One of the things that I enjoy about blogging is the interaction that it often generates. More specifically I enjoy getting feedback on my blogs and I especially like it when I am asked questions about something I have written or arising from something that I have written.
The last question that I received was this….
“A topic that is very near to my heart lately is that of hearing God’s voice and knowing what His will is for our lives…I have often had experiences where I believed that the actions I took were in response to hearing from God..but in the aftermath I was not sure. This leads me to always question what I “hear” or “feel” and whether it IS from God, from myself or something else? How does one learn to discipher what they are hearing or feeling? How does one know what God’s will for their life really is?”
It’s a good question isn’t it and I would suggest that it is one asked by most Christians at some point or other, so here is my take on it.
Consider this if you will…
If there is one Bible verse that I believe all Christians should take to their heart in respect of “God’s voice and Will for their lives”, it is this one.
“27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” [John 10:27-28 KJV]
For within this one little passage of scripture ( just as with all of Chapter 10 where it is to be found and indeed as with much of the bible) is held such assurance, such promise and such wonderment for a Christian. As is often the casein the bible, everyday earthly things are used to represent and illustrate eternal matters and here the example used is that of the sheep recognizing the voice of the shepherd.
But I think that as Christians we can rightfully ask a question very similar to the one above and ask, “Do we? I mean really and honestly “audibly hear” the voice of God?”
Audibly Hearing the voice of God:
I will be very candid with you here and admit that I am not sure I personally have ever “audibly” heard the voice of God. I have, it has to be said, heard accounts of some who say they have “audibly” heard the voice of God, and I have no reason to doubt their sincerity it is just not something I have ever done.
Does that make me question my own faith, God’s love for me, or doubt my very salvation? No of course not. I recognize that this has simply not been something I have experienced and I rest in the fact that if I am abiding in His will and He wants me to “audibly” hear His voice that He will enable me so to do so. Actually I would venture to suggest that this remains true for thousands of Christians.
Additionally, we need to take a look at our definition of the word “hear” as used here. And so, although I do not profess to be a Greek scholar I referred back to the original Greek for the word “hear”. And the original Greek word used here is “ἀκούω the definition of which is: A primary verb; to hear (in various senses): – give (in the) audience (of), come (to the ears), ([shall]) hear (-er, -ken), be noised, be reported, understand.
So immediately from that definition we can see that “hearing” isn’t ONLY through our ears or “audible” if you will.
So if this is the case how else do we “hear” his voice?
God’s word:
I terms of how I am using this title “God’s word” (small “w” in word) I refer to the Bible. As Christians we believe (or at least I hope that we all believe) that the bible is the inspired word of God.
“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.“[NIV]
God is a God of love and He loves us and has already spoken to us all, not just those of us who are Christians but to ALL of us. He loves us ALL and has spoken to us ALL and it has been recorded or written down for all of us to be able to refer to and to take heed of through the Bible. And actually it is this that is the reference point, the measuring stick that all other communication should be check by.
Becoming intimate, familiar, with the word of God is what He desires and helps us to become intimate or familiar with God. Let me illustrate this fact by sharing a personal story here…
The other day I was going through some old boxes and found a collection of love letters that my wife and I had written to each other when we first started dating and indeed at different times throughout our marriage. Now my wife and I are in fact no longer together but this has not stopped me loving her and it has not changed the way in which I re-read some of those letters.
As I sat reading the letters that my wife had written to me I read them “hearing” her voice speaking those words to me.
I did so not intentionally nor by either design or deliberate desire, but as a result of the familiarity and intimacy that my wife and I shared at that time and consequently I smiled at certain parts, chuckled at other parts, laughed at other parts, and cried at yet other parts.
Because I have been familiar and intimate with my wife – knowing her ways, her beliefs, her heart, I instantly was familiar and intimate with her words and the meaning of her words, how they would have been spoken, said, meant, intentioned.
The same can and should be true of God’s word (the bible) if we choose to have that in our lives and as Christians we SHOULD choose to have that in our lives.
“Yeah, but part of the reason you were able to be familiar and intimate with your wife is because she was physically with you. God isn’t physically with us.” I have heard some observe in response to this before.
Whilst I understand what they are saying I have two responses to that:
- Firstly, actually one of the things that these letters did afford me is an insight into my wife’s (or in most of them my then girlfriend’s or Fiancée) nature or character. One of the worst mistakes that we can make when reading God’s word is to see just the will, and accounts of God, without gaining an understanding or even a glimpse of the nature or Character of God.
- Secondly, actually God was with us physically in the person of Jesus. Learning more of Jesus his time and ministry here on the earth (in the Physical if you will) IS to learn more of God…
God’s Word:
God’s Word (capital “W” in word) refers to Jesus Christ…
Jesus Christ – someone whose physical existence and exploits have not only been recorded in the bible but also by Christian AND non-christian historians such as Flavius Josephus, Lucian, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, and Thallus, to name but a few.
Jesus Christ who was the very manifestation of God and His love for us on earth – fully God and fully human as Colossians 2:9 (for example) tells us.
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,” [Col 2:9 NIV]
God spoke to us in the most tangible and real and indisputable way possible by manifesting Himself in the presence of Jesus Christ.
So by learning about Jesus, His actions, His words, His teachings, His character and nature, we are learning of God and this in turn helps us in our search to become more intimate and familiar with God.
God’s Spirit:
And when Jesus’ time on earth was finished, when that particular part of His ministry had come to an end and He returned to the Father, He promised us that He would not “leave us as orphans”…
“If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” [John 14:15-18 NIV]
Having accepted Christ and given our lives to Him as Lord and saviour, God’s Holy Spirit is available to us and dwells within us. In some versions He is referred to as our “counselor” and in others our “advocate”. He is without doubt intended to be part of our very communication with, to and from God.
Through the Holy Spirit we receive both the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit. Now both of these two groups require much greater study than I have time for here but suffice to say that both groups are in fact a testimony, conformation and evidence of God’s will and character and a communication from and to God in our lives.
An “inner feeling”, a “sense of peace” (see below), an “experience of joy”, a “heart-speak”, call it what you will, as simplistic or as confusing as it may seem to some, the fact is that it is this very same Holy Spirit that very often when we do something that we believe God has required of us provides us with that inner sense of “knowing” that God is pleased with us. And indeed very often provides us with the inner sense of knowing what God requires of us.
God’s Dreams and Visions:
I think most Christians would have little disagreement with most of what I have said so far. But I am conscious that when it comes to “dreams and visions” there is some division in terms of whether they “were just for that time” or are “just as present today” or “just for the end times”.
Additionally I am aware of the debate concerning the “we are in the end times” and the “we are not yet in the end times” argument.
To be perfectly honest I really don’t wish to get into these debate but did want to include “Dreams and Visions” when discussing the subject of “hearing the voice of God” as I am aware that some Christian’s (myself included) do make reference to having had them dream or vision based experiences.
God’s Servants:
A few months back I displayed a series of old family photographs on my Facebook page so that my family and friends could see then and share in them. When publishing them I had anticipated comments like “Oh I remember that picture” and/or “do you remember how we used to…” but what I hadn’t particularly anticipated was the way in which it invoked a lot of discussion about people in the photo’s and the things they used to do or say.
Comments like “do you remember how Dad used to say….” and responses like “oh yes that was Dad alright”.
This was because what was being mentioned “rang true” and again as a result of our intimacy and familiarity with the person of whom the statements were being made.
As God’s servants we are in many ways called to be “the voice of God” and as such we must be very careful of what we say and also very careful to say what we are called to say.
I am human and imperfect and i make mistakes and I have no doubt I have made mistakes within the things I have said through my various blogs, BUT I do try to ensure that what I say is truthful and honest and bible-based and sound. I want to glorify God and be a proper witness and I hope that when reading my blogs – especially my Faith based blogs people are able to read my words and “recognize” the truth of what I am saying.
Of course in terms of this happening I have to remain true to God and His word and His truth, and the people reading what I have written have to be able to see God and the truth in it.
Intimacy and Familiarity with God, His word, Word, Spirit, Truth, Nature and Character will accommodate that and not only affords us to know that what we are being told comes from God – either directly or indirectly BUT ALSO to recognize and dismiss those things that are not from God.
God’s Language:
Whilst I have already stated some of the ways that God speaks to us all very plainly and clearly, I don’t personally think that it would be right to write an article on “Hearing the Voice of God” without in some way covering the whole subject of “tongues” or “glossolalia”.
Because of the depth of this subject I am not intending to go into it in any depth here. What is far more important to me is that we understand that God is a God of love and that He desire to have a relationship with us that recognizes His place as our loving Heavenly Father.
Every single communication from God is spoken in love. Whether encouraging us, congratulating us, warning us, or indeed disciplining us, all of it is done in love and so too should our communication with each other be.
And so when it comes to the subject of tongues it is in love that I want, right from the get go, to make something very clear about this subject…
Whilst and readily accept that this is a beautiful and wonderful gift of God and whilst I myself do sometimes pray in tongues I am convinced that
- this is not a gift that every Christian has personally experienced for themselves.
- that having had the gift of tongues does not make you any better or more special a Christian than one who hasn’t
- that the correct use of this gift is clearly defined in the scriptures.
I make these statement because I believe that (as with all gifts) it needs to be used wisely because a misuse or misunderstanding of the gift of tongues is something that can cause division, harm, and spiritual snobbery.
I have personally witnessed the damage that the misuse and wrongful approach to tongues can cause and I have seen first hand some folk become all puffed-up and prideful over this gift and as a direct result of that I force other folk to descend into doubt and a sense of second-class citizenship as it were because they have not yet personally experienced this gift.
God’s peace:
I know that this again has been another long article, (and again I want to apologize for that) but I did want to cover the items that I have covered thus far and indeed this and the next (and final) item when discussing this subject.
Philippians 4:7 reads…
“7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” [Phil 4:7 NIV]
True peace – God’s peace, I fully believe, can only be found in Christ and is expressed to us and in us through God’s Holy Spirit (See above). When we are in His will and abiding in Him and when we are “at one” with His Holy Spirit within us. When we are not it grieves the Spirit and we feel that.
So when we have done something that God our Loving heavenly Father wants us to do we sense it and feel it or experience it through that very same Spirit.
And here I think we also need to consider the subject of prayer. For prayer is entering into God’s presence and seeking His peace. It is a time of communication with God – a time of conversation. And a conversation is not meant to be a monologue. God seeks for us to speak WITH Him rather than at Him. We need to listen also.
So on that note – a word of warning…
Peace is meant to be experienced and God’s spirit is alien to our natural and sinful ways and self. To truly experience His peace we have to focus on it and be prepared for it and desire it. Entering into His peace very often requires an attitude and action on our part – that of “entering in” and thus “leaving” our worldly ways and worldly diversions and distractions.
God’s love:
OK I think this article is long enough (too long possibly and so I will close it on this last subject.
Already mentioned in the items above (as it is an integral and essential part of them all) I just want to again bring the fact that God loves us and delights in our love for Him to mind.
I said it above and I will say it again here, “Every single communication from God is spoken in love. Whether encouraging us, congratulating us, warning us, or indeed disciplining us, all of it is done in love and so too should our communication with each other be.”
One of the saddest of all things possible in this life, is failing to understand that basic, essential and life-changing truth and thus to misunderstand or even dismiss or deny God as a result of it.
He really is our Heavenly Father and loves us dearly and just as a shepherd is to sheep, God is our protector, carer, provider and our guide. He calls to us and He knows us and we in turn hear Him and recognizing His voice we respond. He saves us and offers us eternal life with Him.
Remember our initial verse?
“27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” [John 10:27-28 KJV]
So there you have it. My take on “Hearing the voice of God.” I pray that it helps.