God speaks. Are you listening?
God always speaks through His Word. He has never stopped speaking through His Word. God will never say anything that disagrees with His Word. He is the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ” (John 1:1, NIV84) The Word of God endures through every generation and every circumstance. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ” (Matthew 24:35, NIV84) become a student of the Word. Study and obey the Word of God. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (Colossians 3:16, NIV84) This is the foundation.
God will speak through people. However we test what people say by the Word of God. “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ” (John 3:34, NIV84) When God uses people to speak His heart, we should expect God’s power to be demonstrated as well. “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ” (1 Corinthians 2:4, NIV84)
God will use prophets. “Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. ” (Acts 2:18, NIV84) A prophet speaks the Words of God with the heart of God in the timing of God. God’s heart is love. God’s heart is relationship. Those who speak prophetically will draw you closer to the heart of God. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy[…] But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. […] but he who prophesies edifies the church. ” (1 Corinthians 14:1–4, NIV84) What a prophet says must agree with God’s Word.
God will use dreams and visions. He spoke to Joseph in a dream. “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ” (Matthew 2:19, NIV84) He spoke to Ananias in a vision. “In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. ” (Acts 9:10, NIV84) Again, what God speaks in a dream or a vision must be tested by the Word of God. It must agree with the heart of God and the character of God.
God will speak to your heart through the Holy Spirit. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ” (John 14:26, NIV84)
God will speak in an audible voice. “”About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ” ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ” ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. ” (Acts 22:6–9, NIV84)
I have experienced each of these ways of hearing God. When I have a dream or a vision, I always ask God to give me Scripture to confirm the dream. I always seek to test the vision by the Word of God. When God speaks, I listen for the heart. When love comes through, compassion, mercy and the fruits of the Spirit, I know it is the heart of God. When the words spoken by another, build me and encourage me, I know it is the heart of God.
There are times when I hear people speak words that are harsh, negative or judgmental and they say this is God. I do not agree. There are times for correction, but even words of correction can be spoken in love. “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. ” (2 Timothy 2:25–26, NIV84) The words that condemn or are full of bitterness or anger do not come from the heart of God.
We must grow and learn to hear God well. The biggest roadblock to hearing God in my own life is disobedience or an unwillingness to obey what He has said. I have found that God will stop saying anything new until I listen and obey what He has already said. Hearing God requires humility, repentance, and a heart willing to obey. How do you know you have heard God? Your life will begin to look more and more like Jesus. You will grow in love and grace. Your character will mature.
If you struggle hearing God, then open the Word of God and begin reading until the Holy Spirit shows you where your life is not in agreement with His word. Then, repent and obey.
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