How to hear the voice of God

People tend to call talking to God: prayer, but hearing God speak back: paranoia. If that is true than I will be the first person to declare myself as crazy because I can honestly say that what I am writing about has completely changed my life. I grew up only hearing the voice of God sparingly and usually it was to bring correction or direction. I never dreamt that it was possibly to hear the voice of God whenever I wanted. I learned this method of communicating with God during the first week of the ministry school that I attended, School of Supernatural Life, and it has now become such an important part of my life that words will not correctly convey what it means to me. I no longer have a prayer life that models a monologue but it is now a dialogue between me and the lover of my soul. I journal, asking the Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit questions, and God speaks life into my very being.

Just writing this I am almost at the point of tears thinking about the love God has for me. I honestly was scared at first because I was afraid of what God might say to me if I was able to hear his voice. He is so loving and that is something that nobody could teach me but something I had to experience myself. It is one thing to hear your pastor tell you that God loves you but it is a completely different experience to hear God, the creator of the entire universe, say, “Chris, you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. I absolutely love you! I know you and I love you!” It is my desire that everyone learns how to do this because everyone is wired for communion with God.

As a Christian you are entitled to many wonderful things from God. You are His son and He longs to give you numerous blessings, one of those blessings is the ability to hear His voice. God is always speaking to us but most of the time we do not hear Him. Hearing His voice is imperative to living a life of sonship as God gives us direction, confirmation, and mostly conveys His love to us. Contrary to popular belief, hearing the voice of God is not hard. God wants to speak to you about yourself and about others so that you can build them up in His love.

John 10:16 states, “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” Jesus is saying that those that follow Him can hear His voice. He speaks to everyone and wants to bring every person into the body with Him being the head. However, for many of us we cannot hear what He is saying to us. God has more thoughts for you than there are sands on the seashore and every one of them is good and He is trying to convey them to you. So how can you hear what God is saying to you? Job says that God speaks in one way this time and another way another time. Meaning that God speaks in limitless ways! In Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk say that He will look to see what God is saying. “I will stand on my guard post And station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me.” So here are two things that help you hear God’s voice. Your position and your focus.

Habakkuk stood watch to see what God was saying. We have to be still and position ourselves to hear from God. Position our hearts to receive from the King. It is easier for me to hear God’s voice when I am journaling or soaking than it is when I am shopping. Unless I am asking, “God, should I buy more coffee.” In which the answer is usually “yes.” (The amount of coffee you drink directly corresponds to the amount of anointing you carry. This may not be true but I do love coffee.) The first key to hearing God’s voice is: quiet yourself. so clear your mind of inward distractions and position yourself to hear.

The second key is: focus your eyes on Jesus.  We have to look and see what God is saying. Just close your eyes and ask, “Jesus, where are you in the room?” and then focus on Him. We are to look and see what God is saying because sometimes He speaks through dreams, visions, audible voice, thoughts, bill board signs. We need to pay attention to how He is speaking to us because He never stops speaking, when I don’t hear His voice it is not because He is not speaking; It is because He changed methods or I stopped listening. Focusing on Jesus removes outside distractions and positions us to hear. If you were talking to me you would focus on me; it is the same principle.

The third key is: tune into spontaneity. What I mean is pay attention to the random flow of thoughts that go through your mind. This is often where God is speaking. To me God’s voice often sounds like my voice and to you God’s voice will often sound like your voice. God loves to hide blessings behind offense; therefore, don’t get discourage and think that you are making it all up. If your mind tells you that you are not hearing God I encourage to press through the offense and you will find that you probably are hearing the voice of God. God will more than likely sound like you and use words that you would use so don’t dismiss random thoughts.

The final and forth key is: write it down. In the next verse God replies to Habakkuk with, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.” So write down what God is telling you. Just grab a piece of paper and start writing the thoughts that fill your mind. Don’t worry about grammar or wether or not if it is from God. Just write. When you finish writing go back and read it and judge wether or not it comes from God.

When judging ask yourself: “Does it have the peace of God?”, “Does it line up with the Bible and God’s character?” If so, congratulations you are more than likely hearing from God. God says nicer things about you than you do so don’t throw it away if it is all edifying. He longs to tell you how much He loves you and how much you mean to Him. So right now go grab a piece of paper, get somewhere quiet, find Jesus, and ask “God, what do you want to tell me about Your love for me?” Write down whatever enters your mind. If you find that difficult I would suggest starting by writing a love letter to Jesus and then on a separate piece of paper write down the thoughts that flood your mind as you are writing the letter.

I pray that you will have peace and understanding as you move forward in this adventure with God. Just be warned that hearing God say, “I love you” changes everything. I am so excited because I know that you will find this as life changing as I have. In closing, here is a recap of the four keys to hearing God’s voice:

Key #1 Quiet Yourself Down

Key #2 Focus Your Eyes on Jesus

Key #3 Tune Into Spontaneity

Key#4 Write it Down

Check out Mark Virkler’s book “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice” for more information on journaling to hear God’s voice.