Hearing the Voice of God

There have been many times in my life when I needed God’s direction. I wanted to know what to do so that I could do it. I would get really quiet and wait for God to speak. Many times, there was just silence. Sometimes, I would get an idea but would then wonder if that was God speaking to me or me just coming up with something in my mind.

I don’t want my relationship with God to be one-sided - me always talking to Him but not really listening for His voice. I love this scripture found in Psalms because it sums up how I feel pretty much every day toward God:

Psalm 25:4

Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.

I think this must be a common theme among those of us who love the Lord. “God, please show me what to do! If you show me what to do, I will do it, just please be clear!” If we are going to hear from God, don’t we need to know what His voice sounds like? I need to know what I’m looking for or I might just miss it.

I actually found a response from God to the verse above. This is His response in Psalm 32:8 -

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”

This is so awesome! As a child of God, our loving Father promises to guide us, advise us, and protect us. Since God has these promises for us, we can believe He will speak to us about the matters that concern us.

Psalm 29 lets us know what the voice of God sounds like. It describes His voice as thunder, as powerful, as majestic. It says it can split the strongest tree in half, it can make mountains leap. It strikes like lightening, and rumbles like an earthquake. It can twist the mightiest oak and strip a forest bare. If His voice is this powerful when He speaks, how could we stand before Him and listen to His mighty voice? If it can strip a forest bare, how could I withstand the grandeur of it?

I believe the Lord has given us a beautiful picture of how we can hear Him speak to us without being overpowered by the magnitude of His greatness.

1 Kings 19:11-12

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

What a beautiful picture of a loving Father. I imagine a big strong Daddy with his delicate baby. His booming voice would surely scare and confuse his infant. He instinctly begins to whisper and gently speak soothingly to his baby. I imagine we are as helpless as a newborn before an all-mighty God. He guides us and advises us with His whispers as we intently learn the voice of our Father.

I teach my children that we do hear the voice of God. Usually, it is not with our ears. I tell them to listen for His voice in their heart. Perhaps we should pray that prayer for ourselves – that God would teach us to recognize our Father’s voice in our hearts. As we pray and receive God’s direction, we can share these experiences with our families. There is no more important voice we could recognize than that of our heavenly Father.

Father God, I love You so much and I know that You love me. I desire to learn to hear Your voice. I want to be able to help my children learn to hear Your voice, too. I believe You for Your promises of guidance, advice, and protection. Please teach me how to hear Your whispers as You guide me each day. I want to listen for You and do what You show me.

#hearinggod