We Can Hear the Voice of God in Prayer
Prayer: It is a great privilege and a great responsibility for the people of God. When Israel was going through a tough time in Her history and the people asked Samuel to pray for them, Samuel responded with these words:
“Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he hath done for you.
But if ye shall still do wickedly ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (I Samuel 12:23-25)
We tend to think of prayer as a spiritual discipline where we talk to God. But the most important discipline in prayer is learning to hear God talking to you! Let’s learn some important lessons on how to hear God in prayer. How can we get Divine direction for our life & spiritual discernment for making decisions. Samuel knew how to listen in Prayer (I Sam. 8:6-7; 9:15; 16:7-12)
I.) If we are ever to hear God’s voice in
Payer we must first be convinced that He
wants to talk to us.
A.) “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17)
“Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (Jn.10:16)
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life” (Jn. 10:27)
B.) Jesus will speak to us through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit.
“I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:12-14 (also Eph. 2:18; Rom. 8:28)
“But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation (life style) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; & be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:20-22; Isa. 54:13)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith” (James 1:5-6; Pro. 2:1-2, 10)
So we know God does want to talk to us. He expects us to be listening! When we understand that the most important aspect of prayer is listening it casts a totally new insight on I Thess. 5:17: “Pray without ceasing.” How can we “listen without ceasing?” Praying without ceasing goes hand in hand with meditating on the Word of God day & night (Ps. 1)
Illustration: Car Radio. (I Kings 19:9-13 Elijah, still small voice). One of my Professors at Seminary shared about a time he was driving to a speaking engagement with his wife. There was a storm coming so he needed to listen to the radio to hear the weather report. But he also wanted to talk to his wife. So he turned the radio on low just enough to hear it in the background as he talked to his wife. Then when the key words "weather report" were spoken he knew it was time to stop talking to his wife and turn the radio up so he could hear the weather report clearly. In a similar way we need to make sure we have turned our spiritual radio on every day in prayer. As we start our busy day we are tuned into God with the volume on low so when he needs to get an important message to us we will hear the key words related to our need at the time. Meditating on the Word of God day and night is how we keep the radio on. The Holy Spirit will enable us to hear the word we need to help get us through our day. But when the Spirit speaks we need to be still and listen. And He will give us the wisdom we need when we need it.
This brings us to our next point.
II.) Our hearing must begin by taking to heart one
of the most common warnings in Scripture is?
(Eccl. 5:1-2)
A.) “He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear” Matt. 10:27; 11:15; 13:9;, 43;
Mk. 4:9, 23-24
1.) The premise: You have ears
to hear.
2.) The choice: Will you use
those ears to hear the voice (Word) of God? (Amos 8:11-12)
B.) What is the ever-present peril that
could prevent us from hearing the
voice of God?
1.) The condition of our heart!
(Matt. 13:14-17)
Jesus warns us to “Take heed what ye hear.” (Mk. 4:24-25). The condition of the heart & character influences what we hear (Mk. 4:20-25). Good ears are useless if you have a bad heart. If you are not willing to do God’s will you will not hear God’s voice clearly or correctly (John 7:17)
In the passage in John 12:28-29 the voice of God fell on every ear that was gathered in the Temple. For some it was nothing more than thunder (Jn. 12:29). For others it was the voice of an angel (12:29). But for the Son it was the clear voice of His Father! What do you hear when God speaks? It is as much a revelation of the condition of your heart as of your hearing.
When Solomon prayed,
“Give thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (I Kings 3:9). In the Hebrew Solomon literally prayed, “give they servant a hearing heart.” He was praying that he would always be able to hear the voice of the LORD!
C.) There is a very practical way
to “condition” your heart to hear the “Word of the LORD”
When God was looking for a leader for His people He required “a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will” (Acts 13:22; I Sam. 13:14; Why? - Amos 3:3). “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Sam. 16:7).
As God was searching the hearts of all Israel what did He find in the heart of David that distinguished him from everyone else? Read Ps. 119:11. (Compare Prov. 4:20-22; 22:17-19)
1.) Because of the relationship
between the amount of Scripture we memorize and the
condition of our hearts we should set
goals to systematically memorize
Scripture.
a.) We must “receive
with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able
to save your souls” James1:21)
b.) Then our life will
produce Divine fruit Mk. 4:20)(Isa55:8-12)
The Pharisees could not hear God’s voice because they did not “have God’s Word abiding in them” (John 5:38). Though they had undoubtedly memorized much scripture they had never engrafted it into their life. Do you know God’s Word well enough that you can distinguish between God’s voice and Satan’s deception? (Heb. 5:11-14). Your response to what you hear is the response of what you have made of your character and heart.
III.) Understand the relationship between your
Heart, the Bible, and Hearing God’s Voice and
your life will be completely transformed. (I Thess. 2:13)
A.) We can take some simple practical
steps to become more
sensitive to hearing the Voice of God.
God said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears” (Ezek. 3:10)
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16) (Acts 20:32)
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). (Why? - I John 5:14-15)
2.) The Word in your heart gives
you more spirit & life because they are spirit and
life (John 6:63)
3.) The Word in your heart will
light a fire of enthusiasm & conviction (Jer 20:9; 23:29;
Lk 24:32)
B.) Because of the direct relationship
between the Word of God and hearing the Voice of God we should
pray with our Bible open before us.
1.) First let God speak to you
from His word; then pray in response to what the Holy
Spirit impresses on your heart.
2.) Every parent that serves the
LORD can claim Psalm 102:28;
103:17 for the salvation of
their children.
Illustration: Learn to mark your Bible “FM if.” This stands for "For Me if..." Because every promise in the bible has a condition. Once we meet the condition we can have an unshakable faith that the promise will be ours in God’s perfect timing.
C.) Because of the relationship between
the condition of our heart and
our ability to hear the voice of God we must
Avail ourselves of the cleansing power of the
Word and the Blood every time we pray.
“In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)
If our human soul is given to us for the purpose of receiving messages from an intelligent Creator, a whole new realm of life opens up to us. Just like dirt on the lens of a telescope can keep you from gazing into the heavens; just like dirt inside a radio can ruin your reception; so unconfessed sin can block your spiritual vision and hearing. Ultimately what messages I receive from my Creator will determine what will eventually happen to me.
