Hearing God's Voice - Discerning the Voice of God

Discerning the Voice of God

1. Does what I’m hearing line up with Scripture?

God will never speak to us or tell us to do something that is contrary to His Word. But unless we know Scripture, we will not be able to discern whether what we are hearing is consistent or not with the Word. I encourage you to get a journal and start recording the verses you study and some of your personal experiences with the things you are learning as you read God’s Word.

Psalm 119:89 NKJV

89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.

John 16:13 NKJV

13 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 16:14–15 NKJV

14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Psalm 33:11–13 NKJV

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.

2. Is what I’m hearing consistent with God’s character?

God’s Word also provides rich information regarding His character. Just as God always speaks in accordance with His Word, He speaks in accordance with His character. God will not say things that are inconsistent with who He is. The longer we know Him and the more we experience Him personally, the more we learn about His character.

Micah 7:18–19 NKJV

18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. 19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.

1 Peter 1:15–16 NKJV

15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Psalm 68:5–6 NKJV

5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. 6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

1 John 4:8 NKJV

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

John 3:16–17 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

1 John 1:5 NKJV

5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

1 John 4:7–9 NKJV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

John 1:14 NKJV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

3. Is what I’m hearing confirmed through messages at church or my quiet times?

When God is speaking to me about a particular issue, I cannot escape it. Around every corner there is a sermon or Bible study lesson or speaker’s topic or conversation with a friend that is consistent with what I’ve been hearing from God in my time along with Him. When we invest in spending time alone with God, He will speak to us. Listen for His voice and then look for the message to be confirmed. 2

2 Corinthians 13:1 NKJV

1 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”

4. Is what I’m hearing bigger than me?

Sometimes God calls us to do something big that we can’t do in our own strength – either it is beyond our ability or beyond our nature human desire. It is not something we can strategize and manipulate into being in and of ourselves. It can only happen by God’s divine intervention. Don’t look at your inabilities and dwell in insecurities. Look at the Almighty God. See this call as your opportunity to watch Him work in you and through you. If you answer yes to the question ‘Is this beyond me?’ chances are God is speaking.

Hebrews 4:12 NKJV

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Joshua 1:8–9 NKJV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

2 Samuel 22:32–34 NKJV

32 “For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? 33 God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.

Deuteronomy 20:1–4 NKJV

1 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 2 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of them; 4 for the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’

5. Will what I’m hearing bring glory to God?

It’s easy to talk ourselves out of thinking we’ve heard from God. I think we’ll pretty much use any excuse to convince ourselves it’s not His voice so we don’t need to act. If what you are doing pleases God, then even if what you thought you heard from Him wasn’t His voice, you still please Him. We should always seek to err on the side of pleasing God. Ask this question, and you’ll now what to do. Use this five-question filter as a starting place in your conversations with God. When you live in the expectation of hearing God’s voice, you will. In Jeremiah 29:13, God promises, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” Respond by saying yes to Him and confidently walking in absolute dependence and glorious obedience.

2 Samuel 22:28–37 NKJV

28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. 29 “For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. 30 For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. 31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 32 “For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? 33 God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places. 35 He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. 37 You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip.

1 Samuel 15:22 NKJV

22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Ezekiel 36:26–31 NKJV

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.

Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Blessings-Of-Obedience