Tag Archives: listening to gods voice

June 23, 2021 · 5:47 AM

Competing Voices

Several years ago I was an Uber driver. I would always start off near my home, but before long, I would end up in places I had never been. I would have to pay close attention to the map. There were times when a rider would be in the car giving me conflicting information with the map. That was always worrisome to me. Do I follow what the rider is telling me or choose to disregard their advice and go where the map is leading me? The map sees ahead and has information we don’t have, but the rider seems to know the area and gives me the tip. Every time that happened, I either had to tell them, “Thanks, but I need to follow the map,” or hear, “Rerouting” over and over in my ear until I would just turn down the volume. Each time it happened, I had to deal with whichever consequence.

Being a Christian is very similar I’ve found. There are two voices in my head constantly trying to give me directions on how to live, where to go and what to do. They’re in conflict with each other quite often. The Holy Spirit is much like the GPS. He knows the way better than anyone, He sees things that are ahead and is constantly trying to reroute me when I make a wrong turn. My flesh is the other voice telling me, “Turn here.” My heart tells me to follow my God given guide, but there always a strong pull to listen to the other voice. Each time I choose which voice to listen to, there’s a consequence. I give up something that my flesh would really enjoy and please God or do something that’s not right and feel shame. It’s a constant struggle for all of us as Christians.

Paul put it plainly in Galatians 5:16-17. He said, “Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you!” (TPT) That’s the choice we have to constantly make. Who’s voice are you going to listen to? They’re at odds with one another, and we’re stuck in the middle. Each voice produces very different fruit in our lives as Paul goes on to describe in this chapter. The good news is that it’s easier to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit if we will decide ahead any situation that we will choose His voice. The more we make that choice, the more we be empowered to live the way God wants us to. The voice we listen to the most grows the loudest within us, so choose now which voice you’ll listen to today.

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

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October 13, 2020 · 5:52 AM

Listening For God

Each year on President’s Day, the pastor of the Church I grew up in would take the men on a day of prayer and fasting. I remember when I was finally old enough to go and got to go on my first trip. Several men from the church had a deer lease not far from town, and that’s where we went. Our day was very structured. There were times of teaching, we would go get alone in the woods, return to discuss and then hear another teaching. On this particular trip, the teachings were about hearing God’s voice. On one of the prayer times, we were instructed to go into the woods, speak a few words of prayer and then listen. That was the first time I heard God speak. I wasn’t sure it was Him until we came back to share and several others had heard the same thing.

I like how my current pastor describes hearing God’s voice. The next time you’re in an auditorium, listen for the air conditioner. When it gets quiet in there, you can hear it. The sound is there all the time, but it’s only when you’re quiet enough and listening for it that you hear it. Too many times, we miss hearing God’s voice because we’re too loud and our lives are filled with peripheral noise. There’s a reason God said in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” When are we ever still anymore? When do we ever go to where it’s quiet and there aren’t any distractions? We’ve grown accustomed to noise so much that our minds crave it. We turn on the radio when we get in the car. We turn on the TV when we walk in the house. We create our own noise without even thinking, and we’re doing it at the expense of hearing God’s voice.

Psalm 81:13-14 says, “O that my people would once and for all listen to me and walk faithfully in my footsteps, following my ways. Then and only then will I conquer your every foe and tell every one of them, ‘You must go!’” (TPT) God is constantly speaking to each of us. He’s not silent, but He is quiet. He’s begging us to once and for all stop and listen so we can go where He’s called us and to follow where He’s leading. In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (NLT). How can you know His voice or even follow it if you aren’t listening? It’s time to find a place away from the noise in our lives, to put down our phones and to listen to what God is saying. He’s speaking to you this very moment. Are you listening?

Photo by Molly Belle on Unsplash

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June 19, 2019 · 5:00 AM

Be A Listener

As we walked through Nazareth Village, the had a shepherd there feeding his small flock. The sheep were just about ready to be trimmed so the village could make yarn. I walked around the side and took this photo of the sheep eating. While I was doing that, our guide said something I had never thought of. He said, “Did you know that goats have ears?” I thought, “Of course they do!” Then he said, “Both sheep and goats can hear, but only sheep listen for their master’s voice and obey it. The goats hear his voice and do their own thing.” That’s why sheep have shepherds and goats have herders.

I believe we all can hear God’s voice, but are we listening for it? Hearing is a passive thing that happens just by having ears. Listening is something that is done intentionally. We’ve all be in conversations where we are barely listening to the other person, then we realize we missed the important part. We have to either pretend that we listened to what they said or we have to ask them to repeat it. When the King of King speaks to us, we should be giving Him our undivided attention. If we are merely passively hearing His voice, it calls to question whether He is shepherding us or is herding us.

In John 10:27 Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (NLT). The only way to know Jesus and to follow Him is to listen to His voice. He is constantly speaking to us, so we need to be constantly listening to Him. Ive found that the best way to listen is to be quiet. It sounds so simple, yet many of us are afraid of the silence of sitting in His presence. Today practice being still in His presence and listening for His voice. Be obedient to whatever He tells you to do. Don’t just be someone who hears His voice, be a listener of it.

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