Hearing God's Voice
by Robert
Morris
An
excerpt from Pastor Robert's new book Frequency.
Whenever
I hear this phrase, “Pastor Robert, can I ask you something?” I have a
good hunch what’s coming.
It’s
because in more than thirty years of ministry I’ve heard the same great
question posed time and time again. This question is fielded by people in
my own congregation, by students in university classes I’ve taught, by
people who seek my counsel when I’m the guest speaker at other churches,
and by pastors and leaders at conferences.
The
question is “How can I hear God?”
Sometimes
the question is phrased slightly differently: “How can I learn to hear
God’s voice more clearly?” or “How can I discern God’s voice?” or “How can
I tell that God is speaking to me?”
But
the heart behind the question is the same. People are not looking for
burning bushes exactly. But just like Moses, they want to be available if
and when God speaks to them. They want to connect with God on
a deeper level and understand how to hear the voice of God.
I’m
writing this book to help provide a fuller answer to this question. A
fuller answer is needed because the explanation as to how to hear God’s
voice can’t be given in a quick formula. Rather, it arises intrinsically
as part of a genuine and ongoing relationship with God.
If
you want to hear God’s voice, then you must get to know God as
a person—and this takes time and intention, much the same as it takes
to know any friend.
Rest
assured, God has always been a speaking God, and God still speaks to us
today.
Fifteen
times in the New Testament alone, Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him
hear.”
In
John 8:47, Jesus says, “He who is of God hears God’s words.”
.
And in John
10:27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me.”
Read
those verses again if you need to. Note the key conversation words in
each verse just mentioned: hear, God’s words, and voice.
Certain
Christian leaders insist that God has stopped speaking today or that God
speaks only through the pages of Scripture—and if you can’t name a book,
chapter, and verse, then God has not spoken. Largely, they base this
thinking on Revelation 22:18–19, where God warns people not to
add anything to Scripture.
I
strongly hold to the teaching of Revelation 22:18–19, the same way I hold
to all the Bible’s teaching. God warns us not to add anything to
Scripture, and I agree. We can’t add to Scripture. We must not add to
Scripture. And yet Scripture indicates that God still speaks. So we must
reconcile these two truths.
Perhaps
the very terminology God speaks creates the tension in the first
place. So we need to define what we’re talking about. There’s the work of
God that we call inspiration—where God
guided men to write Scripture, with the result the same as if God had written
it.
And
then there is the prompting of the Holy Spirit for conviction,
guidance, assurance, and wisdom. Both of these works of God
are classified under the overall umbrella of God
speaks, but these works are not the same.
When
the Holy Spirit led me to start Gateway Church where I’m senior pastor
today, I very much heard God speak to my heart about the matter. Yet
just because I heard God speak, that does not mean I could write down what
the Holy Spirit impressed upon me and insist that I had another book of
the Bible.
"If
you want to hear God's voice, then you must get to know God as a person."
So
there are two truths to reconcile:
(1)
Scripture is finished. Yes.
(2)
And the Holy Spirit still guides and prompts and convicts and leads. Yes.
It’s this second concept that I refer to in this book when I say “God
speaks.”
God
speaks to us in our spirits. His Spirit bears witness with our
spirit. God does not give us additional books of the Bible. He
does not speak to us audibly. We don’t hear His voice the same way we
would hear someone on the telephone.
Yet
He still speaks.
GOD
SPEAKS TO YOUR HEART
Years
ago my former pastor, Olen Griffing, got in trouble from the leaders of
his denomination because he believed and preached that God still speaks
today. The leaders formed a credentialing committee, met, and
questioned Pastor Olen for several hours about the matter.
Finally Pastor
Olen addressed the committee chairman, a pastor, and said, “You’ve been
asking me questions for three hours. Please let me ask you something now.”
The
man nodded, and so Olen asked him, “Were you called to preach?” The
man nodded again, and so Olen added, “Who called you to preach?”
The
man cleared his throat and said, “Well, God did.”
Olen
said, “Good, would you mind telling me which verse in the Bible contains
your name and says that you were called to preach?”
The
man put his head down and said nothing.
Pastor
Olen summed it up: “God never says anything to our hearts that’s contrary
to what is already revealed in the Bible. But in the same way he called
you to preach, he continues to speak to people’s hearts everywhere.
That’s how God still speaks today.”
Let
me simply say that it’s never my intent in this book to create dissension
within the Christian community. In fact, I’d say most of us are on the
same page already. We sometimes just use different terminology like Olen
did with his credentialing committee. The spirit of unity in the body
of Christ is what I want to champion.
Both
the Old and New Testaments clearly describe God as a speaking God. The
real task—and wonderful opportunity—is for us to learn to hear His voice.
That’s what I want to turn our attention toward because that’s my burden
for all Christians everywhere.
We
need to know that God still speaks to His children today, and we need to
know how to listen to Him and then respond accordingly. I want
every believer to have an intimate, ongoing, and passionate
relationship with Jesus Christ so that we will all love and serve and
follow His voice.
Friends,
the good news is that we don’t need to go through life blindly. We don’t
need to rely on our own understanding.
That truth that God still speaks today offers us
hope and reassurance and confidence.
You can learn to hear God!
Would
you want to have a deeper relationship with God?
God has made it possible for you to know Him
and experience an amazing change in your own life by receiving His Son,
Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.
Say the following prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have
separated me from You.
I am
truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life
pleasing to You.
Please
forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I
believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the
dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I
invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from
this day forward. Thank You that according to your Word, I am now born again.
Please
send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of
my life. I promise to study Your Word – the Bible.
Please
use me for Your glory.
In
Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
RELATED POSTS:.
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The Holy Spirit’s ‘Still Small Voice’
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The Power of a Prayer Garden
.
.Bold Demands We are to Make of God
1 I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my
ear,
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks
with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry
there,
None other has ever known.
2 He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their
singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing. [Refrain]
3 I'd stay in the garden with Him
Tho' the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; thro' the voice of
woe,
His voice to me is calling. [Refrain]
For more information or to purchase the book,
visit frequencybook.net.
#TuneInHearGod
http://gatewaypeople.com/ministries/life/story/2016/03/21/hearing-gods-voice
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