Thursday, May 27: How do you hear God?

“The Lord told me that you are going to marry Amy.” What would you do if a Christian made a comment to you of this nature? Wow, that is a lot of power being given to a person! Simply by not marrying Amy, this person could make God into a liar in the perspective of the message-giver, yet the truth of the situation is, this bearer of a prophecy was a false prophet. God is never wrong, never lies and never puts more emphasis on our words than His!


7“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
Exodus 20:7


Of all the 10 Commandments, this is the one that is probably the least understood. Many people think it refers to using the Lord’s name in a curse word. Certainly, that is part of it, but that doesn’t touch on the enormity of this command. “In vain,” means in any empty manner. That could mean cursing or swearing using the Lord’s name, yet it also could apply to our previous situation of someone saying, “The Lord told me to…”


The Bible is the finished version of God’s Holy Word. He is not adding to the Bible. Neither is He subtracting from it. If God tells you to do something, is it through His Word that He is speaking? Remember, God never will conflict His Word. Humans all suffer with pride, and though we can feel the prodding of the Holy Spirit leading us, the phrase, “God told me” is certainly overused in Christian circles. Is it possible that it wasn’t God’s voice, but your own? Is it something that you desperately want and you feel that God wants you to have it? I have a job interview coming up in a couple weeks and I would love to get the job, yet for me to say that God told me that He was going to give me this job would be untrue. Additionally, if God is speaking to one person and not another, is the one going to be prideful of his advanced spirituality?


What does the Bible say about the voice of God?


3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The LORD is over many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;
The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars,
Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”
Psalm 29:3-9


Additionally, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a still, small voice, and Jesus told us that His sheep know His voice, but God the Father spoke loudly (Deuteronomy 5:22) when giving the 10 Commandments to the wandering Jews. God speaks loudly in His Word. If you don’t read it, how can you hear Him? If God told you something, what verse did He use?