https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/24/recognizing-gods-voice
One of the things we learned and practised in my previous church was to hear the voice of God. It is not an easy task, but we start by picking up the obvious from a passage of Scripture. Then we dwell deeper and ask more personal questions like what the Lord is really saying to me now? We try to relate to what we are going through and what God is saying, but in reference to the Scripture we are reading. As we do this daily and thus more and more, we will get better at it, and as we face challenging issues in life, we apply the same method and soon we will be hearing God’s voice speaking into our situation. The proof of the pudding is in the eating! To have the confidence to hear God’s voice in real-life situations that we are facing in real time, we need to start from the basics.
Like wolves being able to recognise howls of other wolves or orcas hearing and recognising the whistles of orcas in their pods, we can recognise the voice of the Lord as we are His sheep and He is our shepherd. As believers, we hold on to John 10:27-28, where Jesus says that my sheep hears my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. If we are His sheep, we will surely know His voice. But it does not come immediately, and neither will it come naturally; as to hear God’s voice, we need to enter into the spiritual realm and connect with God in the spirit. All that requires time and practice. But if we practice hard and do this daily, we will be good at it, and when it really matters, we will know and recognise His voice.
Recognising God’s voice doesn’t mean it is a treasure-hunt game of deciphering clues and knowing the next move. Jesus could tell us to make our own choices in life. He could tell us to follow where our hearts lead us. Or He could say things like if our heart is to serve Him, maybe this is the best decision for us. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to follow the Logos Hope ship around the world for a few years to serve God when we are still young, healthy and strong! https://www.om.org/ships/.
Hearing the voice of God is something real that every believer is blessed with, but it is something we need to develop to be accurate and sharp. As we get better, we can also pray for and help others to hear God’s voice for their unique situations. It can be as easy as the logical answer as per the tenets of our faith or based on a principle from the bible – for example, don’t do what King Saul did or do what Paul did in being determined to go to Jerusalem despite knowing they will likely execute him (see Acts 20). Or it could be grey and thus require wisdom from God or a word of knowledge and spiritual discernment.
Ronnie's Thoughts 