10 Tips for Hearing God's Voice

Please take you time with this blog.  Lots of info here :)
You might mark this page and come back to it.  Or maybe you want to print it out and try a few of these tools over the next few weeks.  Regardless, we love to share and hope it helps!

1.  Don't expect a loud, audible, earth shaking voice to speak clearly to you :)  Yes, sometimes this happens to people but it is in the minority and usually only comes in stressful situations.

Kids on tour

2.  Ask God to speak to you about the little things... then you will familiar with hearing his voice for the BIG things.  For example, try asking God....

   a.  What should I wear today?

   b.  How should I wear my hair?

   c.  Who should I sit next to or talk to at dinner tonight?

   d.  Is there anything in my home that is blocking me from hearing

you God?  Whatever he says, throw it away, maybe even burn it.

Mom and Son enjoying a chat

3.  Pray to Him and use this Easy 3 Step Process:

• A.  SUBMIT to his will.  Say, "God, I submit to your will.  Let mymind, my requests, my spirit honor you.  I submit to your teachings and whoyou are.  My goal is to glorify you."  
• B.  RESIST the enemy.  Say, "I cast out the enemy.  Anything I'mthinking about this topic that is of myself or the enemy dies right now.  I die to myself and my own desires.  I resist the enemies temptation.  My goal is to glorify our Creator."  Sometimes as "MY" ideas come into my mind I announce them out loud and acknowledge they are my ideas and not God's.
• C.  EXPECT an answer.  Say, "Lord I'm listening for your voice, a picture, a word, speak to me... show me.  You already know the answer, just help me to humble myself and hear it."  I'm amazed at how often God surprises me with an answer.  I'm usually debating over X or Y, but God will show me a better way, His way, and the answer he shows is Z!

What a smile!

4.   Sometimes people wonder if they hear God.  My favorite definition is "When my heart and my head agree, that's God speaking."  He will disturb one of the two if he needs to.

5.  You Hear with your Ears, but you LISTEN WITH YOUR HEART.  Often we just get a sense or a nudge.  Also, if it keeps coming back, it may be God.  The point is to start obeying these nudges and honoring them, and slowly God's voice becomes more clear.  Remember, to LISTEN means to also OBEY.  Ask yourself, "Have I obeyed the last thing God told me to do?"  Sometimes our disobedience can lead to not hearing God as clearly.

6.  EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.  My wife Jessica has always told us this truth.  However, here our family is learning a deeper understanding of this truth.  Try to see and accept God's plan in your circumstances.  I have found so much peace in recent weeks just accepting that situation I am in is the one that was meant for me.  Instead of trying to figure out, "my own way". 

 
7.  Dreams, Visions, Other People, Signs.  Dreams and visions are another way he comes to us.   Sometimes he will speak through others as well.  Sometimes he will bring someone into our lives for a reason.  You can ask God to give you a sign!  We all hear or see Him in our own way.

The thinker

8. Spend time getting to know God's Story.  Next time you read the Bible, look at it as hearing God's story for you.  Not just a text book you "have to try to learn from".  We especially like "The Message Bible" which is a new, modern translation of the Bible that reads more like a novel.  Devotional bibles are great.  Remember, the Bible is not simply a book to read.  It is God's word and his plan for the human existence. 

9.  Draw as you pray.  Sometimes it just comes out!

10.  Write as you pray.  THIS HAS BEEN HUGE FOR ME.  I find that if I write as I pray, I get into a free flow where God starts giving me words to write.  I start ideas and He finishes the sentences.  This has become huge in my prayer life.  My prayers tend to build and move instead of just floating in circles in my mind.

11.  BONUS!  Volunteer at a soup kitchen.  Learn more about yourself via others.

Maggie and her friend Jaydon

12.  BONUS 2!  Go build a house for the poor in Mexico with your family.  A good friend of mine told me that the Homes of Hope program in Mexico was, "The sweetest taste of God I ever gave my children."

REMEMBER, THE DEVIL (THE ENEMY) HATES IT WHEN WE LISTEN TO GOD.  THAT'S WHY HE TRIES TO FILL OUR WORLD WITH BUSY DISTRACTIONS AND HIS LIES!!!!

There are four voices we can hear...
1.  Our own voice
2.  Voices of others (friends, family, etc.)
3.  Voice of the Enemy
4.  God's Voice

Consider which one you are truly listening to in different situations throughout your day :)

Finally, expect to hear God's voice EVERY DAY.  As the Lord's prayer goes, "Give us this day our daily bread..." We need to fill up on the Holy Spirit every chance we get.

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10