PREAMBLE:
Every human being that is born under normal and natural circumstances comes with physical ability to hear his or
her parents. Even though, such a child can't really understand or differentiate the meaning of words, the baby
possesses the physical apparatus for collecting and interpreting sounds as words. The basic need of such baby is
to grow and learn and gradually he shall be acquainted with his father's voice, he will also understand the
peculiar meanings of his father's way of talking.
In the same way, those who are born of the spirit are born with all it takes to hear the voice of the Holy
Spirit. However, hearing Him is an art that is dependent on growth and learning; learning comes from an
increasing knowledge of the word of God, while growth comes from personal practical experiences of God's
leading. John 10:27, Ps. 112.•4.
In this study, we will be trusting God to introduce us to the basic concepts of hearing from God as well as the
practical ways that God communicates with His people. It is our prayer that you will not only be exposed to
God's way of leading His children but also will begin to experience His voice in dynamic ways even before the
end of these days of study together in Jesus name. Amen.
QUALIFYING TO HEAR HIS VOICE
The Biblical Criteria For Hearing God's Voice.
Even though God loves to talk to every human being regardless of their status, He always longs to speak with
definite purposes to people by choice. There are certain characteristics in us that either provoke God to speak
to him or constrain Him into silence as far as his issues are concerned. To qualify therefore to hear God on a
regular and continuous basis you must: -
(A) BE BORN AGAIN:
- John 8:47, 10: 4, John 3:3-8, Mark 4:11-13.
Goats talk to goats; birds communicate with birds. Even among birds only those of the same species can
communicate effectively. To hear God, you must possess the same nature as God. You have been born of natural
parents, so you hear and understand them when they speak. You must be converted and become an offspring of God
before you can hear God speak to you, or else you will have to depend on others.
(B) FORSAKE ALL SINS AND IDOLS:- Ezek. 14:3, 1Samue1 28.6, 15-18.
Sin has an effect of separating us
from God; Isaiah 59 : I . God detests the disobedient and idolatrous as if they were Witches and hence cannot
relate with them. I Sam. 15:22-23. Idols have the effect of diverting our worship and devotion from God.
Anything that takes God's place effectively takes over in directing our actions. If you must hear God speak to
you on issues of your life, then you must maintain a godly lifestyle, or else the only message you can ever hear
from Him is "repent".
(C) MAINTAIN A CORRECT HEART
God primarily speaks to the hearts or spirit of the New Testament Christians; therefore, certain wrong heart
dispositions will disturb our hearing of God. A wrong heart limits what He can speak to us or even prevent Him
from speaking at all. Ps. 95:7-8, Ps. 27:8, Jer. 29:13. Anxiety, wrong and a clustered heart muddles God's
voice. Mark 4: 18-19; I John 2:16. Other issues and worldly passions in the heart can successfully drown God's
voice even when God has spoken. Will your heart allow you to hear God if he should speak to you now? Blessed are
the pure in heart; Matt 5:8.
(D) MAINTAIN AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Every relationship thrives on intimacy. To understand a man's deep thoughts, you must have been with him. The
closer we are to God, the more we hear Him speak and the clearer we understand His dark speeches; Num. 12:6-8,
James 2:23, Gen. 18: 17, Ex. 33: l l . A personal, private, functional, and growing relationship is a definite
requirement for hearing God speak. How close are you to God?
(E) KEEP GROWING SPIRITUALLY: Isaiah 28:19.
As a child grows, he learns to understand more and more the words the father has always been speaking. So it is
with God. To grow in hearing Him, we must keep growing in the things of God. I Sam. 3:1 ,7,19, 21. Every child
of God can hear God speaks but definitely will not understand everything God speaks depending on his/her
spiritual maturity. I Cor. 13:9-11. You cannot remain a baby spiritually and hope to hear God accurately; I Cor.
3: l .
(F) MAINTAIN A HUMBLE DISPOSITION TO GODS WORD:- Isaiah 66:2.
No one likes talking to a proud man, not
even God. Yet God can identify a proud heart from afar. Ps. 138:6. God takes it upon Himself to speak the humble
at heart Ps.
25:9 (Goodness). Check the state of your heart and cry for His help today!
(G) FREQUENTLY SEEK TO HEAR GOD SPEAK
God is neither talkative nor yet a babbler. He speaks to interested men who are ready to hear and obey; those
that seek Him find Him. Isa. 50:4, Ps. 27:4, Gen. 25:22-23, Dan. 10:12, Prov.
THE ASSURANCE THAT GOD SPEAKS.
God speaks. He speaks to men and He loves to speak to His obedient children. To consistently hear God's voice,
then, you must remain convinced that God speaks. Each time you approach God to find out His will over any issue,
regardless of the pressure, a growing child of God should be assured that God will speak and so should expect to
hear God's voice. John 10:27, Isa. 49: 19, Ps. 94:9, Job 33:14-16, Heb. Heb. 11:6, John 16:13.
HOW GOD SPEAKS.
In this section, we will now carefully examine the different ways that God leads His people. God hardly speaks
once to His child on any issue of importance. Ps. 62: I l, I Sam. 3:8-10, Exod. 3:4. He speaks and confirms in
order that we may be certain of His leading. There are three phases of God speaking to His children and they
must come in the order revealed in the scriptures for us to safely follow it. Please read Heb. 2:1-3.
1.
FIRST spoken by the Lord.
2.
THEN confirmed by those who heard from Him.
3.
AND God bearing them witness with signs & diverse miracles.
God is not a gossip, neither does He respect any man's person or fear their faces, so He speaks directly
primarily to the individual concerned.
But out of His great love and desire that we may be led aright, He goes ahead to allow others around the
individual concerned to also hear the same so that they can act as confirmation to him/her when he/she would
have doubted if it is God.
Finally, in order that He may remove the last trace of fear and unbelief, He begins to make situations to work
in line with His will.
1 .FIRST SPOKEN BY THE LORD.
Having been convinced that God speaks, every child of God should expect God to lead him primarily by speaking
first and foremost to him directly. It will be absurd for a father to always send his son's friend to him
whenever he wants to talk to his son except there is a problem between them or they are separated by a great
distance. In matters of life direction and focus, no one should prophesy or lead you to enter into something
that God has not first told you about. Acts 13:2; 2Kings 2:3,5.
Anytime God has to send a third party to His son/daughter and it is proved that He is the one, then there's
something drastically wrong and such will usually need to repent and retrace his steps to the Lord. God,
therefore, speaks primarily in the following ways: -
1) LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
This is the chief and primary way of God speaks to His children. It is a voice that sounds noiselessly within
the believer. It manifests in three different ways.
a)lnner Witness
It is a sudden realization of an inner definite knowing of a fact, the truth about a situation or person,
thereby showing the direction of the next course of action. Usually, you really cannot explain beyond the fact
that you just know: it is also referred to as "Intuition" "inward witness" or something called "spiritual
perception". Please, note that this is not a vague
feeling or just human reasoning, mental calculation, or deep thinking. Read; Matthew 22:18, Mark 2:8, Luke 5:22,
and 2 Samuel. 5:12, Acts 14:9.
b) Inner Voice
It is a recognizable voice of someone speaking to either instruct, correct, or even teach. Unlike intuition, it
comes in clear distinct words that can be remembered with exactness and if we know how to respond, it can carry
on a conversation with God. I Kings 19:9-18. Can you discover the instructions, the corrections, and the
teachings in this passage?
c) Conscience
Rom. 2:15, The "W.E. Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words" defines conscience somewhat like this
"that faculty designed to govern our lives by creating:
I . A sense of guilt before God immediately after we commit a sin.
2. A process of thought which distinguishes between what it considers morally good or bad, commending the
good and condemning the bad and so prompting (guiding) to do the former and avoid the latter.
Discuss this definition. What is a faculty as it relates to a person? What is the meaning of the word moral?
Please read Rom. 2:15, I Sam. 24:5, 2Sam. 24:10. What is your own personal experience? If you are tillly born
again, your conscience should stream every time you attempt to sin (or react in joy to a good deed) and as you
grow, it even disallows several indulgences which may not even be considered a sin. Give examples of this and
share your personal experiences!
2) THE WORD OF GOD.
The second chief way God leads his children is by speaking to them through His word.
First, when at a particular junction of life or in doubt about a step we're about to take, a scripture comes
up into memory giving direct answers to the questions of our heart.
Secondly, while reading His WORD, a seemingly ordinary scripture is suddenly illuminated and applied to our
situation to answer a question, give instruction or correct an intention or past action.
This way of leading can be God's first words on a matter or can come as a confirmation of an earlier leading in
any of the ways outlined above! How is this different from receiving revelations from the word of God?
3) SPECTACULAR LEADINGS.
All leadings or "speaking" of God are supernatural but some ways are more spectacular than others and hence are
usually preferred and easily accepted. However, the spectacular realm can also be utilized by the devil to
confuse and misdirect. Nevertheless, God speaks through these
spectacular means but they should be judged and confirmed well by the Scriptures before accepting them. If in
doubt, please seek counsel.
a)Direct spectaculars-
These are plain messages that need no interpretation but may only need counseling. - Audible Voice
In this case, God speaks in a physically audible voice in which the hearer literally hears it as if with the
physical ears. People usually look for the speaker because they thought it was physical and sometimes asking if
the people around also hear the voice. Acts 9:4-6. Have you had such an experience? How did you handle it? Has
it been an everyday occurrence?
* Inspirational And Revelational Gifts Of The Spirit
These include the gifts of Prophecy, Diverse kind of tongues and its interpretations, Word of knowledge, Word of
wisdom and Discerning of spirits. This way of leading is only available to those who are baptized in the Holy
Ghost and manifesting these gifts. Matt 12:25, Mark 8: 1 7, John 6:61, Acts 13:1-3.
* Angelic Visitations
Sometimes Angels are sent from heaven to bring direction, instructions even teachings (which must tally with the
written word of God) Daniel 10:2-12, Luke 1:5-13, Gal 1:8.
b) Interpretative spectaculars
These are spectacular ways of God's speaking that comes in coded drama whose meaning need to be drawn out. They
not only need mature interpretations but also counseling since it has to do with the mental faculties of man and
can be contaminated at the point of interpretation or with previous thoughts of the heart Jeremiah 23:16. This
means comprises of;
* Visions- Ps. 89: 19, Ezek. 37: 1
* Dreams- Job 33:14-18, Gen 40:5, Gen 41
* Trances- Acts 10:9-20, Acts 11:5
It may be difficult to always distinguishable them as one visitation can be a combination of two or all of them.
Briefly share an experience. It is also worthy of note that these are not God's first choice in leading his
people. He only resorts to them when He has tried all other means of when the individual involved is not patient
or rested enough in his spirit. Job 33:14-18, Acts 16:6-10. Surely, a dream alone is not enough to act upon if
they are crucial issues like who you marry, where you work, where you live, what assignments you do for God!
Beloved, you should always desire that God speaks in a way and confirms it in several other ways to the you
particularly even before introducing a confirmation from outside. He is however sovereign; we cannot decide
which way He must speak to us. It's abnormal to be crying unto God for dream or prophesy etc.
2. CONFIRMED UNTO US.
God is always willing to enable us to walk in the light of His leading, therefore, he takes the effort to speak
to other brethren around us in order to confirm what He has already spoken to us. Acts 13:1-2. However, please
note the following;
-Check all confirmations with what God has already told you.
-Check the nature and means of their leading. It must be in one of the ways outlined above.
- The weight and significance attached to a confirmation depend on the way God led the individual.
Pray well as they may often contain other details that you were not aware of before or missed out on in your own
understanding of what God did say to you before. Acts 21:10-14.
3. GOD BEARING THEM WITNESS.
Many times when God has spoken to us concerning some things we still desire a physical outward synchrony of
events and circumstances which further confirms and sometimes makes it easier to do God's will. 2 Sam. 5:5-12,
Acts 10-19-20. Discuss these examples. Please note;
-It should never be the primary or only basis for doing anything; else we are being led by signs, situations
&
circumstances. Rom. 8:14.
-No matter how miraculous, the will of God should still be sought in prayer so that God can speak in any of
the
above ways before we can proceed because the devil can also bring miracles and arrange situations to confuse or
mislead.
- When they come from God, they are sovereign acts of mercy and should not be stage-managed.
- When it is the individual that looks for the physical confirmation, it becomes a fleece. Judges 6:36-40.
This
is not a New Testament practice and it is quite dangerous as not only the devil can interfere but you yourself
can manipulate a fleece to make God say what you want Him to say. Give examples of such manipulations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD'S VOICE.
When God speaks, certain distinguishable characteristics accompany it by which we can differentiate it from the
voice of the devil or the voice of the flesh. Let's study these scriptures in order to identify those
characteristics.
-James 3:17 - God's wisdom is first of all pure (wholesome), peaceable (never encouraging strife or
quarrel), and
gentle.
- Gen. 6:3 - God will not forever struggle with us (God is a gentleman; He is never pushful or
intimidating).
Rom. 14:17 - It brings joy in the Holy Ghost.
- Rev. 12:10 - He is not the accuser of the brethren.
a. PEACE RULING PRINCIPLE.
Col 3: 15 (AMP) And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in
your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state]
to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live].
Isa 26:3 KJV. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusted in thee.
Let the peace of God act as umpire... keep in perfect peace.... When you are in God's perfect will, there
is a
rest in your heart and a sweet communion with the Holy spirit. When you make a wrong turn into sin, disobedience
or even just a wrong decision, the peace immediately disappears. So whenever you discover this absence of peace,
retrace your steps and prayerfully locate the wrong turn.
b. CORONAL EFFECTS OF GOD'S VOICE
God's voice is an inner quiet voice instilling confidence and calm but may be surrounded by other things
which
may become the focus if we're not careful, I Kings 19:11.
Discuss the various coronal effects that have come with God's voice in your own personal experience.
In Conclusion;
God does not expect us to be walking in the dark as far as His will is concerned; neither does He expect us to
just do things according to our own will and wisdom. He has therefore made adequate provision to speak to you as
a bona-fide child of the Kingdom. It is left therefore to you and I to take advantage of this privilege of
hearing God's voice and order our lives accordingly.
The result of a consistent hearing of God's voice is a beautiful well-ordered life, growing, blossoming and
enjoying all of God's blessings and the inheritance of the Kingdom. Check your life and discover how much of
God's voice you are listening to. May we not have cause to shed unnecessary tears just because we did not bother
to seek the guidance of God in our daily living.
LET US PRAY!
Reference;
The Template for this material is from Peace House Discipleship Material.
