Want to hear God speak to you? 
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders . . .
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic . . .
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert . . . And in His temple all cry, "Glory!"1
God does indeed speak in and through Nature, through his creation. The sound of a mighty crashing ocean wave reminds me of God’s constant power. The strong current of a rushing river speaks of his urgent presence. In the colorful red and blue birds in my backyard, I see his creative paintbrush and in their birdsong? God’s whimsy. So even when God is not communicating in speech, he is always making himself known.
“How do you hear God’s voice?” I’ve been asked. Most often, it is when I am in a posture of prayer, when I am seeking to connect with God - to talk to him and to listen to him as well. You see I do believe prayer is meant to be a two-way conversation.
Want to hear God speak to you? Make an appointment to meet with God each morning, and then keep that appointment.
Start with the Word of God and
>Be a person in the Word. The primary address at which the words of God may be found is the Bible. More of God's speaking to me has come in conjunction with study and teaching of the Bible than with anything else. The Bible expresses the mind of God since God himself speaks to us through its pages.2
>Be attentive; listen - be aware, be desirous, and give God some quiet space in which to speak. Be still and know that he is God!3
>Make 'listening' part of your prayer time – If you like a little order in your prayer time, you might pray thus: Adoration; Confession; Listening; Asking; Thanking. The other day I asked the question ‘why don’t people pray?’ Even people who believe in God or identify as Christians get so frustrated with their own prayers because they feel like their prayers are just asking God for things--and that doesn’t feel right to them. Well, it does include asking God, but there is so much more!
So, you feel that God has spoken to you, in some fashion, how do you know it is God's voice, and not your own, or Satan’s or even someone else’s? Well, ask yourself, ‘Is the message consistent with Scripture or does the message lead me a down a wrong path?’ Is the voice gently leading, or is it commanding and harsh?
>God's voice gently guides and encourages, giving hope--Psalm 18.35
>God leads; Satan drives--John 10.4
>God convicts; Satan condemns and brings guilt; he likes to accuse us
>God woos; Satan tugs hard
When God speaks, He does not use fear to motivate. If fear overcomes you, it is the enemy, not God - "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind".4 When you are trying to ascertain what God is saying to you, look at circumstances, the Bible, and inner impulses of the Spirit. Similarly, when someone else tells you that God told them such and such, you must also be discerning! For some, they easily bandy about, ‘the Lord told me’ or ‘the Lord gave me a dream,’ and it appears to carry some authority—or, does it, should it? Please, Friends, be discerning. Does the speaking line up with God’s Word? Is it consistent with his character?
Frederick Meyer, a contemporary of Dwight Moody’s, suggested—Be still each day for a short time, sitting before God in meditation, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the truth of Christ’s indwelling.
So, make a little time for quiet. Don't miss his gentle overtures. Shhh. . . listen.
Christine
PastorWoman.net
1 - from Psalm 129
2 - Dallas Willard
3 - Psalm 46.10
4 - 2 Timothy 1.7
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