I recently had a conversation with my daughter, who asked me “how do you know if the voice you’re hearing is God’s voice?” It was a good question and one that made me think for a minute to find a good and truthful response.
In today’s culture, we are constantly being bombarded with different messages, ideas, and images. With so much information being thrown at us daily it can become difficult to filter through all the different voices in our head. And while we can probably all testify that at one time or another we heard God speaking to us, how can we be certain that the voice we are hearing is God’s voice?
Now I must be honest there have been many times that I thought I was hearing God speak to me (as in a voice in my head), and I was confident in what I heard and you couldn’t convince me otherwise. Albeit, I discovered that what I heard was wrong and that it was not the voice of God speaking to me.
The truth of the matter is what we hear or think we hear can be subjective to our experiences, our desires, or even what we ate for dinner last night. Unfortunately, we cannot always trust the voice in our head and we certainly cannot always attribute it to being God’s voice.
So how do we know?
Samuel was just a young boy when God spoke to him. Samuel did not know the Lord at the time so he did not realize it was God speaking to him and instead thought it was Eli the Priest. After Samuel presents himself to Eli multiple times thinking it was him that called his name, Eli finally realizes that it was God calling Samuel, and instructed him that the next time God called his name he should respond, by saying “Speak Lord, your servant Heareth.” (1 Samuel 3:3-10). It was from that moment that Samuel began his relationship with the Lord.
The way God spoke in the Old Testament of course was different than how he speaks today. They did not have the scripture as we do and so he spoke to them audibly or through the prophets. But now he has chosen to speak to us through his son Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2).
Therefore, the easiest and most accurate way to hear God’s speaking is by reading his word, the Holy Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that All Scripture was breathed out by God. All the information that God wanted us to know about him, he provided within the pages of his word. It is his word, speaking to us. God’s word is living and active and it has the power to speak to our hearts and minds (Hebrews 4:12).
Through His word, God reveals to us his character, what he desires for us and from us, how he deals with his people, and even how he deals with his enemies. It’s through his word that we learn about him and in learning, we grow to understand what he would and would not do and what he would and would not say. Thus, the word of God is the best way to measure God’s voice.
Another way to hear God’s voice is through prayer, this is a great privilege we have been given. Because we have been born again, our spirit is alive to God and thus he speaks to our spirit (Romans 8:16).
Interestingly, God is always communicating with us. His voice can be heard in the message of a Pastor, a conversation with a friend, a kind gesture from a stranger, these are ways that God speaks to us through expression. We only recognize these things as God communicating with us when we are in fellowship with him.
Our relationship with God is personal, and as we develop our relationship through prayer and reading his word, the way that God speaks to us as individuals becomes personal as well. The way God chooses to speak to you may be different than how he speaks to me based on our relationship with him.
However, these principles remain true for us all:
God will always speak the truth. (Psalm 25:10, Psalm 31:5, Psalm 33:4, John 14:6, John 15:26) God is truth, Jesus is the truth, The Holy Spirit is Truth, and because they are the embodiment of truth what proceeds out of them can only be the truth. Again, this is why it is important to read the word of God, which is true because when you know the truth, you will not be deceived.
God will never say anything to contradict his word. (John 5:19, John 1:1, John 15:10, Psalm 138:2) If you ever hear a voice that encourages or justifies sin, or unrighteous behavior, this is not the voice of God. He will never contradict his word, his word is truth and it’s eternal, and it never changes. He is Holy and he wants us to live a Holy life.
Recognizing the voice of the enemy
Keep in mind the enemy certainly has access to our thoughts and can drop his suggestions in our ear/mind at will. Our job is to know the voice of God so that the enemy’s voice is foreign to us (John 10:7).
Matthew 16:22-23 read (Matthew 16:21-28 for full context)
v.22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. v.23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Jesus was informing his disciples that he was soon to be crucified and risen again. Peter then begins to rebuke Jesus and tell him that this should not happen to him. When Jesus says “get the behind me, Satan” he is not saying that Peter is Satan, instead, he recognizes that what is being said by Peter contradicts the plan of God and thus, Satan is the actual spokesperson, Peter was just the vessel he used to speak.
Satan will always lie. If you are practicing a sinful lifestyle or dabbling in occult activity, you will be open to deception by the voice of the enemy.
Many false religions have been started because someone heard a voice or was visited by an angel that told them a lie. But we have been warned that even if an angel from heaven preaches another gospel other than Jesus Christ they are to be cursed (Galatians 1:7-9).
Satan will always pervert the word of God. When Jesus was in the wilderness, one of Satan’s temptations was to get Jesus to jump off the top of a temple, he used the scripture in Psalm 91:12 but he misquoted the text (because it’s impossible for him not to lie) (Matthew 4:1-11). If
you hear a voice that is twisting or contradicting the scripture, you are not hearing the voice of God.
Satan will appeal to your fleshly desires. If you hear a voice that encourages you to indulge in passions or to pursue your personal or worldly desires this is not the voice of God. Remember Satan will always speak to your ego because he wants to get you lifted in pride. Pride will cause you to fall, (Proverbs 16:18). God will never speak to our desires, he wants us to deny ourselves and follow his way instead (Matthew 16:24).
We are also instructed to cast down thoughts that come against the knowledge of God and bring those thoughts into the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). That means any thought (voice) that does not align with God’s word must be cast down and replaced with a scripture. Jesus gave us a great example of this when he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness:
Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Luke 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
(Read Luke 4:1-13 for full context)
Similarly, be cautious anytime someone offers a technique as a way to communicate with God or to hear his voice. Suggestions like sitting quietly with your Bible open, emptying your mind, repeating a word or mantra so that you can hear God speak are called contemplative prayer or meditation and is a practice of Eastern Mysticism and yoga.
No amount of sitting still or being quiet is going to make God speak. These are unbiblical techniques used in the new age, occult, and witchcraft, and when you practice them you will be accessing (demon) spirits from that realm. Make no mistake you will hear a voice, albeit not from God.
God, Elohim, is all-powerful, eternal, and sovereign, he cannot be summoned or manipulated by our man-made practices. He speaks how and when he wants, and for us, he has chosen to speak to us through his Son (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Also remember, nothing clouds our ability to hear God’s voice more than sin. If we sin, we are to confess and repent quickly so that we can immediately be restored to fellowship with God (1 John 1:9).
Again, a relationship with God through prayer, and reading God’s word is the best way to discern His voice. God gives us a way to know him, and when we seek him, he reveals himself to us (Proverbs 8:17).
As born-again believers, we are privileged to have our own personal relationship with the God of all creation. He not only communicates with us, but he desires to communicate with us. We have the gift of being able to hear God’s voice every day of our lives simply by opening the Bible and allowing the truth of his word to speak.