This might be the number one complaint among struggling Christians–I just can’t hear God.
Let me assure you
I get you!
I’ve been walking with Christ seriously for more than forty years now, and I asked Him to be my Savior about five or six years before that. Yet, I can’t tell you the number of times I feel like God isn’t listening or someone built a thick ceiling between me and heaven.
It happened early in my faith, and it’s happened within the last few years. I wish I could tell you exactly why, and below, I’m going to give you a few of the top answers my life has revealed. But first I want to help you with the second most asked question about hearing God.
How Can You Tell When It’s God Talking?
This question isn’t any easier than the first. I’ve heard God in a variety of ways. I heard an audible voice twice. Both times I was kneeling in a church or church-like setting, and both times I was devoted to prayer and listening. But to be perfectly honest. Hearing an audible voice twice in sixty-some years isn’t encouraging news.
Twice, God has given me persistent dreams that revealed a tiny piece of his message. The one that stood out to me most was a dream where I lived in a quaint little house. It was adorable—just a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bath; however, I could have been content there for the rest of my life.
Until one day, I discovered a door. Every single time I had the dream, I sensed the door had always been there. But for some reason, I’d never seen it before. When I opened it, I realized I’d been living in the servant’s quarters of my own home. On the other side of that door, I saw a grand staircase, a vast library, and a magnificent sitting room with light pouring in floor-to-ceiling windows. How could I have lived in such a wonderful place without knowing it?
For years, I had this dream a few times a week. Finally, I understood God was showing me the difference between living life as a Christian and living life as a Christian in complete obedience and under the influence of His Holy Spirit. I never wanted to settle for mediocrity again.
Most often, I feel God speak. I don’t necessarily hear a voice, but something inside me–my spirit, I believe–senses God’s Spirit revealing the heart of God. Sometimes, a song will hit me in a different way. Other times, I’ll get ideas during a sermon or feel like I need to write down something the speaker said. (I keep post-it notes in my Bible bag for just such moments.)
Hebrews 1:1 says that God speaks in a variety of ways; however, the way he speaks to me most of the time is when I’m reading Scripture. Most of the devotions I write and every book I publish started as an idea I had when I was reading, praying, and journaling through God’s Word.
I know it’s Him because it’s nothing I would have thought of myself. And if it’s something I hear in a sermon or read in another book, it’s something that convicts me suddenly. I get a feeling, “This is something I should be (or shouldn’t be) doing.”
Hearing God’s voice can be tricky because often it sounds like the voice of your pastor or your own voice in your head. However, many times, what you’ll hear will be a simple truth you need to implement. Yes, there will be bigger things. Things like:
- I think I should quit my job.
- I feel like I should put more in the offering plate today.
- I want to drop a gallon of milk off at someone’s house after work.
The bigger the move in your life, the more you’ll want to pray about it to make certain it’s God telling you and not yourself trying to concoct a change. You might even ask a friend who walks in the Spirit to pray about it with you. But when you get confirmation, you don’t want to sit on it too long because that’s the top reason we stop hearing God speak.
Why Don’t I Hear God?
- PROCRASTINATION: The number one reason we don’t hear God is because we haven’t done what he already told us to do. Let’s face it. Why should God give us additional instructions when we haven’t bothered to complete the ones He already gave us? In fact, if you are ignoring some of the basics of the Bible–the Ten Commandments or Paul’s Letters–don’t expect to hear much from God. Jesus told me to write this blog post over a week ago, and for the last three days, I haven’t heard much . . . wonder why?
- WRONG HEADPHONES: The second reason I don’t hear God is that I don’t put on the proper metaphorical set of headphones. God speaks to each of us in different ways. If you hear Him most clearly when you’re listening to Christian music and you insist on tuning in the Pop station on your car radio, do not expect to hear God. In my life, this means grabbing my Bible, a pencil, and a notebook, and going off by myself. I read my Bible every day. But sometimes I read with the TV in the background because my husband is watching, or I read in the car while I’m waiting for someone. I know the only time I hear God is when I’m journaling and praying as I read. He speaks to me in other ways, but if I want to be sure to hear him, those are my headphones.
- DISOBEDIENCE: When we are blatantly being disobedient to the Word of God, there’s a good chance we won’t hear him. The Prodigal Son couldn’t hear his father call his name when he was in a distant land, and we can’t hear God when we have on purpose walked away. If you know what you should be doing but you refuse . . . I think you get it.
- ENCOURAGING DISOBEDIENCE: If you are encouraging someone else to continue in their sin, you may have difficulty hearing God’s voice. I get it. You love your kids, your nieces, nephews, and friends. We don’t like to tell anyone they’re wrong. And honestly, if a person doesn’t ask me what the Bible says about their lifestyle or living conditions, I usually don’t say much. If someone doesn’t want to be held accountable, I don’t. On the other hand, if we love someone, we will never tell them their sin is okay. I will not rob the people I love of the blessings of God just because I don’t want them to be angry with me for a while.
- IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT: Finally, if you don’t hear the voice of God in your life, you need to know. It might not be your fault. God might be allowing you to walk in the wilderness for a short while so you can get stronger. The Spirit of God sent Jesus into the wilderness for forty days so he could learn to struggle under duress. If Jesus had to face it, we probably will too. And I’m guessing it will take me longer to learn the lesson than it took Jesus.
I hope this encourages you as you walk with Jesus. He wants to speak to us, and He might not talk to you using the same method He talks to me. We were created to be unique and wonderful. It’s up to us to understand our uniqueness and use it to please our Creator.
