HOW DO YOU YOU HEAR GOD?
Following Jesus means learning to hear his voice and obey what he tells you. We can hear his voice in scripture, we can hear it sometimes through someone else, and for those of us who have his Spirit living in us, we should increasingly be able to hear it from deep within our souls.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SILENCE
Sometimes we don’t hear because we don’t expect to. Or we don’t believe we can. Sometimes it’s because of all the other noise we fill our lives with. Does your life look like that of someone who has a priority of hearing God’s voice? Make some time to get alone in silence & practice.
DISCERNING WHICH VOICE IS HIS
You may not trust your internal voices. And you may be right. The enemy can lie to us. We can fool ourselves. The best way to learn to recognize God’s voice is to get to know his character. Jesus within you will never say something to you that contradicts the scripture. Get to know the Jesus of the gospels by soaking in them. Check your interpretations of scripture and God’s voice with trusted friends who know God. One way to test a voice is to ask Jesus if he loves you. (You know the answer.)
TO HEAR IS TO OBEY
The word hear actually implies obey in the Bible. If you don’t obey him, there is no point in hearing his voice. Make sure you are quick to do what he says. In fact, if you are not obeying what you already know, why would you expect him to speak anything new to you?
THE TEN SECOND RULE
I once read a great book called the Ten Second Rule by Clare De Graaf. The premise is simple. Just do the next thing you’re reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do (and do it in the next 10 seconds before you change your mind!) If you practice acting on the impressions you get, you will get more. I promise.
Monika Kirkland will teach you more Sunday. She is really good at hearing God’s voice for herself and others.