A good number of Christians know that consulting God before making a decision (especially very important ones) is the right thing to do. But where a serious challenge ensues is on how to go about hearing God's voice concerning the particular decision they're about to make. Today, we will learn how to hear God's voice when making a decision.
Think of a situation where you found yourself contemplating on whether or not to accept a job offer; whether to relocate to another country, or to push for a court case against your offender. Such scenarios involve very important decision-making; and I believe every genuine Christian would want to consult God just so they don't make the wrong move.
No true child of God wants to intentionally step out of the will of God for their life by making the wrong decision, so this is where hearing God's voice when making a decision comes in.
Psalm 32:8 NIVI will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
I believe everyone of us have once found theirself in this dilemma of which to opt for between two or more options concerning a particular decision. I want to remind us that our God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). There are many places in scriptures where He has promised to guide us—even when it comes to making touch decisions. You can see some of such scriptures below:
John 16:13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
Psalm 25:9 ESVHe leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Isaiah 42:16 ESVAnd I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.
Isaiah 58:11 NLTThe LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.
As a loving father who wouldn't want his child to take the wrong path in life and get destroyed, our Heavenly Father cares about us! He cares about even the smallest details of our life. He desires to get involved and lead us even in the smallest areas of decision-making. As a matter of fact, God desires to guide to make the right decisions, even more than we desire for His guidance.
What To Do To Hear God's Voice When Making A Decision
Now that you know the mind of the Lord towards you concerning the important life decisions that you have to make, how then should you go about receiving His guidance when you're about to make a decision?
The most important thing I must say here is that, for anyone to be able to receive guidance from God whenever they're in need of it, they must be aligned with Him. Staying aligned with God grants us the ease of reaching out to Him at any moment and receiving the information we need from Him.
The major reason why some experience difficulty in hearing God's voice when making a decision is lack of alignment with God. The steps that will be given below are still built on this single and most important factor.
1. Seek God By And For Yourself
A genuine Christian is first of all, a follower of Jesus Christ. They understand that a servant of God is simply God's representative but not God Himself. They know that they can hear God's voice by themselves, so they don't depend on another human to hear God for them.
One thing that is rampant in Christendom these days is that many make another man their god and look up to him/her for guidance in every aspect of their life. I've never stumbled on any scripture that instructs us to elevate another man to such a place in our heart. For this reason, many often end up confused and frustrated when they're faced with the challenge of making a vital decision for their life and making it urgently.
Many have been led astray by their favourite preacher on the choice of who to marry, what job to do or where to go. At the end of the day, all that is left are regrets, after realising they were deceived by another man who claimed to have heard God for them.
Jeremiah 17:5 NLTThis is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD.
Let's believe that we are the wise and smarter generation. There are things you wouldn't want to share with your spiritual father. There are things you wouldn't want anyone else to know except God. And there are personal decisions you wouldn't no one else to put their mouth on except God.
In order to be on the safe side and receive accurate information from God concerning a given decision, the habit of depending on another man to hear God for you shouldn't be part of your life.
2. Have A Functional And Vibrant Relationship With God
By default, every Christian is programmed to hear God's voice. It is a default functionality activated by the Holy Spirit in us. A serious mistake that many often make here is leaving this ability dormant and then wanting to use it all of a sudden—even in the absence of a working relationship with God.
John 10:27My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
Just so we don't end up disappointed, it is important that we have a functional and vibrant relationship with God, before going on to seek Him for guidance concerning a decision-making.
Come to think of it, how would a person who lacks an intimate relationship with God be able to hear His voice? It's quite difficult. And lest we forget, God is not a tool to be used when we need Him and dropped when we're done using Him.
It's funny that some remember to seek for God for urgent help and seek His voice only when they're in trouble. They want Him to speak quickly and tell them what to do, but before then they had no business with Him. God is merciful, He would want to show up for us even in such a scenario, but the problem is that, even if He responded under this condition, it would be difficult to hear His voice if one is not used to hearing it.
It is always better we build a great relationship with God and get used to hearing His voice. Then when we're in need of guidance from Him concerning making a urgent decision, His voice will come to us without any hindrance. Easy-peasy, right?
3. Seek God Through Fasting And Prayer
Hearing God shouldn't be a problem when one is in good standing with Him. But sometimes, we might need to add a little bit of fasting and prayer—just as a part of bringing our flesh under subjection and getting perfectly aligned with God, so as to hear from Him.
Sometimes, the decision we are about to make happens to be a very serious one—we have to put ourselves in a place where there won't be any interference on what we are going to hear from God. In this case, positioning oneself through fasting and prayer is also necessary.
And after hearing God concerning what we asked, what should we do? First of all, do not doubt God. Let's assume you're already used to hearing Him, do not put yourself in a place to get confused by the devil concerning what you just heard. With certainty in your heart, go ahead and do as the Lord leads you.
Final Thoughts On Hearing God's Voice When Making A Decision
Beloved, I believe if you follow the guide in this article and take the major steps highlighted above, you will be able to hear God's voice when making a decision.
Remember, the Almighty desires to speak to us more than we desire to hear from Him. You have to love spending quality time with the Lord daily and practice hearing His voice. This saves us from becoming helpless when we need urgent guidance from God concerning what to do in a given situation.
You don't go to God only when you are in trouble and want Him to tell you what to do in order to get out of it. Don't try playing with God that way!
I strongly discourage the habit of relying on another person to hear God for us. If we end up being deceived for doing so, remember that God won't take the blame. Let's be guided.
Just so you know: this article is a build-up on a former one published in 2021 with the title, “How To Hear God's Voice” (You can click on the link to read). Also look forward to a third article still on hearing the voice of God. If you feel there are questions these two articles haven't answered yet, let's hope they get answered in the next one.
If you were blessed reading, do not hesitate to share with others who might also want to read this article.
God bless you.
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