High Voltage Shareware/high1.zip/high1/DIR46/ALPHON_2.ZIP/VOICE.F14

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HEARING GOD'S VOICE                         STUDY NO.14

Growth in our Christian lives is dependent upon our continuing
ability to hear, receive and obey God's voice.  God's desire for
fellowship often remains unfulfilled because we fail to hear or
recognise when He is speaking to us.  Jesus said, "He who has ears
to hear, let him hear", Matthew 11:15 (RSV).  Real hearing
involves two things: understanding and obeying.  It is possible to
hear with our physical ears, yet fail to hear spiritually.  Many
people who listened to the parables of Jesus didn't really hear
because they failed to understand their true spiritual message.
Read Matthew 13:13,14,23; 15:10; James 1:22; John 12:47.

BEING IN A POSITION TO HEAR

1.  Desiring to hear

The Greek word for hearing literally means, 'to give an ear', 'to
hearken'.  In order to hear from God we must have more than a
casual interest.  We must really want to hear what He is saying.
The common people listened to Jesus eagerly.  They put other
things aside so that they could follow Him around wherever He was
speaking.  In contrast, the Pharisees and other religious leaders
blocked their ears to what He was saying because they didn't want
to hear.  Read Luke 19:48; 21:38; Matthew 12:24; Acts 17:11.

2,  Listening

"Be still and know that I am God", Psalm 46:10.  Many of us do not
hear from God simply because we are not listening.  Caught up in
the busyness of our daily activities, we do not take time to stop
and listen.  Martha was distracted by doing a lot of things for
the Lord, but her sister Mary sat quietly listening to all Jesus
was saying.  Read Luke 10:38-42.  Praying should be more than
just talking to God: it is also listening.  But it is only as we
become still and quiet in our hearts before the Lord that we are
ready and able to hear what He has to say.

3.  Having an open heart

We need to come to God with an open heart, without preconceived
ideas of what He is going to say.  The disciples didn't hear or
receive Jesus' repeated warning to them that He was going to
suffer and die, because they had preconceived ideas that the
Messiah had come to deliver them from their Roman rulers.  Read
Matthew 16:21,22, Luke 24:19-21.  Preconceived ideas and concepts
can stop us from hearing altogether, or cause us to hear
incorrectly the fresh thing God is saying.

4.   Willing to change

The Pharisees refused to listen to Jesus because He was saying
things that went against what they believed.  They were not
willing to change.  God's word to us will always involve a step of
obedient faith that will bring about some change in our lives.
Read Matthew 21:45,46; Acts 13:44,45; Hebrews 4:2.

5.  Having no unconfessed sin

Because of the sin and disobedience of the nation of Israel, "God
gave them ... eyes that should not see and ears that should not
hear", Romans 11:8 (RSV).  We cannot be in relationship with God
when we have known, unconfessed sin in our lives.  Sin darkens our
understanding and makes it difficult for us to hear from God.
Read 1 John 1:6-9; John 9:31; Ephesians 4:17-19; Romans 1:21;
Matthew 13:13-15; Psalm 66:18 (RSV).

6.  Close relationship

The closer our relationship with the Lord, the more we will hear
from Him.  Jesus did not say the same things to everyone.  He
shared His most intimate secrets with His disciples and
particularly the three who were closest to Him, Peter, James and
John.  Read John 15:15; Matthew 17:1-9; Luke 10:24; James 2:23,


7.   In the sheepfold

God will not give an individual Christian great spiritual
understanding all on his own.  Instead He desires to speak to us
as related members of the Church community.  He promised that His
Sheep would hear his voice.  Read John 10:3-5.  Sheep are related
to other sheep in the sheepfold; so we hear from God as we are
related together in our local church fellowship or prayer group.
There we are under the guiding oversight of God-appointed
shepherds.Read Acts 2:42; Ephesians 4:11-12; Hebrews 10:25; 13:17.

RECOGNIZING GOD'S VOICE

As Christians, walking in right relationship with God, we have a
natural built-in ability to both hear and recognise God's voice.
"My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me", John
10:27 (RSV).  Indications that it is God who is speaking:

Inner peace.
"Let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ's rule (act
as umpire continually) in your hearts - deciding and settling with
finality all questions that arise in your mind", Colossians 3:15
(Amp).  The hearing of, and obedience to, God's voice, will always
produce a quiet peace and inner joy in our lives, even when the
message might be difficult to accept.  Read Luke 2:20; Mark 1:27.
Any voice that brings confusion, turmoil and unrest is not from
God.  Read I Corinthians 14:33.

Specific and clear.
When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin it is always clear and
specific; we know exactly what is wrong and through confession
there is release and liberty.  Satan on the other hand is the
accuser of the brethren.  His voice is nagging, demanding and
insistent and when we confess sin we find no release from it at
all.  Read Revelation 12:10.

A steady conviction.
Often when God speaks to us through an inner impression, the
thought seems so natural and ordinary that we feel it has just
come from our own imagination.  But, if after we have submitted it
to God, it still remains as a quiet, inner conviction, we can
trust and believe that this is really God speaking to us.  Read
Acts 15:28.

In accordance with the scriptures.
God will never speak contrary to what He has already revealed in
the scriptures.  For example we would suspect a wife's claim that
God has told her to leave her husband and children in order to go
and preach the gospel, because this is quite against what the
scriptures reveal a wife's role should be.  Read I Peter 3:1.

WAYS GOD WILL SPEAK

In a still small voice.
The main way God speaks to us is through a still small voice.  It
comes as an inner thought or impression to our spirits; sometimes
as an instantaneous flash or at other times as a seed thought
which slowly grows into a certain conviction that God is speaking.
Read Jeremiah 31:33,34; Isaiah 30:21.

Through other people.
God will speak to us through other people : a Christian
counsellor, our pastor, priest or minister and friends. He may
even speak to us through a parent, employer or school teacher.
Provided our heart is open to God, it will always come as
confirmation to what we are already feeling.  Or God will confirm
it later as we take the matter before Him in prayer.

Through the scriptures.
God will speak to us in our own personal devotional
reading of scripture or through the preached message, by showing
us His ways and principles.  Read 2 Timothy 3:16.  Sometimes He
may give a specific word of direction by emphasizing to us a
particular verse.  But we should not expect God to speak this way
every time we read the scriptures and we should be cautious about
specifically seeking this kind of word from God.  Read Daniel 9:2.
Note the misuse of scripture in Matthew 4:6.

By prophecy.
In the Old Testament when people wanted to hear a word from God
they went to the prophets.  Today God still speaks through
prophecy but we should be careful about using prophecy as our only
means of guidance.  God will always confirm His word.  Prophecy
should always be given where there are mature Christians present
to judge it. Read I Kings 22:5-23; Hebrews 1:1; 1 Corinthians
14:3,29; Acts 11:27,28; 13:2; 21:9-14; Proverbs 11:14.

In supernatural dreams and visions.
Occasionally God may speak to us through a dream or vision but
this is comparatively rare and should not be looked to as a main
means of hearing God speak.  Read Acts 2:17; 10:9-20.

We instantly recognise the voice of a familiar friend.  As our
fellowship with God deepens, so we will find it easier to
recognise when He is speaking to us.


THE END