Knowing God's Voice

The most wonderful thing happened to me the other day! I was spending some time with our grandchildren, and on this particular day we were reading some books together. One story we read had a character who mentioned something about hearing what God said to them. It was a sweet story, and we finished that and several others before book time spilled over into another game, but our eldest gran remained on the couch beside me. With beautiful honesty and sincerity he asked, "Grandma, how can we hear God's voice?" 

What an amazing question, and we had a terrific start to what I hope will be a long and fruitful conversation in his life, with his parents and siblings, with all of his grandparents, and with our local community of faith. And I pray more and more of us will pay attention to this beautiful possibility. There is such a constant cacophony of voices trying to catch our attention, and it is vitally important that each of us learn to hear the most important voice of all.  I posted about this in September of 2018, and would like to repost that today with minimal updates...

​I met my husband when I was all of seventeen years old.  We were both freshmen on our college aquatics team, and pretty soon we were dating.  We spent some time together that spring semester before we both had to go home for the summer—he to Texas and me to Virginia.  I remember calling his house one day that summer in the days of landline phones, and talking to his prankster brother on the phone for ten whole minutes before I realized it wasn’t Eli!  Their voices seemed so similar that I did not recognize who was on the other end of the phone.

Now Eli and I have been married almost 33 years, and I really know him. We have spent far over half of our lives together.  If you do the math, that means we have shared about 23,200 pots of coffee—imagine how many thousands of conversations that time represents, how many major life events!  He has called me from remote villages on the other side of the world, on the crackliest of connections, but I still know his voice.  I can walk into a room with hundreds of people, but I can pick his voice out of the crowd any day.  
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Not only that, but when anyone announces that my husband said this or that, I know right away if they are telling the truth.  I not only know his voice after all these years, but I know his heart and the way he thinks, too.  I know just what he would say and what he wouldn’t say--I know him.    

I really committed my life to the Lord about the same time I met my husband.  When I was a new believer, I did not know how to recognize God's voice—how to know what He really said or did not say.  But after 35 years of reading the Bible, praying, pouring over great Christian books, listening to sermons, seeking, fasting, worshipping, listening in prayer—after thousands of conversations with God, I know Him. I can recognize His voice loudly and clearly among the din of other voices competing for my attention. I know what His Word says, and will not be easily fooled by imposters.  I know His plan for my life, and will not be distracted away from it.  

God is not silent, and He speaks all the time.  He is a Father who loves His children.  He wants very much for you and me to know how to recognize His voice from the many other noises and voices we are bombarded with every day.  God created us for that very purpose—fellowship—both with Himself and with each other, and He has not just spun us out on our own. He wants each of us to know Him, and to trust Him. Down through the history of His beautiful Church, we have written accounts of the many men and women who testify to the fact that He still leads and guides His children.  And it is not some special privilege reserved for only the elite, or only those of a particular denomination or fellowship, or for those of a particular nationality, race, or gender. It is for anyone who will listen. 

How do we hear His voice?  

The number one way is the Bible, plain and simple. Another name for the Bible is The Word of God, because that is exactly what it is. Many people would try to tell you that the Bible is not special, that it has nothing to say to us in this modern world, or even that it is wrong and wicked. Some say this in ignorance, having never read it or just parroting what they have heard someone else say, but others say this because they very much wish it to be true in order to justify their own choices. 
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The reality is that over a span of 2500 years, across borders and classes and cultures, God inspired and used people to write His perfect revelation of Himself to people.  It never contradicts itself, it is filled with prophecies that have come to pass hundreds of years after they were spoken, and it is utterly true and powerful.  When you and I read the Bible, we hear God speak.  Not only does it plainly communicate God's heart through its pages, The Word also has the power to speak something new and fresh to each of us each time we read it.  There is nothing like it!  It is real truth and has real answers.  It grounds us and gives us perspective about what life is truly about. It gives up hope for today and for the future. It equips us to be people who can bring real comfort and peace and change to the people all around us. ​
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"It is important that we get still to wait on God. And it is best that we get alone, preferably with our Bible outspread before us. Then if we will we may draw near to God and begin to hear Him speak to us in our hearts.” - A.W. Tozer
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Just like in my own relationship with my husband, the way to know God's voice is to spend time with Him every day, day after day. ​A great way to start is to pick up the Bible and read it again. Great things happen when people read God's Word, and then obey His voice—history shows that lives are changed and societies transformed. May that be so again! 

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Hearing God's voice is important for all of us, but especially for our kids! They are growing up in such a different world than most of us did, and need every encouragement. This is such an important theme to me, and I've woven it into my Booksellers series. If you haven't discovered the first book yet, it's a great time to order for the holidays! It is available for order online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, or you can follow the link below...

Friday Night on the Frio River