Hearing the voice of God Pt.1

John 10:22–30 NLT

22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. 26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

real-life scenario or a question like: Have you ever wondered if what you’re hearing is truly from God?

“Jesus said, ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me’ (John 10:27). But how do we know if we are truly hearing His voice? How do we distinguish it from other voices in our lives? We will explore three key aspects...

Recognizing His Voice

Responding to His call

Resting in His care

Recognizing His voice

How do we distinguish God's voice from all the noise around us?

Vetting the voices

When discerning God’s voice, we must be cautious of misleading influences. Here are key ways to vet the voices we hear:

Weed out voices that contradict Scripture

The Standard: Scripture as the Ultimate Authority

If advice or feelings conflict with biblical truth, they are not from God.

God will never speak something that goes against His Word

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Context is key

When interpreting scripture, making sure we are not taking it out of context can keep us safe from misunderstanding what is said.

When there is a verse that I am confused about, I make sure to read above and below the verse to make sure I am getting the full context of meaning out of it.

Three Dangers When Discerning God's Word

Twisted Scripture

Satan misused Psalm 91 when tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:5-7).

Creating Doubt

In the Garden, Satan misrepresented God’s command (Genesis 3:1-5).

Misrepresenting God's Character

Satan accused Job before God, implying Job’s faith was selfish (Job 1:9-11).

We must do our due diligence to be educated and seek the truth, not just relying on others and what they say.

Many false teachings today take Scripture out of context. Cults and misleading teachers use partial truths to support their own agendas. This is why we must study Scripture carefully and let God’s Word, not human interpretation, guide us.

Weed out distractions that drown out His voice

Noise from social media, culture, and personal worries can make it hard to hear God

This includes friends and influences around you

Even people you look up to, Gods word is above all.

Prioritizing time in prayer and Scripture helps tune into His leading.

Luke 10:41–42 NLT

41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Making sure we are focused on Jesus and His word only, Mary had chosen to wait on Jesus instead of focus on all the other things to do.

It seemed to be counterproductive to Martha, to drop what needed to be done to wait on Jesus

This is what I struggle with on the daily, putting aside all of the “important” tasks that my day is filled with and truly dedicating time to spend with my Saviour.

Weed out selfish desires that distort His direction

God’s voice often calls us to holiness, surrender, and faith, not just comfort and convenience.

Our flesh can deceive us into thinking our personal wants are God's will

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT

9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

We can choose to deceive ourselves that our desires are aligned with Gods, but going back to the first point, if it does not align with scripture, it is NOT His voice.

Not always, but if we are getting our way, and it is something that we are unsure of, we must make sure that it is not our own desires seeping through and manipulating us.

The hard way is USUALLY the correct way, not always but a large percentage of the time.

The easy way usually fees our flesh, God, desiring us to grow and prosper, doesn’t want us to cater to our flesh and take the easy way, when it is difficult we are forced to grow.

God’s Voice is Kind

Looking at how Jesus interacted with people, we see that God’s voice is never cruel or harmful.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, leads us with love, and we can trust that His direction is for our benefit. If we believe we are hearing His voice but it brings harm or condemnation, it is not from Him.

The voice of God is a friendly voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it.

A. W. Tozer

If it is in trials that we find ourselves, we can know that God is guiding us through it.

If we are in trials, we can trust that God is guiding us through them.

Often, He speaks through tribulation because we were hard of hearing in the calm. When life is going well, we can become selective listeners, choosing to ignore His voice when it challenges our way of life or desires.

We can decide for ourselves and make excuses when God is telling us something but it does not align with our way of life or desires.

We need not fear His voice

When we are seeking Him, His kindness and comfort is what we will hear

Even in correction, it is in love and compassion.

God whispers to us in health and prosperity, but, being hard of hearing, we fail to hear God’s voice in both. Whereupon God turns up the amplifier by means of suffering. Then his voice booms.

C. S. Lewis

It is when we decide to ignore His voice and prompting that He will “turn up the volume”

When your mind is clouded by what your own desires are

Looking to hard for what you “think” you want Him to say

Its hard to hear the Lords voice when you have already decided what you want Him to say - Gianna R