Hearing the Voice of God

Review of the Last 3 Weeks: Keys to Being Able to Hear the Voice of God Effectively

Key #1 - Know God Deeply and Intimately (ginosko) - to know, be conscious of; discern, distinguish; approve, acknowledge with approbation (approval or praise); to think, be aware of; thinking, reflecting upon, being mindful of . This is the kind of ‘knowing’ that Jesus had with the Father in Heaven. John 10:14-16, ESV

Key#2 - Have an intimate and obedient relationship with God is KNOWING HIM. THIS IS DONE BY COVENANT.

Jeremiah 31:33-34, NASB95

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Key #3 - Know the voice of the flesh . . . . especially know when you’re operating out of your flesh (mind, will, emotions, and human desires) or while you’re in active, known sin. . . . What does it feel like and what do you hear when you’re in the flesh? Journal what you experience when you are in any of the above 3.

Hear the Voice of God

It takes spiritual preparation to hear the voice of God.

Hearing God’s voice is a process over time. Even when you believe you are hearing His Voice, there’s even more to learn.

How do we prepare ourselves daily to hear His voice, and His voice only?

Let Holy Spirit to cross examine your heart daily for any active sin, unrepented past sin, and ask for forgiveness;

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind by meditating on the word of God” (Romans 12:1-2)

Ask Holy Spirit to give you the sensitivity in the spirit to allow you to know when you are flowing out of the wrong well of the soulish realm:

a.) the well of pride and intellect;

b.) the well of unsanctified emotions, hurt, emotional trauma; toxic - negative - and evil thoughts;

c.) the well of evil motives and desires;

d.) the well of flesh per Galatians 5: 20-21, NASB95 (idolatry, sorcery, enmities, outbursts of anger, disputes, factions, jealousy, envy, selfish ambition, drunkenness, carousing) .

How do you know when you are flowing in the soulish realm?

When your mind, will, emotions and fleshly desires begin to get out of control and take over

For example, when one is praying out of emotional trauma and pain, their prayers take on the quality and characteristic of their inner emotional pain

After the above then do the following:

Confess and repent if you are drawing from any well other than the Holy Spirit and/or in active sin; and ask for forgiveness.

Take every impure thought captive to the mind of Christ

For though we walk We are destroying speculations and every lofty thin raise up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

The Greek word for “captive” is the word aichmalōtízō, meaning “to subjugate, bring under control”

How do we take every thought captive? How do we subjugate and bring our thoughts under control?

Make a choice to focus your thoughts to be of excellent quality, worthy of praise. For example, you can decree Philippians 4:8, NASB95 over your mind; and destroy every high thing (opinions, philosophies, evil thoughts etc. that you’ve heard.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Invite Holy Spirit to sanctify and consecrate you so that you can ascend the Holy Hill of the Lord (Psalm 24:3-5, NASB95), and ask Him for a fresh infilling of His Spirit.

“Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Love God and Keep His Commandments

“If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of Truth, in whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows him; but you know him, for He dwells (remains, abides) with you and will be in you . .” John 14: 15-17, NKJV

Abide in the Lord Continuously - Remain in Him

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” -John 15:1-4

Hearing The Voice of God

“Voice of God” occurs 278 times in 65 verses in the NASB95.

The word “voice” is a root word qôwl, (pronounced kole) which means “to call aloud”; also means noise, sound, thunder. The word for “God” is Elohim, the Supreme God.

We are to earnestly heed the voice of the LORD our God.

And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” Exodus 15:26, NASB95

The Hebrew word for “earnest heed” is the root word shâmaʻ meaning to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.

The word for LORD is the word Yᵊhōvâ, pronounced Jehovah; "the existing One", the one true God; the proper name, of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

In order to choose life, we need to love God and obey His voice:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30: 19-20, NASB95

Hearing God’s Voice and obeying will impact our nation.

“If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king (i.e. President, Governor, Mayor, Boss, Employer etc.) who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.” 1 Samuel 12: 14, NASB95

Hearing the Voice of God helps us keep covenant with God

“The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;  and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant  which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’  in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “Amen, O LORD.”—-Jeremiah 11: 1-5, NASB95

How Do We Hear the Voice of God?

We will hear according to our measure of faith.

To answer this, we will explore the documented ways believers hear from God:

Scripture

Visions

Dreams

Still Small Inner Voice

Impressions

Audible Voice

Circumstances

and

Per James Goll:

“Allow God to Speak However He Chooses. We should not try to dictate to God the guidance methods we prefer; rather, we must listen with a yielded heart. There is a direct link between yielding and hearing.

He may choose to speak to us in a method that we are not accustomed to. He can speak through His written Word, through a person, through dreams or visions, or through a quiet inner voice.

Having submitted to Him, resisted the enemy and asked for an answer, we should not dictate the way we want Him to respond to our request. Let’s receive grace from His storehouse, the grace of expectant yielding.

We need to always allow God to speak in the way He chooses.”

Final Reminders

The Purpose of Hearing His Voice

The word prophecy G4394 is the Greek word translated prophēteía, meaning discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events.

Used in the N. T. It comes from the root word prophetes (G4396) meaning “to speak forth, speak out; hence, properly, 'one who speaks forth'; see πρό, d. α.),

Used in the N. T. It comes from the root word prophetes (G4396) meaning “to speak forth, speak out; hence, properly, 'one who speaks forth'; see πρό, d. α.),

“1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire …”

- (dioko G1377, to ensue, follow after, press toward) love)

- earnestly desire [zeloo G2206, to burn with zeal, covet [earnestly], to desire, to pursue, to strive after] the spiritual gifts, especially that you may

- prophesy (propheteuo G 4395, to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office) the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.  

2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church” -1 Corinthians 14:1-5

In like manner, we must earnestly desire to hear the voice of God so that we can be used of God to prophesy to others, to build them up and encourage and console them. May we be ones that desire to know God’s voice and to learn how to communicate what is heard to those He tells us to minister to in prophecy.

Lord, give us the passion and desire to hear your voice so that we can be those who are ablaze with passion to share the words you give us for specific people. Teach us how to hear your voice and how to share what hear with others in Jesus’ Name.