BEAUTY FOR ASHES

Thursday, August 01, 2013

HOW TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE FROM HIS WORD

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

Jesus gave us a wonderful promise in this verse. Are you one of His sheep? Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord, He is good; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” If you’re a Christian, one of God’s children, then that means you’re one of His sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who gave His life for His sheep (John 10:11). And of you’re one of His sheep, you can recognize His voice.

So, How do you learn to hear God’s voice? For starters, you need to read you Bible. The more familiar you are with the written word of God, the better you’ll be able to recognize God’s voice when He speaks to you, because He will always say something that agrees with what’s in the Bible. Here are three simple steps to hearing God’s voice from His Word:

1. REQUEST GOD TO SPEAK TO YOU.
Ephesians 1:7, “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.” One of the reasons why we don’t hear God speak to us is because we don’t ask Him to speak, or we don’t expect that He will. Our God is a God who speaks.

2. READ YOUR BIBLE.
I know that that sounds like it should be a given, but most people miss this one. If you don’t read your Bible, you’re never going to learn to recognize God’s voice. God’s Word is His will. If you want to know God’s will in your life, start reading the Bible. You’ll find that as you are reading through the Scriptures, God will begin to speak to you and as you to apply the Word personally to your life. Then it’s up to you to respond in obedience to what He says.

3. REFLECT (MEDITATE) ON WHAT YOU ARE READING.
Many people hurry through reading the Bible, rushing to get through their daily reading program. But, if you want to hear God’s voice, and receive wisdom and instruction from Him, you need to read slowly. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2). After you do your daily Bible reading, ask your self this question: “How will I be different today because of what I have just read?” Look for ways to apply the Word to your life.

Request God to speak to you. Read your Bible. Reflect (meditate) on what you’re reading. If you do these things, you will be well on your way to learning to recognize God’s voice.