One of the greatest benefits of our salvation has to be that of hearing God speak to us personally. There can be no intimate relationship with our heavenly Father without it. But, as easy as it is for us to speak to Him, the average Christian has a hard time hearing His voice. This is not the way the Lord intended it to be.
Learning to clearly distinguish God’s voice is invaluable. Instead of going through life blindly, we can have the wisdom of God guide and protect us. One Word from the Lord will turn your whole life around.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” John 10:27 (KJV)
Jesus said, “my sheep hear my voice, and follow me, and a stranger voice they will not follow”. When we hear our father calling us, we run to him. The Lord constantly speaks to us and gives us His direction. It is never the Lord who is not speaking, but it is us who are not hearing. Jesus made some radical statements about hearing His voice in John 10:3-5. He was speaking about Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep and the only way to enter the sheepfold.
“To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Remember :Jesus said there where 8 things that His sheep hear.
- My sheep hear my voice
- He calleth His own sheep by name.
- He leadeth them out.
- And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them
- Andthe sheep follow Him.
- For they know His name.
- And a stranger will they not follow
- But will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers.
Again, notice that He said in verse 3, His sheep hear His voice. He didn’t say His sheep CAN hear His voice or SHOULD hear His voice. He made the emphatic statement that His sheep DO hear His voice. Most believers would question the accuracy of that statement since their experiences don’t line up. But it’s not what Jesus said that is wrong; all true believers can and do hear the voice of God; they just don’t recognize what they are hearing as being God’s voice. They think it is there voice.
God is constantly transmitting His voice to His sheep, but few are turned on and tuned in. Most believers are busy pleading with God in prayer to transmit when the problem is with their receivers.
The first thing we need to do is fix our receivers — believe that God is already speaking and start listening. However, that takes time, effort, and focus. The average believer’s lifestyle is so busy, it isn’t conducive to hearing God’s voice. For instance, if someone ask you, “How are you?’ Your typical answer to the question, Many of you probably answer something about being very busy. All of us seem to be busier than ever, and that’s one of the BIG reasons we don’t hear the voice of the Lord better. We’re just too busy. And when you are too busy, you are busy.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
It’s in quickness, and stillness, not busyness, that we tune our spiritual ears to hear the voice of God. The Lord always speaks to us in that “STILL, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12, emphasis mine), but often it’s drowned out amid all the turmoil of our daily lives.
Second, and this is very important, most often we mistake the voice of the Lord for our own thoughts. That’s right. I said the voice of the Lord comes to us in our own thoughts.
John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
This is saying that communication with God is Spirit to spirit, not mouth to ear, the way we communicate in the physical realm. The Lord speaks to our spirits, not in words, but in thoughts and impressions. Then our spirits speak to us in words like, “I think the Lord wants me to do this or that.” The Lord doesn’t typically say “You do this or that,” but He will impress your spirit to do something, and then your spirit says, “I think I should do . . .” Therefore, we often miss the leading of the Lord, thinking it’s our own thoughts.
Every one of us has done something stupid and afterwards said, “I knew that was the wrong thing to do.” We didn’t feel right about our decision, but we followed logic or pressure only to find that our impression was actually the Lord speaking to us. I learned this the hard way.
When I knew in my heart that the feelings and thoughts that I heard were the Lord speaking to you, and I dismissed it as my own. I made a decision right then and there that I would never ignore my heart again.
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
This verse has often been interpreted to mean that the Lord will give you whatever you want and has been used to justify selfishness, greed, and even adultery. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord will give you whatever you want; it means that when you are seeking the Lord, He will put His wants or desires into your heart. He will make His desires become your desires. The Lord changes your “want to.”
Whenever you are not operating in faith, it is sin, Romans 14:23, which says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” When you know, that you know, that you know God’s voice, there is a peace that passed all understanding that comes on you.
Colossians 3:15, which says, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.”
I am convinced that our gracious heavenly Father speaks to every one of His children constantly, giving us all the information and guidance we need to be total overcomers. There isn’t a problem with His transmitter; it’s our receiver that needs help. When we learn to hear His transmitter, then I receiver will pick up. Most people are imploring God to speak, when it’s our hearing that needs to be adjusted. Taking this faith-stance that God is speaking and then learning to listen and obey will transform your relationship with the Lord. It could save your life just as it did mine.
