I want to hear God’s voice. To not just call Him God, but to feel His Fatherness…His tender voice, speaking personally and privately to me. I read Psalm 29-about the voice of the Lord-, and the little girl inside of me with childlike faith believes that I can hear that voice…. it’s not just a psalm- it’s a description of My father.
Jesus said that His sheep would hear His voice, and they would follow Him, because they would recognize that voice of His as being their Shepherd’s. (John 10)
plus… God said He would withhold no good thing from His children who walk uprightly. (Ps. 84:11)
…and He “waits on High to have compassion on us… and longs to be gracious to us” (Isaiah 30).
So…with a God who says stuff like that, why don’t we hear Him? I’ve been asking the Lord this question and here’s what He’s showing me.
Our ears are clogged.
Jesus said over and over again, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”. I’m not very scientific (just ask about my candlemaking experience thusfar!), but I do know that a human only has so much input capacity. I have my own listening faults (I have a husband who endures them), and I spend time regularly talking to distracted listeners.
Our generation is so busy, so fast, so “time-efficient”, so “PLUGGED-IN”, so connected. I will write more on this topic, but for now- here’s the question:
Where is the room I am making in my ears-my mind, emotions, time- to hear Him, if He were to speak? Where is the silence?
And doesn’t it all start with faith that believes He will? Faith of a little CHILD, at that? Just like we must receive God’s Word by faith and obey it, trusting that it’ll produce good things in our lives, we must hear God’s voice and receive it by faith, and act on it. It will always be consistent with His Word. Maybe one problem is that we don’t know His Word well enough- and knowing His Word is the first and easiest step to learning to recognize His voice.
The Spirit is how we hear. We, the children of God, are no longer to walk in the flesh but to walk in the Spirit. God speaks to us through the vehicle of His Spirit, which testifies to our spirit that we are His children. (Romans 8). In addition to making ROOM by unclogging our ears with emotional, mental, and physical distractions that take up the space, and to listening by FAITH, God wants us to be spiritually sensitive people.
How do we become sensitive to the Spirit? Well again, I think it can start by becoming sensitive to the things the Spirit has ALREADY, DEFINITELY spoken to us, through the Word of God!! Taking on the trusting disposition of a little child, we must let God’s Word take deep root in our heart, directing our course of actions, and changing our thinking processes. As we learn how to stop and meditate on a Scripture in the middle of busy, daily moments, and respond to those Scriptures with obedience, we are training our spirits to think and respond spiritually to things.
I have heard the Spirit’s voice the VERY most while reading God’s Word. And usually I will stop the moment I hear Him speaking directly to me through a scripture, and I’ll take it seriously. I’ll say, “Ok, Lord. I will linger here on this passage for a while. Show me the places in my life that need to be changed by this truth. Show me how to pray.” And He ALWAYS does!!! He rewards faith, my friends.
If you hear Him calling you to come sit with Him for a while and you obey, your are training your spirit to be more sensitive to the next time He speaks to you! Stop whatever you’re doing and go spend time with Him!
I have often received the Lord’s discipline through His Word. Sometimes I will break down and cry, as though my Father is cupping my face in His own hands, looking at me full in the eyes with love, and rebuking me gently. But I promise, if you can train your spirit to receive by faith the Father’s voice of discipline in His Word, you will start to hear it all the time in day-to-day life… and it will be a wonderful part of your relationship with Him.
There is no corner of your life the Father won’t speak into. The more I’ve learned to recognize His voice, the more bold of a childlike asker I’m becoming! Recently I’ve been making lists of creative ideas I have, and saying “Father, would you help me to prioritize my time? What should I work on first? I want to glorify You with my creativity!” And He has been so faithful to answer… to guide me… to help me prioritize my creative endeavors.
This is our Father!!! Oh, how He would pour out wisdom and wonderful things if we’d just get some of those subtle but mind-filling and time-gobbling distractions out of our way, and open our ears to Him. If we would just believe that His Word is our source of Life, and come to it for breath and water. If we would just say “yes” to His voice in our spirits, when we read His Word and when His spirit prompts us to do or say something. What a God, who delights enough in us to speak to us!!! Oh, may we have ears to hear!
