Can I Hear the Voice of the Lord?

How can I hear the voice of the Lord, you ask? Or maybe your question is can I even hear the voice of the Lord? Well, my friend, you most certainly can! All you have to do is position yourself to hear Him.

How can I hear the Lord?

Let’s take a look at the example given in the Bible by a young boy named Samuel.

1 Samuel 3:1-10

1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 

⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 

⁶ And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

¹⁰ And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version

Eli was getting old and Samuel was there in the temple to serve Eli and minister unto the Lord. It was getting late and Samuel had gone to bed and the Lord called him by name. He jumped up and ran to Eli thinking that he had called him, but it was not Eli. So he told him to go back to bed. This happened not only a second time but a third time also. So Eli realized that it was the Lord calling to Samuel, so he told him to go back to bed and to wait to see if the Lord called again.

Key to hearing God

Next, comes the key to hearing God. Watch closely, Samuel went back to bed. He got quiet and was waiting on the Lord. So the Lord did call again and Samuel answered Him and said, “Speak for your servant hears.

The key to hearing God is getting quiet before Him. As Samuel settled down and listened for the Lord, he heard Him. That is all that it takes for us is to get quiet before the Lord.

We are taught the wrong concept in hearing God

All my life I had been taught that you come to the Lord and you pray and make your request known to the Lord. Now don’t get me wrong, we are to make our request known to Him. The Bible tells us in so many scriptures to ask. Matthew 7:7-11; Matthew 21:22; Luke 11:9-13 and Philippians 4:6. These are just a few that tell us to ask.

But what has been missing is that we also need to wait upon the Lord. You see, when we come to the Lord with our laundry list of things we are the ones that are doing all the talking. We never give the Lord a moment to talk to us. We are in a hurry to read our devotional books, our scripture and give Him our list of requests.

But friend, we are missing the whole boat when we do this.

We need to develop a relationship with God

We need to develop a relationship with God just as you do with your spouse, best friend or family member. Let me ask you a question, have you ever been out to eat with someone that just talked and talked and talked? You could not even say a word. If you did, they would cut you off and continue on with their comments. How did you feel after you left that meal? Exhausted maybe, frustrated because you did not even get to make one comment.

Do you think that God might feel that way sometimes? Let me tell you, He will be the best friend you will every have. If you let Him be your friend. He is just waiting to talk to you, give you direction for your life, tell you about your future and be a loving Father.

How do I develop a relationship with God

First, you need to spend time with Him every day. Start with praising Him for all the things He has done for you. Well, Debbie, my life is not so great right now. This has happened and that has happened. Don’t you think God knows what is going on in your life. Let me assure you that He knows every detail. Believe me it could alway be worse. I have been in those situations myself, it was like the pit of hell had overtaken me and was dragging me down.

But I have learned to praise the Lord in the midst of my circumstances. Because believe me it could be worse. There were times that it did get worse but I held on and kept putting one foot in front of the other. You know what? Slowing, I began to come out of the pit. I kept on praising Him and finally I was on solid ground.

Second, step in developing a relationship with God

Second, I can not stress this step enough you must read your Bible. Not other books about what other are saying about the Bible, not other devotionals but you must read the Word of God. I encourage each of you, to read it from Genesis to Revelation. There is so much to learn from the Bible. You must know the Word so that you can know when someone is not preaching or teaching the Word correctly. Unfortunately there are those out there that will teach false doctrine.

So, read your Bible every day. Get on a reading schedule, it doesn’t matter what schedule but just start. If it is a few verses, a chapter, or even a whole book, it doesn’t matter just read. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance to give you revelation into what you are reading.

Third, step in developing that relationship

Ask God for your request, get them off your mind. We are told as stated above to ask for the things that we need. Keep a notebook beside you so as you meditate on the Word you can jot down things that are important to you.

Most important step

Finally, the most important step is to wait upon the Lord. Sit quietly and ask Him what He wants to tell you. This is the hardest part to learn. To sit quietly and wait on Him to talk to you. In our fast paced world we want everything in an instance. Well with God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day. When I implemented this during Wednesday night prayer in our church it was hard for people to sit and be quiet. But we waited for Him to speak. By speaking I mean He might speak to our heart, give us a verse of scripture for direction, or give a vision.

But as we learned week after week to sit before Him, we learned His voice and it became stronger and stronger. The most amazing thing happened we learned to do Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am the Lord”. Out of this time with Him came prayer assignments around our city and various places through out the country. God wants all of us to know Him in an intimate way. That only comes by waiting on Him.

What were we learning

We were learning to align our will with His will and to hear the voice of the Lord. There my friend is the key to having your prayers answered, it is aligning your will with His. When you do this there are spontaneous answers to prayers because they are His will and not ours. There is a closeness that develops with Him that I can not describe.

I have learned a valuable lesson through waiting, it is so much more that I could have hoped or asked for because He knew better than I what was needed.

Recapping how to hear the voice of the Lord

So in review, come to Him with thanksgiving and praise for everything that He has done and that He will do for you. Second, study the Word every day. Know the scripture like the palm of your hand. Third, pray and make your request known. Lastly but most importantly, wait quietly for Him to speak to you. It is during this time that the deep relationship develops as you learn to hear His voice.

Become a Samuel, learn to wait upon the Lord and listen so that you can hear the voice of the Lord.

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