Hearing God

If we belong to Jesus, we have an absolute personal right to hear Jesus every single day. We have the right to hear him personally and not just hear him through some book that we read whether it’s the Bible or some other publication. We have an absolute right to hear him speak to us personally. How do I know that’s true? I know it because it’s right there in the red-lettered text. Jesus said that he is sending us into the world in the same way that the Father sent him into the world (John 17:18 & John 20:21). How did he describe how he was sent into the world? He said he never spoke a word except first he heard it from his Father (John 14:10).

Every single day Jesus spoke, so every single day he heard from his Father. We have a right to hear from God every single day of our lives. Anytime we want to hear from him, we just dial Jeremiah 33:3. It says, “Call to me and I will answer you.”  He will speak to us every single time.  Don’t believe cynical people who suggest to us that nobody can hear God.  If we’re not one of his sheep, maybe we can’t, but if we belong to God we can hear God. He loves to talk with his children. He’s delighted to do it.

It takes no special talent to hear God; it’s the guaranteed right of every believer. The problem arises when we need to distinguish between our Lord’s voice and the other voices that are competing for our attention. They all fall into three categories and we need to learn how to distinguish between them. There’s the voice of God, the voice of our own soul and the voice of the enemy. How do we determine if we are hearing God, hearing our own soul or hearing demonic voices? Well, let’s start with a fundamental distinction that will quickly give us a broad-brush test.  First of all, the spirit of man always seeks to preserve himself.  It is always self centered and endeavors to maintain control over the situation for the benefit of himself.  This voice talks to us about how to protect ones self against the risks that God might want us to take.

The spirit of Satan, on the other hand, is an accusing spirit and he is continually bringing accusations against us. He will make us feel bad, feel guilty, and feel afraid.  God never motivates his children with guilt. He never motivates his children with the fear of consequences.  He never terrifies or intimidates his children.  God motivates his children with love. When we’re in a situation and there’s a voice inside  that says, “I know, if I ask that question they’re all going to laugh at me. What a stupid question!  Everybody knows that. How could I be so ignorant in the basic things of the kingdom?  What a fool I am.” It should be obvious we are not hearing the voice of God. It’s the enemy who will always try to pull us down.

How do we deal with the situation when these fears and accusations try to take hold of us and influence our decisions? Well, we know that Jesus dealt with Peter rather harshly at one point. Peter came to him and Peter said, “Oh no! We’re not going to have to go to the cross.” Jesus turned to him and said, “Get thee behind me Satan” (Matthew 16:23). There’s a simple response when any Satanic, demonic voice begins to speak to us. Just say, “Shut up! I have no interest in you.”  Don’t we try to answer Satan.  Don’t try to argue with him because we won’t reason our way out of it.  Don’t do anything except say “Shut up! I have nothing to do with you.”

Accusations and fears are not what God is speaking into our lives. Self-preservation is not what God is speaking into our lives either. These two elements, accusations and fears, and self-preservation will always identify the voices as not coming from God. God speaks to us redemptively and lovingly.  He leads us into a place where we are putting our trust in his personal character. When God speaks to us, we will always have the experience of being loved.  He encourages us to trust Him -- to step out and do things we know would be impossible without His participation.

But, most important, NEVER accept the lie that you cannot hear God continually.