7 Ways to Hear God's Voice

We are going to look together at some ways we can hear from God. The voice of God manifests itself in many ways, our role is to know them in order to grow spiritually.

1. The voice of God: THE WORD OF GOD

All Scripture is inspired of God and useful to teach, to convince, to correct, to instruct in righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16

The Lord speaks to us in our daily Bible reading. It can also highlight a verse or story that tells us about our situation. This is why it is vital for us to have a basic knowledge of the context of the scriptures so that we understand the complete counsel of God.

Everything we experience must be filtered by the Word of God. All the other ways that we are going to see should in no way contradict the Word of God. Our faith is based on the scriptures and on the scriptures alone.

God will never contradict His Word, but He will often come and contradict our understanding of His Word. He will come to renew our thoughts and our intelligence so that we can hear by our reading the voice of God for our life.

Let's see together some ways to hear the voice of God

2. The voice of God: THE VISIONS / NIGHT VISIONS (DREAMS)

In the first year of Belshazzar's reign over Babylon, Daniel had a dream. Visions came to his mind as he lay on his bed. Then he put this dream in writing and told the main points.
Daniel 7:1

A vision of the spirit, in which the Lord "projects images" and/or images on the "screen" of our imaginations, often appears as scenes that require interpretation. As the Holy Spirit speaks to us through these images and images of the spirit, we need to stop and ask Him what the images mean. God is Spirit and speaks to our spirit.

Night visions, or dreams are usually symbolic where the images and scenes that God reveals to us have an allegorical meaning. God communicates his message in a pictorial form whose interpretation is to be taken in the figurative sense.

If you are interested in the field of dreams, I invite you to download the first three chapters of my book Paraboles nocturnes for free.

3. The voice of God: ECSTASY / TRANCE

The next day, as these men were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up to the roof around noon to pray. He was hungry and wanted to eat. While the meal was being prepared, he fell into an ecstasy.
Acts 10:9-10

Pierre experienced a spiritual ecstasy when he was on the terrace at lunchtime. Others in the Word of God experienced an ecstasy like Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

The word ecstasy comes from the Greek "Ekstasis" which means: to be taken out of oneself.

This spiritual experience is like a vision or dream, but with a trance that feels like stepping out of our body. When we receive a vision or a dream from God, we see the vision or the dream. In a trance, we enter the vision or the dream . There is an intense sense of reality when we experience spiritual ecstasy/trance.

Ezekiel speaks of this reality when he says "The Spirit has caught me between earth and heaven and carried me away in divine visions to Jerusalem" (Ezekiel 8:3). He did not see the vision but was transported in the vision.

Peter may have thought he was going through an ecstasy when he was released from prison by an angel.

“Then the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.” So he did. The angel said to him again, "Put on your cloak and follow me." Peter went out and followed him, not knowing that what the angel was doing was real: he thought he had a vision (Acts 12:8-9).

An ecstasy or trance is a spiritual experience where we have the impression of leaving our body to enter a vision or a dream.

4. The voice of God: THE SWEET VOICE OF GOD

The Lord said, "Come out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, and the Lord will pass over." Before the Lord there was a strong and violent wind that tore the mountains and broke the rocks; the Lord was not in the wind [...] After the fire there was a quiet and still murmur. When he heard it, Elijah wrapped his cloak around his face, went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice spoke these words to him: “What are you doing here, Elie?”
1 Kings 19:11-13

Sometimes the Lord speaks to us in a still small voice from within our minds. It is not an audible voice. It can be heard like a fleeting thought, sudden impression or internal conviction of something God says. We can compare it to a "divine whisper" and it is also a beautiful way to hear the voice of God.

God is Spirit and speaks to our spirit. The communication channel of our spirit is revelation, awareness and intuition. The whisperings of God are thus expressed, through our sanctified conscience and through our intuition.

We must learn to trust our intuition (women are more sensitive than men about the trust it brings to their intuition) and conscience, because the sweet voice of God passes through this channel of communication in our life.

5. The Voice of God: ANGELS

As he thought about it, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child she bears comes from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20

God has two armies. The earthly army (Church) and the heavenly army (Angels). The angels tell us about the celestial kingdom. Throughout the New Testament, angels have spoken to people and given them instructions for their lives. God sometimes sends angels to give us messages.

Angels are another way God uses to communicate with us from the celestial kingdom. Throughout the New Testament, angels spoke to people and gave them instructions for their lives. It is important to remember that although angels deliver messages, the source of instruction comes from God.

We pray to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and not the angels. We speak to angels only if an angel speaks the Word to us. It is important to remain profoundly biblical on this point.

6. The voice of God: IMPRESSIONS / ATMOSPHERES

So Saul himself went to Rama. Arrived at the great cistern which is at Secou, ​​he asked: "Where are Samuel and David?" He was told, "They are in Najoth, near Rama." He then took the direction of Najoth, near Rama. The Spirit of God also rested on him and Saul went on his way prophesying until he came to Najoth, near Rama.
1 Samuel 22-23

Many people experience spiritual discernment through impressions without even realizing it.

Often we can smell an evil spirit on someone just by sitting next to that person. The evil spirit that troubles the person will begin to trouble us in the same way.

The text I have chosen to talk about impressions or atmosphere is the story of King Saul. Despite an evil heart, he and his soldiers benefit from the prophetic anointing of the prophet Samuel and his band of prophets. This is the power of atmospheres.

We must be aware of the atmospheres, because God speaks to us through them. The atmospheres attract the presence of God or the presence of darkness. If God sits in the midst of the praises of his people, who sits in the midst of strife, wrath, and sin? If our praise to God is a sweet smelling perfume, what smell does sin have?... After you have found the answer to this question, you will understand why the Word of God calls satan the lord of the flies (Beelzebub).

If we don't realize our prophetic ability and discernment in this area, we might start feeling very confused or thinking we're weird.

7. The voice of God: THE CIRCUMSTANCES

Prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia, they passed through Phrygia and Galatia.
Acts 16:6

God can speak to us and guide us through the circumstances of our lives. It happens when God opens or closes doors for us.

How do we know if it is God who is closing a door on us or if it is Satan?
I cannot give answers here, because it is a case by case. God will tell you in prayer. But if a door closes when you have a promise from God regarding that door in your life, then I invite you to pray in faith for that door to open in the name of Jesus.

We must be sensitive to the circumstances of our lives, because chance does not exist with God. And remember that God changes times and circumstances in your favor.

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7 Ways to Hear God's Voice
Jeremy Pothin

PS: To go further on this subject, I invite you to watch this video below: