Hearing God speaks

Continuing with Jeremiah 1


Jeremiah 1


11 The word of the LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.


12 The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching [b] to see that my word is fulfilled."


13 The word of the LORD came to me again: "What do you see?"
"I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.


14 The LORD said to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the LORD.


"Their kings will come and set up their thrones

in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;

they will come against all her surrounding walls
and against all the towns of Judah.

See looking at this passage, something just jumped to me. God actually ask what did Jeremiah see. And Jeremiah answered, and God confirmed that he has seen correctly. Sometimes, people ask me, when God speaks, how did you know that God speaks. How sure are you it is not yourself, or worst, the devil? The answer is, when God speaks, God will confirm it. Yes that is correct! He will say. So how do we know when He said it was correct? How do we recognize His voice? Simple. You need to know the Word of God. The Word of God, the Bible, is His voice. If we become a flaky Christian merely just discerning the voices in our heads, and not checking if it tallies with the Word of God, we might be a false prophet. Therefore, don’t be lazy! Reading and understanding the Word of God, is just like reading God’s diary! Or talking to God. The more you read it, the more you understand Him.

So does every voice you hear in your head belong to God? Does every word you receive through prophesy is from God? You have to test every word that comes into your life. And you are only able to do that, when you know the voice of God. And one very practical way of recognizing and knowing His voice, and discerning of His spirit, is through His word. When my members tell me they want to draw closer to God, they want to learn to hear God speaks. I told them one thing. Then, do the basic. Talk to God often, connect with Him in prayer, and read the bible everyday. You need to know God’s voice, before trying to hear Him speak ….See, how can Jeremiah be sure that it was God who said “correct” and that those are the things that God wants him to prophesy? Why Jeremiah did not ask…God is that You? Oh are you sure you are God, and not the devil? Why didn’t he question? Simple. Jeremiah recognized the voice of God. And that comes by knowing Him. It is the same as how blind people are able to recognize voices better. They train their ears, they analyze the personality of the voice. Like how you can recognize the voice of your best friend, your parents, your siblings or your loved ones through the phone when others can’t. Why? Because you know them very well, you talk to them a lot, and you understand the personality of their voices.

Therefore the answer to how you can hear the voice of God is : Pray, and know the Word of God. There is no shortcut. And if you notice, God did not ask those who are without a relationship with Him to do His work. In fact, many of the people who do great things from God in the bible, are man of God, who always humble themselves and seek His face. It is also the simple principle of why you rather ask your family or close friends in comparison to an acquaintance, a new friend, or a stranger for a favor. Therefore, build a relationship with Him today :)

Have a nice day!