In the last two episodes of this podcast, I shared with you about learning to hear the voice of God. I began by sharing my discovery that hearing from God involves waiting and listening. As believers, we have the ability to hear God speak to our spirits, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In John 16:13 NIV, [Jesus said,] “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears [from the Father], and He will tell you what is yet to come.
John 8:47a ESV Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
In the first episode of this series, we read from Luke 10:38-42, where Jesus describes sitting at His feet and listening as a “necessary” activity.
In the second episode, we read from Revelation 3:20, and saw that one application of this verse is an appeal to us as believers to hear the voice of Jesus and respond by inviting Him into an area of our lives that He wants to occupy. When we do that, we enjoy fellowship with Him.
Today, let’s conclude our search of the Scriptures for additional passages related to hearing the voice of God.
John 10:2-4, 27 TPT But the true Shepherd walks right up to the gate, (3) and because the gatekeeper knows who he is, he opens the gate to let him in. And the sheep recognize the voice of the true Shepherd, for he calls his own by name and leads them out, for they belong to him. (4) And when he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them and they will follow him, for they are familiar with his voice… (27) My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me.
· Application: It is so important to learn to recognize God’s voice. Could it be that sometimes God is speaking to us, but we do not recognize His voice? How do we learn to recognize His voice? In the same way that an athlete or musician develops their skills – through practice. We practice recognizing His voice by waiting and listening -- as we read the Bible, as we pray, as we listen to biblical teaching, as we converse with a trusted friend, etc. The sheep in Jesus’ illustration hear their Shepherd’s voice and learn to follow Him. In a similar way, the better we learn to recognize His voice, the better our skill develops in following Him.
Isaiah 55:3 ESV Incline your ear, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, My steadfast, sure love for David.
· Application: This describes active listening to God – “come [literally, walk] to Me”. We should draw near to God and actively listen, in order to better hear Him.
Exodus 15:26 ESV Saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
· Application: Here is a big benefit for us in learning to listen to the voice of God. Listening to the voice of God, and acting upon His guidance, can help us to avoid many troubles in this life, including physical, financial, emotional, relational, vocational, etc. This passage gives an example of one such trouble – physical afflictions. In episode 9 of this podcast, I give an illustration of this principle. I shared a personal story of how God directed me to undo a bad decision I had made. Following His guidance spared our family from not only financial harm, but more importantly, from physical harm. Stated differently, I listened to the voice of God speaking to my spirit, acted on His guidance, and avoided future harm. If you have not already listened to episode 9, I encourage you to do so.
To summarize today, we learned that waiting and listening are the ways that we practice hearing God’s voice, and the more we do this, the better we get at hearing God. As we get better at recognizing God’s voice, we will get better at following Him. We must not be shy, but instead intentionally approach God and actively listen to Him. The good news is that, as we begin to tune into the voice of God, we will begin to avoid many troubles in life.
O God, in this hurried culture we live in, it is very difficult for me to slow down and take time to sit before You and wait and listen. Yet that is what You call me to do. Jesus, if You are truly my Lord (and not merely my Savior), then I need to listen to You and receive guidance from You each day. After all, You gave us the example of listening to and following the Father:
John 8:28b NASB [Jesus said,] “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”
Help me, O God, to wait and listen!
Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”