Christians, and people that just call themselves that, sometimes say God told told (or spoke to, etc.) them to do or not do something. Most times an audible voice is not meant, but an urging within us which we then might, as directed by the Holy Spirit, put into words in our mind or spirit.
Throughout this study, unless otherwise indicated, “voice” and “urge” will mean the same thing: a sense of direction that might be from God, whether or not we hear an audible voice.
It is very important to develop your ability to hear God. It can mean the difference between life and death both physically and spiritually.
For those that would like to use this article for a study, there will be opportunity to do five worksheet items. You might have to press control and then click the link. If it opens the page in the same window as this article, you might have to use your back button to return to this article until I establish links on the worksheet page back to this article.
The answers to the questions will be presented on the same page on or just after October 21, 2008.
As you continue to read, please carefully note the sections between these marks: >> <<.
Know What You Have
Understand that each of us is comprised of a body, soul, and spirit (1Th 5:23). Our spirit is that which is designed to be initially in tune with God (John 4:24). An important element of our spirit is our conscience (Heb. 13:18). Our spirit and conscience are damaged due to the inherent sin nature in us, so our spirit is not adequately in tune with God, nor does our conscience direct us properly at all times. Rom. 7:18
>> God moves upon our conscience and spirit at the time of our true conversion to Christ (Heb. 9:14). There may have been times God moved upon us before, but we might have ignored or resisted that urging. In these cases, you were hearing from God in any manner as described in the introduction. <<
Your body also speaks to you, indicating whether it is hungry, tired, and so on (John 4:6). Your soul is the place where your affections reside (Ps. 42:11) and based on past experiences or natural tendencies, we prefer certain things to others (Nu. 21:5). Both our soul and body will send us urges, or in rare cases due to illness, voices.
Influences
Satan can certainly generate audible voices and urges for us to sense. Society, relatives, friends and enemies certainly influence us. Sometimes what we have heard others say keeps “replaying” in our mind.
The Battlefield: Your Brain
Naturally, everything we sense, including any urges we might feel or voices that we hear are analyzed by our mind. Outside of Christ we are going to make numerous bad decisions about what we sense. So, it's best to be in Christ, truly dedicated to Him, because we are then in the position to have our mind actually transformed to think like Christ in many ways (Rom. 12:2).
Examine Your Relationship With God
What do you know about God? Your ability to decide if God is talking to you is partly affected by what you know about God. Some of His moral attributes are found in Ex. 34:6-7 and Ps. 99:9. God is predominately described as being holy. Reading the Word of God will help you to know how God thinks and works. Read 1 John for a foundation that will give you certain principles to follow.
The following three questions mean the same thing. Do you personally know God? Have you truly committed to Jesus Christ? Have you been born-again and have become a true child of God? >> As noted above, the convicting presence of the Holy Spirit frees and empowers our spirit to make the right choice -- choosing Christ. Hopefully, you can remember the Holy Spirit moving upon you. That's God's voice. You may not have heard audible words, but you did sense God's Spirit speaking to your spirit (John 10:14). <<
If the above link does not work, open another browser window and enter into the address bar by copying and pasting . . .
http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/HowKnowGodsVoice01WS.html#item1.
How much do you know about the life of Christ? The more you know about Christ's life the more you will know how He would think and behave, and what He might tell you in a given situation. We can learn about the life of Christ by reading and studying the Gospels. The Apostles Peter and John were uneducated men, but the religious leaders of their day who would find fault with them noted that they had been with Jesus. See Acts 4:13.
