Many times young Christians wonder how to listen to God’s voice. Sometimes they would also question whether the voice is in the head, or audible. In actual fact, the form in which God chooses to speak may vary from individual to individual, but there are some general points to take note of, if you want to hear God.

 

1. Be Watchful for God’s voice

In verse 3 it says ‘the sheep listen to his voice’. It seems an obvious point, but sometimes people tend to forget that. I hear accounts from people from not hearing God, but the question to ask is that were we even listening? Prayer is communication with God, but many people, including myself sometimes, pray as if we are uttering a shopping list of items – “God, bless him, her, me, etc” and we go on in our prayer items without stopping to listen to God and wait to see if He has anything to say to us. I like this simple prayer that I heard from Pastor Benny Ho, “Lord, my bible and my heart are open, speak to me.”

In verse 4 it says ‘He calls his own sheep by name’. There is great consolation and warmth in that fact alone. God knows us very well, and Psalm 139: 13 neatly captures that - ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb’. Sometimes, I hear people comment on something that they heard God say, but then it sounded dubious, and not too biblical. Other times, I hear people comment on something they heard but it doesn’t sound particularly applicable to themselves. We need to recognize a couple of important facts when we listen to God – God knows us very well, and that He is holy and will not violate scripture. When you do hear something, and you wonder if it comes from God, ask yourself some simple questions:

• Did what you hear violate God’s scripture? God will certainly not tell you to do anything that is sin.
• Are you hearing what you really want to hear? Sometimes we ask God for something that we really want, and we hear a yes. Not that God will not say yes to our little requests, but we need to really pray hard because it can easily come from our flesh.

This leads us to the next point. We are listening to God’s voice, but sometimes when we are praying about something we really care about, we may end up hearing our flesh in agreement. In that case, we need to really seek God. But sometimes we can hear another voice.

 

2. Be Wary of satan’s voice

Verse 5 says ‘But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice’. In subsequent verses Jesus mentioned ‘thieves and robbers’ and that the thief only comes to ‘steal, kill and destroy’, and that He came so that we may have life. The thief in these verses no doubt refers to satan, and possibly his minions.

Sometimes we do hear a voice that tells us to sin, or that it is alright to sin. Sometimes we hear a voice agreeing with the selfish things we ask for. Sometimes we hear a voice putting us down, accusing us, or taking a bash at our esteem. We need to be wary of satan’s voice, because these are the little things he likes to do. He tempts, and he tries to steal our hearts away from God. He is also the father of lies, the deceiver and the accuser. If God becomes angry with you, He will rebuke you directly, but God will never put you down in a way to destroy your self esteem. God will never say to you ‘you are a good-for-nothing’ or anything like that. God, in verse 5, stated two expectations of us as Christians when we face satan’s devices.

• ‘They will never follow a stranger’. We must not follow satan or his evil ruses, and therefore we must be extremely vigilant.
• ‘In fact, they will run away’. Not only must we not follow satan to our own doom and ruin, we must run away. And as the bible says, we must flee from temptation.

But how do we know what God will or will not say to us, and how do we recognize His voice distinctly? There is no shortcut.

 

3. Be Walking with God closely

We need to walk very closely with God. In verse 14, Jesus says ‘I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father’. That is a heavy expectation from Jesus. He says he knows us, which we do know as a heartwarming fact, but the other dimension to that is that we, as His sheep, must know Him. And to what extent? Just as the Father knows Jesus, and Jesus knows His Father, which is an extremely intimate relationship, and one that is of father and son.

We need to anchor ourselves in knowing the Lord well, just as parents know their children, and children know their parents. Indeed, if we do not spend enough time getting to know God, how would we know His voice? If a person who you hardly speak to or know well calls you on the phone, would you recognize his voice easily? No, unless he has a very unique voice. But if you talk to him often, and he is a genuine friend of yours, in time, you will be able to clearly recognize his voice whenever he calls. Likewise, we have to get to know God intimately, like a close friend, or like a father, before we can hear Him clearly when he speaks.

 

Further Reflections