I am Chris Garcia with Sonship International and welcome to God Today. Today I want to talk to you about hearing the voice of God. Hearing the voice of God is simple. It is really engaging and spending time with the Lord that enables us to hear God. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice.” And if you are part of His sheep, if you have accepted Christ into your life, the good news is you can hear God for yourself.
In Ephesians 1:17, Paul says, “For, I always pray the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation of insight into mysteries, and secrets. And the deep and intimate knowledge of Him. By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you. How rich is the glorious inheritance in the saints? His set-apart ones.”
The spirit of wisdom and revelation is really the way that God speaks to us. And the way that we can hear Him for ourselves, is really by having what verse 18 says. “By having the eyes of our hearts flooded with light.” In God, there is no shadow. God is light and the way that we can hear Him is engaging ourselves with Him, His heart, His light begins to flood us and it gives us, He gives us revelation. There are different ways that God can speak to us. Many times, it is through the Word of God. Many times it is through reading the Scripture and there is a verse or two that really stick out to you. That is a way that God can speak to you.
If you are in prayer and you see a picture in your mind’s eye, Jesus said, “Whatever I see the Father do, that I do.” There is an element to seeing that is communication. In Jeremiah 1:11-12 God says to Jeremiah, “What do you see?” And so, there is a way that God can communicate whether it be by vision or through the Word of God, or through a gift of the Spirit, or through prayer. This is the way He engages with us.
How do I know if it is God? How do I know if it is me? That is a really great question. The first thing I would to you is 1) does it line up with God’s Word? If it does not line up with God’s Word then it is not God. 2) Does it give you a sense of HIs presence and peace? Then you might want to consider that maybe it may be the Lord. 3) I would tell you, does it get you closer to the presence of God Himself? If it does, then I would encourage you that you might want to consider that the Lord is speaking to you.
Another thing I want to add is, you can’t hear God without His presence active in your life. It is a very interesting story that I am really thinking about now. It is found in the story of Elijah. God speaks to him to go up to Mount Horeb, that he would give him the Word of Heaven. And it is interesting that the fire comes, but God wasn’t in the fire, but God wasn’t in the fire. An earthquake comes, God wasn’t in the earthquake. And the wind comes, but God wasn’t in the wind. All of a sudden, a still, small voice.
It is interesting to me that Elijah was able to perceive the current voice of God. In the Old Testament, God would often speak through the fire, through the wind, through the shakings and the rumblings. But because of Elijah’s perception of God and His intimate communion with God, he knew that God wasn’t in those things. And God began to speak to Him out of this still, small voice.
What I would encourage you to do, is don’t put God in a box. Maybe the way He can speak to you in the past, may not be the way He wants to currently speak to you. The way you discern this is through active fellowship and participation with the Holy Spirit. You might hear something that sounds a lot like God, you might see something that sounds a lot like God. But, if it doesn’t have the ring of the presence of God, that frequency that you recognize through prayer, you will be able to discern what is God and what is not. I love what Hebrews says. It says, “Through the Word of God we can exercise the senses and to approve what is right and what is wrong.”
Father, I pray in Jesus’ name for every single person watching me. I pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and the deep and intimate knowledge of you. I pray they would receive your face, your presence, your light, Father God. So that they would know who you are and I pray, Lord God, that you will begin to open a deeper understanding of your voice. Help them to see you for who you are whether it be a vision, whether it be a word, or whether it be the Scriptures that jump out. I pray, Lord God, that they are able to hear you in their present-time. Give them guidance, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. I am Chris Garcia and this is God Today.