1-800-HEAVEN HOW CAN I KNOW GOD’S VOICE

1 Corinthians 6:19 — “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.”

Have you ever heard someone say, “God spoke to me…” When I was young in the Lord and heard this, my thoughts immediately went to, this guy has a major problem. That thought left my mind the next second when I looked closely at his face and fully understood that he was serious. Tears were coming; his demeanor was like nothing I had ever seen. The emotion was raw, and the seriousness demanded my attention. My next thought was that this was real, but how could it be, hearing from God?

The full understanding of God speaking to people came much later in my walk with the Lord. I got a call from a brother who was up in Oregon, pastoring a country church. He said, “Louie, God spoke to me about you, and you have been on my heart for the past three days. I have spent hours in a freezing van in my driveway praying for you. It’s 10 degrees out here, and I hope this will help you out of the situation you're in.” Instantly, the reality that God does speak to people became real to me. My friend described the situation I was in exactly as it was. That call confirmed to me that God certainly talks to people. It took me being the recipient of that conversation to believe it. Over the year after that call, I sought the lord in prayer that he would speak to me so I may help others. 

Now, here is what I have learned over the years. I will present some examples. First, picture yourself coming home from work and wanting to listen to some music. You turn to your radio and stare at it. What? No music. What’s wrong? Just wanting to hear music isn’t enough. Oh, yes, the box needs electricity to play. You step back. You can barely hear it. Again, something needs to be done. Turn up the volume. As you can see, there is a process to get to the point of enjoying the music. This simple example is a shadow of the process of hearing from God. First, you must have a relationship with God to hear Him. You had the radio, and you knew it could give you music. Second, you need to have the desire to hear from the Lord. Third, you need to make sure you can hear Him by setting aside all selfish desires and all sin. And the fourth thing is that you need to sit and listen.

Then comes the important part, fine-tuning. In the old days, when one wanted to get to a certain station, you needed to fine-tune the dial. Fine-tuning is the process of getting the clearest reception you can by adjusting the dial. It is also the most important part of hearing God's voice. This will take a series of actions, which first takes time and commitment. Hearing from God isn’t like the old song that says, “Jesus is on the hotline.” You can not pick up a phone and dial His number. 

The key to having what you want is spiritual growth. When you received Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit was given to you; He was promised by the Father as a comfort to you. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, bringing understanding of who Jesus is and what He came to earth to accomplish. He guides us in all things so we can form a relationship with our Creator. He is our HOTLINE for communication with the Father. The more deeply our relationship with the Holy Spirit is nurtured, the easier it is to hear His voice. In a finely tuned relationship with the Holy Spirit, your communication becomes stronger and clearer, so He can direct you in His path and speak to you about the mysteries of the fellowship we have with God. But hear me clearly on this. You are always hearing from Him directly in your spirit, 24/7, every day, every moment of your life. All you need to do is press in and build that relationship.

So how does the Holy Spirit communicate with us? I will only address this question from the New Testament. Jesus gave the disciples a directive to meet in the upper room for the promise from the Father. They were there in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. A mighty wind came into the room, and tongues of fire were seen over every person's head in the upper room. The final thing that happened was that they all spoke in heavenly and earthly languages. Three things: wind, fire, and speaking in tongues. That was the way the Spirit spoke that day. He was the mighty wind of refreshing. He was the fire above the heads of the people in the upper room. The fire was the symbol of purification. The symbol being over the head, teaching the brain new glorious things that were only in Him. The voice of the Spirit glorifying God in the languages they were speaking. This is the gift that God the Father promised to build His church into a mighty army to do His will. 

John 14:26

“He will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you”

The Holy Spirit is the source of all things holy. Everything he does has a purpose in the outcome of Christ’s coming in the clouds. He is bringing us into maturity that resembles Christ. Jesus said that when we see Him, we will be like him. We get there by surrendering everything to him and receiving all that the Holy Spirit is offering us. There are gifts of the Spirit that he governs. He distributes them as he sees the need. In our maturing, there are three categories attributed to the Holy Spirit, gifts, fruit, and ministries/operations. These are ours as the Holy Spirit sees the need to distribute them. But first, remember the three things that happened in the upper room, Wind, Fire, and languages (speaking in tongues). All of these are the basis of everything else that the Lord has for us. It is like having a car that is fully equipped and ready to go. But if you don’t have GAS, OIL, AND A SET OF KEYS, YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!

Let me ask a question. If someone gave you a powerful gift that would change every circumstance in your life and set you up for a glorious, comfortable life, would you take everything and tell the person giving the gift to keep the instructions on how to use that gift? That is pure foolishness.

 I want to leave you with this. If God, who created all things perfect, said that all this is yours, don’t you think it would do you well to receive everything He is offering? Press in, learn from the Holy Spirit, and you will hear His voice. If you don’t think it is important, then when the time comes that you need clarity on something, don’t complain that you cannot hear the voice of God.