Podcast: How to ‘Hear’ God Part 1

Scroll down to listen to the podcast UCHURCH Message – April 4, 2010 by Brant Reding

Walking with God – Learning H2 ‘hear’ God…  Part I

by Brant Reding

Navigating life on this planet is not easy, it requires a myriad of daily decisions, what to do, where to go, how to do it.  If your like me, you make lots of BAD decisions, I am really good at making bad decisions that I later regret.  However, for those of us that have decided God has a better way, we begin to find out he wants to help us make good decisions, all the time.  He will speak to us, guide us, help us. Why does he do this ?  Is he simply a really nice cosmic GPS system for life ?

Gods Motive..

God desires is to ‘walk’ with us (as he did with Adam & Eve), He longs that we know him as well as he knows us, intimately.  Because he cares for us, He wants to lead, guide, help, encourage and teach us. In short, he wants an authentic growing relationship with us.   And as with any relationship,  communication is the foundation. How silly to say I have a growing relationship with my friends or wife, but we never communicate!

God Communicates – he desires to ‘speak’ to us.

“the Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my fathers household and my native land and who spoke to me..” Gen 24:7

“God spoke to moses ‘as a man speaks with his friend”  Exodus 33:11

In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah ? He asked. The Lord said, ‘God up.’ David asked, ‘Where shall I go?’ ‘To Hebron’, the Lord answered” 2 Sam 2:1

The  Promise..

I (God) will instruct you says the lord and guide you along the best pathway for your life; I will advise you and watch your progress” Psm 32:8

When he was a young boy, the prophet Samuel heard the voice of God, but didn’t recognize it until he was instructed by Eli, the chief priest (1 Samuel 3:1-10). Gideon witnessed an appearance of God, but he still doubted what he had seen and heard, even to the extent of asking for three signs (Judges chapter 6, especially verses17-22, 36-40).

How can we know when we are hearing the voice of God?

“I assure you, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. John 10:1-4

Question : Do you want Jesus to lead ? He CAN’T lead a sheep that is not willing to follow,  !

Hearing God is a Learned skill…

Baby Lambs are different than grown sheep. Learning to hear God is like learning H2 play an instrument.. You desire to play, but you have to gain the skills over time and with continued practice. (Samuel needed instruction from Eli to discern Gods voice). God speaks in many ways. It takes patience, instruction, obedience.

What does God speak to us about ?

He communicates his love, our value to him, His identity. This starts to rebuild our true worth, gives us our true identity & security

He communicates to instruct us, train us, so we can ‘mature’

He communicates direction/guidance for ourselves and for others (remember Jonah)

Some common ways God talks to us:

His Word - 2 Tim 3:16-17

In order to actually “hear” from God, we have to know some things about God’s character. We have to develop an understanding of who God is, and the way he does things. Fortunately for us, all that information is available in the Bible. The Book teaches us what God is like, his heart towards us, his instructions/expectations he has for us, and most specifically, how he expects us to treat other people, H2 live. It’s like learning the basic music scales before playing the concert

Other People Many times God will use other people to try to get through to us. It’s possible for God to use anyone at any time, but I find more messages coming from people who are practicing Christians than non-practicing ones. (Prov is full of examples, plus Eph 4)

Our Circumstances - Acts 16:6-7, Jer 32:7-8

Sometimes the only way God can teach us something is to allow circumstances in our life to lead us to and through the very thing we need to discover. This can be providential guidance – some good, some hard, even some bad experiences, God will speak through.

The Still Small Voice – 
Most of the time God uses a tiny voice inside us to let us know when we’re not on the right path. It is the holy spirit ;

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).

Some people call it “the voice of peace.” Whenever we’re contemplating something and we don’t have peace about it, it’s a very good idea to stop and carefully look at the options. There’s a reason you don’t feel peace about it.

The Actual Voice Sometimes we’re able to “hear” something in our spirit that sounds to us like an actual audible voice. Or all of a sudden, you just know you heard something. Pay attention to those occasions because it is very likely God trying to tell you something.

Watch for deception: (Read Num 22).   We all have an invisible enemy, the thief Jesus warned about in John 10 – he comes to deceive, lie, rob, steal, kill and destroy. In fact Jesus warned that many will get fooled because of the subtle ways of this “angel of light”. Protection:  Whatever God says, or leads will ALWAYS be confirmed by His word. God has another safety net; God places us in his body the ‘church’ (people on journey following Jesus together).

Angels, visions, dreams, personal prophecy, signs, fleeces – These should CONFIRM your direction, not dictate it.

When God Talks, Shut Up, Listen and respond !

Written by Erick Cardoza

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