The Voice Of God 3

I started talking about the voice of God a little while back. This is the 3rd posting on the subject:

Expect to hear the Lord speaking to you—Expectation is a big issue when listening. Since "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8) you can count on it that He is still speaking by these various methods in our own day.

Not only does the Lord speak audibly in both the Old and New Testaments, but He also speaks through:

-   Praise and Worship—Ps. 95:6; 138:2; Jn. 4:23; 1 Cor. 14:24-25

     Worship is our whole-of-life communion with our Father. We open ourselves up to hearing from God when we praise Him for who He is and what He has done. Praise moves us into His presence; worship opens our heart and ears for His voice. The worship in Psalm 95:6 leads to hearing His voice in verse 7.

-   The Word—Ps. 119:130; Jer. 2:1; Acts 8:30–35; Rom. 15:14; 2 Tim. 3:16

     God may cause a portion of Scripture to jump off the page for you while you’re reading it. He may make you aware of how it applies to your life right away and use it to lead you in a particular way. The Bible is your final authority – the standard by which you should check everything else you think God may be saying to you. Remember that nothing God says in any other way will ever contradict what He says in the Bible.

Meditate on the Word—Ps. 119: 15, 27, 48, 78, 148

Praying and meditating through the Bible is an excellent way to slow down our busy hearts, and allow the Lord to point out key scriptures. Meditation brings you deeper into a passage and opens your heart and mind to God’s thoughts.

Choose a Scripture verse or passage and reflect on it over and over in your mind. Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind as you think about God’s Word in a focused way.

-   Personal prayer and communion with God–2 Chron. 7:12–16; 2Cor. 13:14

     Don’t hesitate to ask God to speak to you. He cares about every detail of your life, so pray about everything, and expect Him to respond. Approach God through prayer with confidence, knowing that He wants to hear from you and will be sure to answer at the right time.

-   Every day situations and circumstances—the Lord can use any means around us to communicate His ideas such as newspapers, movies, and people. You can hear God’s voice through circumstances as He opens and closes doors of opportunity. The key, though, is to be led by the Holy Spirit rather than by the circumstances themselves. God will give you peace about His message and its timing if you check it out with Him. Sometimes the Lord makes us uncomfortable in order to indicate that it is time to move on.

-   Natural world, God’s creation—Ps. 19:1; 97:6; 148

    God reveals Himself through nature – what He has created. You can learn a lot from God by observing nature and listening to the messages God may speak to you through it.

-   Visions or pictures—Is. 1:1; Jer. 1:2–4; Ez. 1:1; Am. 3:7; 1 Cor. 14:3; Heb. 1:1

   Visions from God are experiences of intense imagery, sound, and feeling that happen when we are awake. Visions communicate important information. If you experience a vision, be sure to pray for discernment about it, and evaluate it by the Bible. Don’t assume it’s meaning; instead, wait for God to reveal the correct interpretation.

-   Night visions—Gen. 46:2; Daniel 7; Acts 18:9

     These are the same as day-time visions – they just occur at night. Daniel 7 is an excellent example of Daniel receiving a vision by night. There are 7 mentions of Daniel looking and watching. He watched, looked, watched and saw 7 layers of seeing the vision.

-   Dreams—Gen. 37:5; 40:8-41:39; Dan. 2; Matt. 1:20

   God may speak to you through a dream, with a clear message and a specific purpose. Dreams that confuse you may just be the result of your brain processing thoughts while you’re asleep. If a particular dream is from God, He will give you a confirmation in your spirit that He was communicating something to you through it – and the message will line up with biblical truth.

-   Impressions—the thought that is not your own. Inner voice—the voice that brings a peace. This is usually the work of the Holy Spirit—Acts 15:28. This might also be the still small voice of God that Elijah experienced 1Ki. 19:11-13

     God often speaks directly to your spirit in quiet yet powerful ways that nudge you to pay attention. For example, He may urge you to pray for a particular person at a certain time. Rather than just expecting God to speak in dramatic ways, tune into the quiet voice of His Spirit amidst the noise of everyday life.

    Over the next two days I will continue with this list. Please let me know if you can think of other ways the Lord speaks. I think I have about 30 different ways to hear His voice - this is just the first 10.

Voice of God 1: HERE
Voice of God 4: HERE