One of the greatest benefits of our salvation has to be that of hearing
God speak to us personally. There can be no intimate relationship with
our heavenly Father without it. But, as easy as it is for us to speak
to Him, the average Christian has a hard time hearing His voice. This
is not the way the Lord intended it to be.
<p>
Learning to clearly distinguish God’s voice is invaluable. Instead of
going through life blindly, we can have the wisdom of God guide and
protect us. There isn’t a single person receiving this letter who
couldn’t have their life radically transformed by hearing the voice of
the Lord better. The worst marital problem is one word from the Lord
away from a total turnaround. 
<p>
If you have sickness or disease, one
living word from the Lord will instantly heal you. If you are in
financial crisis, the Lord knows exactly how to turn your situation
around. It’s just a matter of hearing His voice.
<p>
The Lord constantly speaks to us and gives us His direction. It’s never
the Lord who is not speaking, but it’s us who are not hearing. Jesus
made some radical statements about hearing His voice in John 10:3-5. He
was speaking about Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep and the only
way to enter the sheepfold.
<p>
<b><i>To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice; and he
calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he
putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but
will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.</i></b>
<p>
Notice that He said in verse 3, His sheep hear His voice. He didn’t say
His sheep <b>can</b> hear His voice or <b>should</b> hear His voice. He made the
emphatic statement that His sheep <b>do</b> hear His voice. 
<p>
Most Christians
would question the accuracy of that statement since their experiences
don’t line up. But it’s not what Jesus said that is wrong; all true
believers can and do hear the voice of God; they just don’t recognize
what they are hearing as being God’s voice.
<p>
Radio and television stations transmit twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week; but we only hear them when we turn the receiver on and
tune it in. Failure to hear the signal doesn’t mean the station isn’t
transmitting. Likewise, 
<p>
God is constantly transmitting His voice to His
sheep, but few are turned on and tuned in. Most Christians are busy
pleading with God in prayer to transmit when the problem is with their
receivers.
<p>
The first thing we need to do is fix our receivers — believe that God
is already speaking and start listening. However, that takes time,
effort, and focus. The average Christian’s lifestyle is so busy, it
isn’t conducive to hearing God’s voice. 
<p>
For instance, what is your
typical answer to the question, <b><i>How are you?</i></b> Many of you probably
answer something about being very busy. I often say, <b><i>I’m busier than a
one-arm paper hanger.</i></b> All of us seem to be busier than ever, and
that’s one of the <b>big</b> reasons we don’t hear the voice of the Lord
better. We’re just too busy.
<p>
Psalm 46:10 says,
<br>
<b><i>Be still, and know that I am God.</i></b>
<p>
It’s in stillness, not busyness, that we tune our spiritual ears to
hear the voice of God. The Lord always speaks to us in that <b><i>STILL,
small voice</i></b> (1 Kings 19:12, emphasis mine), but often it’s drowned out
amid all the turmoil of our daily lives.
<p>
Second, and this is very important, most often we mistake the voice of
the Lord for our own thoughts. That’s right. I said the voice of the
Lord comes to us in our own thoughts.
<p>
John 4:24 says,
<br>
<b><i>God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth.</i></b>
<p>
This is saying that communication with God is Spirit to spirit, not
brain to brain or mouth to ear, the way we communicate in the physical
realm. The Lord speaks to our spirits, not in words, but in thoughts
and impressions. Then our spirits speak to us in words like, <b><i>I think
the Lord wants me to do this or that.</i></b> 
<p>
The Lord doesn’t typically say
<b><i>You do this or that,</i></b> but He will impress your spirit to do something,
and then your spirit says, <b><i>I think I should do . . .</i></b> Therefore, we
often miss the leading of the Lord, thinking it’s our own thoughts.
<p>
Every one of us has done something stupid and afterwards said, <b><i>I knew
that was the wrong thing to do.</i></b> We didn’t feel right about our
decision, but we followed logic or pressure only to find that our
impression was actually the Lord speaking to us. I learned this the
hard way while pastoring in Pritchet, Colorado.
<p>
All the elders of the church were custom combiners. Six months of the
year, they were gone following the wheat harvest. They insisted that we
ordain another elder who would always be there. Their choice for
eldership, I had nothing against, but as I prayed about this man and
his wife, I didn’t feel right ordaining him as an elder. However, being
a man, I went with logic instead of my heart.
<p>
Within two weeks of the others leaving for wheat harvest, this new
elder turned into the devil himself. In his reports to the elders, he
accused me of stealing money from the church, committing adultery,
drinking, smoking, and everything else you can imagine. It was a
terrible experience. 
<p>
As soon as this man showed his true colors, I knew
in my heart that the feelings and thoughts I had were the Lord speaking
to me, and I had dismissed them as my own. I made a decision right then
and there that I would never ignore my heart again.
<p>
Psalm 37:4 says,
<br>
<b><i>Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart.</i></b>
<p>
This verse has often been interpreted to mean that the Lord will give
you whatever you want and has been used to justify selfishness, greed,
and even adultery. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord will give you
whatever you want; it means that when you are seeking the Lord, He will
put His wants or desires into your heart. He will make His desires
become your desires. The Lord changes your <b><i>want to.</i></b>
<p>
I once was planning a trip to Costa Rica, a place I had been before,
and was excited to be returning to. Yet, as I prayed about it, I lost
my desire to go. Instead, I actually felt dread about going. The first
thing I did when that happened was make sure I was really seeking the
Lord with my whole heart. 
<p>
While on a road trip, I spent seventeen hours
praying in tongues, and the more I got my mind stayed on the Lord, the
less I wanted to go back to Costa Rica. On the strength of that alone,
I canceled the trip.
<p>
When the people of Costa Rica asked why, all I could tell them was I
didn’t want to go. That was hard to do, and I’m not sure they
understood. The plane I had booked my flight on crashed on take-off
from Mexico City, killing all 169 persons onboard. 
<p>
The Lord warned me
of that and saved my life, not by saying, <b><i>Don’t go to Costa Rica,</i></b>
but, by communicating to my spirit and taking away my desire to go.
That is the dominate way the Lord speaks to us, and we often miss that
kind of communication.
<p>
One of the most important decisions of my life came in 1968. I was in
college when the Lord radically touched my life, and all my desires
changed. I didn’t want to be in college anymore, and following those
new desires, I made the decision to quit school. Then all hell broke
loose. My mother didn’t understand, and she quit talking to me for a
time. 
<p>
Leaders in my church told me I was hearing from the devil. I
stood to lose $350 per month in government support from my father’s
social security, and I would lose my student deferment from the draft.
Without the deferment, I stood a good chance of ending up in Vietnam.
<p>
Because of these adverse reactions to my decision, I backed off for a
while and was absolutely miserable. This continued for two months until
I couldn’t take it anymore, and one night the Lord finally spoke to me
through Romans 14:23, which says,
<p>
<b><i>Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.</i></b>
<p>
I realized I was in sin because of indecision. I determined to make a
faith decision that night and stick with it. As I prayed and studied
the Word for guidance, I found Colossians 3:15, which says,
<br>
<b><i>And let the peace of God rule in your hearts.</i></b>
<p>
The Lord spoke to me that I was to head in the direction that gave me
the most peace. To be truthful, I didn’t have total peace in any
direction, but just as an umpire has to make a decision and stick with
it, I needed to make the call. I had the most peace about quitting
school, so I made the call and stepped out of indecision into faith, to
the best of my understanding. 
<p>
Within twenty-four hours the Lord gave me
such confirmation and joy that I have never doubted the wisdom of that
decision since. That one decision, possibly more than any other, set my
life on a course that has brought me to where I am today.
<p>
I am convinced that our gracious heavenly Father speaks to every one of
His children constantly, giving us all the information and guidance we
need to be total overcomers. There isn’t a problem with His
transmitter; it’s our receiver that needs help.
<p>
I have a three-part teaching album called How to: Hear God’s Voice that
expounds on this in greater detail. I teach this every year to our
second-year CBC students and see powerful results. Most people are
imploring God to speak, when it’s our hearing that needs to be
adjusted. 
<p>
Taking this faith-stance that God is speaking and then
learning to listen and obey will transform your relationship with the
Lord. It could save your life just as it did mine.
<p>
-- Andrew Wommack<br>
Capitalization of keywords by Randy Lucas