CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

Key Scriptures: Romans 8:14; John 10:1-6; John 16:13-15

Introduction:

There is nothing more glorious in all of life than hearing His voice! God has always longed to have the kind of
intimate relationship with His people wherein they hear His voice and respond accordingly. We close the door to
our secret place so that we might shut out all distracting voices and tune our hearts to the one voice which we
long to hear. Bob Sorge, “Secrets of the Secret Place”

I. God speaks to His people.

A. Throughout the Old Testament God spoke to His people, i.e. Adam & Eve, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Samuel,
David, etc.

B. Although God’s methods varied from person to person, His pattern remained the same throughout the Old
Testament.
1. God wants our experience with Him, and His voice, to be personal; therefore, the method was usually
unique to the individual, i.e. Moses and the burning bush.
2. When God spoke the person was sure God was speaking even if they couldn’t logically prove it.
3. When God spoke, the person knew what God said.
4. When God spoke, that was the encounter with God. God is the only One who can cause you to
experience His Presence or hear His voice.

C. New Testament
1. In the Gospels, God spoke through His Son (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 1:1-4). When Jesus spoke, the Father
was speaking through Him (John 14:9-10).
2. From Acts until today, God has been speaking to us through His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1
Corinthians 6:19). The Scriptures clearly tell us that His sheep will know His voice.

D. God takes the initiative to speak to us through the Holy Spirit, but it is our responsibility to train our ears to
hear him.
1. Compare this to a television or radio. The stations are transmitting, but unless you have a receptor you
won’t be able to hear.
2. Learning to hear God’s voice is a process, a learning experience, a discipline that involves active
elements like prayer, meditation, worship, and listening.

II. When God speaks to His people, He reveals something about Himself, His purposes, or His ways. God’s
revelations are designed to bring you into a love relationship with Him.

A. God reveals Himself, i.e. His name, nature, or character (Genesis 17:1; Leviticus 19:1-2; Malachi 3:6-7; John
6:51).

B. God reveals His purposes so you will know what He plans to do and you can join Him.
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C. God reveals His ways. God’s thoughts and ways are not ours. (Isaiah 55:8; Isaiah 53:6; Micah 4:2)

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

III. God speaks to individuals and He can use any way He chooses, but today He primarily speaks by the Holy
Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church – although these four are difficult to separate.

A. The Bible (Matthew 7:24-29)

B. He speaks through prayer (Romans 8:26-27)

C. God speaks through circumstances. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

D. He speaks through the Church (Ephesians 4:14-16)

IV. The word “hear” is one of the most important words in the Bible! The most important treasures in the
kingdom are predicated upon the necessity of hearing God.

A. It is impressive to realize what a large place the Lord gives to the ear, and how much Scripture is occupied
with hearing; and, as we put the various Scriptures together, we come to find that the matter of hearing, or of
the ear, goes right to the heart of spiritual life.

B. We are to have an ear for God alone (Revelation 3:20-22)

C. The Bible mentions several kinds of ears in the Old Testament that are types for the ear of a believer.

1. The pierced ear of the servant. (Exodus 21:5-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-17)

2. The consecrated ear (Leviticus 8:22-24
3. The Spirit-anointed ear (Leviticus 14:25-29)
4. The opened ear (Read: Isaiah 50:4-7)

V. Tune in to the voice of God (John 10:1-6)

A. God leads His children not by outward voices or signs and wonders but by the inward witness of “the hidden
man of the heart.” So to find His frequency, the first thing you’ll have to do is tune in—not with your head but
with your heart!

B. He has given us His Word as a covenant and signed it in the Name of Jesus by the blood of Jesus. Since God
cannot lie, there is no way He will ever do or say anything contrary to that Word.
1. He uses it to tune our spiritual ears to the real so that we can easily recognize a counterfeit.
2. The character of God will come shining through when He speaks to you. If it doesn’t, it’s not His voice
you are hearing.

C. The better you know God’s written Word and the more you’ve heard God’s voice speaking to you through it,
the easier it is for you to tell the difference between His voice and another voice.
1. Open the ears of your heart and start listening for the voice of the Spirit, especially when you’re reading
The Word.
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2. Pay attention not just to the activity in your brain but to the quickening in your inner man (primarily the
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area just below your chin, or chest area).

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

3. Purpose to become more aware of the promptings that arise from your spirit because they are the
leading of God. Learn to trust them. The Holy Spirit will help you step out on them a little at a time.
4. The more you trust His voice and follow His leadings, the more clearly you’ll find you can hear from Him.

D. When we read God’s Word, we must pay careful attention to what we are reading.
1. Paying attention is more than just mentally assenting to a scripture. We need to pay attention to every
word in order to hear the voice of God through His Word
2. Meditate on it and determine in advance that you’re not going to bend the Word to fit your lifestyle. On
the contrary, you’re going to bend your lifestyle to fit that Word.
3. Trust from His Word that it is His responsibility to show you what He wants you to do and how you’re
supposed to go about doing it—that if you focus on keeping your spiritual ears open, you will hear His
voice when He speaks.

E. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher (John 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16)

1. The Holy Spirit is to us what the control tower is to an airplane pilot.

2. As a child of God, you have all of His Spirit, His power, all His wisdom, all His counsel, all His
encouragement available to you, all the time.
 You must decide to allow Him to fill you by yielding to His leadership in your life. But this fact is
imperative for you to always remember … He’s in you.
 This means that listening to Him is an exercise in hearing from within—not being directed by
external stimuli that divert your attention away from His direction.

VI. The secret place (Matthew 6:6; Psalm 91:1)

A. Deep down we know that sermons and teachings, although edifying, can never replace the sustaining power
we find when we sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His Word for ourselves.

B. If you want to hear, you have to listen! (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3)

1. Carving out time in prayer to purposefully listen for God’s voice—His voice and nothing else—retrains us
so we can hear the Spirit’s whisper and gain the ability to hear Him clearly.
2. Stopping to listen to Him enables us to become familiar with what a sense of God’s presence feels like,
while enlarging our understanding of His plans for us, seeing them emerge into the light.
3. Creating time, space, and opportunity to hear God is paramount for those of us who desire to sense His
Spirit’s conviction, to receive His detailed guidance, and to discern His intimate leading.

C. The listening that God requires is active, intentional, and aggressive. Create an atmosphere more conducive to
learning how to recognize His voice and respond in obedience. Include: worship, prayerful listening, and
meditation.

D. Listening to God is a purposeful activity that God commands us to do. It is the investment of time we must
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make in order to yield the spiritual dividends of wisdom we so desperately need. (Isaiah 55:3; Ecclesiastes 5:1).
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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

E. When we learn to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, we are positioning ourselves to discover the key
to true kingdom fruitfulness.
1. Everything in the Kingdom is dependent on whether we hear the Word of God.
2. Everything changes when you hear from God and act upon His Word.

F. Your role in the secret place is to listen for anything God might want to speak. If He doesn’t speak to you, your
time spent in silent listening is not futile or in vain.

G. Scripture says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7). So hearing the
voice of God is largely a matter of the will.
1. We must choose to hear Him. We make the choice by setting aside time to listen quietly.
2. The verse also says “if,” because hearing His voice is conditional—built upon the condition of quieting
our hearts to listen.

H. Knowing God is the key to knowing His voice.

1. When knowing God is our chief priority, He will reveal truths about Himself—His personality and His
plans—that will point us toward the path we should take.
2. Then when we take that path, we’ll be able to walk ahead carrying the greatest blessing of all—the
privilege of close, warm relationship with God.
3. When His presence is our constant companion, His chosen path not only becomes clearer to us, it also
becomes the only path we truly want.

I. Hearing God in the secret place is one of the greatest keys to the overcoming Christian life. However, it must
be linked with its corollary: radical obedience (James 1:22).
1. Obedience involves listening attentively with a heart of compliant submission, and then, obeying His
Word.
2. By “radical obedience,” we mean immediate obedience that fulfills the commandment to its fullest
measure.
3. The true fulfillment of serving Jesus is discovered when we get first things first: First we sit and listen,
and then we go and do.

J. The Holy Spirit works in tandem with our conscience to direct us (Romans 9:1; Acts 23:1; 2 Timothy 1:3).
1. Pay attention to your spirit and your conscience which is one aspect of your spirit. Your conscience will
steer you, direct you, and compel you toward a particular decision.
2. Like the rest of your soul, your conscience is being actively transformed by the Holy Spirit and becomes
the mechanism He uses to relay the direction of God to you as it steers you toward decisions that reflect
His perspectives.
3. As you are diligent to allow God’s Word and His Spirit to reprogram your conscience, it will begin to
function with reliable data, thus responding differently—more accurately—regarding the decisions you
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are making in life.

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

VII. Recognize the sound of His voice

A. He is persistent (Job 33:29)

1. If you notice a consistent message through the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Scripture, your
circumstances, and other people, pay close attention. God is repeating Himself to make sure you get the
message.
2. His pattern is to say things more than once, in more than one way, so that if we’re genuinely trying to
listen and respond to His direction, we won’t miss Him.
3. One of the best ways to discern the inner leading of the Holy Spirit is to watch how He continues to
confirm His messages to you in ways only He could orchestrate, with shocking patterns of consistency.
4. The book of Job reveals some of the persistent ways God spoke to His people (Read: Job 33:14-33).

B. He communicates personally (Isaiah 45:3)

1. Jesus used everyday language to communicate with regular, ordinary people, while the religiously astute
and the social elite often stood on the sidelines.
2. Because His knowledge of you and His designs for you are extremely personal, He will apply His truth to
you in ways that are as unique as your circumstances.
3. This is why the application of His principles in my life may possibly look very different than they do in
yours.
4. When a message or inner voice you are sensing makes you feel condemned or burdened with guilt, then
it is probably not God (Psalm 16:11). Learning to recognize the difference between the enemy’s
condemning voice and God’s convicting voice is a great tool for determining God’s leading in your life.

C. He brings peace (James 3:17; Romans 8:5-6: John 14:27)

1. Not only will God’s voice be persistent and personal, but the cumulative effect of His speaking will be a
peaceful assurance – a peace that you can sense deeply even when there is chaos around you.
2. The Spirit’s peace soothes and strengthens you, giving you confidence to accomplish the task He’s
sending you out to perform.
3. The peace of God is strong, intense, palpable, and real. You can sense its stable presence giving you
inner security despite insecure circumstances.
4. Peace is not only an element of His character; it’s evidence of His Presence.
5. In my life, the Holy Spirit often gives me “supernatural previews” of what He wants to do. They are
accompanied by great peace. Then, when the Spirit of God is ready to move forward, He gives the
“green light.”
6. It is imperative that you allow the peace of God to rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15).
7. Remember, it’s also imperative that you take time to differentiate between what you might think about
your ability, your preferences, or the outcome of the situation, and what you believe about Him and His
Word.
 The Scriptures are full of people whose most life-changing encounters with the Lord occurred while
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they were in places they did not want to be:

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

o Moses leading sheep in the middle of the desert (Exodus 3:1)

o Daniel in the lions’ den (Daniel 6:16)
o Jonah in the fish’s belly (Jonah 2:1)
o Hagar in a dry wilderness (Genesis 21:17)
o Gideon while threshing wheat underneath an oak tree (Judges 6:11–12)
o Mary and Martha grieving the loss of their brother Lazarus (John 11:21–27)
8. Obviously, God speaks through difficult circumstances too. Sometimes His voice is clearest when we are
in situations we don’t prefer.

D. He will challenge you (Matthew 7:13-14; 21)

1. The challenge is part of the plan. This is God’s time-honored track record. He has always called people
from unlikely places, asking them to do things that were far beyond their abilities, far beyond what they
felt equipped to handle.
2. Over and over again through Scripture, He laid down a challenge. When God spoke:
 Noah was asked to build an ark.
 Abraham was asked to leave home for an unknown country.
 Gideon was asked to go to battle with less than adequate troops.
 Samuel was asked to give a tough message to his mentor, Eli.
 Esther was asked to plead the case for her people before a king.
 Mary was asked to become the mother of the Messiah.
3. The purpose behind His challenge is to put us in a position to see the miraculous work of His power
operating in our frailty.

E. He exudes truth (Psalm 33:4; 31:5)

1. God speaks principally through His Word, and His Word is always true.
2. The more acquainted you become with the Word the more accurately you will be able to hear Him.
3. Anything the Spirit says will fall within the boundaries of what has already been written.
4. Satan often disguises himself as an “angel of light,” but he will never be able to sound exactly like God.
5. The Holy Spirit who lives within you will never speak to you without having received direct revelation
from God. He doesn’t create messages on His own initiative. “Whatever He hears, He will speak; and He
will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16: 13).
6. Strongholds or mental fortresses are another extremely critical reason for staying committed to the
truth of God’s Word (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

F. He speaks with authority (Matthew 7:28-29; Luke 24:32; Mark 4:39-41)

1. When God speaks, His voice is noticeable by its authority, resonance, depth, and impact. It pulses with a
calm, steady force that makes a clear impression on your soul.
2. Truly, you can distinguish the voice of God from any other voice by the powerful influence it carries in
your soul. David said that his heart was hot within him; while he was meditating the fire burned (Psalm
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39:3).
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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

VIII. Remember what He wants to accomplish.

A. That you might know Him better (Jeremiah 24:7)

1. When discerning God’s voice, consider which option will bring Him the most glory and draw you into a
more experiential relationship with God.
2. Pinpoint and disregard the alternative that detracts from God’s character or will keep you from
depending on Him more fully.
3. God’s apparent silence is often His chosen means of communication. Do not be frustrated while waiting.
Consider what God may be trying to say to you through the silence.

B. So that we might do the things He has planned for us (Ephesians 2:10). Rest in the knowledge that God has a
plan for your current circumstances, which He prepared before you were born.
1. Keep your spiritual eyes open to see where God is already working.
 This is the key for knowing His will for your life.
 When you catch sight of what He is already doing, this is your cue to get involved.
2. God is never hurried, rushed, or behind schedule. If you do not know yet, it’s because you don’t need to
know or do it yet.
3. Focus on what you are certain you’re supposed to be doing right now, and get busy doing it.
4. To make a time-sensitive decision, prayerfully consider which option will bring God the most glory and
will encourage a more intimate relationship with Him.

C. To train you to be obedient (Read: 1 Samuel 12:14-15; 1 Samuel 15: 17-23; Hebrews 13:7-13)
1. God’s people often do not experience His activity because they haven’t laid the framework of obedience
on which it flourishes. Remember that tomorrow’s obedience hinges on today’s commitments.
2. Recognize that disobedience causes the heart to harden and to become desensitized to God’s future
leading.
3. Don’t be deceived into thinking you can hold on to certain areas of resistance to God’s will and expect to
hear God’s voice clearly.
4. You can obey without hesitation because God is kind, He is good, and He loves you.

D. Expect to hear His voice (Psalm 27:13-14)

1. Live in a mode of expectation as never before. Indeed, an expectant heart is a heart ready to hear.
When we truly expect, He incredibly delivers.
2. Sometimes we don’t receive because we don’t truly expect the Lord to speak to us or hear our prayers
(Habakkuk 1:2–3: Habakkuk 2:1-3).
3. A heart that continues to anticipate His movement will result in eyes that are open to see and recognize
His activity in the circumstances of life.
4. The process of waiting for a message from Him is often just as important as the message itself.

If you want to hear God’s voice clearly and you are uncertain, then remain in His presence until He changes this
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uncertainty. Often much can happen during this waiting on the Lord. Sometimes He changes pride into humility;
doubt into faith and peace; sometimes lust into purity. The Lord can and will do it. — Corrie ten Boom

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

IX. Understanding God’s will for your life

A. For many Christians, discerning God’s will for their future presents a challenge; however the Bible says little
about the will of God as a future pathway.
1. Instead, the Bible warns us about anxiety and presumption concerning the future, assures us that God is
in control, and commands us to do the will of God we already know in the present.
2. Biblical authors do not ignore the future. They simply have a different view of it than we do. They
believe that God worked through Christ to redeem the past and that God will work out all things for
good in the future. God had the first word; he will also have the last.
3. Thus, the biblical authors emphasize how believers should live in the present, which is the only moment
we have to know God and do His will.

B. The conventional approach to knowing God’s will for one’s life assumes there is a specific pathway we should
follow into the future.
1. God knows what this pathway is, and he has laid it out for us to follow.
2. Our responsibility is to discover this pathway—God’s plan for our lives. Unfortunately, it is not always
obvious.

C. There is also another problem with the conventional approach in that it presents a false and negative view of
God.
1. It implies that God for some reason “hides” his will and we must go searching for it.
2. God is always clear when he needs to be. He does not frustrate us.
3. The conventional approach to the will of God leads to second-guessing and wishful thinking, which
contradicts God’s gracious provision for us in Christ.

D. A much better approach is to put God first in everything and allow Him to order the future.
1. Who we choose to become and how we choose to live every day creates a trajectory for everything else.
2. If we truly seek God above all, then we will always be doing the will of God, no matter where our
particular choices lead us, because seeking God’s kingdom first is God’s will.
3. When we come to a crossroads with no signposts to guide our way:
 We then have the freedom to choose what we want
 The confidence of knowing God will go with us
 The security of trusting our decisions become his will.
 In other words, we simply cannot lose.
4. This perspective on the will of God gives us astonishing freedom. If we seek first God’s kingdom and
righteousness, which is the will of God for our lives, then whatever choices we make concerning the
future become the will of God for our lives.

E. We often have a problem with this approach because man has a desire to know the future, and to control it.
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1. Our preoccupation with what lies ahead betrays a desire to control a future that simply cannot be
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controlled.

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

 We want the security of knowing what the future will bring rather than risk trusting God as the
unknown future gradually unfolds before us.
 Ironically, we want to know so much about the future that we won’t even have to trust God.
2. Jesus only requires that we make sure our heart is good, our motives are pure, and our basic direction in
life is right, pointing directly toward the kingdom of God.
 We can, in good conscience, choose from among any number of reasonable alternatives and
continue to do the will of God.
 In the end what matters most is that we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.
3. Jesus wants us to devote our time and energy to all the little tasks we must do every day, not just to the
big decisions we have to make every so often.
 The little responsibilities we do prepare us for bigger responsibilities in the future.
 Good decisions in the little things set the stage for big opportunities yet to come.
 And faithfulness in things that appear to have only modest importance enables us to respond
wisely to duties that seem—and perhaps are—very important.

F. The will of God concerns the present more than the future. The only time we really have both to know and to
do God’s will is the present moment.

G. It is the daily choices we make to honor and serve God that determine whether we are doing the will of God.
1. We simply need to do what we already know in the present. God has been clear where clarity is most
needed.
2. If we have a problem, it is not lack of knowledge; rather, it is our unwillingness to respond to the
knowledge we have.
3. The little choices we make every day often have a cumulative effect far exceeding the significance of the
big choices we occasionally have to make.

H. As we will see, of course, we still have to make difficult choices regarding the future, but these choices are
secondary all the same.

I. God does have a plan for our lives; however we will discover that plan by simply doing the will of God we
already know in the present moment. Life will then gradually unfold for us.
1. The responsibility for our knowing God’s will is primarily His. Do not be burdened by fear of failure or
paralyzed by “not knowing.”
2. Jesus knew the Father’s will for His life and daily activity by watching the Father’s activity (John 5:17, 19-
20).
 Jesus did not take the initiative to do for the Father, but when He saw what the Father was doing,
that was His invitation to join Him.
 We need to look and see where God is at work and then adjust our lives, our plans, and our goals to
Him.
 We are to make ourselves available to Him – where He is working – so He can accomplish His
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purposes through us.

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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

J. When we pray, “Lord, show me Your will,” we’re often asking for things that He knows are not pertinent for a
number of years.
1. We want God to paint the whole picture right away, but He wisely withholds certain truths and
information from us until we need it.
2. The Father will wisely show you just what you need to know in order to participate with Him in His plan
and program for this season on His calendar.
 The Holy Spirit is our guide and He gives continuous direction on a need-to-know basis (John 16:13).
 He will tell us everything we need to know for now, and then to continually update His instructions
as we step out in faith and obedience.
 And when He does, the timing of His message will be as important as the message itself.

K. Bottom line, you have everything you need from Him at this moment. Otherwise, He’d have already given you
more.
1. So until God makes His next message clear to you—at the exact right moment, in His perfect knowledge
and timing—here’s what you should do: whatever He’s told you to be doing right now. Doing this
assures you that you are in God’s will for your life.
2. We will discover at just the right time what we need to know and do. As we obey Him with the one thing
He tells us, He’ll give us the next step.
3. That process will continue as we progress from one phase of life to the next. We will discern God’s will
as naturally as we learned how to walk—one step at a time.
4. We will never have to look back, never have to fret over decisions, never have to worry that God has
abandoned us.
5. Over time we will begin to see that the course our lives took was exactly what God intended. We will
observe this pattern, however, only by looking back on what has already happened, viewing our life
story in retrospect. In the meantime, let’s concentrate our energy on the present moment.

M. Here’s the blessed benefit of living by this “right now” perspective: If you truly believe that God will speak to
you in the appropriate time and place, you should never feel hurried or pressured about making a decision.
1. If you’re not clear about something, stay put. Don’t move.
2. Only when God has spoken will you be cued to respond in obedience.
3. It’s His job to speak; ours is to listen; and our joy to be invited to join in.

N. Our lives, really, are like a box containing all the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. And only God can see the
picture on the lid.
1. He alone has a full grasp of the entire layout and knows exactly how (and when) all the pieces need to
come together—the arrival of financial assistance, the emergence of a ministry opportunity, the opening
of a career promotion or change of direction.
2. His eternal plans and His perfect timing are gifts to us that enable us to rest in Him and enjoy the
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adventure of following Him. They free us from the burden of trying to make things happen on our own,
from working overtime to make sure everything lines up and comes together at the right time.
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 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

O. Refocus your aim on knowing Him, as opposed to just knowing His direction for your life.
1. Since everything God says today will fall within the boundaries of Scripture, be certain to remain loyal to
the study of its precepts.
2. Keep coming back to these questions when you’re not sure how God is leading you:
 Will it contradict the truth found in Scripture?
 Will it cause me to indulge in sin of any kind?
 Will it encourage me to hypocritically cover up my sin?
 Will it give glory to God by magnifying His truth to the people involved?
3. Strongholds or “mental fortresses” block divine reception. Pinpoint any you may have, and then
specifically target them for destruction with the weapons of specifically tailored Scripture.

P. Once you sense God might be leading you in a certain way, do these five things:
1. Look for the message of the Spirit.
2. Search the model of Scripture for guidance.
 Stay in the Word so your spirit will be sensitive to God’s standards.
 Does what you are hearing contradict the whole counsel of God or God’s character as revealed in
the Bible?
 Keep your eyes open when reading the Word for a particular passage that grips you and confirms
what you’re hearing in your spirit.
3. Live in the mode of prayer.
4. Submit to the ministry of wise counsel from mature believers.
5. Expect the mercy of confirmation.

HOMEWORK:

1. In the Old Testament, God spoke to His people. Although God’s methods varied from person to person,
His pattern remained the same throughout the Old Testament. Please explain.
2. How did God speak in the Gospel? How does God speak to us today?
3. Communication with God is a relationship and a two-way communication. He takes the initiative to
speak. What is our responsibility?
4. Learning to hear God’s voice is a process, a learning experience and a discipline. What are the key active
elements involved?
5. God’s revelations are designed to bring you into a love relationship with Him. What types of things does
God reveal to us when He speaks?
6. Although today God primarily speaks by the Holy Spirit, what are the vehicles He uses?
7. Briefly discuss why the word “hear” is one of the most important words in the Bible.
8. Discuss why it is so important for you to know the Word of God well in order to discern His voice.
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9. What do we mean by the “secret place” and how does one enter in?
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10. What kind of listening does God require of us?

4Ekselans School of Ministry: Institute for the Formation of Christian Leaders

 CHRISTIAN THOUGHT & LIFE: TRAIN YOUR EAR TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

11. Explain what is meant by “radical obedience.”

12. Please list several characteristics of how God speaks that help you to recognize His voice.
13. What does God desire to accomplish when He speaks to us?
14. Please discuss the weaknesses inherent in the conventional approach to seeking the will of God.
15. Please discuss the better way to seek the will of God.
16. What five things should you do once you sense God might be leading you in a certain way?

TEXT REFERENCES:

Holy Bible

Experiencing God, Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King

Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla G. Shirer

Tune In to the Voice of God, Kenneth Copeland

Secrets of the Secret Place, Bob Sorge

Spiritual Hearing, T. Austin Sparks

The Will of God as a Way of Life, Jerry Sittser

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4Ekselans School of Ministry: Institute for the Formation of Christian Leaders