Can You Hear Me?

One of the basic claims we have as Christians is that God is alive and He wants to have a relationship with us. In fact our salvation is based on the relationship we have with God. But we can’t have a relationship with someone without communication. In order to have a relationship with someone we must speak to them, we must listen to them and they must speak and listen to us.

Last Sunday we talked about our communication with God. Not just talking to God in prayer but actually having God speak back to us. Actually hearing and receiving God’s plans for our lives. Receiving His guidance concerning specific decisions we need to make so we make wise choices. God speaking to us is one of the special blessings we have as one of God’s kids that we need to take advantage of today. Jesus had something to say about hearing God’s voice and it’s found in John chapter 10…

Jesus said in John 10:27,
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

Since Jesus said in verse 27 that we believers can know His voice and follow that voice, the question we should be asking is, “How can I know the voice of God?” Knowing the voice of God results in finding the will of God and God wants you to know His will.

Jesus said in Matthew 4:4,
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The word “proceeds” in this verse is talking about something that’s continuing. It means something that happened in the past, is happening in the present, and will continue in the future. God speaks to communicate His will to mankind. That’s why it’s important to know the voice of God.

In John 10:3-5 Jesus said believers could know the voice of God and distinguish it from “strange” voices that give wrong guidance. In the scriptures believers are compared to sheep. Many times sheep not to know where they are going so they need to be led. Jesus said He was the shepherd or leader of the sheep. He said His sheep know His voice and follow Him instead of the "strange" voices.

Psalms 85:8
I will hear what God the LORD will speak...

Psalms 85:8 (Amp)
I will listen with expectancy to what God the Lord will say…

Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit said in John 16:13,
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Today God speaks to us in so many different ways. We really can’t lock Him into only one way. But most often how we are going to hear the voice of the Lord is by the Holy Spirit that dwells and abides in every believer. It is by the Spirit. God is a spirit and God ministers to us through the Holy Spirit so we can still hear that tender voice of the Lord. Most of the time it’s going to be a strong impression that just seams to come out of know where. You may be driving down the street or walking some where and all of a sudden there’s just a strong impression where you just know you need to do this or need to do that.

Every one is different and the Lord knows just what is right for you. He knows just how to get your attention and how to speak to you. If you’re a believer, I can guarantee that the Lord has spoken to you in one way or another. It may not be with words but like I said before it may be a strong impression to do one thing or another. Have you ever had a thought and it just kind of came from know where and you may of thought, “Why did I think that”? But once you considered that thought, it was wisdom for that situation. Many times the Lord is speaking and people are just no recognizing that it’s the Lord speaking into their life. We can lean to recognize the voice of the Lord just like a little baby learns to recognize the voice of their parents.

Many times when the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit, it will come to us in a different manner than we would speak to ourselves or speak to someone else. I think God does that so He can get our attention. So we will know it’s not ourselves speaking. God has many ways of speaking into the lives of His people but what need to see that God can speak in a small quiet voice in our heart.

Jesus said in John 10:27
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

We just need to find out how God by His Spirit speaks to each one of us. God wants to speak into your life today. He wants you to be able to hear Him. He will do what ever is necessary to help you understand what He wants to tell you. What we need to do is trust Him, we need to listen because God is speaking, and know that God wants to speak into our life.