Adventures in Hearing God's Voice

Chapter 10: So what now?

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." - Ephesians 4:15

If you take anything away from this book I want it to be;

"Hearing from the Lord is easy!"

He has truly made Himself utterly accessible through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ. Yet even though we have been given everything in Jesus Christ there is an undeniable process of sanctification that each of us go through as we grow in maturity as His body. For the sake of this book, I will define sanctification as the process of learning obedience through suffering, taking on the very nature of christ to share in his Glory for eternity. The scripture is clear that we each must endure His suffering, in order to share in His glory. We do not earn anything from Him, but in order to mature as His children, we are called to walk the same path as His Son.

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--(how do I do big dash?)heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:17

Even Jesus himself "....learned obedience from what he suffered" Hebrews 5:8

He gives the gift of His Voice without repentance, and I honestly believe that He is willing to talk to anybody. This may seem like a bold assertion, but I am hard pressed to find a category of person who Jesus would not humble himself to speak to directly. He spoke to the adulterous woman at the well(John 4), something that was extremely taboo at the time. He spoke to an unrepentant Saul(Acts 9:4) and completely redirected the path of his life. He spoke to the Canaanite woman, someone He specified was not an inheritor of His ministry(Matthew 15) So no matter what you think disqualifies you from hearing the voice of the Lord,

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

So freely we are given access to the Voice of the Lord through the blood of Jesus, but what does it mean to mature in this area of our walk with Him? I believe maturity in the realm hearing God's voice manifests in two main areas. The first is the ability to share something God has been showing you in love. The second is to learn patience and obedience with things God shows you, only sharing in His perfect timing.

When I first started dating my wife, I want around asking many of my elders and peers for advice on how to maintain a healthy relationship. While I got all sorts of answers, they constantly emphasized the importance of communication.

Whether it was a simple declaration, "Communication is Key," or something a little more in depth like, "Right now, you speak different languages, learning the way each other communicates is one of the most important things you will do in your relationship." Communication was constantly brought up as something that could make or break a relationship and as I have grown in my relationship, with my wife I have only begun to plumb the depths of the value of hearing her voice and understanding what she is really saying. For example, when my wife asks me to go on a walk, she is not looking for a silent exercise partner, she is looking for an emotional connection with her husband in her favorite setting. It is because I have grown to understand what her heart is longing for, that I can not just fulfill her request with my physical presence, but truly make an effort to reach out with my heart and connect.

This simple wisdom is deeply applicable to our relationship with Jesus. At some point we each begin conversation with Him that will last the rest of our life. Learning to recognize His voice in all its forms is a wonderful lesson that each of us are guided through by the Holy Spirit. But the lesson does not stop as simply receiving His thoughts towards you or others. He wants to take you deeper! Behind every word God speaks is the deeper reality of His heart! In fact the purpose of His voice is to reveal His heart. Jesus was showing us this principle when He said,