“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 NLT
To be honest, hearing God’s voice can be difficult to teach, and even listen for. If you’re like me you’ve had questions like, “what does it sound like?” “Does He speak out loud?” “How do I know if it’s His voice I’m hearing or mine?” These are all legitimate questions I asked myself throughout high school and even in Bible College. This changed once I took a class called Spiritual Formation.
In this class, one of our lessons was on learning how to hear the voice of God. Let me tell you, what I learned in that class helped me walk confidently ever since.
So, how do we hear God’s voice? God speaks to us in a few ways. The primary way we hear God’s voice is through the Bible. The next is through scripture. We see that God uses prophets, teachers, visions, and in other creative ways like using a donkey. Now, God using a donkey to speak is unique in itself. One takeaway from this story is that God is not limited in how He speaks to us.
Since God is not limited in how He can communicate to us, how do we filter what we’ve heard, seen, or sensed? Here’s how we discern: Ask yourself these three questions:
1. Does it line up with scripture?
2. Does it line up with the character and nature of God?
God will not contradict what He already spoke in the Bible and He will mirror Jesus’s life from the Bible. When God speaks, peace will settle in your heart that can’t be understood, and it will bring freedom to all areas of your life.
3. Finally, what is your trusted leadership saying to you?
God uses leadership in our lives to give us wisdom and direction (Proverbs 11:14). Just remember that leadership is a voice of God in your life not the voice of God.
Once we took a quick break in class, I paused for a moment and thanked God for learning this topic. I instantly saw that I wanted to help others who might have struggled like me to discern God’s voice. This was the map I needed to navigate the voice of God. I hope this aids you in your journey in life.
Prayer
Dear Father, as my life continues to grow, give me the ability to discern your voice daily, and give me the strength to obey. God. I want to be closer to You today than I was yesterday. Let me use the tools given to me in this chapter to navigate when I sense something, hear something or even see something that may be You trying to get my attention. In Jesus' name amen.
