Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator beginning here and now, and lasting throughout eternity. Jesus declared, “This is eternal life – that they may know God” (Jn. 17:2). Unfortunately, many in the Church miss the great blessing of fellowship with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice within us. Though we have the promise that “My sheep hear My voice,” too many believers are starved of that intimate relationship, which alone can satisfy the desire of our hearts.
I was one of those sheep who was deaf to the Shepherd until the Lord revealed some very simple keys that unlocked the treasure of His voice.
Recently I have been thinking a lot about my future and what I should do with that future, now that I am able to retire from the police. Should I take another job or is there something better just over the horizon, which awaits me? Should I read my horoscope in the local paper, should I consult the stars or should I consult the one who made the stars? These are all thoughts that have been going through my mind as I travel along life’s winding pathway. I have now reached a point in my own life where I can change career and do something else. I am sure that you may also have reached that stage in your life at one time or another. Change is something we humans do not really like. We are creatures of habit and enjoy stability and routine. But the difficult decision that we have to make is what do we do? At times like this we need help in making that choice, help to decide and we need help from someone who we can trust. This is the time we have to be able to know how to hear and recognise God speaking to us in our lives, and this can be difficult to identify. For not only is there God’s voice there are other voices trying to talk to us. There are three voices that we may hear -- the voice of God, the voice of our own fleshly desires, and the voice of the Devil
In our reading from Samuel we heard how he had difficulty knowing and recognising God’s voice. He didn’t recognise it and indeed thought it was his master’s voice calling to him.
Perhaps he thought he wasn’t important enough to have God talk with him. Perhaps he believed God only talked to important people like the high priest and not such an unimportant person as him.
When my faith started to develop and it became stronger or to put it another way when I began to have a closer relationship with God, I really thought that I should hear a crash of drums and a choruses of alleluias to mark that special occasion! That may have been a simple and naive thought, but it was what I believed at the time. I suppose we all have ideas of how things should happen.
My son is 11 years old and although he is fully aware of the meaning of the sacrament of Holy Communion he had never taken it, but preferred to have a blessing instead. Last month, whilst on holiday in Scotland, we went to a Methodist Church in Montrose and it was Holy Communion. The bread and wine was brought round and to my surprise he took it. Now this was certainly not the way I had wanted it to happen. I had always planned that the family would be there for his first Communion and to witness this great occasion. It didn’t happen like that but it did happen when the time was right for him and without pomp and ceremony. God speaks to us when he thinks the time is right and not when we think it is right.
One of the most difficult things in following what God wants is firstly to be able to recognise his voice, secondly to listen to him and thirdly to be able to understand what he is actually saying to us. Faith is not born out of scientific proof or visual confirmation, but out of simply hearing the Gospel and believing what it says. Our relationship with Jesus has much in common with the relationships we have with friends and family. When we invest effort and commitment in our relationships, they flourish but when neglected or abandoned, they suffer and go into decline. As with any relationship, listening plays a very important part to this two way communication process.
Our relationship with God is a two way conversation
If you want to have a conversation with someone then one of you has to start the dialogue. One begins to talk and the other listens. It is a two way process. It is a vital part of communication. Jesus often went away to be on his own and to talk to God. How did he do it? – he prayed. This is how Jesus talked and listened to God. In Jeremiah 29:12-13 it says, "Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Prayer is like saying, "Hello, God, it’s me. I believe You created me and that You know more about how I should live my life than I do. I’d like to get to know You better. Here’s what’s going on in my life, and I’d like Your thoughts on how to handle it. Would You please speak to me about this today?"
In a conversation, we speak, and then we listen for the response from the other person. It’s the same with God! Once we’ve prepared our hearts to listen through prayer, we’re more likely to hear the voice of God. But does He speak to us with an audible voice? Some people claim that He does, but usually that’s not the case. We may not actually "hear" the voice of God, but He speaks to us in many ways. We may be able to hear God speak to us through His Word. When we read the bible there are just some pieces of scripture that seem to jump out of the page at us. They are eye catching and move us inside. On other occasions he may speak to us through our thoughts. This is the way that God speaks to me. I know that I have had a thought about what is going to happen and shortly afterwards it happens or what I should do in a particular situation. I find this slightly scary, but after a while I have come to accept it. On other occasions God may speak to us through conversations with others. We may be moved by the words spoken by someone. A particular word touches our hearts.
Or alternatively we may experience God speaking to us through a set of circumstances. There may be ways that you have experienced God talking to you.
God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.
Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him and Elijah described it as a still, small voice (I Kings 19:12 ).
I have always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that usually, God’s voice comes as spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions.
For example, have you been driving down the road and had a thought come to you to pray for a certain person or to do a certain thing? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God’s voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that came upon your mind? Experience shows that we perceive spirit given communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions and visions, and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is "a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting." When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought “accidentally” intersecting our minds.
Therefore, when you want to hear from God, tune to chance-encounter or spontaneous thought mode.
Become still so you can sense God’s flow of thoughts and emotions within.
Habakkuk said, "I will stand on my guard post..." (Hab. 2:1). And he knew that to hear God’s quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 46:10 encourages us to be still, and know that He is God. There is a deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirits that each of us can experience when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts. Loving God through a quiet worship song is one very effective way to become still. (Note II Kings 3:15 .) After I worship and become silent within, I open myself for that spontaneous flow. If thoughts come of things I have forgotten to do, I write them down and dismiss them. If thoughts of guilt or unworthiness come, I repent thoroughly and receive the washing of the blood of the Lamb and then put on His robe of righteousness and be spotless before God (Is. 61:10; Col. 1:22).
To receive the pure word of God, it is very important that our hearts are properly focused as we become still because our focus is the source of the intuitive flow. If we fix our eyes upon Jesus, the intuitive flow comes from Jesus. But if we fix our gaze upon some desire of our hearts, the intuitive flow comes out of that desire. To have a pure flow we must become still and carefully fix our eyes upon Jesus. Again, quietly worshiping the King, and receiving him from out of the stillness that follows. Fix our gaze upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2), becoming quiet in His presence and sharing with Him what is on your heart. Then spontaneous thoughts will begin to flow from the throne of God to us, and we will actually be conversing with the King of Kings!
What do we do when we hear God’s voice?
We have to decide how to respond to what we have heard and this can be difficult. Hearing his voice may cause all sorts of emotions. We may be confused, reduced to tears, enlightened, directed or led. It may be that we fight against it and try to go our own way; following our own ideas and desires by doing what we think is right. This is the point where we need to be guided by God and by those who serve him. I would like to share with you a story about the man responsible for ending the British slave trade, 200 years ago.
It was the powerful Christian statesman William Wilberforce, who I am sure we have all heard of. Wilberforce, though a young man, was a Member of Parliament when he was converted to Christianity. After his conversion, his first reaction was to think about getting out of politics and entering the ministry.
Like many Christians, Wilberforce mistakenly believed that ’spiritual’ affairs were more important than ’secular’ affairs. But then John Newton, the converted slave trader and author of the great classic hymn, "Amazing Grace," persuaded Wilberforce that God wanted him to stay in politics rather than enter the ministry. Newton wrote to Wilberforce and said, "It is hoped and believed that the Lord has raised you up for the good of the nation.”
Wilberforce took Newton’s advice and stayed in politics. The rest, of course, is history, for he produced what his biographer, John Pollock, calls "the greatest moral achievement of the British people"—the abolition of the slave trade. Wilberforce was thrown into confusion and unsure what to do until he was guided by his friend. God uses others to tell us what to do and it is highly important for us to speak to those we trust and whose judgement we respect. We need to pray for the grace to understand and to accept what is being done in our lives.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."
So we have the Bible, prayer, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and our own hearts to help us in hearing God’s voice. Do you want to hear God’s voice? That is the final question, for God responds to willing hearts. In the book of Revelation, we read: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20). God will never force you to obey Him, but waits for your willing response to His call. It is an invitation to communicate with him. Are you hearing His voice right now? Jesus open our eyes to your presence, open our ears to your call, open our hearts to your love. Grant us the grace to follow you, and wisdom to discern the way and strength in times of challenge. Help us to trust you and give myself to you so that we may become your true disciples. So I urge you not to let your final answer be the wrong one. Talk with God and receive his Holy Spirit today. Amen.
