Tune In to God
Learn to listen better for God’s voice: Take our online interactive study “Listening to God”
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:8 (NIV)
All through Scripture, the Bible says God is speaking to us. Why? Because you were created for a relationship with God. That is the whole reason you exist. God wants you to know him intimately.
Now you can’t have a relationship without communication. The problem is that communication is very easily misunderstood. I’ve been married to my wife for 35 years and I still don’t always hear her or understand her. So if I can’t even figure out somebody I’ve lived with for 35 years, how am I expected to always get it right hearing God?
That might surprise you because a lot of people think pastors have a direct hotline to God. The truth is, sometimes I’m just as confused as you are in hearing God’s voice. I don’t get it clear every time – no different from anybody else – but I will tell you this – it gets easier.
After 35 years of marriage, I can recognize my wife’s voice when she calls me on the phone without her having to identify herself, even if it’s an overseas bad connection. And after more than 45 years in a relationship with God, I know his voice when he talks to me.
The longer you grow in your relationship with the Lord, the easier it is to know when he’s talking to you. The key is learning how to tune in to him.
Jesus said in Luke 8:8, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (NIV). God has given you all the equipment you need to hear him, and over the next few days, we’ll learn how to tune in to him.
Question: How can you test what you believe God is telling you?
One of the most important ways to test what you believe God is telling you is if what you’re hearing lines up with scripture. Haven’t we all heard the stories of the man or woman who “heard from God” that they should divorce their spouse and marry someone else? Well I can tell you that since that’s directly contrary to what God says in his Word, that wasn’t a message from God. Also, be cautious about the way you pray when seeking God’s will. For example–let’s say you have a decision to make about your work and you think you know what the best solution would be. Instead of asking God to show you if what you’re thinking of doing is right (and therefore making it right in your eyes if you don’t “hear from God otherwise”), ask him to let you see the situation through his eyes–in other words, what does he think is best. Always go to God with no preconceived ideas, but let him always take the lead, being obedient to whatever he’d have you do.
Maddie, it is encouraging isn’t it so know that as we practice hearing God’s voice it does get easier? Listening is definitely a learned skill, whether to God or to those around us.
I love the parallels between our relationship with the father, and the relationship with our loved ones.
I too am struggling with this very same thing in my life right now. I am wondering if the voice I ‘ve been following is really God’s or if I have been duped by the evil one. It’s encouraging to know that discerning God’s voice becomes easier as you grow in Him. I continue to pray for God to lead me, guide me and reveal to me His perfect will for my life. I don’t want to spend even one moment outside of His will. I’ve been there and it’s no fun at all! Be blessed!
You can be an “overcomer” in His abundance of Grace and Power.
Without God there is little to trust!
Trust includes something Holy.
Triumph is a result of a moving, living, Faith!
Christians are apart of something wonderful.