HEARING THE VOICE OF GOD 12

Learning to hear the voice of God is a process! It always should be based on the Word of God! One way is as the Word is taught by a Christ-centered, Spirit-filled pastor! So He can speak directly to us through the Holy Spirit, as for example, as “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 2 Timothy 3: 16.

Another way we hear His voice, shown in the Old Testament, is to listen ‘to the still small voice of God’ 1 Kings 19:12. Here after Elijah the prophet stands on the mountain before the Lord. The Lord passes by, and there is a wind but the Lord is not in the wind; then there is an earthquake but the Lord is not on the earthquake; and then a fire but the Lord is not on the fire and then comes the still small voice of the Lord. That’s when Elijah follows to the entrance of a cave and the Lord speaks to him, telling him what to do as Elijah asks Him. ( Read 1 Kings 19:11-18).

He can also give us personal impressions in our spirits! As a personal example, in the last few months I became aware of the Spirit telling me to bless others. Also to better my prayer life, specially when it comes to intercession; and my worshipping through song. I had let go of these disciplines and as such the Lord was speaking to me to do this again, together with studying and reading the Word. As I have been looking back to these past few months, His impressions have made me look at the Lord, speaking to me loud and clear!

Also another example , in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 29:11 it says: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Here we see that when God speaks to us, and He speaks even today, it is to give us a future and a hope, to give us the best He has for us! So we need not fear about what God speaks to us, it is about wholeness, healing for our life, physically, financially, emotionally; He doesn’t speak to us to break or tear us apart, to destroy us; those are things of the enemy! So with this Scripture, we can discern some the voice of God!

Another example, in the New Testament, in Hebrews, we see another Scripture where God says that when we hear His voice we shouldn’t harden our hearts and be rebellious. Sometimes He tells us things so we won’t be hurt along our journey, as we saw in the previous Scripture, He has a good future in His plans for us! Sometimes we just think that His commands are a hardship, just to keep us from having fun! But it is just the opposite! Our future is full of fun if we have listened to His voice during our journey with Him! Of course, at times we don’t believe it is God speaking at all! But remember, if we see to the future and see it full of wholeness in the path God is leading us in, then it is probably the Lord speaking! “ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if You hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness…” Hebrews 3: 7-8.