Listening to God

ByKellar Stem
Discipleship Dna

Listening to God

One of the most beautiful and neglected parts of the life of prayer is Listening to God. We spend time talking and bringing our requests before the Lord, but we neglect the thing we do in every other conversation we have: we neglect taking time to listen for and to God. Below is a tool/resource to help followers of Jesus learn how to listen to God.

What are the blessings of listening to God?

  • The Holy Spirit is our helper and teacher (John 14:16-17, 26)
  • The Holy Spirit can testify with our spirit about our true identity (Romans 8:16)
  • The Holy Spirit can address specific areas of sin and wounding in our lives so we can become more like Him through sanctification (John 16:8, Romans 15:16)
  • We can experience God in greater ways, including the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Luke 8:18)
  • God can give us specific instructions so we can obey Jesus in taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 8, 9, 10, 13, 20, 21)
  • Genesis 26:4-5 – “… I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and will give your descendants all these lands, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me…”

How does God speak?

  1. His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
  2. Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, 24 and 1 Corinthians 2:16)
  3. Dreams and Visions (Genesis 40:8)
  4. Holy Spirit through other believers (Exodus 4:15-17)
  5. A supernatural messenger or angel (Judges 6:11-24, Daniel 20:27, Matthew 1:20-25, Acts 5:19-20)
  6. Audible voice (1 Samuel 3, Exodus 3:3-6, Matthew 3:17)

How can we start or grow in listening to God?

  • Set aside quiet time in your routine
  • Ask God an open ended question
  • Two-way journaling
  • Write down dreams and ask God for interpretations
  • Meditate on God’s Word, whatever you’re reading
  • Make time in meetings, worship services, etc for listening to God
  • Consider what might be getting in the way of hearing (Not believing God speaks, business and distraction, habitual unrepentant sin, self-reliance, fear of what God might say, enemy warfare (Daniel 10), over-dependence on logic and reasoning, unwillingness to obey)

Discerning the voice of Jesus vs. the voice of the enemy.

  • Is consistent with the Bible and Jesus’s character? (John 1:1)
  • Does it lead to spiritual life or death? (John 10:10)
  • What is the fruit? (Matt 7:15-21)
  • Ask God to confirm it by speaking it again or seeing it happen
  • Ask a more mature believer who also listens to God
  • Does is sound like Jesus’s voice or the voice of the enemy?

Voice of Jesus

  • Consistent with the Bible (John 1:1)
  • Speaks in present tense – I AM
    • How to deal with past (1 John 1:9)
    • How to deal with future (Matt 6:34)
  • Peace/assurance (John 14:27)
  • Leads you to obey God (John 14:27)
  • Conviction of sin (John 16:8)
  • Leads to life to us and others (John 10:10)
  • Affirms our identity in Him to be children of God and ministers of the gospel (Rom 8:16, 2 Cor 3:6)

Voice of the enemy

  • Avoids or twists Bible or takes it out of context (Gen 3:1, 2 Cor 11:3, Luke 4)
  • Speaks to keep you in the past-guilt
  • Speaks to keep you in the future-worry
  • Confusing or accusing, constantly demeaning ( Gen 3:1, Rev 12)
  • Leads you to sin, not obeying God (1 John 3:8)
  • Condemnation from/of sin (Rom 8:1)
  • Leads to death in us/others (John 10:10, 2 Cor 4:4)
  • Accuses and says our identity is from our past or sin (Rev 12:10)
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