Weekly Devotion: Hearing the Voice of God

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My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27 ESV

Does it seem like God doesn’t speak to you? Or maybe you believe that He only speaks to special people like prophets or pastors. What if I told you ARE one of those special people and you can hear God’s voice for yourself? In fact, you are wired to hear His voice. 

In John 10:27 the Lord says, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.” It doesn’t say, my sheep MIGHT hear my voice. It says my sheep HEAR my voice. That means that as long as you are one of His sheep, you can hear His voice. 

Hearing God’s voice is not reserved for special people but it does take some time to learn to recognize the specific ways He speaks to you. God wants to have intimate conversations with all His children. Including you. He wants to tell you His plans for you and guide you every day. That is the relationship He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden. And part of the reason Jesus died was so we could have that relationship again.

It’s important to hear God for yourself. Any other prophetic voice should just be confirmation of what He’s already told you personally. But He doesn’t speak to everyone the same way and the ways that He speaks to us can change from season to season. Here are some of the ways God might speak to you: 

• Through His Word: God speaks to us through both the Logos and the Rhema word. When you’re reading scripture (Logos) ask Holy Spirit to give you a new revelation (Rhema) of His Word. 
• Audible voice: Many people don’t experience God’s audible voice but it doesn’t mean you can’t. Moses heard God’s audible voice and so did Samuel. In my experience, this usually happens between “sleep and wake”. The first time I heard His audible I had told Him that I wanted Him to wake me up the next morning. And He did, by calling my name! Tell Him you want to hear His audible voice. 
• Dreams: Not all dreams are from God but this is one of the most common ways that He speaks to us. Whenever you have a dream that you remember after you wake up, write it down. Then ask God for further revelation. 
• Visions: As opposed to a dream, visions typically happen when you’re awake. Sometimes, when I’m about to leave home, I might have a vision of myself taking a route that I don’t normally take. I’ll take that route because I know God is trying to tell me something. Or if I’m in quiet time worshiping, I might have a vision of someone. I’ve learned to recognize that this is God asking me to pray for that person. Sometimes it’s someone I don’t even know. 
• Impressions: When making a decision you might have a sense of peace. On the other hand, you might have a sense of foreboding or uneasiness. With impressions, you typically need to ask God for more revelation to confirm what you’re sensing. 
• Spontaneous thoughts: Instead of a vision of a person’s face, you might suddenly remember a person’s name or start thinking about them. Holy Spirit often helps me to find things using spontaneous thoughts. I’ll ask Him to show me where it is and then forget about it and leave it to Him. Later, I’ll suddenly think of somewhere else to look and I’ll find what I was looking for.

When God speaks to you, it’s important to respond. Create a dream journal and write down what you hear from him. This not only shows that you’re a good steward of His word but it also allows you to look back and remember all He has done. I’ve used several types of notebooks for journalling in the past but recently decided to give the Daily Kairos journal a try. I bought the digital for now but it’s also available in hard copy. 

Prayer: Father, You said Your sheep hear Your voice and my heart desires to hear You when you speak to me. Guide me into a more intimate relationship with You and teach me to recognize the specific ways You speak to me. Help me to be a good steward of what You reveal to me and to take action when You ask me to. 

Deborah Ruck @ As Bold As THE Lion blog