Despite the extreme state of sin and depravity that mankind has fallen from creation, and the slide continues, God never His face from us. He, being a loving Father, is ever ready and willing to listen to and bless His children. Many times when God talks to us, we do not believe and then reject that as lies from the devil and reject that. We are created to hear Him, understand and obey to live in the way that He desires from us.
Ways and means of God’s communication to us – The first instance of God speaking to man is, immediately after creating Adam to bless him (Genesis 1:28-30). God is one, and both characteristics of man and woman, as we see in creation are combined in Him. This is also evident in all the dealings of God with mankind since creation. On the one hand, He is loving as a mother while on the other He is just and judges our conduct. As per Jewish legend, Adam was created with both male and female parts joined into one entity, with their backs joined together, facing in opposite directions. God separated them to remove and correct the loneliness of Adam. As per this, then, both man and woman, being together, heard the words of God about eating freely from every tree of the Garden, while prohibiting them from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil but Eve did not fully hear and comprehend.
The Jewish people were commanded by Moses, ‘Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God, the LORD is one’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word translated ‘hear’ is ‘Shema’, which means much more than just listening. It is to listen; to hear; to understand; to internalise and to respond. They say, ‘Hearing is through the ears, but listening is from the heart’. Hearing is the power to receive sounds and listening is receiving the sound, understanding and fully receiving the message. Eve’s reply to the devil contained three basic flaws from what God had said. First, they could ‘freely’ eat without restriction; second, she added prohibition to touch also and finally, God had said ‘you shall surely die’ while Eve said, ‘lest you die’. Either the command of God was not properly listened to or ignored to suit personal interpretation.
At the Transfiguration of Lord Jesus, a cloud overshadowed the mountain and a voice was heard from within the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him’ (Luke 9:34-35). The Greek word used here is ‘akouo’ which includes both the physical act of hearing and the deeper act of understanding what is heard. At the time of creation and also at the time of redemption of mankind, the command from God is the same, ‘Hear Him’. The right direction in life can only be followed by diligently hearing, understanding and following what God desires us to do.
There are various ways that God uses to reveal His will to us. First, God visited Adam in the Garden of Eden everyday ‘in the cool of the day’, in the evening to help them review their work of the day, help them plan for the next day and teach them His ways (Genesis 3:8). After sin entered mankind, God did not forsake and Cain, even after murdering his brother Abel, could speak to God (Genesis 4:13).
Second, the angels of God from heaven. There are different levels of ranks of the angels in heaven. The Angel of the Lord is supposed to be Lord Jesus in His pre-incarnate state and He is also the Commander of the LORD’s army (Joshua 5:13-15). The next in line is Gabriel, an archangel, commander of a group of angels. He is entrusted with God’s Word to declare in heaven and before others on the earth. His most visible visits are to Zacharias, the priest and father of John the Baptist and to Mary, our Lord’s earthly mother (Luke 1:19; 26). He moves only when sent by God and was also the messenger to Prophet Daniel (Daniel 10:11).
Third, God the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer to ‘teach you all things and bring to remembrance all things that I said to you’ (John 14:26).
Fourth, the Word of God, which is ‘living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword’ (Hebrews 4:12). As we read and meditate upon the Word, our thoughts and desires are changed towards holiness. With the Holy Spirit, the Word of God convicts us of our sins and helps walk in righteousness of God.
Fifth, the Prophets – God spoke to the Israelites during the Old Testament times through the Prophets to convey His Word. But now since the Holy Spirit is in us and the fullness of God is revealed in His Word and in His Son, the role of the prophets is greatly reduced. Though there are many who claim to be prophets carrying the Word of God, more like astrologers predicting an individual’s future.
Sixth, our trials and tribulations are also a way that God uses to turn us back to Him and to heed His voice.
Seventh, finally the Son of God put on human form to speak to us face-to-face to lead us back to God into a close relationship with Him through forgiveness of sins and cleansing with His blood. The Son as a human being became the voice of God to speak to us (Hebrews 1:2).
God as a loving Father never turns His back from us, His children. Right from Adam, we hide from Him out of fear for our evil and sinful deeds. We must focus on God and His love for us and then hear Him, discern His voice, understand the command and obey. Any obedient child will do this out of reverence for his father and so must we.
Obstructions to hearing God’s Voice – There are various reasons that cause deafness to God’s voice in us and some we will see. First, individual attitude – In this, unbelief and doubt are the two major factors. In this state, one neither believes in God nor His promises and any experience of hearing God is ignored. The next is selfishness and wrong motives, when one desires self-will to prevail over God’s will due to wrong motives. Sin and rebellion take us away from God and our hearts are hardened making us unable to hear God’s voice. Fear and anxiety also make us deaf to God’s voice and we tend to stay away from God. Past sins and false guilt keep one focussed on that, causing doubt in the forgiveness that we have received, with no desire to turn to God.
Second, external distractions. Lack of interest or concentration – Many people believe that God is holy and we can never hear His voice due to our sins. They never try to hear, and ignore, if there is an attempt from God to reach out to them, out of ignorance. Noise and distractions of life – God’s voice is like a whisper and is heard by those who make an effort to listen by ignoring the noise of all situations around us. Next is, the competing voices that are always trying to turn our attention away from God. Other noises of daily living prevent us from getting close to God and hearing Him.
Third, spiritual and emotional causes that hold us captive and anger, bitterness and unforgiveness top this. Lord Jesus has specially warned about this, for He came to reconcile us to God.
Four, wrong attitude of personal ego and false assumption of self-knowledge better than the other. In such a state one may not give due importance to hearing the message.
Five, misconceptions about God and wrong teaching. Many people believe that God no longer speaks to mankind for all has been already revealed in His Word. The ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to ‘teach all things and remind us of the words of Lord Jesus’ (John 14:26). Such false beliefs render a person unable to hear the voice of God or totally ignore it.
God is love and love is expressed through various ways but the most effective way is direct communication (1 John 4:8). We are so deeply involved in our lives that we have little time to enjoy the good things of nature even. Hearing God’s voice is more in the soul than in the mind and the ears and anyone whose heart is not turned toward God will be unable to hear His voice.
In the wilderness, after the Israelites came out of Egypt, God appeared to them on the mountain. The people saw lightning flashes, thunderings, trumpet sound and saw the mountain in smoke and they were filled with fear (Exodus 20:18-19). They said to Moses, ‘you speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’. How many of us are living in such fear that hearing the voice of God brings death? Only the one who is deep in sin and ignores the call of the Son of God, will live in such mortal fear. God specially created the Garden of Eden for man to provide him with all the best things of creation and His mighty presence was with them every day. We must commit ourselves to walk in His ways and thus glorify Him and He will surely talk encouraging words.
Ways to hearing and understanding God’s Voice – Everyone in this world is busy in making others hear his voice and it appears that there is a competition going on, to speak louder and create more noise to be heard. Lord Jesus treated all His disciples with the same care and love but only Apostle John fully experienced His love. In the Gospel of John, he has mentioned five times ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’, without naming himself. This was possible only due to the fact that he always readily and attentively listened to the Lord. He is called the Apostle of love, for his three letters to the church mention this word 34 times.
Judas Iscariot was too focused on the things of the world that he never grasped the true message of the Lord, who would have lovingly forgiven him the worst sin of betrayal committed by him. It is of great importance that God speaks to us in ways that are suited to our state of spiritual maturity and closeness to Him. God spoke to Abram in a vision (Genesis 15:1) and even directly; to Moses ‘face to face as to a friend’ (Exodus 33:11); as Angel of the LORD to Joshua (Joshua 5:12); through His archangel Gabriel to Zechariahs, the priest (Luke 1:11) and to Mary, the earthly mother of Lord Jesus (Luke 1:28) and through a dream to Joseph, even telling the already prophesied name of the Son of God, Immanuel (Matthew 1:20).
Hearing the voice of God is a deeply sacred and personal journey and following steps are helpful. First, select a sacred place or get into your ‘closet’ like our Lord has taught (Matthew 6:6) and reduce distractions like phone. As per choice, one may light incense sticks or a candle, while some prefer soft music.
Second, submit in humility and with an open mind. Do not try to bind God to speak to you in a specific way only, for He is God. Be open and ready, submitted to the Almighty and expect the unexpected to happen, there is nothing impossible with Him.
Third, regular prayer is the way to communicate with God while expressing your deep thoughts, feelings and desires before Him. He knows it all already, but expects us to be open to Him. Ask for guidance and one may even suggest the answer and the way of the answer, while leaving it all to Him. Gideon did and was blessed not once but twice (Judges 6:37).
Fourth, study and meditate on the Word of God. To hear God is to know Him first, for how can we expect someone unknown to communicate with you. It would be like looking into the sky, waiting for some alien from another planet to reach out to you. Meditate on His Word in the Scripture, for the answer to your query is very likely to come from there clearly.
Fifth, be still, filled with patience. The psalmist advises us about going into God’s presence, ‘be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth’ (Psalm 46:10). God must be honoured in our hearts through our waiting earnestly in patience.
Sixth, trust and have faith. God is Omnipresent and will never leave a believer. Have faith in His Word and open your heart, though you may not perceive His presence and guidance. Rejoice over small insights and grow in faith.
Seventh, join a group of believers for study, meditation on His Word and prayer. Align your life with the spiritual values learnt in prayer and His Word. A friend, mature in faith, may be useful as a mentor. But remember that it is a personal experience and unique to each person. Be sincere, patient and open to His way.
God created us in His image and likeness and could have used any number of other options to create the world. It is His creation, His world and His will must prevail. In this journey of life doubts are a natural occurrence and should not discourage us but lead us into a deeper relationship with Him. We must remember that doubt and unbelief are different and doubt develops into unbelief. Speak to others in your group about your doubts, seek their prayers and also seek guidance and strength from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Diligence is the way forward to remain committed to hear and serve God.
Hearing the voice of God, our loving Father, is not as difficult as it is made out to be. WE must remember that He called and we could come to Him in faith for salvation through the Saviour Lord’s sacrifice. But if we continue to be distracted and follow after other voices, we may be in faith yet miss out on the best from God that we should have received. Much fruit is borne by a lowly branch and we must be humbly submitted to our God, and that too while being busy with all that we are involved in. This balance in life brings in showers of God’s blessings!
