Any advice on hearing God’s voice must invariably begin with what God has already revealed in Scripture. I am not saying this because I feel some religious duty to preface my “real” advice with a courtesy nod to the Bible. I can truly say that, for me personally, the most common way I have heard God’s voice and sensed God’s leading in my life is through the Scriptures. In fact, most of what is written in this book has come from what God has shown me as I have meditated on His Word.
The Scriptures are always speaking to anyone who will take the time to meditate on them. If you say you desire to hear God’s voice yet have no desire to read the Bible, you are fooling yourself. The Scriptures ring with the pitch, the tone, the rhythm, and the meter of God’s voice. You will learn to recognise His voice as you cultivate a deep, abiding love for what God has already said in His written Word. God has gone to great lengths to preserve His Word. Many righteous men and women have paid a dear price, even with their blood, so that we could have the Scriptures. If you are not interested enough in what God has already said to take the time to read His Word, then why should He say anything else to you?
I sent an e-mail to one of my staff members recently with detailed instructions on something that needed to be done. He came back to me right away asking for clarification. It was obvious to me that he had not taken the time to read my e-mail carefully because in it I had already answered all of his questions. Why should I repeat all of my instructions just because he didn’t take the time to read what I had already said? I replied to his questions by simply resending my original e-mail. I think many times we are wondering why God doesn’t speak to us, but it is so simple: He has already spoken, and we have not taken the time to read what He has said. The answers to many of our questions have been sitting right there in front of us all along gathering dust while we cry out to God for a word from heaven.
If the enemy can keep you from God’s Word, he can keep you from God’s voice. If you really want to hear the voice of God speaking, make time every day to meditate upon the Scriptures. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). There is a dimension of supernatural awareness and sensitivity that seems to move to a heightened state in our lives when we simply spend time reading and meditating upon the Word of God. If we learn and know the sound of heaven by reading His Word, we are better able to recognise His voice when He speaks to us personally.
