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God speaks to us, but how can we hear Him when there are so many other voices in our heads? How can we listen to Him when we are too busy? There are so many things that compete with the voice of God in our lives. At any time, we hear the enemy attempting to tempt us, others sharing their opinions, our conscience, and things we see and hear on TV and online. The messages we hear from these sources can be best described as conflicting. So, how can we hear God when He speaks and know for sure that it is His voice that we hear? This post will discuss what you should and should not do to hear from God.

Don’t Wait Until a Crisis Occurs To Hear God Speak

First of all, understand that listening is developed through practice, so we don’t wait until a crisis occurs to hear God speak. Unfortunately, the only time that some people pray is when they are going through a right-now crisis. Of course, we need to pray when handling a difficult situation, but if that is the only time we pray, we will not learn through experience how to hear God. He may be trying to calm you and comfort you, but you can’t understand Him, and instead, the enemy tricks you into thinking that God isn’t answering you.

Don’t Be in Such a Hurry

Secondly, don’t be in such a hurry when we communicate with God in prayer. We can not merely tell God all of our problems, ask Him to fix them, and then get up from prayer time. Let’s use the analogy of a doctor. If you were ill, would you go to the doctor’s office, tell him everything wrong, ask him to help you, and then say, “OK, thanks, Doc,” as you turn to leave? Of course not. You would wait to hear what the doctor says, right? God is more than a physician, so don’t be in such a hurry.

Let’s take the doctor analogy a little further. Would you tell the doctor how to fix your problem by suggesting what medicines or treatment he should prescribe? Could you see yourself getting mad at him if he thinks there is a better way?

Many Christians treat God this way. We may pray, but it seems just to tell God the problem and what we believe the solution is. Then, we wait for God to do exactly what we said. Sometimes, God, in His wisdom, works the situation out differently. If we cannot hear that this was the answer to our prayer, the enemy may convince us that God did not answer.

Now that we have an idea of how not to approach God let’s take a look at what we should do.

1. Pray Correctly
2. Listen Expectantly
3. Don’t Fear

Pray Correctly

We must pray correctly. In a previous post, I wrote about how to pray like Jesus taught. Some of the information from that post bears repeating here. When we pray using the Lord’s Prayer as our guide, we must remember to praise God, repent, ask for what we need, and yield to God. These steps spell the acronym PRAY.

When we pray, we honor God with our obedience and reverence if we use the outline given to us by Jesus. As a parent, if our children (who are old enough to know better) came to us demanding that we fix their problems or asking for this, that, and the other thing without even saying hello, we would consider this disrespectful. Therefore, we want to come to God reverently, praising Him as our Father, repenting, asking for what we need, and yielding to allow Him to work the situation out; however, He knows best.

Listen Expectantly

After you have asked God to help, the next step is to listen expectantly. Listening requires us to stop talking. It is difficult to patiently and carefully listen, so we must practice this skill daily. When we look for God to speak, we shut our mouths but open our hearts. We often hear scriptures and words of reassurance, comfort, and love.

Jesus said that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). The red writing in the Bible lets us know what Jesus would and would not say. As we get better acquainted with the Bible, we can better distinguish the Voice of God. We can learn by going to church and studying the Bible. As we understand what is and isn’t in the Bible, we will become more familiar with God’s voice. The Holy Spirit will remind us of scriptures, but He can not remind us if we do not first start learning,

Don’t Fear

After you have prayed, asked God to help, and you have taken the time to listen to His voice, patiently wait, and don’t fear. If you have given God permission to intervene in the way that He sees best, expect Him to do just that, and don’t become fearful. God knows how to help you hear Him.

Countless stories in the Bible tell us that God knows how to get our attention. If there is a strong message that He wants to get to us, He will find a way to communicate. In the Bible, God used a burning bush, a jaw from an animal, a visit from angels, and temporary blindness to get others’ attention. He is still able to do that now.

The Bible is clear that God will never forsake us (Psalm 37:35 ESV). He knows how to give good gifts to His Children. He is a good provider and will never let you go without what you need. Trust Him.

“For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Luke 11:10-13 KJV

A Prayer to Hear God More Clearly

As we grow in God, we silence the unproductive chatter in our minds and learn to hear and know God’s will. As we make it through each test and trial, our faith grows, and we learn that God is listening. He is always working things out for His children. Let’s Pray.

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