is important to recognize its action, setting and subject. It also matters what kind of emotions we have during the dream and when we wake up. Most of the time, if we are active in the dream, it talks about us. If we are just observers and we simply watch what happens to someone else, the dream might refer to another person. If when we wake up, we write down or record the details of the dream, we have a better chance to interpret it correctly, as we seek the help of the Holy Spirit. We might receive the meaning of the dream quickly but it also may take some time until we really know what God was saying to us, as the message might be about the future. God speaks through dreams and visions and even if they have a very deep symbolic meaning, He wants us to understand whatever He is communicating, so that when we sincerely ask Him, He will reveal the meaning to us.
Can we hear what God has to say, when we desire to hear Him with all our heart? We certainly can. Hearing God's voice is the best part of our relationship with Him and is the most wonderful privilege of the Christian life. The prophet Habakkuk, led by the Holy Spirit, has recorded the main steps to hearing God in the following verses:
- Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.
The first step is to quiet ourselves down, silencing our own thoughts as we retreat to a quiet place, where no one can disturb or distract us, making ourselves available to hear whatever God has for us. Whenever our minds occupied with our own thoughts, worries, concerns, plans, etc., we cannot hear the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever we seek to enter in God's presence and quiet our minds down, the devil will bring into our attention all the things we need to do and suddenly, they are all urgent tasks. If we will simply write the needed tasks down, we can make sure that we will not forget them and it will be easier to oppose the attacks of the evil one, putting away those thoughts and focusing on God and whatever He has for us.
- Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
It is so important to take time to stop and “be still” recognizing the supremacy, sovereignty and the leadership of God in our lives, so that we can hear what He has to say.
Listening instrumental worship music, oftentimes makes it easier to get into God's presence. In the process of learning, it takes time and effort until “by repetition” we build the permanent memory in our brains, with the unconscious mind, where the new learned process is stored and becomes easier to repeat. It is the same thing with learning to quiet our thoughts, so that we may recognize the thoughts, impressions or visions that come from the Holy Spirit. The more we practice entering into God's presence, the less time it will take to get there. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and you have received the “gift of speaking in tongues” then you already know that by praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying, and while our “understanding is unfruitful” (1 Corinthians 14:14) it is the easiest way for us to quiet our minds down and enter into God's presence (You may read more about this in the articles: “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit” and “The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit”)
- 1 Corinthians 2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Through our new birth in Christ, our spirits becomes totally new, pleasing God and in union with the Holy Spirit. In the spirit, we have the mind of Christ and are perfect, but the status of our “body, mind, will and emotions” remains the same. This is why Jesus says that in order to follow Him, we have to “crucify our flesh” daily. Only by dying to our old selves and renewing our minds, by replacing our old ways of thinking and correcting our value systems in accordance to the Bible, can we truly become the children of God.
How can we access “the mind of Christ” that we have in the spirit? We know that when we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit is praying through us and our “understanding is unfruitful.” Even scientists have proven that while a person prays in tongues, their brain is inactive. So, praying in tongues is done with the “mind of Christ” which knows everything and is in one accord with Father God. The apostle Paul has urged us to ask for the gift of interpreting tongues, once we receive the gift of speaking in tongues, so we then will be able to understand with our physical minds what we already know in the mind of the spirit. Many times, after we pray in tongues, seeking God's will for something, we receive the answer as an impression or a thought, whether or not we have the gift of interpretation of tongues.
The peace and quiet that we find in the presence of God, is priceless and cannot found any other way in the busy and noisy world we live in. But these are not the only benefits we have in the fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
The second step is listening. No one can hear God's voice without taking time to listen. The Lord is speaking to us all the time, but it is up to us to identify the thoughts or the distinct impressions that He sends to us.
- John 10:27 “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
The Greek word used for “listen” is “akouó” and it means to yield obedience to the voice, according to “Thayer's Greek Lexicon” So, we as Christians must not only hear God's voice, but we must also be obedient.
If we do not tune in to the Holy Spirit or pay attention to Him, we cannot hear what He has to say. The Lord answers those who pray and expect to receive an answer. Sometimes, God is warning us of an imminent danger or He counsels us about the next step we are about to take, but it is up to us to recognize God as the source of that thought or impression. It has happened to us all, where we have had a thought that we ignored, thinking it was just our mind and when it came to pass, we regretted not praying attention to it. The Holy Spirit wanted to spare us of that failure or pain, but because we did not receive the warning, we paid the price.
- Habakkuk 2:2 Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”
The third step is to write down what we hear. Even if you hate writing, it is important to record what you hear by whatever method that is easier for you: notebook, phone, tablet, computer, etc. If we have the message in “black and white” we may verify if what we have heard came from God. We will also be able to review and understand it in a deeper way. We may also check with other mature Christians that have experience in hearing God's voice, to verify if we have really heard from God or not. It should not surprise us that what we hear reflects our personality. The books of the Bible are all inspired by the Holy Spirit to the authors and at the same time, each of the books reflect a little of the personality of the author, without diminishing one bit of its authenticity and source. It is the same with us, as the Holy Spirit speaks through each of us, our personality will show in the received message.
The fourth step is to make sure that what we heard comes from God, not from us or the devil. There are tests based upon biblical principles that can help us identify the source of the received message and if it passes all these tests, we may know that it came from God.
Any message (thought, vision, dream, prophecy, word of knowledge or wisdom) that we receive through the Holy Spirit, has to be in agreement with what the Bible says and in accordance with biblical principles. We know without any doubt that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and He never contradicts Himself. ("Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” - James 1:17b).
Any message about revenge, lack of integrity, hate or anything that would lead to any kind of sin, does not come from God. All that comes from God respects His attributes, reflecting: love, goodness, kindness, mercy, compassion, harmony, unity, self-control, patience, faithfulness, joy, peace. You may read more in the articles: “The Truth of Who God Really Is” and “Who the Holy Spirit really Is.”
It is very important to store God's Word in our hearts, so we will not sin against Him (Psalms 119:11). The better we know what the Bible says, the easier it will be to identify whether what we hear is from God or not. If we occupy our minds with God's Word and meditate upon its message then we will delight ourselves in the Lord. By doing so, we will not want to commit the sins of the world, because we are happy and fulfilled in our Lord. Psalms 119 has 176 verses and all of them are about the great value of the Scripture and all the benefits that come from knowing it deeper and deeper.
- Psalms 119:97-101 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word.
- Galatians 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
If you like, you may read more in the "The Power of The Word of God."
Does the message that we have received, direct us to become more like Christ? The Lord would never lead us to do something detrimental, on the contrary, God's desire is to help us be more Christlike. As we read in the Epistle of James, when God is the source, we receive pure wisdom that leads to peace, unity, gentleness, obedience, mercy, objectiveness, sincerity and good fruits.
- James 3:14-17 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Can we share what we have received with our brothers and sisters in Christ? When what we have heard is from God, then we are confident to be able share it, without being afraid of whether anyone would believe us or not, or that we would be rebuked. The Bible urges us to confirm what we believe with two or three witnesses. This is true when it comes to the messages we hear from God. This does not mean to seek confirmation from Christians who do not believe that God still speaks to us, on the contrary, it should be sought from believers who know that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still active in the body of Christ today and that they have experience in discerning God's voice. If we are afraid that no one would believe that what we have received came from God, then we have to be very careful and ask God for more confirmation before acting upon it. It is very beneficial to be part of a smaller Bible study or prayer group with other serious, devoted Christians. With such close fellow believers, we can safely test what we believe that we have received from God, but in the end, the final decision is up to us. When we deal with any major decision, it is best to wait for more confirmation coming straight from God or through other believers, before actually applying it. God wants us to have peace and faith in Him and to always make the best decision.
- Matthew 18:16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
- Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Is the message in accordance with what God has spoken to us on other occasions and with the gifts He has equipped us for? God is consistent. He is shaping us into becoming what He planned us to be, step by step. The Lord will not lead us to start a ministry that is not appealing to us and for which we have no skills. For example, if we love working with children and teaching them the Bible, even those around us will notice that we are gifted in that area. It is important to know that “what we think we are called for” is true. Many times people have thought they were called to sing, but in reality they could not even carry a tune. Some have thought they were called to preach when in reality it was their own (fleshly) desire and God did not call or equip them for it. It is important, to truly hear from God and have His direction on how to follow our calling. He will open the right doors for us, if we listen to Him step by step. This is also true about the profession the Lord wants us to have. He will guide us to follow the right training steps in order to excel in whatever He has gifted us to do.
- Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Each of us, have to personally hear what God has to say to us. Many people believe it is their ministry is to judge or rebuke others. Sadly, they believe that all that comes to their mind comes from God and are very diligent about correcting others. Their approaches usually start with something like: “The Lord says that...” In truth, God loves order and unity and even if He is uses one to speak to another, He does not do it for us to hurt each other, on the contrary, the Lord does it to edify and build up one another. If we truly have received something about someone else, it is better not to rush and let them know. We should wait and pray about it, asking God to show us what He wants us to do with what we heard. It is possible that God wants us just to pray for that person, without them ever knowing what the Holy Spirit revealed to us about them. For something important, God will bring confirmation through one or more people, so we know it is His will.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
Do we have full peace about what we have heard or makes us nervous, fearful or deeply sad? Jesus is the Prince of Peace and He will never tell us something that would produce the opposite in our hearts. It is true that at some point He may tell us something that we do not want to hear and that we might have “run from” in the past, but when God wants something from us or for us, that message will be accompanied by His peace, even if at first our flesh is not happy about it. When we have two options and no real peace about either of them, for whatever reasons, the option that comes from God will bring more peace than the other one.
- Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Does what we heave heard, condemn or convict of sin? When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, He never does it with hate or pressure, but in love. He always shows us what we need to correct in our lives. His desire is to help us sanctify our lives and not to destroy us. On the other hand, the devil tempts us to sin and then he condemns us with hate and wickedness, attacking every sensitive and vulnerable spot we have. His purpose is to get us to where we believe that there is no longer any forgiveness for our sin. If he can convince us that we are failures as Christians and for some, even to the point of renouncing the lordship of Jesus, he would be able to totally destroy us. In John 8:44 and in John 10:10, Jesus calls the devil a thief, murderer and liar that plans our destruction, but our Lord came to give us life and life more abundantly!
- John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
What is the desire of our heart, when we delight and are fulfilled in the Lord? When God tells us to do something specific, He will change our hearts so we will do it with pleasure, from all our hearts. He will never ask us to start doing something He did not already equip or train us for.
- Psalms 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him...
What marvelous Scripture! Unfortunately, some Christians use these verses to justify their sinful living, saying that they are rightfully following the desires of their hearts. In order for God to give us the desires of our hearts, we have to “delight ourselves in the Lord” first. When we are fulfilled in the Lord and we truly find pleasure in spending time with Him, worshiping and praising Him, studying His word and talking with Him, we cannot continue to love sin, because God places His desires into our hearts. We end up loving what He loves, seeking what He seeks, desiring what He desires and we are the happiest when we follow His ways and His guidance. When we delight in God, what we desire in our hearts may be what God is speaking to us. When we realize that what we loved to do with all our hearts, until not long ago, becomes uninteresting or we even start to hate, it is possible that God is preparing a shift in our lives. To make sure we hear God and it is not our “flesh talking,” we have to analyze it objectively, to fast and pray, until we are sure that God is the One who changes our hearts. Our flesh is easily tempted to renounce anything that may offend us or deprive us of our personal comfort and because of that we have to make sure we are not falling into the enemy's trap, thinking it is God that wants us to change what we have with something we believe is “better.” If during our fellowship with God, while we enter into His presence and we quiet down our flesh thoughts and emotions, we continue to have the same desire and even stronger, it is possible that God is its source, and we should consider it. But if the desire to change starts to fade away, the more we soak into God's presence, it is almost certain that it was our flesh and not God. To be sure we hear God, we need to test that desire with the other biblical tests listed here and continue to pray and seek God's face, until we know we are safe to follow the “desire of our heart.”
When the message we have received from God, passes all these tests and the peace of Jesus fills our hearts, we will be safe to act upon it. The more often we enter into God's presence and seek to hear what He has to say, the faster and clearer we will hear Him. If we just hear and not obey what He tells us to do, we will never advance, but we will continue to hear the same thing until we obey it. God does not speak to us in vain; He does it with a certain purpose, that is always in our best interest for fulfilling His plan for our lives. The Bible says we are responsible to obey its commands and whatever God tells us to do (Deuteronomy 18:19, Acts 3:23). Because He loves us, God will not tell us more, if we fail to obey what He has already said in His Word, because it would make us responsible for even more disobedience. The obedience to God's Word is the beginning to receiving specific, personal messages from God.
In 1 Kings, chapter 17, we read how courageous the prophet Elijah was to present himself in front of the evil king and tell him that God chose to punish Israel with severe drought, for their sin of worshiping other gods. This was king Ahab, that allowed his wife, Jezebel, to kill God's prophets, so Elijah risked his life to obey what God told him to do, without having a plan B. Only after he left the presence of the king, did God speak to him again and giving him directions about his next step that was to preserve his life, as he was to drink water from the Brook Cherith and the ravens were to bring him bread and meat. He received the following step, only after the brook dried out. God sent him to a certain widow in Zarephath, that was part of Sidon. In that house, the little oil and flour never ended till the rain returned and there were crops again in the land. Elijah would never have had the big miracles, if he would not have obeyed God in the first place, even if it meant risking his life. This principle is true for us today. God will tell us more, when we obey what He has already told us to do.
Only after we are familiar with identifying the thoughts or impressions that come from God within our spirits, as answers to our questions, is it safe to ask the Lord for the more important questions in our lives. As we get used to testing these types of thoughts and impressions, making sure they are in accordance with the Bible, we learn to recognize and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us more easily. None of us are skilled at this when we first become Christians; we all learn and grow in hearing God better. The Christian life is a process in which we continue to grow and mature, day by day, seeking God diligently. Communication with God is an intrinsic part of it.
- John 7:37-39 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The spiritual gifts are very important for living fulfilled lives with God. Only after we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, may we receive and operate in His gifts. The “speech” or “revelation gifts” are important ways that God uses to speak in our spirits for us or others. (If you are interested, you may read more on this subject in the article “The Gifts and Ministries of the Holy Spirit”)
Since the first time I prayed for something specific for somebody which there was no way I could have known in the natural (to the total surprise of that person) I understood that the anointing of the Holy Spirit was upon me, giving me a “word of knowledge” that I could have received only through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This showed me that I was truly hearing what God had to say. It was an occasion of great joy and has been followed by many others. The more we desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we seek to have fellowship with Him, the better we will get to know Him and to recognize His ministry in us and through us. In the course of time, operating in the gifts of the Spirit, including the revelation gifts such as words of knowledge, become easier, more natural and even indispensable in our daily walk with God.
The key to a perfect relationship with God is to love and serve Him “with all our hearts.” We find this all throughout in the Bible. Here are some of the many verses:
- 2 Chronicles 15:15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.
- Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding...
- Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”
When we get to where we give it all to the Lord and do not care to satisfy the lusts and desires of our flesh, we have access to all the promises we find in God's Word and to the specific guidance of the Holy Spirit. We cannot mature spiritually without the Holy Spirit working in us and hearing God's voice.
- John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Jesus says that we can follow Him if we hear His voice. That means that we cannot truly follow Him, if we do not recognize His voice. When we are called on the phone, by someone that we know and are used to hearing their voice, there are no introductions needed, because we already know their voice. The more we talk with our Lord and “hear His voice,” the easier it becomes to identify Him.
Most of the time, God speaks through thoughts, impressions, visions or dreams and very rarely does He speak with an audible voice. To make sure we “hear” God, we have the biblical tests to help us.
The Lord speaks to all of us, but only those who take time to quiet ourselves and to listen, can hear Him. Those that live with God's continual guidance daily are efficient with their time as they purposefully take time to spend in the Lord's presence. Sadly today, many Christians waste so much time on television and social media and use the excuse that they are too busy so they have no time to spend in God's presence, missing their chance to be closer to God and living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
- Proverbs 16:3 Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.
- Isaiah 30:21 "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.”
What could be more valuable than being able to access God's wisdom and counsel at any time? There are so many examples in the Bible, of believers that accomplished extraordinary things because they lived close to God. They were asked God for guidance and they received it. Because Joseph preferred to go to prison, rather than sin against His Lord, God changed what seemed to be for his destruction into a major step to promote him to be the second in power, after the Pharaoh. Because he was faithful to the Lord, while in slavery, after he was sold by his brothers who were jealous on him, God's favor and provision followed him through every situation. Since his childhood, Joseph received dreams from God, telling him that he would lead over his brothers and parents. He never doubted God or what He spoke to him, not even while in slavery or in prison. He never rebelled against God, for the situations he was in, but he chose to praise God and live in obedience to His Laws. Do you think it was easy for him? Certain it was not. But he chose to trust God and to believe His promises instead of sinning. He chose to forgive and save his brothers who wanted him dead, and he even told them: "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5).
All of us will experience situations like Joseph at some point in our lives. When everything will seem to be against us and we have to continue to be faithful and true to our Lord, believing what He has spoken to us and continuing to be obedient in what God has told us to do. Joseph's example is iconic and encourages us not to backslide when we face suffering and trials that seem to have no way out.
The prophet Isaiah recorded his prophecies about seven hundred years before Jesus was born through the virgin Mary, about the His life, ministry and relationship with men. The prophecy from the following verses hold the keys to good communication with our Lord, which is to draw us closer and be able to hear what He says.
No one can truly hear what someone else says from far away, because whatever comes in between them, will distract their attention, any noise will affect the speaker's voice and the listener will lose interest in hearing. Drawing close to God and having a pure, sincere relationship with Him, enables us to hear His “still small voice” and be obedient. If we live like this, the Lord will teach us all that we need to know and will lead us on the path He already has prepared for us.
“Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit have sent Me. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.”
Isaiah 48:16-17
Isaiah 48:16-17
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