How to Hear God’s Voice
I want to prep you before we dive into this article. By the end of this reading, you more than likely will not be hearing an audible deep voice speaking to you in your bedroom. In the beginning of my faith walk, I would be in a conversation with a mature christian and I would hear the words, “God told me…” this was exactly what I was picturing.
My christian friend would seem so confident that the Lord told them, “…fill in the blank.” There was no doubt or convincing them otherwise. I thought to myself, “Wow, the Lord must have really spoke to them the way He did to Moses in the Old Testament.” With that frame a thinking, I thought that He only spoke to a select few of His children. I assumed He had favorites. This may be where your heart is at. What if I told you that you can hear from Him too? That He WANTS to speak to you. That in many ways He already has spoken to you, yet you missed it. I am so excited for this article to pour joy and discernment into your heart. Let’s get started!
How do you “hear” God speak?
More than half the time, the Lord speaking to you is going to be through an impression on your heart. When you accept Jesus into your life as your Savior, something additional VERY amazing happens. You now have the Holy Spirit in you to help guide you. The Holy Spirit is the direct communication to our Father. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in three. A complex sentence to wrap your head around, we will dive deeper into that another day. For now we are going to highlight and talk about the Holy Spirit. He is speaking to you all the time. He is helping you discern right from wrong. He will begin to refine and slowly transform you.
Even though the Lord does the changing in our heart, we also have a responsibility. Its our job to obey the commands that God asks us. It does not happen over night. Yet, one day you look back to a year ago and you realize how far you have come. Jesus is a gentleman, He is patient and He is not going to overwhelm you with all these rules. He’s asking for your heart, not perfection. What slowly starts to happen is you WANT to follow His commands because you love Him so much. In the beginning, it can be tough. Your heart may not be softened towards Him and you struggle to trust.
The first step, get to know Him. Once you start to understand God’s character you will start to see how He works in your life.
How do I know it’s from God and not my own thought?
Short answer, What does the Bible say about it? Is it following His commandments? Does it represent a deep self-less love? Does it line up with the fruit of the spirit? In the future, I will go over what the fruit of the spirits are and link it here. For now, look up Galatians 5:22-26 and it goes over all the fruits of the spirit. These are characteristics you slowly develop more of as you walk in your faith. If you have a thought or idea that checks off all these boxes, its more than likely given to you by God. There are many ways He speaks to us that we are blind to. We may right it off as our own idea. Begin to pray and ask God to open your eyes to how He speaks to you throughout the day.
What do I do now that I heard from God?
What a beautiful thing! I am so excited for you and your walk with Christ. It is not an easy rode ahead yet it is one that is fulfilling. He is a God that loves His children and has plans for hope and a future. (Jer 29:11) If you think you have heard from the Lord, trust it. If you are new into your faith and still trying to understand, reach out to your spiritual mentor. A spiritual mentor is someone who has been walking with the Lord for a very long time. They saturate their time in the Word and can help you with any questions you have as you start out this new life. If you don’t have a mentor, pray for one. The Lord knows your heart and wants to connect you with other believers. Reach out to your church or a friend you know.
When you hear from God, obey what He says. Listen to Him. What He is asking is going to help build His kingdom. It’s so wonderful that we get to be apart of His plan. As you obey what He places on your heart, He will entrust you with even more responsibility.
In conclusion,
God is not asking you for perfecting. Most of my young adult life, I felt the need to clean myself up before coming to Him with my vulnerable heart. As humans, we will always have short-comings. During our walk, we will fail Him over and over. Yet, nothing will ever come between His love for you. He has a life of abundant blessings, never failing you. It starts with accepting Him into your heart. Trust the process. I am overwhelmed with joy as you continue to learn how God speaks to you.
With love,
Amanda Joy