Can you Recognize God's Voice?

1 Samuel 3:10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (NIV)

            Hannah, Samuel’s mother had prayed for a child. She had gone many years being troubled with the fact that she could not conceive. Not only was she down on herself about it, but she was teased by her husband other wife. When she felt as if there was nothing else to do, she went to the Lord in prayer. God heard Hannah’s request and gave her a baby boy shortly after. She dedicated Samuel to the Lord and not only did she have Samuel, but God blessed her to have other children as well. She asked…God heard and responded.

            There are many times in life when we are waiting to hear a word from God. We can go to God in prayer and make our petitions known. Jesus said in

Mathew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (NIV) God has given us the right to ask anything of Him and it shall be done. However, there is something that we must do. We must ask in faith and pray that His will be done. Everything that we do must be in accordance to His will and not ours. We must also be able to be in tune with God’s voice. How can we know the voice of God?

            There was a time when I didn’t believe that God actually spoke to people. I would hear some people say that God told them this and God told them that. However, I never truly believed that this was anything more than just in their head. However, God started to speak to me in my dreams. Not only did He use dreams to give me prophetic words of things to come, but He had others to prophecy into my life. As I would see these things unfold and turn out to be accurate, I became a believer. There have also been times when God has said something to me directly. It wasn’t in a voice as you or I would say something, but it was loud enough in my spirit and mind that I knew it was coming directly from Him. I don’t know how quite to explain it, but I do know that whenever I hear or feel it, I know it’s from the Lord.

            Just as Joseph was a dreamer and God spoke to him years before he ever became ruler of Egypt in his dreams, God does the same thing to us today.

 Acts 2:17 says, “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (NIV)

God uses dreams and visions as ways to communicate with His people. Sometimes, you may not know right away what the dream or vision mean, but pray to God for interpretation and God will reveal it in due time. You can take an example of this from Daniel when he prayed to God to give him revelation concerning dreams that Nebuchadnezzar and other kings wanted interpretations for.

            God doesn’t just use dreams and visions, He also uses people to give you a word as well. Jonah 1:2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”(NIV) Even though Jonah ran, he still had to do what God had told him to do and that was to preach to the people of Nineveh about their sinful ways. God will use others to relay messages to people concerning things and events. They are not always relayed by pastors, preachers, or teachers. God will use ordinary people to deliver a word if He finds it necessary.

            God also uses His word to give us instruction. Psalms 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”(NIV) God’s word gives us daily instruction if we use it, so that we will know what to do in the sight of God. It is to guide us into His perfect will. This is why it is important to have a daily study life in God’s word so that we can have the word of God impressed upon our hearts and minds. God inspired men to write the Bible as a way helping to guide us into His everlasting light.

            Sometimes, God talks to our inner conscious. When you do something wrong, and you get that feeling of guilt, that is God letting you know that what you did was wrong. Also, God puts things into our spirit as a means of communication. If your spirit is troubled about something, you may need to ask God’s advice prior to doing it. However, God will also bring about peace if it is in His perfect will. God wants us to be able to understand Him clearly and to know when it is He that is speaking.  John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (NIV) That’s right! Jesus said that his sheep know his voice and a stranger, they will not follow. God will never allow you to be deceived. If God knows that we truly desire to recognize His voice, He is all so willing to make it a point to let us know. All we have to do is be silent, and wait for His response. God speaks in numerous ways, but we must be in tune with Him in order to know which way He speaks to us individually. Turn the noise down! Wait! Listen! Be silent! God will speak!

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