Hearing From God Requires Commitment

Hearing from God requires commitment if you are going to have success.  This article shares one of my daily experiences in my quest to learn how to hear from God.

Sometimes I am so busy it catches up with me. Today was one of those days. I overslept this morning so naturally I got up hurried up to shower and dress, said a few words of prayer and dashed out the door.

As I was driving and looking at the time, trying to mentally calculate the time I would reach my destination, I began thinking about how I am always rushing and trying to be timely, which led me to think about my need to meditate and allow the Lord to talk to me. I wanted to hear from God. So I thought to myself, “I’ll do it right now, but I only got about five minutes to do so.”

So I said to the Lord, “I’m listening to you, Lord. Do you have anything you want to tell me?” “Yes,” He said. “You got your pen ready because I’m gonna talk to you.”  So I grabbed my pen excitedly because I was ready to receive this awesome revelation. And so he told me. “First of all, you need to stop putting me on a time limitation. You give me five minutes, of which much of which you can’t focus on totally because you’re driving. Second, you need to act as if I am always going to talk to you. Always be prepared to hear from me because I could have something to tell you at any moment.” God did go on to share some other things with me that he wanted me to know, but the main point he wanted me to get was I need to spend “quality” time to listen to His voice.

How To Hear From God

1. To hear from God you must first be open and receptive to hear what He has to say.
2. Be sure and set aside “quality time“ with the Lord so you can hear him clearly.  This is key to being able to hear the voice of God.  Quality time involves a set uninterrupted time you dedicate to read/study the Bible in a quiet environment.  Outside influences and distractions don’t allow you to hear properly.
3. Hearing from God requires the Holy Spirit.  You can allow the Holy Spirit into your life by reading the word of God and by inviting Him in to teach you, lead you and guide you.
4. Keep a journal and write down what  you believe God is saying to you.  This is good practice.  You may not get it right all the time but by writing it down, you will begin to see a pattern forming and get better at hearing God.
5. Always listen. Make a practice of sitting still and listening to see if you hear a small voice inside you.  It may not seem like anything significant but write down what you hear if you hear something.  Sometimes the hearing may be thoughts that come to you as you are quiet.  Write these thoughts down.
6. Practice by asking God what to do in simple situations like what you should do first today, or how to handle a situation at work.

Being able to hear from God is kind of like a skill you practice to get good at.  It involves training.  This is how to hear from God.  God is always talking to us.  We sometimes don’t recognize when He is.

 

Pray this prayer:

“Lord, I thank you for always hearing me when I pray.  I invite your Holy Spirit to live in me.  I ask that you open my heart and mind to receive knowledge and truth from you.  Teach me to know your voice. Increase my desire for you as I increase my time with you.  I welcome your presence in me.  I welcome your teaching, your guidance and instruction.  I pray this prayer in Jesus’ name.  Amen.”