Inspiration, reflection, Spiritual Awareness

Soulful Sunday – 1/31/2016

 
The Voice of God

Ssshhhh; did you hear that? Did somebody say something?  God – was that you?

Have you ever Heard him audibly? I mean with your ears like you would with any other person? Well in my 43 years I’ve never.

Some people appear to be more prone to hearing the voice of God, while others like me simply are left scratching their heads!

Have you ever heard someone say well I was talking to the Lord the other day and I said Lord…..And he said…. Like there was some instant exchange in conversation! REALLY??

I can’t question the way some hear from the Father but I also can’t get wrapped up into thinking I have not hit some spiritual epiphany due to lack of maturity.

Never-the-less He does speak to me. It’s just not by a whisper in my ears….
Learning the process of being sure if what I’m being told or instructed has taken quite a bit of time, patience and practice! There have been times during my walk that I felt so sure he was speaking to me and I couldn’t have been more wrong!  Some of those moments left me severely discouraged, disappointed and wondering if I have what it takes to hear his voice.
How can you be sure?
I have learned over a course of time to listen for his direction with my spirit and not the flesh of my ears.
I ask myself a series of questions to serve as confirmation that the instruction or leading is indeed from him:
1. Does the instruction line up with his word complimenting scripture?
2. Am I being lead out of my comfort zone? (His will vs. my own)

3. Am I being Urged to stop trying to be in control? (Whoa this is a biggie for me!)

4. Will what I am hearing benefit anyone besides myself? (Complete selflessness!)

His voice seems to become clearer to me the more I pray, fast, read his word and consider the good of others. 

Are you hearing from God? If so how are you sure that it’s him and not your own subconscious mind? Please do share! I am still growing in this area!

In the meantime, Happy Listening! 

46 thoughts on “Soulful Sunday – 1/31/2016”

  1. Ahh, this will be one of my upcoming topics. Good read. God speaks to all of us in many ways. If something contradicts the word of God, it is most likely from the enemy. If it is all about me, me, me, then it comes from self. I know when I hear from God or being lead by the Holy Spirit when it glorifies God.

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  2. Awesome post ma’am! Thoroughly enjoy the article and the comments are insightful and educative too.

    I believe God speak and we surely can’t put God in a box about his decided line of communication to an individual. All we just have to do is to learn the way he speaks us as a person.

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  4. I’ve never heard the voice of God audibly. There are many stories/verses that tells us God uses different methods to get his message across. For me it is internal dialogue. It is a knowing in my knower-this is God. I agree we must learn to decipher the voices. We also know that God will never contradict His word.

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  5. No, God has never spoken to me in a voice. God speaks in subtle ways to me. A telephone call might come from someone at a strange time interrupting me from going somewhere where by hindsight it would have been harmful.

    Actually, I’ll give an example of that with my wife, Gloria. She used to go to the bank every Friday to pay a bill over the counter. One Friday morning, Gloria received a telephone call from someone she knew who wanted Gloria’s help and so she didn’t go to the bank that day. Gloria could have put this mission of help off but felt compelled to help this lady that morning. That same day there was an armed robbery at that bank branch.

    That example is a little dramatic but there are many times when coincidental things happen in the lives of Gloria and myself. There are too many of them we feel for them to be just coincidence.

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    1. Now Harry; that was God for sure! His protection over Gloria’s life! So glad she is a woman with a heart for others! I did not think about this when I initially wrote but similar instances have happened to me as well. Couldn’t understand why I could not get out the house on time and my son was being uncooperative making me late getting on the road. When I finally did I had missed a massive multi car accident that looked like it happened within the last 10-15 minutes. I was exactly that amount of time late getting on the road. No one else but God! Thanks for sharing ! I always enjoy hearing from you😀

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  7. Has God spoken to me? Yes and No. No, I have not heard him speak in an audible way to me. However, yes he has spoken to me through his word, through the gospel hymns, through the beauty of a sunrise and a sunset and especially when I mess up and start walking on the wrong path. Many times, I have not listened and the outcome has been hard and painful. These are the times, I know he is speaking to me. These are the times, if I had listened the path would have been the one he wanted me to be on and not the one I insisted was the correct one for me. He has given me several wake up calls. The most recent in April 2011, I chose my path, not his nor did I pray to see if it was truly his will and path for me to be on. Let me tell you, he made sure I was listening. I lost 7 days of my life, I can’t remember any of them. My family and friends had to fill in the blanks. My mom told me at one point as clear as day I said to her, “Mom, I saw heaven”. She wanted to question me but there were seven doctors working on me. When I was fully awake and on the road to recovery, she then asked me if I remembered. I don’t and so very much wish I could but then it reminds me of faith. We want so very much to see, hear and touch God in order for us to believe and all the time God is saying, “My child just have faith”.

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    1. Wow!!! What a powerful testimony!!! Did you blog about this experience ? If so send me the link! He does warn us doesn’t he! The consequences we pay for disobeying can really be life changing! So glad you survived to tell the story😀

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  9. Here is my experience: 25 years, 3 months ago I sat in a psychiatrists office. He said “Would you like to join our chemical dependency program?”. I said “Yes”. For years before that day I could not stop my dependence. However, since that day to this, I have not had a chemical dependency. For me, that voice coming out of the psychiatrists mouth was God’s, period.

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    1. Amen Elva!! Amen! I also believe God speaks to us sometimes through others. That has happened to me in my walk and when that person God uses speaks I know it’s him because what they are saying is not new news but confirmation to what he already said to me. Thanks for bringing up that point! I’m so happy for you and your sobriety ! 25 yrs! Glory to God!

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  10. I agree with much of what has been said here. I had a dream one night several years ago when I heard “Seek my face”. Now obviously that is something I have read or heard in church before. I trusted that it was God because as it turns out I did seek Him immediately after that – daily, and my relationship has grown substantially. I WISH He would speak. Wouldn’t that make life much easier – and wouldn’t that totally do away with the concept of Faith? Your points are wonderful. I do not believe God will lead us away from His Word; however I believe that we must be surrendered to the prompting of the Holy Spirit – because where He is there is freedom in Christ. We must be flexible to a point.

    Even Paul said:
    1 Corinthians 9:19-23New Living Translation (NLT)
    19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law,[a] I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

    And also, the most important thing to remember is even when we make an error and presume we heard God and didn’t – God is always there when we repent in sorrow and ask for His direction to lead us back to His will. Grace. Grace. God’s Grace. Amen.

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    1. The NLT is a horrible translation. It did unjustifiable damage to that passage. Paul was a devotely observant Pharisee his whole life and this was proven by his trial in the later part of Acts. He never intentionally disobeyed God’s laws and certainly wasn’t bragging about deceiving his countrymen in this passage. If you want to know God’s will, obey His word and pray. Pray and obey. There aren’t any secrets. But there are many subtleties. Sorry if my post bothers you, but the wording of that passage in NLT makes me insane.

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            1. Yes, it was not meant as an inflammatory remark. But I would encourage anyone to not use Bible “translations” that stray too far from the original language in which they are written. It’s very dangerous. And I’m not a fundamentalist so I’m not a “King James only” guy. “The language of prayer is the language of the soul” – Paul Philip Levertoff

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              1. I agree with that as well and probably why I don’t. I am following a blog of a woman who I don’t doubt is a beloved but I have no clue what translation she is referring to!!! It’s her blog so don’t want to offend her (That’s just who I am) but I can’t help to wonder where the heck she is getting her info from! Lol! I will ask one day because what she writes is inspiring but the translation; I’m clueless….

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              1. I understand your view but I don’t want my blog to be that platform. We don’t have to agree with one another but we should respect on another and be a light to those who don’t know him. This conversation has gotten way off the original topic of how people hear from God and that’s disappointing ..

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                  1. I so appreciate and love ya lots for that! I’ve just seen this happen in other blogs and it cringed my spirit specifically for non-believes who may be reading and see those who do in debate. It’s never a good witness and one of the causes of division in denomination and churches. Let’s focus on Christ and if correction is truly warranted let’s do so in love while reaping the harvest eve if we don’t always agree😊💕

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  11. Honestly we never can be totally sure if it’s God leading our decisions or if we’re simply acting on our own emotions. We’re a society in need of instant gratification, and we can’t always Google our most important life decisions for the answers. What I do is rely on the scriptures that are most prevalent to where I’ve been in life, and which I’ve meditated on through my toughest times. They seem to never lead me astray. Even if I don’t always make the correct decisions, those same scriptures allow me to right my ship and head in the decision God was ultimately leading me too. Food For Thought!

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    1. We all have the opportunity to be sure it’s him if we listen close enough. But will all take advantage of that precise opportunity? That’s a personal decision for every believer. I can’t speak for all but myself only. A Christian will remain unsure with a casual walk but commune with him long, hard and deep enough, he does speaks loud and clear.😘

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  12. For me He speaks in different ways.
    Sometimes it’s subtle, as in an urgent need to do something immediately, if ignore that urge it gets stronger as though He’s yelling at me to do it NOW! I’ll be heading to the gym and I’ll have a sudden urge to stop at a store I never went into before. And there I’ll see an item I needed, at a discounted price, which I would have paid more for at another store I’d have gone to after the gym.

    Sometimes it’s something that happens to prevent me from doing something else. Eg. I’m running to catch a train but as I’m going out the door I spill the trash and have to clean it up or my little one suddenly needs the bathroom or phone call comes in to cause a delay. When I finally get to the train I late but then my train goes express because there’s an issue with the train up ahead — the train I would have been on had I made it out the door on time. In the end I make it to my destination on time nonetheless.

    On other occasions I can hear the Spirit speaking, not audibly, but internally I do hear the exact words being spoken. (I wrote a post on this a while back so won’t go into much detail here. But here’s the link http://moylomenterprises.com/2015/01/11/the-thirst/)

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    1. I can relate to some of what you said here for sure and have experienced the same. Especially that strong urge you spoke about getting louder… I will be reading your article you shared. Thanks for contributing the conversation and hope you are having a blessed Sunday😇

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  14. You have written another fantastic post as always 🙂 As with all of your Soulful Sunday entries, this one is really thought-provoking 🙂 Truth be told, it is hard for me to tell If I ever hear from God despite the fact that I go to Church every Sunday and believe in his existence. I would like to believe that he inspires me whenever I perform a good deed, but I think I do that for myself. Anyway, keep up the great work as always 🙂

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    1. I think you were dead on the first time John when you said he inspires you to do for others. That’s the Christ-like nature in you. People who don’t know or hear from him are selfish or if the do for others there is some self-driven motivation around the act. We do all hear from him and I believe how often and to what extent depends on how much time we contribute to our relationships with him. This for me far exceeds church on Sunday. I spend most of my intimate time with him outside of those walls. Thanks John; you are a blessing!😀

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