Effective communication is necessary for any relationship to grow. In other words, you can’t effectively serve God if you lack what it takes to communicate with Him. Thank God you can talk to God in prayers BUT does God also talk to you? If your answer is NO then the equation is not yet balance (of course you know there is a problem when only one person is talking without any responses from the listener).
Some times you may get noisy with your prayers and God will say ‘I wish this person will just be quiet and hear me too.’ So how do you hear from God?
GOD IS A SPEAKING SPIRIT
God is a spirit (John 4 : 24) and He has a voice too (Matt 10:20). The problem however is that a spirit cannot speak to the natural world. In same way, God does not speak to your natural ears. So God in His wisdom made humans as an embodiment of 3 different components which are;
-The Spirit (your conscience).
-The Soul (your feelings and emotions).
-The Body (your outward appearance).
Hence, since God is a spirit He only has business with YOUR SPIRIT and that’s the one He speaks to (If you are expecting to hear a very deep voice in your ears, you may never get to hear from God.
As a human being, It then becomes your responsibility to grow or develop your SPIRITUAL SENSE ORGANS. Yes the same way you took time to develop your mental capabilities by going to school or learning a skill, you will also need to take time to develop your spirit if you want to ever hear from God.
This may take some time too (after all the big ears on your head were not so when you were born) and you will also need some spiritual exercise such as praying in tongues and in your understanding , fasting, etc (yes the big muscles and six packs you are carrying about developed with constant exercise).
HOW DOES GOD SPEAK?
We have said that God is a spirit and He speaks through the spirit. But I’m sure you want me to simplify that statement. Principally God speaks in 4 different methods.
1. Through His words (the Holy Bible)
‘… The WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRITS and they are LIFE.’ (John 6 : 63).
The truth is God enjoys using this method because He knows the bible is widely accessible (you don’t need to be a bishop to own one). I will give you a practical example.
The next time you have any questions about life, pick up a bible, stay quiet for few seconds and open ANY verse that comes to your head (you don’t need to know what the verse says, just open any portion and read the entire chapter) I’m assuring you that before you finish reading you will see the words that pertain to your current challenge and the Holy Spirit will make it so striking and you will know that it’s for you.
2. Through your Spirit
We have said your spirit is your conscience (the bible refers to it as A STILL SMALL VOICE. God will normally speak to your spirit and then He will instruct your spirit to tell you what he has said, your spirit then does so by giving you an inward witness about the decision you are about to take.
Have you ever wanted to do a thing and your conscience kept saying NO NO NO THIS IS WRONG? That was God but you may not know except you grow in spirit. Some other times you may want to take a decision and your conscience keep saying DO IT (I mean you have some inner peace about it). That’s God. So easy right?
But wait! The devil is also a SPIRIT, the bible calls him ‘the god of this world.’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). By implication the devil also has a right to speak to your spirit just as God. So you must be careful so as to be able to differentiate between God’s voice and that of the devil. We will discuss more on this below but let’s move on.
Most times people get into trouble because God doesn’t talk too much. So the voice of the devil is louder and more persuasive (that was why Eve believed him) but this is often the case if you are SPIRITUALLY Weak (See How to Energise your Spirit).
Yes you have the power to tell the devil to SHUT UP and he will. The Bible says ‘RESIST the devil and he will FLEE FROM YOU’ (James 4:7). So use your powers.
3. Through the Authoritative Voice of the Holy Spirit
This method is not common, God often reserve this for very important issues and you must be in the spirit to hear from God via this medium. This medium may sometimes involve you hearing a voice from above as in Matthew 3:17.
4. Through Dreams/Vision
God could also give directions through dreams and visions. The only challenge that comes with this is that you may need to ask for the grace to be able to interpret or understand the dream. But sometimes the dream may come very clear that you will not need any interpretation.
In conclusion, God will never speak evil things, God will only lead you in the right direction. Be spiritually sensitive. You don’t know what you have missed until you start hearing from God.
Further questions on this topic can be channeled to the comment box below.