“Whoever has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:9 NIV)
Last week, we gave God back His time. We set aside dedicated time to the Lord.
For this week, we will be going over some ways that we can hear from God. The takeaway of this series is for us to diligently seek God’s voice. So, we need knowledge of the ways in which God speaks.
And God speaks in many different ways. In fact, if God wanted to tell you something, then He would. There is no one and nothing that God cannot use to get a word across to us. But for this series, we will only be highlighting a few.
And some ways in which God speaks are through prayer and worship, the word, dreams, people, and audibly.
The most common or familiar way in which God speaks is through prayer.
When we pray, it’s not just us laying our request before God. But it is a conversation between us and our Father.
We must stay in prayer long enough to hear God’s response. And sometimes it’s not always words that He gives us. It can be a vision, or a feeling of His presence and peace.
Or in prayer, God speaks His word back to us. He will allow the Spirit to bring back scripture to our remembrance.
This is why we must be full of the Word. For it will sustain us. And God speaks through His word to us.
We will touch on this next week, but the word of God is applicable to our lives. It’s never outdated or simply words. For the word of God is living and breathing.
“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edge sword, cutting between soul and spirit. Between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
“For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 AMP
And God is also always speaking to us through the Holy Spirit. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, then we are in the will of God and we are doing what is pleasing to our Father.
“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Galatians 5:25 NLT
And Jesus said, “The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me” (John 16:15 NLT)
Another way God speaks is through dreams. He may give us insight regarding the future or give an answer to a prayer.
God speaking through dreams is very common. For He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15, “As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him” (Genesis 15:12-13 NIV). And God gave Joseph not only dreams himself, but the gift to interpret dreams, as with Daniel, too.
God uses people to speak to us. It could be the voice of a prophet, a preacher, or anyone. God used a donkey to speak to Balaam, “Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak.” (Numbers 22:28 NLT)
And lastly, God speaks to us audibly. God is not limited in His ability to do anything. And He does speak directly to us. It’s sometimes in a small, still voice.
“And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him…”
1 Kings 19:12-13 NIV
So, as you go about the day and week, be open to hear from God in all the various ways in which He speaks to us. Y’all have a great week and remember to uplift, inspire, and enlighten, and, more importantly, encourage someone. If you want to reach out or have any prayer request or questions, then you can submit them here.
