For all those who wonder if they will ever hear (or sense) God speaking to them, let me encourage you. God is still speaking, even if it feels like God is hiding. Heaven’s radio station transmits all the time. It does require some fine tuning on our part. Over time, you will gradually distinguish the voice of the Lord from all the other competing voices in your life. You can also discover the place where God speaks about everything.

This process usually takes time because God speaks from realms and in frequencies that the normal, natural you, doesn’t readily discern. In fact the Bible states;

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.1 Corinthians 2:14

Unsaved and unregenerate human beings fret against the ways of God.

The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the Lord. Proverbs 19:3

Not only are we are not inclined to listening to God but we hide from the truth in His voice. 

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. John 3:19-20

However, once we surrender our lives to God through faith in Jesus Christ, a new spirit is birthed in us and we are given the capacity to hear and receive from God. Yet the self-dependency of our natural thinking from birth still governs us most of the time. We will need to be intentional about steering our wagon out of these mental ruts. As time goes by we gradually recognize subtle indications and unctions from the Lord from all kinds of circumstances in our life. We increasingly become aware of coincidences, impressions and confirming words or signs that keep pointing us to a wiser, loving intelligence at work in our life. If we live in a prophetic community this process of recognizing God’s voice is accelerated.

The truth of the matter is we often simply wear out from resisting God’s way of doing things. We become tired of seeing no fruit from doing things in our strength. In our depleted state of resignation we begin to recognize and acknowledge God’s agenda is marching on… sometimes without us. This awakens us to Who is really in charge of our world and we begin to humbly acknowledge the still small voice of God in our life. Another factor that determines the time it takes to develop a hearing or listening ear is that at each step in our walk we have to choose… we have to volunteer to cooperate when the Lord speaks to us regarding the things that are not pleasing to him. It’s as if there are trees and bushes blocking our “inner satellite dish” that need to be removed before we get the full signal. If we cooperate with the Holy Spirit working in our lives, as months and years go by, we hear and see more clearly.

Help From a 400 Year Old Book

If you would like some practical tips to receiving more from the Lord when reading your Bible, you can do yourself a favor by getting a copy of “Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ” by Jeanne Guyon, written over three centuries ago. The first 20 pages will radically change how you read your Bible.  Also “Four Keys to Hearing God’s Voice” by Mark Virkler is one of the best resources available to help you tune into the voice of the Lord. The good news is; if you will give yourself to regularly reading and mediating on the Word of God; if you incline and apply your heart to understanding; you will hear the voice of God. The Lord will relentlessly break though every hindrance and barrier in your life, like a plant pressing its way through a concrete sidewalk. You will begin to see and hear God come into focus.

My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:1-5