Hearing God’s Calling and the Discernment to Know His Voice

It pains me when people say, “God never speaks to me, or I have never heard God speak.” There are a few considerations that should be made in these moments of doubt. First, God speaks to his children in different ways. The Bible has profound evidence supporting this truth. To each he called, he spoke to them in unique and personal mediums- the way they were built to understand. For example, God speaks to me clearly through scripture and prompts me to respond- intelligence is one of my sacred pathways. So to this claim I would say, were you truly listening? Were all of your senses engaged in the hearing? Listening is not only an auditory process. Listening requires engaging a person‘s whole self. God may send someone an explicit sign, but since their head was not up- looking and expecting him to move- they missed it! I would wager those who claim God has never spoken to them were not fully engaged in the listening process. He gave them just what they needed- just what they asked for- but because they were not on high alert, they missed him!

The second consideration that should be made with this claim is, “how will I know God is speaking and not someone else? How can I be sure?” 1 Samuel 3 tells of a dry and barren time in the land of Israel saying, “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.” What a sad and depressing time for the Israelites! The Lord their God who had been so alive and vibrant during their formative years had faded into the background. Now I can’t help but wonder, if the word of the Lord was actually rare or if the people had not been listening. Finally, through a young boy named Samuel, the Lord revealed himself. The Lord called out “Samuel, Samuel, Samuel...” three times but only on the third time did he answer. He only answered when his mentor, Eli, told him it was God’s voice. The Bible decribes this encounter in this way (1 Samuel 3:7), “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord; the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” This is significant because since Samuel did not know the Lord, he would not have been able to distinguish between God’s voice and any other voice. If you do not know God, then you cannot know his voice from anyone in he crowd, even Satan. As we learned previously, Satan twists God’s words by planting a seed of doubt in our minds. One can not distinguish between the voice of God and the voice of Satan until they know God on a deep and personal level- a friendship level. Until you know God and his truth, as you know your closest friends, his voice will blend into the crowd. This is the place God eventually got with with Samuel but it required Samuel to answer- to step into the obedience in answering God when he called- “Yes, Lord, I am listening.” Samuel provided a pathway for God to move. His willingness and ability to listen were exactly what God needed to use him as a vessel. But, first and foremost, Samuel had to be willing.

So, to anyone who has received the Christ and allowed the Holy Spirit to permeate their heart and claims they have never heard God speak- 1) God speaks to everyone in a different way based on their gifts and sacred pathways, according to their unique way he made them. But, in order to hear his voice, one must use his or her senses and listen with their whole self. Then, they must have their heads up and expect him to move. This requires a person‘s full attention. Anyone who is distracted by the world is not fully capable of listening will not hear his voice. 2) In order to hear God’s voice, they need to be able to distinguish from every other voice in the crowd- this requires truly knowing him! To know him, one must know his truth! The best and only place to start is by reading his Word and talking to him as one converses with a friend.

Remember, the next time you have these thoughts, I encourage you instead of doubting to consider these two things. 1) Am I listening with my full self- all of my senses. 2) Do I know what God’s voice sounds like?