Hearing God’s voice
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
God speaks to us all the time, longing to give us direction and communicate with us. It is never the Lord who does not speak, it is us who don't listen. It's just like a radio station transmitting 24 hours a day, but the receiver doesn't tune to it. Therefore, God is always transmitting His voice, and it is up to the receivers to listen.
In the key verse today, Jesus makes a simple yet profound statement. Please note that Jesus did not say my sheep would or might hear my voice. He makes an absolute statement, my sheep hear MY voice. When we have personal relationships with God, we are in the default mode of hearing His voice.
We can hear God's voice all the time, but the issue is how to recognize God's voice. The key is intimacy, which requires time, effort and focus to cultivate. We need to spend time with people in order to cultivate meaningful human relationships, the more time we spend with them, the sooner we can identify their unique voice. Our relationship with God is no different.
We live in a time of distractions, and our lifestyle is so busy that it makes it difficult to stay close to God. When we scroll the phone or watch videos online aimlessly, our distractions block out the signal from God, even when He shouts to us, He seems thousands of miles away. But when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. (James 4:8), Therefore, a quiet time with God is very important. It is necessary to be still and eliminate distractions so that we can hear God's voice.
A pastor once said that God's voice sounds like ours. I was stunned by his statement. He added that God's voice often enters our thoughts; it has a wiser voice than our own and sounds like Jesus. Similar to the voice of the enemy, he won't say: "This is Satan speaking, please listen as I am about to implant lies in your mind". Our minds are the battlefield for God's and the enemy's voices. It is because there is a spiritual realm, so God speaks to our spirit, often in the form of thoughts and impressions.
In addition, God's voice is always consistent with the scriptures. Getting intimate with God also involves diving into His word, the Bible, and with the Holy Spirit, God's word will turn into "Rhema" which means His voice and "spoken word”.
Blessing prayer: May you whisper to us as we come close to you. Help us to hear you clearly in Spirit by giving us spiritual ears. In Jesus' name, Amen
