Observations About Hearing God’s Voice

Here are some thoughts about learning to better communicate with God…

John 10:1-5, 16  “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

1. First, it is clear that Jesus is speaking. He is not silent but is speaking to us and even calling us by our names. Verse 3b

2. His true sheep are listening and hearing. Verse 3a. What does it take to hear His voice? We need to pay attention, get rid of distractions, and pay attention.

In 1 Kings 19:12 Elijah the great prophet hears God’s speak as a “still small voice.” When someone is whispering we have to really pay attention and listen. The same thing is true in hearing God’s voice. Get quiet, shut up, pay attention and listen—it is not hard to hear God’s voce but He is not shouting. Listen.

3. We know His voice. Verse 4. How do we know God’s voice from the voice of self, the devil and the world? Simple—we are with Him, we spend time with Him, we are in His presence daily and so we learn to recognize His voice.

We are only one hour from our 7-year old granddaughter Reghan and 3.5-year old grandson Kegan and so we get to baby-sit there a lot. When Reghan was younger, if she made even a little cry or whimper I automatically got up and rescued her! (Bonnie says I wasn’t that good with our kids.) I learned to recognize her sweet little voice and I respond immediately and spoil her the best I can, much to the dislike of her parents. 🙂

Song of Solomon 2:14 says the voice of our Bridegroom is sweet. In other words we do not have to fear or be intimidated by what the Lord may say to us. His voice is sweet to the ears of the spiritually sensitive.

4. Others can hear from God too. Verse 16. For me as a lead pastor this is a picture of teamwork. It is also a picture of a husband and wife team. Left alone we can be deceived but submitting what we hear to others and asking them to listen to what the Lord may be saying is a great check and balance system for us.

By the way, this is not only the way to stay balanced and objective about things but teamwork is so much fun and rewarding too! Ezekiel 33:2 says the Lord’s voice is pleasant– working together and hearing together what God is saying and how He is leading your ministry, business or family is absolutely a pleasant thing. It will also keep you safe.

5. The devil wants to rob from us hearing the voice of God. John 10: 10 says,
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

This is a very famous verse but I think most people miss the context of this statement. What is it the thief wants to steal, kill and destroy? It is hearing the Lord’s voice! We cannot let this happen otherwise we get stuck in dead, dull and dry religion. Hearing God’s voice keeps our relationship with Jesus up to date.

So many things we could say about hearing God’s voice—it is powerful and will change the course of your life, it is always accompanied by peace (see Colossians 3:15 AMP and Philippians 4:6-7 Phillips Translation.

Papa G