How to Hear God's Voice

This page will help you learn

How to Hear God's Voice.

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This page gives specific tips

to help you in your daily walk with God.

Hearing from God

The Bible is the most important

book on earth.

It has the answers to all of life’s questions.

Yet sometimes the answer is not a direct answer.

~ ~ ~

We cannot go to the Bible

and read,

“Behold, next week

journey to First Union bank

and seek employment.”

~

We cannot go to the Bible

and read,

“Yes, therefore brethren, take the job in Texas.”

And

Nowhere in the Bible

can we find a verse that reads,

“It is now time to go get a new car.”

In many issues of life,

we stand

in the

gray area

of uncertainty.

So we need to learn to hear God’s voice.

In John chapter ten,

Jesus tells us that

when we accept him as Savior and Lord,

we are his sheep.

And his sheep hear his voice.

So God talks and we hear.

But sometimes we do not hear clearly.

We also need to realize

that

there are other voices that we hear.

We hear:

1. God's voice

2. Our voice

3. We sometimes hear the enemy's voice

So it is vital to be able to tell the difference between the three voices we hear in our head.

*  We hear our voice.

*  We hear the Lord, who is the voice of our best friend.

*  And we hear the voice of our worst enemy.

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We need to know the difference

between

the voice of

our best friend

and the voice of

our worst enemy!

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Who is our enemy?

Let’s focus for a moment on our worst enemy.

It is Satan and his demons.

God can be everywhere at once.

Satan cannot.

Nevertheless, Satan has plenty of demons

to speak his words to us.

We sometimes hear those words in our head.

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If we want to more easily

hear God's voice,

we must pursue learning to tell the difference

between God's voice,

our voice,

and the enemy's voice.

The voice of God is spoken to help us.

The voice of the enemy is spoken to

steal, kill, and destroy.

The devil and his demons

want

to steal from us

physically, mentally,

emotionally, relationally,

spiritually,

and

monetarily.

Before we go to the land of uncertainty,

I will present

the basic rules of hearing God.

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First Rule

of

How to Hear God's Voice

God’s voice will always agree with the Bible.

God’s voice will be

in harmony

with God's Word.

If a subject is clearly written about in the Bible,

then

we can rest assured

that

the voice of God

will not contradict the Bible.

Therefore,

we obviously need to know what the Bible says.

A specific example to illustrate this rule:

I used to be a prayer phone counselor for a Christian ministry.

Several times I answered the phone

and a woman

would be on the line

with a particular issue

that illustrates this point.

I could

immediately tell

what the problem was

because

the first words

out of her mouth were,

“I am a Christian, and my boyfriend is not yet.

BUT

I know that God wants me to date him.”

Those women needed to allow

the Bible

to be their final word

on the subject of dating

and all other subjects.

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They needed to follow what the Bible teaches:

no matter what they felt,

no matter what they thought was right,

and

no matter what other people thought about the situation.

Proverbs 13:13 TLB says,

"Despise God's word and find yourself in trouble;

Obey it and succeed."

-

There are many verses

about

not dating unbelievers.

For example: 2 Corinthians 6:14

Even before finding specific verses on dating,
a wise Christian should get
a sense of right and wrong
on this subject -
because...
Those you date could one day become your spouse. Our life is to be grounded on our love for Jesus.
An unbeliever won't have that grounding.

And - wise Christians realize that we sometimes fall in love with someone even when we are trying not to.

Many of our problems come

because

we either

do not know what the Bible teaches

or

we do not respect and follow

what the Bible teaches.

The fact is that

you cannot hear God's voice

for your life

unless

you will be determined

to listen

to God's clearly stated words in the Bible.

God will not speak in violation to his words in the Bible.

If

you won't allow the Bible

to be

your foundation,

you are standing on

shaky, unstable ground.

You will be an easy target for the enemy.

Second Rule of How to Hear God's Voice

Realize that you will make mistakes

in hearing God's voice.

Introduction to this section:

Many times we are faced with a situation

where God's will is not as clearly stated

in the Bible

as it is in the dating situation above.

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So we must be teachable and humble 

to hear God's voice on situations

that are not totally clear from the Bible.

If

you believe

that you can

perfectly hear God's voice

and

you will never make a mistake hearing God's voice,

then

you are already living in major deception.

You will make mistakes, but just as a little child learns to walk by falling, you can learn by your mistakes.

Even adults trip and fall sometimes, but not nearly as much as little toddlers. So it is important that we seek to mature and grow in the Lord.

The wisest person can be fooled.

No one hears God's voice perfectly. We all make mistakes in trying to hear God.

The more we practice

trying to hear God,

the better we learn to discern his voice.

Learning from our Mistakes

Many times I haven't been sure, but I thought I knew what God wanted. Later I realized I was wrong. I then took the opportunity to analyze my past situation and by doing so, I was able to gain valuable insights into hearing from God in the future.

An example to illustrate this rule:

Sometimes we hear a demonic voice and think it is God.

In Matthew 16:21, Jesus told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, be killed, and be raised on the third day.

Peter heard the voice of Satan in his head. Peter then took Jesus aside and spoke the words that Satan had said to him. Jesus responded, "Get behind me, Satan."

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Now we are ready to get some

Tips

on How to Hear God's Voice

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Tip Number 1 of

How to Hear God's Voice:

Seek Wisdom

Those who seek wisdom

hear more from God

than

those who don't.

~ ~ ~

Scripture

"Wisdom is knowing and doing right."

Proverbs 3:21 TLB

We must pursue reading and studying the Bible in order to know what is right.

Then we must make it a priority in life to actually do what God tells us to do. This is the work of growing spiritually.

"Determination to be wise

is the first step toward becoming wise."

Proverbs 4:7 TLB

"The wise man is glad to be instructed,

but a self-sufficient fool falls flat on his face."

Proverbs 10:8 TLB

Setting a goal in your life

to love wisdom

is a wise thing to do!

Next Tip on

how to hear God's voice:

God talks more to those who really want to hear him.

~ ~ ~

Do you really want to know

what God thinks

about the situation

or

do you

just

want

God to give you

a stamp of approval?

? ? ?

Do you want

what you want

so badly

that you are

not really going to

welcome

the voice of God if it differs from your opinion?

-

You can always "prove" you are right,

but is the Lord convinced?

Proverbs 16:2 TLB

God talks more to people who really want to hear him

  - meaning -

people who really want to hear truth.

I believe one of the reasons that

David was called

"a man after God's own heart"

is because he was

open to

God's truth

even if God's truth disagreed with his desires and his views.

Next Tip on

how to hear God's voice:

If you are not sure what to do in important decisions

and circumstances -

and

the Bible doesn't give clear directions

about it -

then wait.

~ ~ ~

Wait for God.

Wait as long as you can.

God sometimes does not tell us what to do until the last minute.

I sometimes have to wait much longer than I feel comfortable about waiting.

Sometimes I know that other people are waiting for my decision, and I don't like to make other people wait.

But many times when I have felt pressured and therefore answered before I was sure, I later found out that I made a bad choice.

When I have been determined to wait to answer  - until I feel certain or until I get a godly peace about the situation -  I have always been glad I did.

Since God's answer will be the right answer, it is better to wait on God.

Next Tip on

how to hear God's voice:

God's voice is

generally peaceful and calm.

~ ~ ~

Learn to detect the voice that is peaceful and calm - even in the midst of a storm.

Sometimes my circumstances are so urgent and upsetting that I feel overwhelmed. During those times, God frequently gives me a picture of Jesus in the boat with the disciples. Jesus is sleeping while the storm rages.

As I look at Jesus, I take note of how he is resting peacefully with his eyes closed.

I notice that Jesus is not upset or overwhelmed. So I remind myself that I shouldn't be.

Next Tip on

how to hear God's voice:

The enemy's voice is often a

rushing, pushing, driving voice.

It pressures you to make a quick decision.

~ ~ ~

The enemy and his demonic forces

frequently

want you to make a quick decision

before

you have time to seek wisdom.

This is often true when it comes to buying things.

The enemy wants you to buy lots of things and get into debt.

When you see something that you want

- that you really don't have to have -

beware of the enemy's voice.

Hearing God

We also have other Bible devotions (on the lighter side) about how to hear God's voice:

Hearing God's Voice

Bible Wisdom

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