Hearing God’s Voice!

Today, we will be looking at how to hear God’s voice. The first key to hearing the voice of God is understanding that the Holy Spirit lives in us as a born-again believer in Jesus Christ. Therefore, it starts with our identity in Christ, living from sonship.

When we repent for our sins and ask Jesus to come into our hearts to be our Lord and Savior, we are born again. We become a new creation in Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, comes to dwell within us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who is the 3^rd person of the Trinity (which is God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), becomes the connector of heaven’s glory.

“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20

…Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27

Scripture says in Proverbs 20:27, The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD. So the first key in understanding and unlocking the voice of God in our lives is understanding Christ in you, the hope of glory, the abiding presence of God, approaching God relationally, not trying to hear Him, but walking in ongoing fellowship.

We need to be aware that God is not out there somewhere. God is not far away. He dwells within us. He has made His home in you. Say, “God is in me.” We don’t need to strive to hear God’s voice; we need to learn to abide in His presence, to commune with Him in our daily lives.

There are 2 books I have read that really spoke to me about abiding in God’s presence throughout the day and communing with Him. The first is by Brother Lawrence, titled “The Practice of the Presence of God.”[1] His focus on loving God above all else, and how God’s grace helped him to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus throughout the day, no matter what happened or what he was doing, really spoke to me. There was no difference in his communion with God and in the abiding presence of God, whether in prayer or in daily activities such as work and chores. The manifest presence of God is in us.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21

The Pleasure of His Company,[2] Dutch Sheets’ book, shows how to cultivate an intimate relationship with God, drawing us into the Lord’s presence and offering simple ways to enjoy God more.

God not only dwells in us, but He dwells in heaven, in the supernatural, spirit realm.

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

We need to learn to access and engage the Lord’s presence in the spirit realm. We need to enter into the presence of the Lord, knowing that we are loved, valued, and forgiven.

Because we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we are seated in Christ in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1). We are seated with Him now in heavenly places, and from that place we pray and listen.

Many Christians have struggled with hearing from God because the enemy has come and he’s lied to them, and said, “You don’t or can’t hear God.” Pray the following prayer to destroy the enemy’s lies and release faith to hear God’s voice.

Prayer (To be prayed out loud)

I take authority over any demonic voice telling me that I can’t hear God and break and destroy it right now in the name of Jesus. I break and destroy the fear of the supernatural right now. I break and destroy the fear of being deceived, and I release, right now, over myself, the faith to hear in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let’s look at what the Scripture says about God speaking and wanting us to hear Him and receive these words by faith:

“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:11-13

“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:4-5

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

The next key is to be still and tune our hearts and minds to God to hear His voice as spontaneous thoughts from the Holy Spirit that light upon our minds from our spirit man.

Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving, and you will see that I am God. Psalm 46:10 TPT

God loves us and is waiting to share His heart with us. One way we can tune our hearts to the flow of the Holy Spirit is through thanksgiving and worship. Thanking God aligns our inner world with Him, enabling us to perceive Him more clearly.

It is also important that we turn down external noise (e.g., social media, news, drama, distractions) so that we can hear these internal sensations. God is constantly speaking, but are we listening? When I first wanted to learn to hear the voice of God and was developing my relationship with the Holy Spirit, I realized that He was speaking all the time!

God is thinking about us continually because Scripture says that His thoughts towards us are innumerable as the sand on the seashore (Psalm 139:8). But He not only thinks about us; He is speaking to us.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20

Here is an invitation from Jesus to commune with Him and be in union with Him. He is knocking on the door to our heart, and we have spiritual ears to hear, even as Jesus said in Revelation 3:22, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

After we hear Him knocking on our heart, we must open the door and invite Him into fellowship with us, asking Him to speak to us by faith, listening for His voice, and following His leading, obeying Him.

It is also important to learn to recognize and discern His voice from our own thoughts, the enemy’s thoughts, and/or things going on in the world today.

That’s why getting alone with Him first and meditating on His Word is so important: because another key to hearing God is that the Word of God is how we primarily learn to recognize the voice of God and to see God’s character (goodness, love, holiness, etc.). Everything that we hear from the Holy Spirit lines up with the Word and God’s character. He never contradicts it.

Faith is the currency of heaven, and everything we receive from God and act upon must be done in and by faith. We should ask the Holy Spirit to bring revelation and the living Word to us as we read and meditate on the Word of God.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

The Bible says the natural mind cannot receive the things of God. It requires a spiritual mind (1 Corinthians 2:12-14). It requires a renewed mind to understand that God will speak to us in supernatural ways that are beyond our understanding. God speaks through the language of the Spirit.

God uses multiple channels of revelation, and some of the ways God speaks are through dreams, visions, angelic visitations, impressions, pictures in our sanctified imagination through the eyes of our hearts, the inner witness, Scripture, illumination, the still, small voice, an audible voice, and more.

God revealed to Mark Virkler of Communion with God Ministries.[3] Four keys to hearing God’s voice from Habakkuk 2:2-3 that many Christians have used to learn to hear God’s voice.

Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:2-3

One of the keys he mentions is that God’s voice in our hearts often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts as we turn towards Him and focus our eyes on Jesus. We perceive spirit-level communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions, and visions, according to Scripture.

Satan’s thoughts can also come to us as spontaneous thoughts, which is why we are commanded to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). However, God’s thoughts line up with Scriptures, His names, and His character.

As I mentioned before, another key is that we need to become still so that we can sense God’s flow of thoughts. As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can ask to receive visions and to use our godly imagination.

We can often hear God’s voice when we are relaxed, for example, taking a shower, going for a walk or drive, or admiring God’s creation in nature.

Journaling, or writing out our prayers and God’s answers, is another great tool for learning to hear God’s voice. We must write in faith, believing that God is speaking when we have turned to Him, learning to relax, cease from our labors, and enter His rest (Hebrews 4:10). The following is a sample from my journaling with the Lord.

My Journaling

5/15/23 – Lord, what do you want to say to me today?

“My daughter, My child, I want to tear down and remove all vestiges of legalistic thoughts that are strongholds in your life. Come spend time with Me and see Me as I really am, not what you may have been incorrectly taught about Me. Ask My Spirit to bring revelation of the truth you are seeking and how to live it out. Apply My grace to every area of your life so that you can walk in freedom. Ask My Spirit to help you be conscious of times you may be stepping out of My grace and putting yourself back under the law. Trust His voice. Put your confidence in Me. I won’t fail you or let you down. Come and sit at My feet. I will teach and train you in the way to go, to walk every day. I am not a harsh task master like the law is. My grace will carry you through and is more than enough as you apply it to your life daily.”

My response – “Lord, I ask your forgiveness for believing any lies from the enemy about You and what You require. I repent and renounce these lies in the name of Jesus. Help me, Holy Spirit, to receive and believe the truth. Help me to be confident and sure in trusting Your voice so I can see, hear, and follow Your leading. Amen.”

God often illuminates Scripture to us; that’s why we must have a solid foundation of the Bible in our hearts. We can also utilize spiritual advisors to confirm that what we have journaled comes from the Lord. The Bible says that in the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses every fact is established (2 Corinthians 13:1).

I pray that you are encouraged to know that you are well able to hear God’s voice as you spend time with Him through His Word, prayer, and worship. You were created to hear His voice and fellowship with Him. Stay tuned for my next blog, “Discerning God’s Voice.”

[1] Brother Lawrence, “The Practice of the Presence of God,” (Delhi/Mumbi: Grapevine India Publishers PVT LTD, 2024).

[2] Dutch Sheets, “The Pleasure of His Company,” (Bloomington: Bethany House Publishers, 2014).

[3] https://cwgministries.org

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