How can we recognize God’s voice? John 8:47 tells us that if we are of God we hear his voice. As God’s sheep we should be able to recognize his voice (John 10:4-5). We cannot recognize the voice of one we are not close to. Therefore we need to build a relationship with God through prayer and bible study: praying to align ourselves to God’s will and studying to become more like Jesus. We want the very mind of Christ, his wisdom and understanding living in us. If we have that, we will be able to recognize his voice. We know God will only tell us to do things based on principles of loving him and our neighbor.
God’s voice will not tell us to do anything contrary to the biblical principles he has set in motion. He expects us to be able to discern what those are. Galileo said, “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” So think before you say God tells you to…
- …do anything that doesn’t align with scripture.
- …cause dissonance in a church.
- …do anything that doesn’t draw you closer to him
- …get revenge.
- …snipe people from a tall building.
- …do anything not based on principles of love.
- … and so on…
Most of us are far too busy to build a relationship with God, but it is only through constant contact with him that we learn to recognize and hear his voice. As we learn to pray, drink in of God’s word, and meditate on what it means for us personally we become more attuned to what God says. Building a relationship means staying in constant contact with God through prayer, studying his word, and meditating on how to apply it in our lives. Here is where we learn to hear and recognize God’s voice.
