DAY 4

Let’s continue our discussion of 7 ways to hear God’s voice.

#3 Obedience is the secret to ongoing conversation with God.

Remember, You’ve already begun to understand what it means to hear God’s voice and you’ve already responded to what you heard by being baptized. As you move forward you’ll simply be doing this over and over again.
 
We don’t mean that you’ll keep being baptized over and over again. We mean that you’ll keep hearing God’s voice and responding to Him over and over again.

The Bible is full of instructions. God has addressed every area of life in His Book. Some of what He’s said to do is easy. Other things are hard—especially when the world’s way seems to contradict God’s way.

Many people who made commitments to follow Christ later decided that living in obedience to biblical instruction wasn’t what they wanted to do.

So they didn’t.
 
At first it didn’t seem to matter, but unbeknownst to them—their disobedience led to spiritual deafness—and they are no longer hearing God’s voice.

Even worse, they might think they are hearing God’s voice and instead they are hearing the voice of the devil who has learned how to sound an awful lot like God.
 
Read I Peter 5:8, highlight this verse in your Bible.

Peter warns Christians that the devil prowls about looking for people he can devour. He crouches at the door of disobedience waiting to devour Christ followers when their sense of spiritual hearing gets hindered by their disobedience. Obedience opens our ears and disobedience closes them.
 
The thing about God is that He’s GOD!

He doesn’t come into our lives to just to help us out in a pinch! (Even though He will often do that.)
 
He comes in to rule because that’s who He is and what He does!

So if one day you decide that you’d rather rule your life on your own, you will most likely find it difficult to hear the voice of God.
 
#4 God communicates with us through other people.
 
We’re going to talk more about this in a few days but for now understand this, Jesus chose 12 men to become His disciples. (He traveled with several women too.) In community with this group of people, Jesus established His Church.

Today the people who follow God continue to live in community with each other. They grow in their understanding of God, they work together to fulfill the purposes of God, and together they hear and share the word of God.
 
You might already know this, but your spiritual adventure will be incredibly impacted by the people you travel with—and you often hear the voice of God together.

#5 God speaks through praise and worship.

We’re going to unpack worship tomorrow and I can hardly wait. For now, know this: God will speak directly to your heart through praise and worship. Fill your ears with praise music and let the voice of God speak truth to your heart.

#6 God speaks through dreams and visions.

This is always an interesting and exciting way that God speaks to us. I don’t even have to explain it because you will know when He does this to you.

Just remember this, when God speaks to you through dreams and visions, His message will always line up with His Word. If you think God’s spoken to you in a dream or vision it’s a good idea to make sure that what God said aligns with Scripture. Share your experience with a trusted Christ follower who has studied the Bible and can help you make sense of your experience and God’s Word.

#7 Cultivate an attitude of gratitude if you want to hear God’s voice.

If you go through life always looking at your glass half empty, you will miss the voice of God.

Go highlight Romans 1:21.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

When you get too busy, too burdened, too full of pride to thank God for His faithfulness and love, you will find it hard to hear his voice.

Make it a practice starting today to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
 
What are you grateful for today?