A good number of Christians already know how to hear God's voice, but there are still many who struggle in the area of being able to discern when God is speaking to them and when He isn't; which voice is of God and which isn't. In today's teaching, we will learn how to know when God is speaking to you.
The question on knowing when God is speaking to you is a very important one—even though it stems from a place of uncertainty; out of a Christian life that cries for mastery in the act of hearing God's voice.
Job 33:14 NIVFor God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.
God is Spirit, and communication with spirits isn't something anyone should dabble into without proper knowledge, lest one ends up in a snare they couldn't get out of.
How do you know when God is speaking to you? There's no one sentence answer to this. This a delicate topic that demands we pull two or more scriptures together in order to find the right answer. So follow up as the Holy Spirit walks us through this course.
When God Is Speaking To You
In order not to be led astray, it is mandatory we know how God speaks or when He is speaking to us. I'll also like us to understand that God is always speaking, but the major challenge lies with man's ability to hear Him.
There are millions of people out there who seek God and pray to Him daily—and He speaks back to them. That sounds somewhat exhaustive, doesn't it? No man could respond to millions (or let's say trillions) of calls per day; that's also not a feat one could achieve with a physical mouth. That is why God is Spirit supreme. Spirits don't talk with physical mouths like we humans do; they have a different mode of communication.
John 4:24 NLTFor God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
Apparently, some of those who think God isn't talking to them have erred by expecting God's voice to come to them through means that they're familiar with in the physical world. Since God is Spirit, we also must be spiritual in order to hear His voice. Only spiritual people can hear God's voice. We shouldn't also expect God's voice to come to our physical ears. If we don't develop and train our spiritual senses to be able to discern His voice, then we won't hear Him.
Isaiah 30:21 ESVAnd your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
It is the desire of the Almighty to guide us with His voice daily so that we don't make the wrong choices and fall in the enemy's trap. But it is our responsibility to ensure we're in the right place to hear Him.
There are people who think God isn't talking to them or God doesn't want to talk to them, but that's rarely the case. Each day, the Lord makes many attempts to reach out to everyone with His voice of guidance, but when man is not positioned to hear God, it ends up appearing as if God isn't speaking.
John 10:27 BLBMy sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
The ability to hear God's voice is default in everyone. This ability gets activated at the point of salvation and reception in the Holy Spirit. But even after this ability is activated, many leave it dormant and then blame God for not speaking.
Spiritual gifts were meant to be put to use. A functional car could begin developing faults on its own if parked for a long time and not put to use. The engine might need to be serviced again if the owner decides to put the car to use some day. The same applies to spiritual gifts. That is why the Bible instructions us to “fan into flames” the gift of God in us:
2 Timothy 1:6 NIVFor this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Think of a scenario where a parent buys books for their child to go to school. The responsibility of the parent was to buy the books, but it is the child's responsibility to make sure they don't misplace or tear the books. The same way, God expects us to take responsibility for the gifts and abilities He has endowed us with. I believe if some of us treated the things of the Spirit as seriously as God expects us to, there would be no room to ask how we can know God is speaking to us.
God is still speaking, but are we doing our part to hear Him? There are many things we can do in order to align ourselves to hear God. We'll learn them as we progress through this article.
How God Speaks To Us
God speaks to us in several ways, and some of them are as follows:
- Dreams and visions
- The still small voice
- Prophecies
- Word of knowledge, etc.
Job 33:14-15 KJVFor God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed.
One of the primary means through which God speaks to us is dreams. Although dreams can sometimes be deceptive, and spiritual maturity is required to decipher the source of dreams. That's also why we provide a guide on biblical dream interpretation on our blog.
But I would prefer every Christian works on their ability to hear the still small voice of God. This is the area that many have left uncharted. Who would want to substitute hearing God while awake for hearing Him only while asleep? I believe the initial is better.
Prophecies are great, but they shouldn't replace hearing God by ourselves. Word of knowledge from another Christian is also great, but they should confirm what God has already told us. You can see that hearing the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is still the better option. Not every Christian can see visions but we all have the ability to hear God through the still small voice—if we work on it.
How Do You Know That God Is Talking To You
Firstly, I'll like to address the fear that often stems from the thought of hearing the wrong spirit. Although this fear could sometimes act as safety measure against deception, at some point, it might get out of hand and become a barrier to knowing God's voice. There's the need to get rid of every form of fear surrounding your ability to hear God, as they may actually open doors for spiritual manipulation.
1. God's Voice Doesn't Contradict His Word
As far as there are many who are desperate to hear God's voice, we should have as many also who are desperate to know His Word - the written scriptures. The amount of deception sown in the Church today (especially through supposed prophecies) would be lesser if we had more students of the Word than chasers after prophecies.
People hear strange voices and receive strange prophecies demanding them to do weird things that are not in line with scriptures—and they go ahead to obey, because they're not aware God speaks against those things in His Word.
Hosea 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...
The spiritual realm is a slippery ground. Anyone who is ignorant of the Word of God shouldn't attempt to reach out for any form of spiritual experience, because if they do they would be putting themselves out there for demonic deception and manipulation. The voice of God could pop out of a scripture, but God's voice never contradicts scriptures.
How do you know that God is talking to you? The indispensable step to take towards knowing is becoming knowledgeable of His Word. The holy scriptures is the yardstick for measuring the genuinenes of every voice that purports to speak for God.
2. Test The Spirits
We need to do this even more often, especially in these last days.
1 John 4:1 NIVDear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
We test spirits by the Holy Spirit. If you feel uneasy about a voice that spoke to you, put it under the lenses of the Holy Spirit to ascertain what sort of spirit sent that communication.
A quick reminder: Christian can only be able to test spirits if they themselves are filled with the Holy Spirit. Trying to test spirits when one isn't filled with the Holy Spirit will only result in more errors and deception.
3. God Is Speaking, But Not Everyone Is Listening
We live in a distracted and busy world where the media and worldliness fights to get our attention on a daily basis. One of the principal agenda of the enemy is to get people's attention on everything else apart from God. Hearing the voice of God in our days requires learning to tune out of the noise of the world and listening to God.
Listening is a powerful gift that many are not harnessing in this generation. Imagine sitting with a friend and fiddling with your phone while they discuss an important matter with you. At the end of the day, you're likely going to get up without receiving any tangible thing from all they said. The same goes for our relationship with God.
What Are Signs That God Is Talking To You
These signs will validate that God is talking to you.
- You'll gain direction and focus in life
- You won't do everything everyone suggests that you do, but only what God wants you to do
- You won't be confused when it comes to decision making
- You'll gain divine insights into scriptures
- You'll have supernatural knowledge and wisdom
- You won't fall prey for the antics of the enemy, etc.
How To Know God's Voice From Your Own
Interference is a possibility when it comes to hearing the voice of God. There are many voices that could interfere with the real voice of God. One of them happens to be the voice of the human soul.
How to discern God's voice from your own? Below are steps a Christian could take in order prevent other voices from interfering with their ability to hear God.
1. Seek Consecration
The still small voice of God is received in the mind. But the mind is a complex machine that needs to be in its best condition always—in order for us to hear God. A passive mind is noisy mind. In order for the voice of the soul to not interfere with God's voice and bring confusion, the mind has to be renewed (and stay that way). We must get rid of the clutter in the mind through consecration. Even afterwards, we must ensure we stay totally consecrated.
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2. Seek Intimacy With Jesus
Many of us make the mistake of seeking spiritual experiences from God without seeking God Himself. It's like trying to play games with God; seeking what He can do for us but not desiring Him. It is rightly suppose to be difficult to hear God's voice if our relationship with Him is dysfunctional. Go for intimacy.
3. Give God Quality Time
We can identify the voice of a friend even in their absence because we know them. We've spent and we often spend quality time with them. We have their voice stored in our subconscious through frequent rubbing off with them. The same thing goes with God.
It's funny that some would go to God and throw two prayer points on Him and they're done for the day. Then they spend the rest of their day scrolling through their social media news feed. If we must know and be able to differentiate God's voice from any other, we must achieve that through quality time spent with Him daily.
Final Thoughts On Knowing When God Speaks To Us
Brethren, I hope so far we've answered most of your questions on hearing the voice of God. Knowing when God speaks to you is not rocket science. Once we get to that place where we could hear Him with clarity, there's no longer room to question whether He is speaking to us or not.
What we must do is to spend quality time with the Lord daily, grow spiritually in Christ and watch Him take us to that place where we achieve mastery in hearing His voice.
This article is actually a follow-up on the previous one titled, “How To Hear God's voice When Making A Decision.”
If you were blessed reading, do not hesitate to share with someone else who might find it useful.
Remain blessed!
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