Seven Simple Ways to Recognize God's Voice

There are many voices professing to be from God. There is one thing for sure, all of them are not from God. They are giving us mixed messages. God is not the author of confusion. There was a man in our community, when I was growing up, that thought God was telling him to kill his baby. The truth is, he was hearing from the devil. No one thought he was hearing from God. He was taken to a mental institution.

It is very important to be able to know whether God is speaking to us or not. If we do not know God's voice, we are sure to be led into all kinds of disgraceful activities. Not only will God be disgraced, we will also disgrace ourselves and others. This is especially true of those who are professing to be born-again Christians. Many divisions in our churches would be prevented if people would refrain from "putting words in God's mouth" to justify their ungodly actions and attitudes.

In order to recognize God's voice, we must know how to sort it out from the many other ones that are impersonating Him. Is there a sure way to recognize God's voice? I guarantee you, that if you will follow the suggestions listed in this article, you will know God's voice and will not follow after another. Here are some surefire ways to sort out God's voice from the many others that cry out for your attention and action every day of your life:

1. To know if it is God's voice talking to you, you must know Him personally. You must be His special friend. Think about this! Say you are in a large crowd with many people milling around. Your little girl gets lost in the crowd. Most likely, if she starts crying out for your help, you would recognize her voice and run to her rescue. Also, how about if you were in a large crowd and an old friend called your name? Could you recognize your old friend's voice when he/she called your name? If you want to know when God is talking to you, He must be your close friend. This way you will be able to recognize His voice when He calls your name.

2. To recognize God's voice when He speaks to you, you must hear His voice enough times to understand how His voice is different from other ones. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and follow Me." He also said His sheep will not listen to the voice of strangers. When we have a sheep-shepherd relationship with God, we will not be fooled by other voices. See John 10:1-18.

3. To hear from God, you must want to hear from Him. This is very important! God will not speak to you if He knows you are going to ignore Him and go your own way anyway. How long do you think your best friend, say your marriage partner, would stick around if you keep ignoring him/her?

4. To detect God's voice above others, you must show your love to God by keeping His commandments. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." God will not talk to anyone who is hateful toward Him.

5. To have God speak to you, you must show love to your needy neighbors. The best way to get out of speaking terms with God is to abuse and misuse your neighbors. God not only demands you to love Him with "all your heart, mind, soul and strength," He also demands you to "love your neighbor as yourself."

6. To understand God's voice, you must be willing to communicate with Him. You must talk to Him. You must be willing to do this every day. Don't just bring God a list of what you want Him to do for you. Take time to let Him tell you what He wants you to do for Him. When He shows you what He wants from you, go and do it joyfully.

7. To distinguish God's voice from others, you must know what He will not say to you. There is one thing for sure, He will never tell you anything that goes against His character as it is expressed in His Word. It takes time to study God's Word, the Holy Bible, to know what God will not tell you. God has given you His Word so you can see, by precept and example, who you should not listen to as well as Who you should. This is the reason why you should carefully study the Bible both in public with like-minded people and in private as you humbly seek God's guidance for your daily life.

To sum up, if you expect to hear God's voice and not be led astray by another voice that is pretending to be His voice, you must be on speaking terms with Him. If you are not hearing God's voice, you are cheating yourself and others. There is a great need for you to come to the place where you are God's sheep that refuses to hear any voice except His.

You must get permission to enter God's throne room if you are going to hear His voice. This calls for a personal relationship with Him. To have a personal relationship with God like the one described above, you must do what is outlined in 2 Chronicles 7:14. First, humble yourself before God. Let God know you are willing to follow His voice unconditionally. Second, you must pray. Draw near to God in a prayer of confession (1 John 1:9) and "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21b). Third, seek God's face. Seek God's forgiveness and restoration (Titus 3:5-7) also through the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourth, turn from your wicked ways. Anything that goes against God and His ways is a wicked way. To listen to other voices rather than God's, is a wicked way. If you have been listening to the wrong voices, now is the time to admit it and start moving toward God.

There is no better time than now to get started in your preparation to hear God's voice. He wants to talk to you. He is waiting for you to come to Him. Whatever He tells you to do, do it with all that is within you. God bless you real good as you seek to recognize and heed His voice!