God wants you to Hear His Voice
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” John 10:27
Hearing God’s Voice Is A Really Big Deal
Scripture makes it clear that many of Gods children are suffering unnecessary problems, problems because they do not know something important, or do not properly understand something that is going on, or are looking at a situation from from the wrong perspective, an earthly perspective rather than from God’s perspective.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;” Proverbs 3:5
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
God wants to help You, to lead you and guide you, but you have to ask.
God wants to help you. He wants to help you avoid creating unnecessary problems, and He wants to help you see and follow the best path through any inevitable problems you do end up facing.
God has a plan, and He has a will for you. He wants you to know what that will is, and He promises to help you see it and understand it if you are willing to humble yourself and ask Him and then do what He tells you.
“So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:17
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5
God has provided a connection through the Holy Spirit so His children can hear directly from Him.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.” Acts 2:17 / Joel 2:28
Optional Pre-work: Humble yourself, Come to God as a child of God, fully submitted; Your “Self” denied.
The process I am about to explain works best if you are already positioned as a humble Child of God. If you have already repented of your sinful past and put God first in your life, and you honestly wish to be led by the spirit and not the flesh, then skip this section and go straight to the instruction for the 4 keys below. If you are not confident you are a humble child of God, then continue this prework.
Your fallen nature / Separation From God:
You are an eternal soul living in a temporary earthly vessel. You are born with a sinful nature, a focus on your earthly self and its self-centered agendas. This focus separates you from God. If your brain is focused on you, your thoughts, your feelings, your earthly life here and now, you are not tune to God and His kingdom which is focused on receiving His love and flowing that love to others.
Jesus Work To Redeem You:
God entered creation to redeem it. He came in the form of a son, Jesus. Jesus suffered and died to release you from your self centered nature. He paid the price for your sin, so you do not have to suffer the consequences.
– You can confess your past to Him and He will give you a future, in this life and for eternity;
– You can deny your old self and He will make you new again.
– You can yield your life to Him and He will form in you and live through you.
– You can shift your focus from loving your self, to flowing His love through you to others.
– You can live in union with the Father, reunited as if you were in the garden before Adam ever sinned.
Accept Jesus As Lord Of Your Life:
Accept Jesus as lord and savior, submit yourself and your life to Him. Deny your “self” and your self-centered ways. Invite Him to come and live in you, to teach you, to guide you, to form in you, to transform you. Lean ABOUT Him by reading and studying His life and teachings. Get to KNOW Him by establishing a personal relationship, talking to Him, listening to Him, hearing His voice.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
There are 4 Keys To Hearing His Voice
Mark Virkler has done wonderful work in this area and He taught me how to Hear God’s Voice. He has identified 4 Keys to getting even hard core analytic thinkers to tune into the spirit and hear God’s voice. They are outlined below.
1 – Quiet Your Self
Grab something to write with (paper or computer), go to a quiet place, and get comfortable.
Sit and get relaxed; be comfortable, No distractions from your body.
No distracting noises. Some people find it helpful to relax and quiet their conscious mind with gentle meditation music, nothing loud or distracting. Make sure there are no words or singing, just gentle nature sounds.
No visual distractions, TV, people moving around, some place calm and peaceful. Close your eyes for a moment, take a deep breath.
Quiet your soul. Come to the presence of the Lord in humility, in reverence, in righteousness, seeking and intending to hear input from the creator of the universe.
Use this prayer if you need help getting into a mode of humble reverence:
“Lord, I submit myself to you as Lord of my life and as my personal savior. You suffered and died for me. I am cleansed by your blood; I am renewed by your spirit. I present myself as your humble servant, a vessel wanting to be filled with your love and your truth, a vessel wanting to be led by your spirit. I submit my self and my selfish agendas here and now. I yield my conscious thoughts to you and open my heart and mind to you. You are my shepherd, Help me hear your voice so that I can follow you boldly and bring Your will into place in this fallen world as it already is in heaven. I ask this in Jesus name.”
Quiet your conscious mind so that you will be able to hear God’s gentle small coaching voice.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
“and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12
2- Set Your Eyes On Jesus
We are going to access the Holy Spirit via our right brain, we will open the door to that side of our brain by using our imagination.
King David received several visions, and he imagined the Lord in front of him and of his right before he received the visions. We will do the same.
“I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” Psalm 16:8
Jesus is truly right here with you. One of His names is Immanuel – God with us. (Matthew 1:23). Bring yourself into His presence.
Imagine Jesus in a famous bible scene, Walking along the sea of Galilee, or pausing at Jacob’s well, or sitting and talking with children. Project yourself into that scene, arrange it so that Jesus is in the scene in front of you and to your right. Consider entering the scene as a child, innocent and inquisitive. Focus on Jesus with you, looking at you, smiling at you, with love in His eyes, ready to have a conversation with you.
3 – Tune To Flow
His Holy Spirit is connected deep in your soul. His thoughts will flow out of your heart and appear spontaneously in your mind.
“I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me…” Habakkuk 2:1
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
Tune to the still quiet voice that emerges spontaneously from within you as you set your eyes on Jesus and ask your question.
4 – Write
Writing is the key to capturing His voice as it flows in, and leveraging what He tells you for the future.
Habakkuk and John both used this process.
“Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision And make it plain on tablets…’” Habakkuk 2:2
Jesus said to John while in the spirit… “Write the things which you have seen..” Revelation 1:19
Yielding your hand to the spirit is similar to yielding your tongue to the spirit to speak in tongues. The act of writing will often draw the words out. Start your hand moving, and the words will flow.
So the process is pretty simple
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- Quiet your mind,
- Set your eyes on Jesus and ask your question
- Tune to flow
- Write His answer
Practical Exercise: 2-Way Love Letter With God
Get something to write with – paper/pen or computer.
Get to a comfortable quiet place.
We will apply the 4 principles in a couple of different ways just to get the hang of it:
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- Quiet your mind
- Set your eyes on Jesus
- Tune to Flow
- Write
We are going to do a two way love letter with God to get going with this basic process.
We will first write a love letter to Jesus to get us warmed up, We will then ask Him to write a love letter to us.
Let’s start with our letter to Him. Why do you love Jesus? Think for a moment, then start writing.
“Jesus, I Love you because….”
Write a few sentences, maybe a paragraph, at least one complete chain of thought.
Take a couple of minutes
Now, let’s use the 4 keys and ask for His response:
Write down your question on the page to set up the process
“Lord Jesus, do you love Me?” or “Lord Jesus, Do you have any thoughts to share?”
Now apply the 4 keys:
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- Quiet your mind
- Set your eyes on Jesus, and ask Him your question
- Tune to Flow
- Write
Write what flows spontaneously into your mind as you ask the question and tune to flow
It will usually start out something like: “Yes my child, ….”
One trick to get started is to prime the pump. Write an answer you know is right to get the ball rolling. You know God loves you, so as soon as set your eyes on Him and you ask Him if He loves you, tune to flow and write, “Yes my child,..” That thought will flow in your mind as you write it, listen and capture the next thoughts that follow in.
Keep writing, capture the thoughts as they flow in.
Do not think about what is flowing, do not evaluate it, just let it flow in and keep writing.
If the flow is interrupted or pauses, ask Him “Lord, is anything else He wants to say?” and continue writing. Do this until He tells you He is done.
If you are not getting any input, reset and reapply the 4 keys.
If after several attempts you do not get anything, follow my coaching points below.
Now, Review what was written.
Can you discern if this is input from God? It is usually obvious by the tone and nature of what comes out.
“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:20
Test it. Is it consistent with the character of God: Fatherly, Encouraging, Higher level thoughts, Wise Council.
It will align with scriptural. It may even contain scripture if your brain is familiar and comfortable with scripture.
Even if it does not contain scripture, it will never contradict it.
Proper input will never align with the character of Satan: Condemnation, Accusatory, Lies
If you were not focused on Jesus as you looked for input, you could get something off track. Always test it.
It is highly recommended that you bounce your journaling inputs off of someone until you are confident in this process. This is especially true if your are using this input as the basis for an important decision. Ask several trusted friends to review what you get it and see if their spirit confirms the input is from God:
“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every (rhema) word shall be established.” 2 Corinthians 13:1
You have now heard directly from God. Hopefully this is the first of many times. Practice this process until you can do it confidently and easily.
Other Powerful Questions You Could Ask Him:
Lord, Do you have any thoughts for me today?
Lord, How do You see me?
Lord, I know You intercede for me with the Father, What are your prayers for me?
Lord, I wish to be led by the spirit rather than the flesh,
What is your perspective on situation xyz, What are you trying to accomplish there? How best can I help?
Lord, Please open the eyes of my understanding, What do you mean by verse xyz in scripture?
Lord, I continue to struggle with xyz behavior, please help me understand what is driving my behavior so we can address it?
Lord, I know your will is always healing but each situation is uniquely, What is your specific path for person xyz? What can I do to help?
If you struggle to hear God’s voice, Consider the following:
Have you drawn near to Him?
– Praise God for all He has done for you: Formed you, Put you here, Gave you all you have, Died for you, Drew you to Him, Gives you life.
– Humble yourself in His presence: He is the king of kings, Lord of the universe. He breathed creation into existence. He suffered and died for you.
– Submit yourself to Him: He gave His life for you, the least you can do is give your life to Him. Invite Him to come live in you, to form in you, to live through you. Submit your own agendas and intentions and yield yourself to His agendas for you. Seek to understand His will for you, and to do His will on earth..
– Accept His finished work on the cross. He forgives your past so you can move forward; Confess your sins and be forgiven. He makes you born gain, Shed your old self and put on the new life though Him. He makes your righteous, stand under the umbrella of His blood and be fully connected to the Father. Seek to be a vessel worthy of His use; live a righteous life and bring Him glory.
– Seek to know Him personally, to become best friends. Seek to be led by Him. Seek His input with all your heart.
Have you fully applied the 4 keys?
– Quiet Yourself – are you in a quiet comfortable place with no distractions, try soft meditation music.
– Set your eyes on Jesus – become a child and join him in a scene
– Tune to flow – just let it flow, no evaluation
– Write – just write what comes in, keep writing, no evaluation, no reaction, just write
Have you done the previous things that God has asked you to do?
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- I have seen several cases where someone did not follow the guidance they received, and that caused difficulty hearing new input. Why should He bother giving you new input if you are not going to use it.
- You need to do what ever God has asked of you. If for some reason you were unable to, You need to repent and re-engage humbly when seeking additional input.
This link is to Mark Virkler’s write up on How to Overcome Blocks and Hinderances
Other Reference Materials that my be helpful:
My PowerPoint Presentation: (Linked Here)
From Mark Virkler’s Communion With God Ministries Web Site
His Dedicated Page on: 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice
His Book: 4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice
His 8 Minute TV interview
His 1 Hr Powerpoint Deck
His One page hand out
His Training packages for all ages
His PDF on How to overcome Hinderances or Blocks