Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Hearing God's Voice




My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.(John 10:27)

Does God really speaks? If so, will He speak personally to us? Even if I listen to Him, will I understand? Thank God, the answer is yes! And believe it or not, God really wants us to hear what He is saying-more than any of us do.

If we yearn for an intimate relationship with the lover of our souls, hearing His voice is a must. We cannot grow perfectly unless we draw near to Him, trusting that He wants to speak to us personally. Communion with God is more than just a ritual or “information” time. It’s a Spirit-to-Spirit time. As for me, it is possibly the sweetest moment ever in my life, very peaceful and transcends all understanding. Until just now, I didn’t realize many believers cannot point a single instance of hearing God’s voice for themselves. I would like to share and tell you, we need to hear His voice. Let’s cultivate a heart and life that responds when He speaks.

We each have a desperate need. Many people in Bible can be our example on how to maintain personal relationship with God. From Moses, Abraham, Mary, Paul, and David, each has a need and longing to hear God’s voice. They are all friends of God. I too want to be a friend of God. In fact, that is what I think being in God’s presence and hearing Him is all about.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13)

Our father in Heaven has sent us a very special gift, a gift that gives us gifts! Can you imagine that? It is our Comforter, our Guide, our Helper- the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit allows us to sense our Father’s personal touch. Maybe to get close to Him, you need to push through misconceptions, spiritual warfare, religious theories, and a bunch of opposition, until you come to a place where you and Him are related with one another and become close companions.

For those who has the gift already, the key is this: Give much quality time to commune with the Holy Spirit. He will not speak to those in a hurry. Wait patiently, seek the Lord and praise Him. Be willing to set your heart on Him and believe in the great Spirit that will not let you be deceived.

Holy Spirit is like a personal tutor and guide. He coaches us in life, and as we end our days in earth, He prepares us for the postgraduate course thereafter. He instructs us what life lessons we need to learn, and compelling us to take them. The quality time we are spending with Him has to do with hearing God’s voice. I love asking Him questions. Yes dear, go ahead, ask Him questions. The more specific our questions are, the more detailed His answers will be. Even sometimes, He might turn around and ask us questions. Some of the subjects He will teach are about Purity, Humility, Honesty, Compassion, Faith, studying the Word of God, and speaking in tongues. Ohya, one more thing, sacrificial giving, but I wil discuss about this topic later. All these will hone our skill in hearing God’s voice.

Okay, so now that you have a big picture of Him, can you imagine a real lesson with professor who literally knows it all, the past, and the future?? The Holy Spirit does. He gives us cheat sheets by illuminating bible passages, imparting dreams, visions, and so forth. He gives us vignettes of things that are about to take place while preparing us. He doesn’t tell us everything, if so, we would not need any faith or trust. It is all amazing.

The Holy Spirit not only gives us revelation, but also truthfulness in our personality. We will become more like Him as we spend time with Him. God has promised us that He will never leave nor forsake us. He knew that when it comes to walking into shadow of the unknown, we pretty much prefer to hold someone’s hand and be led by the voice of a guide. That’s why He gives us the Holy Spirit! As Isaiah declared “ Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left”.

Have you ever needed to be refreshed by the Lord? Have you lost some of your zeal? Need to return to your first love? Then God’s voice is the cure. Well, sometimes the voice of God will shake the foundation of our lives. God shakes everything that can be shaken so that which cannot be shaken will remain.

There are many tools the Holy Spirit uses to speak to people:
1. A dream or vision (Job 33:14-18)
2. A voice in trance (Acts 10:9-16)
3. Audible voice of God (Exodus 3:4)
4. God’s written Word (Psalms 119:105)
5. Voice of many angels (Revelation 5:11)
6. Wonders in the sky and earth (Joel 2:30-31)
7. Words to the prophets (Jeremiah 18:1-6)
8. Sound of ‘many waters’ (Revelation 1:15)
9. Moving people to declare God’s voice (2 Peter 1:21)
The list is non-exhaustive, which implies He has the right to say what He wants, how He does it and what method to use.

Here’s another hint: If we don’t make time, He will help us make time. He knows how to get our attention. For example, I have been awakened in the middle of the night many times. I simply get out of bed, sit and just be there. For a while, I thought I was just wasting both God’s time and mine. But eventually I learned the lesson: All He wanted was me. He simply wanted a friend, a companion, with whom He can share His heart. I have heard His voice more in the wee hours of morning than any other time. Now I truly love being on call to be with Him. One of the most common way I hear from the Lord is simply by hearing quiet peaceful inner voice communing with my heart.
We need to make the effort, take time to be with Him, and we will hear what the Lord is speaking.

Some people may have a hard time trying to hear God's voice in their life. Common obstacles that make barriers for people to receive are:
1. Lack of faith and commitment to Jesus
2. Sin
3. Ignorance of Scripture
4. Fear of being deceived
5. Guilty feelings
6. Fear of what other people think and being rejected
There is healing for all these. Love of God has healed you. Ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse our soul with stream of healing love; that will melt our hearts, remove the log in our eye, and lead us to the truth.

Even after we hear voices, there is a need for believers to discern these voices. Only the Holy Spirit is the true source. Ideas and thoughts can also be voiced by our human soul, which is an unsanctified portion of our emotions. Another source of voice is the evil spirits, who speak lies, because Satan is the father of lies, he loves mixing truth with lies to trick people. To be assured of receiving accurate and valid revelation, we can apply some tests:
1. Is it in agreement with God’s word? Because God and Holy Spirit will never contradict each other.
2. Does it have good fruit? As it is written in the Bible, there can be wolves come with sheep clothing, and we will know them by their fruits. So the result of our revelation should be useful to the building up and goodness of God’s people.
3. Does it exalt Jesus and turn you or people toward God?

Do you hear Him speaking to you now? He’s waiting for a moment with you. You will hear the sound of love beating in His heart.
May we experience the fullness of Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. The sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened (Isaiah 50:4)

1 comment:

  1. Wow, sangat memberkati:)
    it inspires me to have deeper personal experiences with Him..
    Thanks...
    blessed to be blessing:D

    ReplyDelete