Hearing God’s Voice
Hearing God’s voice is one of the most important things we as believers need to develop. We need to hear His voice so He can help us navigate our lives. Especially in our age group. This is when we make life-changing decisions about our lives and careers. ``
Scriptural evidence:
Jeremiah 33:3, “‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’”
John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Psalms 32:8-9, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you.”
The importance of the heart and hearing His voice:
When it comes to hearing from God the condition of the heart is the most important thing. If your heart is hardened towards God then you will not hear clearly, and the opposite is true. If your heart is sensitive toward God, then you will be able to hear Him clearly.
Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
This is talking about how we respond to things. Everything that we do comes from the heart, how we engage in our relationships, work, and family. Our hearts dictate that. How many have heard the statement, ‘The battle is in the mind’? This is what the Lord told me, “The battle is in the mind, and it’s for your heart.” Whatever gets in your heart then it will come out. Our hearts are like gardens, whatever seeds are planted, they will grow. If weeds get in there, then I will produce weeds. If oak seeds and mango seeds get in there, then that’s what I produce.
If we have a clear and open heart to the Lord, then we will hear clearly, but if we have our own selfish desires then we will filter what hear to match our hearts.
Numbers 22:7-22, “So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.” So, the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent tome, saying, ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’” And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.” And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor:‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say tome. Therefore, please come, curse this people for me.’” Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him…”
What changed? God did not change! King Balak kept on sending more money and Balaam’s heart changed with it.
2 Peter 2:15-16, “They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.”
Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness. In verse 7 of numbers, you see them going to Balaam with a diviner’s fee. This is what Balaam did for a living. He would charge you to hear what God had to say. Balaam was moved by money. His heart was full of money, and when the money increased, he “heard” what He wanted.
The condition of the heart will determine what you hear.
How to prepare our hearts:
The question now becomes, how can I protect and prepare my heart? Let’s look at some verses that talk about the heart and let’s correctly divide them.
Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
You hear this verse quoted all the time when it comes to talking about the heart. I want to correctly divide this verse. When the Lord makes this statement, He is talking about the sin of Judah. He is rebuking them because they have been very sinful. The first verse in the chapter says this.
Jeremiah 17:1, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with the point of a diamond, it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars…”
Their sin was engraved on the tablet of their hearts; and because of this their hearts were deceitful and desperately wicked. We all know we were birth in sin (Psalm 51:5) because of what Adam did. Later, in Jeremiah look at what God says.
Jeremiah 31:33, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Ezekiel 36:25-29, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it and bring no famine upon you.”
In Jeremiah17:1, we see the sin of Judah written with a pen of iron in their hearts which caused their hearts to be deceitful and wicked; and in Jeremiah 31, God promises to write His law in their hearts, which will make them faithful to the Lord. This promise in Jeremiah 31, is fulfilled the moment you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you are born again, He sheds His love into your heart, which gives you the capacity to love Him and to love others (Romans 5:5).And for us today who have accepted Christ as their Lord and savior, we have new hearts from the Lord and all we must do is to keep and protect our hearts. Itis the same mandate that the Lord gave Adam in the garden. In Psalm 119 we see how to protect and keep our hearts.
Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
The word of God will keep and protect your heart from sin. When you are constantly studying and feeding on the word of God, this word will be planted in our hearts. When your heart is full of the word of God, you will be able to hear His voice very clearly.
The condition of the heart will determine what you hear.
Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit o fa man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.”
We are a spirit being, we have a soul, and we live in this physical body. My spirit is the lamp of the Lord. Remember the day you get born again; the Holy Spirit is one with your spirit. The Holy Spirit through your spirit searches the inner depths of your heart. Why does He do that? He does that so that He can know you intimately. He does that so that He can build a relationship with you. As a result of Him searching the inner depts of your heart, He will know everything that is in your heart. When you are listening to the Lord and asking Him about a girl or boy; asking Him about a job; about a friend or whatever it is. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you if you have any selfish desires so that you can have an honest heart in that situation. I usually pray Psalms 139:23-24.
Psalms 139: 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
If we have a clear and open heart to the Lord, then we will hear clearly, but if we have our own selfish desires then we will filter what hear to match our hearts.
