If you ask a crowd who has heard the voice of the devil almost everyone will respond affirmatively. However, if you ask how many know and hear the voice of God regularly there is often a more vague and unsure reply. Maybe it’s a sense of modesty and false humility that drives the slow raise of hands but when the church is more confident they are hearing the devil than they are about hearing the voice of God it is a sure recipe for defeat. Only the voice of God can overcome the Accuser. Only the voice of God can keep us secure and anchored in a world of a million voices all telling us something. When there is minimal teaching or discipleship in relation to His voice we become vulnerable to other voices and ultimately fall prey to the Accuser. The Body of Christ can only be alive and full of hope when we learn to hear the voice of God.
God often speaks to us through scripture and His living (rhema1) voice never contradicts the written (logos) word in scripture. Yet as a Father with His children, God desires intimate relationship with each one of us, the kind of relationship that cannot be found reading about Him for hours and accumulating more information about Him. He wants to be with us, walk with us, talk with us, hear our voice and in this way invites us into intimate and close friendship with Him. He started relationship with man by walking and talking in a garden. All through the Old Testament He comes to speak and direct. When the Holy Spirit was given to the church at Pentecost something different occurred that brought the presence of God in living form. The Holy Spirit now inhabits our physical body, brings comfort and joy to our emotions, and speaks directly with our Spirit.
There is a reason for this! Curt Thompson says, “Creation started with connection because scientifically a neuron cannot dwell alone. Without input from other minds an individual becomes anxious, then depressed, then hopeless, then dies. It is not good for a man to be alone.” In this post-pentecostal age we’re living in God has given us the Holy Spirit as a teacher, guide, and friend to be His voice on earth and not only through one or two apostles and prophets but through each follower of Christ. Instead of relying primarily on the pastor or a mentor to teach us about God, we can develop and foster a personal dynamic relationship with Him that brings hope and confidence in the face of trials.
Phylicia Masonheimer says this, “Theology for the sake of theology, theology for the sake of authority, theology for the sake of intellect – these will always fail you. But theology housed in an intimate relationship with the God who made you? This theology grows deep and tall. It is rooted in a personal relationship with a personal God. And it grows tall, a witness to the world, able to withstand the greatest storms. Theology without intimacy is a hollow thing. But theology with intimacy is a powerful thing. The kind of thing that changes the world.”
Have you ever tried being a friend with someone you were only reading about? No amount of information about God will automatically allow you to feel Him emotionally and physically. Many of us are stuck in a left-brained Christianity where we rationalise everything in our minds but struggle to have a full embodied experience with God.2 This is like trying to be married to someone’s intellect without hearing “I love you” and feeling their arms around you, and it is what many of us endeavour to do with God. We know the right things to do for Him so we do them hard and fast. We attend the right bible schools and read the right books. We know it is right and good to pray so we talk a lot about praying and fasting. We attend weekly prayer meetings. If any of you are like me those prayer times were more of a forced monologue than a natural relational dialogue. I fell asleep on my knees sometimes because I was bored and exhausted. There was little eager expectation when I came into the presence of God because I did not expect Him to talk to me.
They say we should “communicate communicate communicate” in marriage, but what if we don’t know how to listen well and ask good questions? Just talking a blue streak might not help a marriage relationship flourish if the words are unhealthy. They say we should “pray, pray, pray” in Christianity but if the voice offering desperate pleas does not know how to listen well and ask real questions there is very little connection to God happening. It takes two people to dialogue and develop a relationship of trust.
Imagine an earthly Father who writes down everything He wants His child to do but never listens to the voice of his children chattering about their day. My Eric leans in close to little Rafi and listens attentively to his nonstop endeavour to articulate his feelings and delights to hear him trying to form words and phrases. Recently when I was preparing a talk I sensed God wanted to speak to me. I clearly heard an internal voice saying “I love to hear you talk.” I was overtaken with the love in His voice, partially because I am a fast and efficient talker that has often worried that I talk too much. Some time later God spoke to me again saying, “I am teaching you how to talk,” bringing to my mind the joy we experience watching Rafi learn to form words. Both of these one-liners from God spoke into some of my deepest fears and brought such love. Perfect love casts out fear and I truly wonder what would happen if more of the Body of Christ tuned into His love whispers instead of being controlled by the fear narrative.
The Body of Christ that learns to hear the voice of God is powerful and transformative. God’s voice, when regularly heard and listened to has the power to change your life, your community and the world because it guides us into an intimate relationship with God.
Here are five hindrances I have had to hearing the voice of God;
- I disliked the character of the people who proudly stated “God told me.” There are many individuals with weak character saying things they think God told them. These individuals like the power they feel when they can tell someone “God told me…” Instead of being guided by a negative experience we’ve had we can learn to hear and speak the voice of God in a humble and gentle manner that draws people into love. Michael Miller from the Remnant Radio podcast taught us to rephrase “God told me” to “I sense God might be saying…” or “I had this picture and I’m wondering if it resonates with you” and I found this very helpful because I could learn much more easily when I was not trying to be perfect.
- It seemed dangerous to ask for an “experience” with God rather than just following His word. When I judged others for just wanting an “experience with God” and being guided by their emotions I too was speaking from my experience with God and my emotions. We are all living out of our experiences (and emotions) to some degree, and due to my lack of experience hearing God’s voice I was afraid of it. This fear led to quick judgements about others who were hungry for more of the Spirit’s work in their lives.
- My emotional and physical parts were disconnected from my spiritual needs. I thought most emotional and physical needs should crucified so my “spiritual” parts can thrive. Without a holistic and integrated view of our personhood it is very difficult to hear the voice of God. Can God speak to our emotions and imagination? Can He use a physical sensation? Post enlightenment rationalism has influenced the church to be dedicated to the mind and intellect sometimes at the expense of what our emotions and physical bodies might be telling us. The far end of the pendulum swing from that leaves us with a disorderly Charismania where everyone runs on emotion and sensation without a solid theological underpinning for their experiences. I, along with many others in the body of Christ believe we can have both delightful and intimate experiences with God with our whole person that directly align with the word of God.
- I did not expect or ask God to speak to me in the ways He spoke in scripture such as dreams, visions, pictures, impressions, physical sensations, or an internal or audible voice. Can God speak to you in an audible voice? My husband thought it was the devil when He heard the audible voice of God for the first time. Can God give you a dream or a vision like He did Joseph or Peter? Can God speak through your physical body or sensation? Can God give you pictures of what He wants to communicate to you and others? All of these are biblical and expected ways God speaks today.
- I did not earnestly desire or ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit that require hearing and speaking. The gifts of prophecy, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discernment of spirits, interpretation of tongues, and the working of miracles all require us to learn to hear and speak the words of God. I did not earnestly desire to prophecy and had a difficult time hearing God’s voice. I wanted to read my three chapters of scripture and was frustrated when I didn’t feel “full.” I wanted to go to church and learn about God and feel satisfied. I was craving a relational dialogue with God but was afraid of His voice! I didn’t know what His eyes would look like if I looked up into His face, much-less reached for a gift He was placing in my hand. What if it was not good? What if it was dangerous? What if the gift would lead me away from the Giver? What if I emphasised a gift that wasn’t that important?3 What if people knew I prayed in tongues and thought I was a heretic? What if they reject me?
I am learning to know and hear the voice of God through what often seemed to be a deafening fear fog drowning it out. I’m learning how easy it is to stay surrounded by voices that promise to keep you safely the same than to tune into God’s voice that will touch and transform you.
How can we start tuning into His voice?4
We invite Him to come speak to us, and we learn to listen.
When you miss your friend you might invite her over for tea. You light a candle, serve the scones, and ask a question. If this is a real and intimate friend you will share sorrows and joys with tears and laughter and after some time you will leave each other’s presence with a sense of love and joy because we are all created for that lasting intimate fellowship.
If you have a restless disconnect in your relationship with God today you might invite Him to come sit with you too. Pour your tea, grab your journal, and simply say “God I want to learn to hear you speak.” Practice moments of tuning into His voice as you wash dishes and drive to the post office. Whisper what you’re feeling to Him as you plant tomato seeds and change diapers. Take time to walk with Him in a quiet place and listen. Maybe you’re like my friend Ashley’s little boy who in an exercise to learn to hear God said, “All I see is black and this is weird,” but let me assure you that God’s children can learn to hear and speak the voice of God with humility and confidence and the intimate relationship it brings will change you and the world.
The Body of Christ can be alive and full of hope when we learn to hear the voice of God. I am committed to learning how to listen, hear, and speak His voice with humility and confidence. Join me in tuning out of the fear and into the love, repenting and returning to a Father who loves to speak to every one of His children.
Footnotes:
- The “logos” is the written word of God while the “rhema” is the living voice of God. An example in scripture when “rhema” is used is in Ephesians 6:7, “Take the sword of the Spirit which is the rhema of God” and Mt. 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every rhema that comes from the mouth of God.” ↩︎
- For a detailed analysis of this read Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson, or for a good guide to a more holistic view of discipleship read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazerro ↩︎
- I have been in conversations countless times on the topic of the gift of tongues where a cautionary statement is made such as “Yes, but we should never overemphasise tongues and prophecy.” Ironically, this statement is usually made by individuals who have never preached on or heard the topic taught on and out of their fear of an unknown topic they try to control the conversation with a caution. These same environments will overemphasise the gift of teaching or hospitality or service for decades and no one bats an eye. This hypocrisy needs to be addressed for the church to live fully as God intends. ↩︎
- For practical and biblical ways to start learning to hear His voice read Why I am still Surprised by the Voice of God, by Jack Deere ↩︎
Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash
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