1206. Weekly News + Hearing God’s Voice

As the news (especially concerning the sham impeachment hearing) keeps getting more idiotic, disgusting, irrational, and hateful, the attacks aren’t limited to the political arena. Within my circle of friends, the trials and attacks are more frequent and more intense than ever before. Followers of Christ are discovering a new level of dependence on God. We are being forced to fine tune our spiritual hearing so we can discern if our thoughts are really from God.

If ever the Church needed to get its act together it’s now. If she were to live out the truth and avail herself of all that Christ has already given her, no power on earth could conquer her. The reality on the ground, however, is that Christ has a lot of building to do to grow His bride into the powerhouse it will one day become. In the meantime, followers of Jesus Christ must learn to hear God’s voice as never before. We must seek God’s will and recognize His voice when He speaks.

My guess is that most Christians struggle in this area. We’re often not sure if a thought is from our own flesh or from God. We wish God would speak louder and in an unmistakable voice, but so far, He has denied our requests. He seems to prefer to speak in a still small voice. If only there was some way to tune our spiritual ears into God’s spiritual frequency so we could know that the “voice” is His.

This kind of spiritual fine tuning doesn’t come easily. It requires continual submission to His will and a continuing desire to grow closer to Him, willingly shedding anything that gets in the way of the intimate relationship God wants with us. While I can’t help you in that area (that’s between you and God), I can offer some practical and helpful questions to ask when you’re trying to identify the author of a thought you’re considering. I am specifically addressing those “directives” that demand a response from you-something you will have to do-something God may be commanding you to do. Here are the questions to ask:

While this is not a foolproof “method,” it’s pretty close. Let me show you how it works with a recent real-life personal example. During one of our recent prison ministry classes, one of my fellow facilitators held up a copy of my latest books to show the men. He has done things like this before, spontaneously acting like my promoter with no prompting from me. Since none of the men had the money to buy a copy, I wasn’t sure what his purpose was, but it was a nice gesture.

The rub came when I arrived home with the distinct feeling that God was “asking” me to give them all a copy, not just this class, but all my classes in both prisons. That’s a lot of books, and my books are my sole source of income apart from social security. On one hand, I could argue that I couldn’t afford to do that, but on the other hand was the painful fact that my yearly royalties for the past few years have just about covered the cost of a dinner for two at Wendy’s.

After giving thought to what God had been teaching me about trusting Him and engaging in reckless generosity, I was convinced that I had indeed heard God’s voice. I was convinced He was inviting me into something I would never regret. Going down the five questions, this was definitely taking me out of my author/income comfort zone. God’s Word clearly said that God loves a cheerful giver, and once I decided to do it, I had felt a great sense of joy.

It was immediately confirmed by my wife who was all in with it. Practically speaking this made no sense, but practicality was no longer an issue. Finally, this was definitely costing me something. It was costing me a lot, but I realized that that not obeying would cost me far more, and God had something bigger and better in store. Perhaps it was simply learning the joy of obedience with no other “return.”

I hope this helps as you as you listen for God’s voice in our increasingly violent world.