You Can Hear from God! BUT FIRST -Don’t Miss These Crucial Essentials
Want to Hear God Clearly? Don’t Skip These Essentials - PLUS a Word of Warning!
The Holy Spirit reaches us and communicates in various avenues, but they never contradict what the written Word of God says is acceptable.
This is a follow up article to my previous post on the same topic- Hearing from God: A Glorious Introduction. We discussed some misconceptions about the possibility of open communication and receiving revelation the Lord has to share. It really can be simpler than we often make it.
But understandably, factors stand in the way from clearly hearing from God and receiving the guidance we need. What makes that needed connectivity so hard?
I can list a few things right off the bat that get in the way of noticing His nudges and tuning into the Holy Spirit:
Everyday distractions
Being consumed by our own wants and desires; selfishness
Our shortened attention spans thanks to the advent of smartphones and social media
Personal biases of our own will that make us obstinate towards godly wisdom
A God-concept that is misaligned with the truth of who He is (Written about in these two articles: God Concept Part One and God Concept Part Two - Confusion & Disillusionment)
Notice how much of the aforementioned has to do with idolatry. In this post, we are also going to discuss how idolatry shapes how we go about seeking revelation and how it can get us into trouble spiritually…So let’s start with refining our hearts!
Read to the end for how this ties everything together…
But first: Here is a super simple approach anyone can take to get started. You can pray something like this!
Dear Lord,
Thank You for our relationship! I want to know You more and hear You clearly. Holy Spirit, I welcome You to speak and guide me. I repent of anything that is in the way of receiving what You want to share with me, knowingly and unknowingly. Pease shine a light on what I need to be aware of. I yield my soul to you, quieting my mind, will and emotions so that You can speak to me as you please. I desire to walk in the Spirit moment by moment, so right now I crucify my flesh to be one with You.
Thank You! In Jesus’ name, Amen
Here are some great Bible verses to remember as you pursue intimacy with God in purity of heart:
Psalm 24:3-4
3Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
4He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Jeremiah 29:13
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
The Essentials are More than Basics…they are the Key!
If you are reading this, you are likely interested in going deeper with Him in your relationship with Him. Welcome to the adventure! A common question fellow believers have is, “How do I know that I am hearing from God?”. It’s a great question we should never stop asking! The willingness to make sure we aren’t getting confused is a good thing.
Sometimes you just know that it is definitely the Lord who is leading you or showing you something. It’s hard to explain perfectly! But here is a framework:
People receive from God in different ways. Here are some basic tenets to setting yourself up to know that you heard from the Lord. Those things are: prayer, staying in the Word, and the act of your personal praise and worship. These things open the door to God acquainting us with His character and nature.
These aren’t in any particular order, all three flow together to make up a lifestyle of worship. A lifestyle of worship is not necessarily a musical thing, although it often involves praise and worship music. Worship is ascribing to God the worthiness He deserves. Worship involves giving undivided attention. And our attention is the avenue with which we not only give to God, but also receive from Him! We direct our attention to the Lord so we can observe what He is doing, what He is showing us.
“His spiritual DNA has already been quickened to life in us, so our new nature as a spiritual man can dominate the influence of our soul by diffusing revelation into our mind, will and emotions.” - Shaking Heaven and Earth, Dennis Reanier
PRAISE AND WORSHIP
The vocal aspect of this life of worship involves coming to the Lord to thank Him, praise Him, telling Him that we love Him. Great news if you aren’t much of a singer or are insecure about your singing voice…God loves to hear it from you anyway! Who wouldn’t want to receive adoration from someone that you love? He is always happy to hear from you. And this is more than a sentimental thing, it holds power!
Music has a way of unlocking things in us and unleashing us in ways that we were stuck and stagnant. It sneaks past our defenses. There is a release that happens, and it can be felt tangibly!
We want to be in a place of rest in our souls. If our minds are racing a mile a minute as they often do in this chaotic hustle culture that we live in, it will be hard to discern the voice of God. Our society has got us in fight or flight mode, but a hallmark of knowing that you heard from the Lord comes with an abiding peace. We have to take every thought captive so we can make way for that.
Our praise and worship actively do that for us, it makes our body come into alignment with truth even if our souls want to disagree. It is a powerful thing to have words come from our mouths that challenge the doubt, hopelessness, irritability, etc. that comes with our default nature and the lies of the enemy. It opens us up to receive what the Holy Spirit has to say to us because we have decided to get out of our own head.
Sing the truth about what GOD SAYS about:
Himself
You
Others
…and see the atmosphere drastically shift!
Sometimes, we need to tell our very beings to praise the Lord. Instruct your soul to declare who He is and magnify Him above all.
Psalm 103:1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Personally, there are revelations I only got after lifting my hands in surrender in my own personal times of worship.
As a worship leader, I have plenty more to share on glorious nuances of living a life of worship…STAY TUNED FOR MORE!
PRAYER
How do you view the activity of prayer and the concept of having a prayer life?
Don’t forget that our God is a Person! You can literally talk to Him as you would a friend. He wants to be our everything. He is Shepherd, Father, Friend, and Bridegroom just as much as He is Righteous Judge and King of Kings. Approach Him with reverence but with comfort in knowing you are accepted as His beloved child.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Prayer is much more than speaking to God, it also involves intentionality with learning how to receive. Waiting on God is a major key to this!
Isaiah 64:4
For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
If you are waiting on God for direction for a particular thing, James 1:5 says that if we ask for wisdom, He will give it.
Sometimes we don't know how long God wants us to wait. If it is a matter that is not necessarily urgent, He may take some time to transform your perspective through some kind of process.
And get this - oftentimes, the answer is not necessarily what we thought to begin with! So, God takes the time to wait as we surrender our will and desires so that we are fully positioned to receive what it is really need.
THE BIBLE
Reading the Bible is a lifelong journey of soaking in the character and nature of our Almighty God. He is so beyond our full comprehension, yet he made Himself knowable to us so that we could take part in this incredible relationship like nothing else in this life or the next. It is the most beautiful mystery. The Bible is not just a book, it is the testimony of who He is.
John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
The Word is Jesus! From eternity past, God has always been speaking, and the Word is not just His message but His very essence revealed. Jesus is the living Word of God—an extension of who He is, the perfect expression of His nature, and the One through whom all things were made.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
We can have a baseline for what God loves and hates, what sounds like Him and what sounds like a counterfeit.
If you are new to exploring the written Word, don’t worry! Here’s something you might find funny: I would definitely recommend embracing it because you will always be feeling like there is more to explore and learn! It’s a great thing to amazingly still feel like a child, no matter how long we have been walking with Jesus. It’s actually more of an issue when we think that we know enough, seen enough, done enough…our faith and devotion get stale as the arrogance grows. Let’s not allow ourselves to get jaded, complacent or bored in our relationship with God!
This quote has always resonated me personally, and it is pretty much the heartbeat of Spiritual Anthropology.
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
-Sir Isaac Newton
A Spiritual WARNING: Counterfeit Methods
It is common for people who are interested in spirituality to attempt to access other realms illegally. What do I mean by “illegally”? Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it’s impossible—it means it’s outside of God’s order, and stepping into it brings repercussions. Scripture shows us that there are spiritual legal grounds we must respect and stay aligned with.
This is idolatry.
Examples of Counterfeit Practices
I write as someone who has once been involved with a few of these things (maybe a story for another day!):
Meditation and yoga rooted in Eastern mysticism
Ayahuasca and other psychedelics
Psychics and mediums
Tarot cards and Ouija boards
Horoscopes and zodiac signs
These practices are gaining traction today, but they are not new. They are ancient methods of accessing power apart from God.
Here’s something that might surprise you: you can do all the “godly” things—reading your Bible, worshipping, praying—yet still operate in a spirit of witchcraft.
Yes, you read that right. This is not exaggeration, nor is it sensationalism. Scripture itself provides the meat: anyone can attach “in Jesus’ name” to something while functioning in manipulation or control. That is a deeper insight into what it means to take His name in vain.
This is why discernment matters. Not every spiritual practice is of God, and not every use of His name is genuine.
(More to come in future content—including a closer look at what I refer to as Christian witchcraft.)
The Beauty in the Ordinary
It’s not always the same kind of experience—and honestly, I love that. God is alive and breathing in you, and He is with you all the time. Even in the moments that feel ordinary or boring, He delights in revealing Himself through simplicity. He is our sustainer, present even in the seemingly unexciting things. When you don’t feel particularly spiritual, the Holy Spirit is still active. You never have to force yourself to hear Him. Even if He seems far, He has not walked away.
Sometimes the most powerful encounter is His still small voice after your spiritual receptors have been distracted by other noise—just as Elijah experienced in 1 Kings 19. Other times His voice will be unmistakable, even unusual. There is so much to explore about hearing from the Lord, and we won’t always get it right. Sometimes we think it’s Him, sometimes we doubt, but the important thing is that we stay on the path of growth.
God is rewarding those who seek Him for who He is—and you, my friend, get to be part of that glorious exchange.
If you’re carrying a burden for impacting the world, don’t miss Intimacy with God - The Starting Point