Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
DOES GOD SPEAK TO YOU?

DOES GOD SPEAK TO YOU?

Last updated on: June 26, 2021 at 12:01 pm by Pastor Kelly M. Williams

DOES GOD SPEAK TO YOU? 2021-06-26T12:01:39-06:00 Pastor Kelly M. Williams

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Someone once said, “it is normal to say, ‘I talk to God.’ But when you say, ‘God talks to me.’ That’s when everyone thinks you are crazy!”

Believe it or not, God wants to speak directly to you. Jesus said in John 10, “My sheep hear my voice.”

Some of us have never heard God’s voice or if we have, we didn’t know it was God’s voice.

How do we learn to hear God’s voice? The life of Samuel can teach us a lot about this question. In 1 Samuel 2:21 it says, “And the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord.”

Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord. Just as Samuel grew, so we need to grow in the presence of God. But how do you grow in the presence of God?

Like any good relationship. You have to spend time together, talk to each other, and listen to each other. We do this through prayer, journaling, fasting, Bible reading, confession of sin, Bible memorization. We call these the disciplines of the faith. You grow in the presence of God when you focus on the living Word of God.

God is always at work raising up new leadership in us and through us, if we will but listen to Him and do what He is speaking to us.

God came to the corrupt priest Eli and said in 1 Samuel 2:35, “And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind.”

God has declared to Eli the priest; your season is over because you stewarded it for me in an ungodly way. God tells Eli he has someone He is raising up to take his place.

Then God calls Samuel and Samuel responds in 1 Samuel 3:4, “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.

This happened two more times and finally Eli realizes what is happening to Samuel and says in 1 Samuel 3:9, “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.”
What irony, this man who has stopped listen to God’s voice and obeying it is now teaching Samuel how to hear and respond to God’s voice.

I know this is strange, but I have experienced it in my own life more than once. God sometimes uses corrupt leaders to teach us godly principles and practices.

I remember a guy who came to Liberty University when I was a college student, and he could quote scripture like nobody’s business. He inspired me, but I later learned that he was fraud and a liar. His life was a lie.

Recently I had someone in my office who was broken over Ravi Zacharias and what he has done. The person was asking, “What do I do with this four-foot stack of books he has written, that I have in my possession.” Ravi was maybe the greatest and most well-known apologist we have known. He has been called, “the Billy Graham of Apologetics.” I encouraged my friend not to get rid of those books and not to minimize the things he learned from them, because even though Ravi wouldn’t apply it to his own life, it is still the truth of Jesus for my friend’s life.
Sometimes God uses ungodly leaders to teach us godly practices.

Eli taught Samuel that the beginning of hearing God’s voice is the acknowledgement of God’s presence in your life and then inviting Him to speak to you. Say, “Speak Lord, I am listening for your voice.” Once you have done this, then listen to what He has to say to you. Hopefully the first time God speaks to you it won’t be as heavy as it was for Samuel. God says to Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:11, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house.”

Look at how Samuel responds to God in 1 Samuel 3:15, “Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.

Hearing from God for the first time can be an unsettling thing, but can you imagine if this is the first thing you ever heard God speak to you? God didn’t give Samuel time to crawl or walk. Samuel had to hit the ground running. This is a very heavy first word and Samuel was afraid to share it. You may find yourself afraid to share something that God has revealed to you.

You and I have to learn how to speak what God says to us in the face of fear.

God wants us to represent Him to others. He wants us to hear what He is saying to us through His Word and His Spirit and represent Him to others. It could be the message of salvation.

Maybe they have never given their life to Jesus. The most prophetic message you can ever share with anyone is, “Jesus loves you and wants to save your live forever. Or it could be a specific word about someone’s calling on their life or sadly it could be a sinful habit in their life. Whatever it is, we must always share in love for the glory of Jesus and the good of others. This has to be our focus and our motivation.

May the Lord give each of us the special grace we need to hear His voice and speak on His behalf to others.

Blessings,
Pastor Kelly

Hearing the Voice of God

Previous Post

June 26, 2021

How Not To Be A Discouragement To Others

Next Post

June 26, 2021 HEARING GOD'S VOICE AND OBEYING IN OUR SORROWS

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Peter Abortion Asbury Revival Bearing Burdens Blessings of God BOOK OF MICAH charlie kirk Charlie Kirk and Steven Furtick Christmas Church Church Scandal Covid disicpleship Dr. James Dobson Ezekiel Fear Finances Francis Chan Gender Gender and Sexuality Gospel Grace Hearing the Voice of God Heart For God Homosexuality Israel Jesus Kayne West Kayne West and Joel Osteen Lauren Daigle Lauren Daigle and Steven Furtick Lauren Daigle and Steven Furtick Leaving Your Places Of Shittim Live Courageous Love Making A Name For Yourself For God Pastors and Churches Peace and Encouragement Personal Philip Yancey Politics Presidential Election Real Relationships Same Sex Ceremonies Sexual Abuse in the church Song Review Southern Baptist Churches and Women Teachers Suffering Thanksgiving Day The Bible The Good Pastor The Mystery of 23: God Speaks The Mystery of 23: God Speaks Again Uncategorized Visions and Dreams William Tyndale Woke Women Pastors

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 June 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 February 2023 January 2023 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the strongest man mentioned in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Goliath Samson David Saul