John 10 : 4 NKJV
“And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
“It is not an exaggeration to speak of a paradox in the contemporary experience and understanding of hearing God. It is a paradox that seriously hinders our practical faith.
On one hand we have massive testimony to and widespread faith in God’s personal, guiding communication with us—far more than mere providential and blindly controlling guidance. This is not only recorded in Scripture and emblazoned upon the history of the church; it also lies at the heart of our worship services and our individualized relationships with God, and it actually serves as the basis of authority for our teachers and leaders. Only very rarely will someone profess to teach and lead the people of God on the basis of his or her education, natural talents, and denominational connections alone. Authority in spiritual leadership derives from a life in the Spirit, from the minister’s personal encounter and ongoing relationship with God.
On the other hand we also find a pervasive and often painful uncertainty about how hearing God’s voice actually works today and what its place is in the church and in the Christian’s life. Even those who firmly believe they have been addressed or directly spoken to by God may be at a loss to know what is happening or what to do about it.
This paradox must be resolved and removed by providing believers with a clear understanding and a confident, practical orientation toward God’s way of guiding us and communicating with us. Our failure to hear God has its deepest roots in a failure to understand, accept, and grow into a conversational relationship with God, the sort of relationship suited to friends who are mature personalities in a shared enterprise, no matter how different they may be in other respects.
Within such a relationship, our Lord surely intends us to recognize His voice speaking in our hearts as occasion demands.”
Dallas Willard
How Great Is Our God
I have been a Bible believing “born again” Christian for over 35 years as of this date. It has always amazed me in that length of time how ever-so-many other believers, during the course of a direct or even an indirect conversation, have brought up the subject of actually talking to God in a two-way audible verbal conversation. I have many times wondered what is wrong with me that God would so neglect to speak directly and audibly to me. I have never felt that my faith and belief was any lesser than the folks saying they have these ongoing audible conversations with God all the time.
Does He just have these “special conversations” with certain blood types or geographically located people? Do you have to have any special physical or mental features through which He talks? Do you have to be pretty or will ugly also work as a basis to talk with God? Is there a requirement to be a certain race or nationality before you qualify to speak directly with God? So many questions can be asked….but who really has the correct answers? It makes me think, that just maybe, at least some of these witnesses did not actually have the personal audible conservations they claim to have held.
My position is not to hinder or call any individual “a teller of less than the truth”, but I seriously question the actual “audible hearing” directly from God himself using His own voice, particularly on a regular basis.
Here is what my personal learning, understanding, experience, and observations have taught me over my years as a Christian. God connects and communicates directly with His finest creation, man. He does this through the communication center of a human being which is the human brain. It is the central switchboard, if you will, through which ALL communications must travel to be accepted, translated, interpreted, and utilized by man himself, both on a spiritual and/or secular level. Prayer is the most effective way and method of communicating directly with God Himself. Usually His response back to the one praying to Him is not actually audible. It really is intuition or a spiritual level understanding or a mentally “felt” leading which gives direction to a specifically asked for or prayed for request to God.
If that discussion is too vague for you to grasp, then let’s just say that you will know when it is God who is communicating to you. In other words, if you are not sure it is God talking or leading or inspiring or encouraging you to do some specific thing or take a specific action, then, for certain it is not God Himself directing you. You will know in your spirit when God is communicating to you. It does not have to be an audible voice.
How can we be so certain of this identification process? Our assurance comes from knowing the infallible Word of God. As stated above, in the Book of John 10 : 4, God tells us that His sheep will know His Voice when He speaks to them. Remember, never put a question mark where God has already placed a period! The over-riding fact is rather simple. As one of His sheep….as a believer….you will know the voice of God and what it sounds like or what you sense in your own mind when He communicates to you in any form He so chooses. It may be an audible sound and it may be something else, or some other form…regardless….you will know when God is communicating directly with and to you!
The more you learn and know the Word of God, the more you will grasp and understand what He wants you to do for Him and His creation, i.e. His Will for your life. God has a prearranged and predesigned plan for the use of your own life while you are here on this earth. Now the only one capable of messing up His plan for you is none other than you! Disobedience to His Word and His instruction to you as well as complete refusal to perform the tasks and work He places in front of you are the usual way most folks mess up God’s plan for their lives. Here is my advice to you to insure the blessings that God wants to give to you as rewards for completing His plan for your life:
Pay attention to the people who come into your life as you go about your daily routines. If a person enters your space, then smile, put out your hand. Say “hello”. Be a good Christian and show kindness and generosity to any and all newcomers into your world. Express an interest in them first. Don’t wait for them to initiate the conversation. You take the lead role…You be the leader.
Get into a daily reading and studying environment in the Word of God. Make notes, keep a journal, read and then reread, ponder, and record important parts and discussions of your study material. Cross reference and examine other related Scriptures that apply to what you are reading. Ask questions to yourself and to your mentors and other associates about how these verses actually bear in your life, work, or business. Consider what you are learning and how it can be applied in the living of your own life today.
Remember the words of Dallas Willard above. “Our failure to hear God has its deepest roots in a failure to understand, accept, and grow in a conversational relationship with God, the sort of relationship suited to friends who are mature personalities in a shared enterprise, no matter how different they may be in other respects.”
Regular association with other mature Christian Believers is a guaranteed way of “learning more” and “sharpening your understanding” as to how the Word of God is best understood and used in the conduct of living your Christian Life. Here is a short formula that may make it easier to understand what I am telling you: Knowledge X Action=Power.
The more you study and learn, the more you will know. The more you know, the more you will be able to use. The more you use, the more impact and results you will achieve! The point is clear: Learn, study, understand, and then apply what you have learned. Do these things and you will be blessed with great rewards from the proper application of the Word of God.
God’s Greatest Blessing To All Of You……………………..
A Sample from Spiritual Believers Section of DaveSevern.com