Have you ever wished that Jesus would just talk to you audibly, clearly, without any vagueness or ambiguity at all? Jesus wants us to have a relationship with Him, to love Him with all of our hearts, minds, and souls, but it’s sometimes hard because our relationship with Him doesn’t work exactly the same way as it does with another human being, a friend, a spouse, a parent. We want to be able to sit down, share a cup of coffee with Him, and just have a conversation. When we reach a crucial crossroad in our lives and seek Him in prayer for direction it would be so nice to hear Him clearly and audibly say…”This is the way, walk ye in it”.
Why doesn’t God usually talk to us this way and how do we hear the voice of God? I say “usually” because God SOMETIMES will speak to His people audibly, but that is rare. Last night, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ gave me what is known as a “Word of Wisdom” on this very issue. If you don’t know what a Word of Wisdom is, it’s listed 1st Corinthians 12 (New Testament) as one of the Spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. Distributed according to the Will of God, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are for ALL PEOPLE who BELIEVE in JESUS CHRIST! Not all believers have been given the same gift, but ALL BELIEVERS will RECEIVE some (if not all) of these gifts! If you haven’t done so yet, ask the Father to reveal your Holy Spirit GIFTS!
1st Corinthians 12:4: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
People receive words of wisdom and knowledge in different ways. We should pray for discernment when we receive a word of wisdom or knowledge. Biblical discernment is the ability to decide between truth and error, between what is from God and what is not. Any Word received that goes against the Word of God (Bible) is not from God! God’s presence brings peace, not fear. God’s voice is not a voice of condemnation, even when correcting.
This Word of knowledge came in a dream, and it wasn’t an audible word, but rather an understanding of a concept that I didn’t have previously. I hope that makes sense. In my sleep, the Lord basically gave a greater understanding as to why He doesn’t primarily speak to His people with an audible voice. First and foremost, the Lord wants us to chase after Him. He wants to take us to a deeper level of intimacy with Him. He wants us to experience Him with all of our senses, not just our ears. The example that was given to me is that of a blind man.
People who are physically blind really do have enhanced abilities in their other senses. There was a study published March 22, 2017 of people either born blind, or who became blind by age 3. The research used detailed brain scans to compare the brains of people who were blind to the brains of people who were not blind. The MRI scans showed that these individuals have heightened senses of hearing, smell and touch. In addition, the scans revealed that people who are blind also experienced enhancements in other areas, including in their memory and language abilities, according to the study, published today….https://www.livescience.com/58373-blindness-heightened-senses.html
LiveScience.com
Let’s take this study of the blind man’s heightened senses to a spiritual level. If a person is only using one of their senses to communicate with God, like their ears (hearing), then the other senses will not develop to their full potential. If we were to “hear” the Lord only with our physical ears, our spiritual senses would not develop to their full potential. The Lord desires that we diligently search for Him. He tells us in His Word that when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). He tells us that when we seek Him with all of our heart, then He will be found by us (Jeremiah 29:13).
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Proverbs 25:2: It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.
When we seek to hear God’s voice, we read His Word, we listen carefully to other Spiritual mentors and anchors of the faith, we spend more time in prayer, we look for signs all around us in Nature, in our everyday experiences, we sometimes even experience Him through beautiful fragrances like Lily of the Valley, Myrrh, Hyssop, Cassia, Sweet Cinnamon, Lilac, Rose or Jasmine.
Song of Solomon 1:3: Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth”
Eph. 5: 1-2: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma”
Exodus 30:23-25 instructs, “Also take for yourself quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil.”
Even a heart-felt hug at just the right moment, a powerful thunderstorm, a cooling rain, a crackling fire in the fireplace, the sound of birds, so many things! God speaks to many people through music. The Psalms are one example of this, made into hymns and worship music.
God often speaks to us through our inner voice that some people call a “conscious” or the voice of the Holy Spirit directing us in the paths that we should go. Again, Holy Spirit often does NOT speak with an audible voice, but kind of like a “feeling” and yet more than just a feeling. God can and does still speak to His people in dreams and visions, but these definitely require discernment because dreams and visions can also come from our own heads or even from the enemy!
God’s voice can even come to us in the form of corrections and consequences. Although painful, God’s corrections are always for our good. God also arranges circumstances for those who have “eyes to see”. What some people see as “luck”, or “coincidence” the believer in Jesus sees as God’s hand working behind the scenes, bringing events and people together at just the right time and just the right place for just the right result. As we grow in Christ, we begin to look for God’s hand in everything.
If Jesus were to only speak to us with our ears, we would have no need to diligently search, we would have no need to seek Him with all of our senses, and our experience of Him would be at a much shallower level. Our Father loves us way too much for that! Jesus wants to take us deeper into relationship with Him. He loves each of us more than we can possibly know or imagine!
As a young woman, the Lord Jesus Christ granted me a small foretaste of what His love actually feels like. In the dream, I was in the middle of a dark circle. There were these tiny candles all around me in a circle, and I felt the presence of evil surrounding me.
I was scared and even in my luke-warm Christian state (I was a very worldly Christian at this time) I cried out to Jesus to SAVE ME! Although not able to visually SEE Him, I KNEW He was there. The instant I cried out for Him, He showed up! I “felt” His presence. HE came in like a flood and blew out those candles with a great wind. Then, the evil presence left and I woke up feeling this unexplainable feeling of love. It wrapped around me like a thick warm blanket for maybe 30 seconds to a minute before it left. It was really, really good! The only way that I can physically explain it is to say that it felt WARM and comforting. It was a supernatural warmth, a deep love that cannot be explained or described. I wanted more of it, but I have never experienced it again since that day, which was probably 25 years ago. However, I know that it is there, in Heaven, waiting for each of God’s people when we complete our race and go to be with the Lord.
When we seek God with all of our heart. When we look for Him in our circumstances, our dreams, search Him out in His Word, see Him in Nature, in the beauty, power, sounds, smells of His Creation, when we experience His Love through a warm hug from a friend, through the still small voice of the Holy Spirit within our own bodies, through beautiful, inspirational music, then we are drawn into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus. This is what He is after. Yes, He could just simply speak to us via our ears, but Jesus wants to take us DEEPER into love with Him.
A final, extremely important point. Our sins can block God’s communication to us. We have to REPENT of all sin, I mean REALLY, REALLY REPENT, be sorry for what we have done (or thought), and truly DESIRE to change our ways. This change in heart/attitude, and DESIRE to SURRENDER our own ways to follow God will unstop our ears and remove the blockage that is keeping us from hearing God.
Blessings to you! 🙂
