How to Hear the Voice of God

One of the greatest tools in the life of the believer is the ability to know and hear the voice of God. So much so that I believe that after giving your life to Jesus, the very next thing you ought to do is learn how God speaks to you. That, I truly believe, is the key to the believer maximizing their full potential and destiny.

Two things on this point — hearing the voice of God is both the RIGHT of the believer, but it’s also a SKILL.

What do I mean? Jesus tells us in John 10:4b, “…and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” Because we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd, that relationship, that frequency of interaction makes knowing His voice the default for the believer — for the one that is spending time walking with the Shepherd. That’s what I mean when I say it’s your right as a believer to know His voice because your relationship gives you ACCESS and PROXIMITY to frequently interact with the Shepherd so much that you become very familiar with His voice.

Using this analogy of sheep/shepherd, it’s pretty easy to see how useful it would be for a vulnerable, defenseless sheep who would make a tasty feast for wolves to have the ability to hear the voice of the one whose commitment is to protecting the sheep. Imagine the sheep grazing green grass in a peaceful meadow. The meadow is vast and leaves a lot of room to roam, perhaps even some distance away from the shepherd at times. And that same vastness leaves a lot of room for predators on the prowl. How powerful is it then in those dangerous moments for the sheep to be able to hear the shepherd’s call leading it back into safety.

But how do we get to truly know His voice? Well, in addition to spending time with the Shepherd - in prayer, in praise & worship, in meditation, in the Word - the believer must also intentionally strengthen the SKILL of hearing God’s voice.

In 1 Kings 19:11-13, the prophet Elijah is running for his life, fleeing from the reach of evil King Ahab and his even more evil wife Jezebel when the Lord begins to instruct him:

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

The SKILL of learning the voice of God, in large measure, has to do with getting past the NOISE all around us that often hampers our ability to discern His voice, which usually doesn’t come in the earthquake or the fire — those BIG things — but often in a gentle whisper. This requires us to quiet ourselves before the Lord and truly LISTEN.

So your homework today is two-fold:

1. Spend some intentional time with the Shepherd. Do some of the talking.

2. Then quiet yourself and listen for His gentle whisper. Grab your journal and write down what you believe He has said.

If you do this enough and reflect on what you have been hearing over a string of days and weeks, you will perhaps slowly but certainly surely learn how God speaks to you.

God is moving on Main Street. You ought to come see us. Sundays at 9 am or 11 am at 120 E. Main Street, Humble, Texas 77338. Dominion Church International — the most loving church in Greater Houston! Learn more at www.dominionchurch.cc