In my walk with God, the area with which I had the greatest struggle within, was that I couldn't say without 'a shadow of a doubt' that I was able to discern the voice of God or hear the voice of God. I was not sure if what I heard was His voice. Whether it was everyday life issues, a question, for direction, or just for conversation I was not sure if what I heard was indeed the voice of the Father. There were many times it was Him, but there were also times when it wasn’t, when I truly thought it was Him. There was time when I struggled in hearing Him regarding questions concerning the greatest desires of my heart, clearly hearing “no“ when I really wanted His answer to be a yes or clearly hearing a “yes“ when deep down I wanted His answer to be a no. During a wilderness season, I had to listen to the Holy Spirit concerning an area of my life that was weighing heavily on my heart. I found that during this season, when I ’heard His voice’ concerning this particular area of my life, I found that what I ‘heard’ didn’t come to pass. In truth, I believed I heard it, believed for it and believed I heard correctly. But, what I ’heard’ was not God, it was the desires of my heart screaming louder than my desire to truly hear Him. I wanted to hear the Holy Spirit, but I couldn’t hear Him over my heart’s desire. Believe it or not, I went through the trauma of continuous disappointment about what I thought I heard. You may ask, what do you mean trauma when you were the one who was wrong? Let me answer that question for you, in this season, my heart had hardened, I became bitter, and guarded my heart so heavily that I even guarded it from the Holy Spirit Himself. I lived with emotional knots on the inside for weeks at a time. I lived in a constant state of anxiousness and depression from this error.
Thank God for the precious blood of Jesus Christ because He pulled me out pit after pit. Friends, Understand this, if God says in three days chickens will fly, then in three days chickens will fly and there will be no power on earth or below it, that could stop it, scripture confirms this in Isaiah 55:10-11. If you ‘hear‘ God say in three days something will happen and it doesn’t, it was not God who spoke. He watches over His word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12), He holds His word above His Name (Psalm 138:2). Friends, If God spoke a word and didn’t perform it, it would make Him a liar, and we know, the Father cannot lie; He is not a man that He should lie nor son of man that He should repent ( Numbers 23:19). God is God. No demon or devil can stop His hand, not now, not ever. He will never speak a word and not bring it to pass. It is only fair that I also point out that a word received from the Father may be for an appointed time and season, so it may appear as if it is not happening, but, it is just not the time. Guard your hearts when you receive promises from the Father like this, because these promises that will manifest at specific times and seasons is often preceded by a waiting season, and in this waiting season the enemy will attack the seed the Lord placed in you. It is so important that when the Lord plants the seed it becomes rooted so the tricks of the enemy doesn’t have you wavering, or doubting God put that seed of a promise in you.
With that said, one may ask, how do I know if the voice I’m hearing is GOD?
His voice NEVER contradicts His word
While He can speak audibly if He wants, He often times speaks through a deep knowing on the inside of us, through an impressions on our hearts or revelation that may come from the word, person, thing or even a dream.
If He impresses something on your heart or gives you revelation, He will confirm it through His word or a third party.
Understand, He speaks through EVERYTHING. The Holy Spirit can use random things to reveal to you His heart, or confirm what He has already been whispering. Pay attention to repetition all around. Pay attention to what ‘stands out’ to you in very normal day to day activities.
When He speaks, He never condemns. He is kind and loving, even in correction.
These are just a few of the ways the Lord speak to our hearts, and when He speaks we must know His voice. He is the good shepherd and His voice we must follow. In telling you this I must also say that hearing the heart of our Father comes through intimacy with Him. He doesn’t shout, nor does He force Himself on us, so the farther we are away from Him, the harder it will be to hear Him. The good news is He wants to speak to you, oh how He loves to talk to His children, but so many times we don’t want to talk to Him, or we’re “too busy” to talk to Him. He wants you in His presence, you don’t have to wait on the pastor or the prophet to give you a word, He wants to speak to you Himself. Today, if He says “come to me”, friends run to the arms of your Father, for He wants to tell you secret things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3). Until next time……
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