A frequent statement in Christian conversations is, “The Lord told me to do this.” While there certainly are people throughout the Bible and throughout history who heard God’s voice audibly, I am not one of those. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to. At least that is what I say now, for in truth, it would depend upon the situation. It might scare me to death. If I was in the position of Job in chapters 38-40 with God questioning me for my failures, I would want to crawl under a rock and hide. Yet we all know that we can’t hide from God. As stated before, God speaks to us in a variety of ways. With some people, He gives dreams and visions.
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
Joel 2:28-29 (NKJV)
I guess that is one of the ways of telling whether or not I am an old man or a young man at the ripe age of 50. Does God speak to me through visions (images in my waking hours) or through dreams (images in my sleeping hours)? Most of the time, God speaks to me through His Word. I will read a verse and all of a sudden, will feel my mind racing toward how that verse needs to be applied to my current situation. I also love the way I can just open the Bible and the one verse that catches my eye first, that’s one verse of the 54,387 that are in there, seems to apply so directly to the present! God uses people, places, and a variety of other sources to speak to us. How many times have you been in church when the pastor seemed to be speaking directly to you? I remember a time when the pastor’s description of a scenario was so picturesque that it only could be pertaining to me, and I was a first-time guest in that church. Did the pastor know that his words were falling on needing ears? Probably not, but that is often how God works.
Recently, everywhere I turned a particular verse kept popping up. After a number of these occurrences, I began to study the verse and find more about its meaning in context. That is a key to studying the Bible, for taking verses out of context rarely gives us the true meaning. Once I understood the verse, I began to apply it to a needed area in my life. I guess that wasn’t enough, for God kept sharing the verse with me in the most unlikely positions. What I discovered was that I was applying the meaning of the verse with my brain, rather than with my heart. Until I took the time to listen in the context of what God desired, He was going to keep reminding me. Jesus told His disciples that reminding us is exactly what the Holy Spirit will do:
25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
John 14:25-26 (NKJV)
One thing to keep in mind, can you remember something that you never have experienced? A memory involves fishing something out of the past, rather than experiencing something anew. In order to remember a lesson, or even a verse, you need to have experienced it first. In the case of a verse, the key is to read the Bible!
If you are feeling a strong prodding from God, how do you know that it is His voice, and not your own heart, or worse, a demonic oppression? Balance it against the Word of God. If it conflicts what God tells you in His Word, it is not His voice! Additionally, the more difficult task for us is to balance that prodding against our own hearts. Are you feeling God wants you to do something simply because you want it very badly? For example, what if I told you that God was telling me to go out and buy a Lamborghini? Does that sound like the kind of thing that God would tell me to do in His Word? No! He does tell us that we should be of one Accord! Are there ways I could spend the money that God has given me much more wisely than buying a car that expensive? Certainly! Yet, there could be situations that God has told someone to do exactly that. What if He wanted the buyer to speak about Him to the salesman? The more common answer here, though, is that this person is probably hearing the voice of their own heart, rather than the voice of God. The Lord tells us about our own hearts:
9 "The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV)
Lesson number one in hearing God is to find a quiet place and read His Word. One pastor reminded us that if you want to hear God’s voice, read His Word out loud! He loves you and desires a close relationship with you. How can you have a close relationship without communication? Prayer is an awesome gift, as it enables us to speak to the Creator of the universe any time we want. Yet what is truly more important, us speaking to God or God speaking to us? He has many more important words for us! Listen!
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