Hearing God’s Voice and Becoming His Friend - Part 5
Growing in maturity as a disciple of Christ includes growing in our ability to recognize God’s voice, and to hear Him more clearly and accurately.
Many times, God may have spoken to us, but we may not have heard Him.
Three times in the book of Jeremiah, God says, “you haven’t listened when I spoke to you again and again or responded when I called you” (Jeremiah 7:13 CEB) (See also Jeremiah 25:3 and 35:14.)
Why is it that some Christians seem to hear God’s voice clearly while others do not seem to hear Him at all?
Consider this example from the life of Jesus:
After Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He called out, “Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
The crowd standing there heard and said, “It’s thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to him.”
Jesus replied, “This voice wasn’t for my benefit but for yours.”—John 12:28-30 (CEB)
God’s voice was very clear for those who had ears to hear, but some thought the voice was thunder. They didn’t hear God’s voice clearly at all.
Others thought that an angel was speaking. They may have heard the voice, but they did not recognize who was speaking.
In Matthew 13:15, Jesus explained why some people have trouble receiving and understanding His messages:
“For this people’s senses have become calloused, and they’ve become hard of hearing, and they’ve shut their eyes so that they won’t see with their eyes or hear with their ears or understand with their minds, and change their hearts and lives that I may heal them.” (CEB)
The writer of Hebrews laments the condition of some believers. They are so hard of hearing (spiritually) that they are not able to receive deeper spiritual truths of God and His Kingdom.
“There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.”—Hebrews 5:11 (NLT)
Then he tells us what it takes to sharpen our senses to be able to discern God’s voice when He speaks to us.
“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”—Hebrews 5:14 (ESV)
We can only grow in our ability to hear God’s voice accurately by consistently listening with anticipation for Him to speak to us, and responding with obedience to His voice.
Growing in Our Ability to Hear
In the beginning stages of our relationship with the Lord, He may sometimes speak to us in dramatic ways to get our attention, like He did with Saul on the road to Damascus, or with Moses at the burning bush.
But as our relationship grows and deepens, we need to learn to hear and recognize God’s voice when he speaks in soft whispers.
Elijah had to learn this lesson in 1 Kings chapter 19. He may have been expecting God’s voice to come in dramatic ways accompanied by violent winds, earthquakes, or roaring fire, but when he finally heard God, it was in a still, small voice with no attention-grabbing fanfare. You get the impression from this passage that Elijah almost missed it.
Communication is a function of relationship. If the relationship is healthy, communication will be good. On the other hand, if there are problems in the relationship, there will also be problems in communication. Communication is the lifeblood of any relationship. Communication is also one of the best indicators of just how healthy—or unhealthy—a relationship may be.
Moses’ Example
Moses is really a wonderful role model for us if we want to learn to hear God more clearly and accurately.
Moses’ communication with God started in dramatic fashion with his encounter at the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3.
As he heard and obeyed the voice of God, he became the leader of the entire nation of Israel.
One of the keys to Moses’ remarkable relationship with God was that he established a dedicated place where he and all Israelites could go to seek God outside of the busy-ness of the camp.
“Now Moses used to take his own tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting [of God with His own people]. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the [temporary] tent of meeting which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at his tent door, and look at Moses until he entered the tent. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the doorway of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tent door, all the people would rise and worship, each at his tent door. And so **the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. **When Moses returned to the camp, his attendant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.”—Exodus 33:7-11 (AMP)
It is interesting that even after Moses left the tent after meeting with God, Joshua stayed behind, and it was Joshua who was eventually chosen to lead the nation of Israel into the Promised Land.
So, Moses went from his burning bush experience, in which he was self-conscious and hid his face because he was afraid to look at God, to a close personal relationship in which God spoke to him face to face, like a man speaks with his friend.
How did he do this?
Respond with Obedience
God Himself tells us the most important key to Moses’ remarkable consistency in hearing God’s voice clearly and accurately:
“Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision And I will speak to him in a dream.
“But it is not so with My servant Moses; He is entrusted and faithful in all My house.
“With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly], Clearly and openly and not in riddles; And he beholds the form of the Lord.” —Numbers 12:6-8 (AMP)
God tells us here that He spoke to Moses clearly and openly, and He tells us why.
Moses was trusted and faithful with everything the Lord gave him.
That is a real key to hearing the Lord’s voice more clearly and consistently.
We are told that those who will be by the Lord’s side when He returns “are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14 KJV).
As we are faithful with what God gives us, we will be entrusted with more. This is the lesson of Jesus’ parable of the talents. To two of the servants in that parable, Jesus said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:21 NIV)
But to those who are not faithful with the little that God gives them, He takes those things away from those He cannot trust and gives them to others who have proven themselves to be trustworthy and faithful with what God has given them.
Let’s suppose that you wanted to invest some money. This was not money that you could afford to lose. This was very precious to you.
Let’s say that you partnered with an investor who made a commitment to you, and you trusted him to invest your money wisely. So, you sent your money to this man so that he could invest it. Then you waited. Every once in a while, you checked your account, but the money so far has not even been deposited into your account. Days go by. Then weeks… . Every time you contact the investor that you trusted with this extremely important investment, he only offers lame excuses. Over time, he never invests your money at all.
Would you ever trust this person with another investment again?
How does God react to one of His servants who does nothing with what God gave him? Jesus tells us in the parable of the talents:
“So take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“For to everyone who has [and values his blessings and gifts from God, and has used them wisely], more will be given, and [he will be richly supplied so that] he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have [because he has ignored or disregarded his blessings and gifts from God], even what he does have will be taken away.”—Matthew 25:28-29 (AMP)
Why should God speak to people who have no intention of doing what he says?
If you don’t use it, you will lose it.
This explains why so many Christians have not heard God’s voice in years. They do not remember their dreams; and they do not operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
God doesn’t cast his pearls before swine who don’t appreciate the value of what God is sharing with them.
We all have the ability to hear God’s voice, but we must use that ability, and we must value every message that God shares with us.
Obedience is an Act of Love
Obedience to the voice of God is not drudgery. It is an act of love for the One we love above all.
Obedience is easy when we love the One who is commanding us.
Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15 KJV).
Communication is a function of relationship. As our relationship with the Lord grows closer and deeper, our ability to consistently hear God’s voice clearly will grow along with the relationship.
Growing in hearing God’s voice is like learning to recognize the voice of a loved one. As you communicate with your loved one more often, you learn to recognize their voice. As you grow closer to them over time, you can easily recognize their voice even if they answer the phone by just saying, “Hey, it’s me.” Over time, you learn to recognize their voice so well that you can pick them out even among a crowd of other voices.
We learn to recognize God’s voice in the same way—drawing closer to Him in a growing, deepening relationship.
The Shulamite maiden in the Song of Solomon went from not knowing the King at all to becoming His cherished Bride as she responded to His voice faithfully.
Learning to hear and recognize God’s voice is a natural result of a growing relationship of love that is demonstrated by faithful obedience.
