OVERCOMING HURDLES TO HEARING
When it comes to listening to the voice of God it is important to remove things that can build-up in our spiritual ears like wax. The obvious things are sin (especially pride) or unbelief, but just as deafening are things like motive, and/or preconceived ideas/prejudices, or even experience (or the lack thereof). Remember, God searches the hearts while man looks at the outward. Two examples of how motive can make us spiritually deaf are in the book of Acts. The first example of motive is in Acts 5.1-11, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira sold their property with the stated intent to give the money to the church, but somewhere in the course of events they decided to keep part of the money (which they had every right to do) but rather than tell people that they kept part of the money they lied about the amount they sold the land for, and pretended that they gave the church all the money. By withholding the change in plans they lied to the church (and the Holy Spirit). We can only guess what their motive was but we know the end result was that Ananias and Sapphira were both struck-down by the Holy Spirit. Whatever the motive was it is clear that it was not pure. In another incident in Acts 8.9-25 a man named Simon, who had been a sorcerer, had recently come to Christ. When he saw the Apostles laying hands on someone to impart some spiritual gifts for ministry, Simon wanted the ability to give spiritual gifts to others, and then offered the Apostles money to give him that gift. Peter rebuked Simon sternly, and told him that he would never have a part in that ministry, and that Simon and his money will perish together because his motives were wrong. Then Peter urged Simon to repent before his condition became permanent; which Simon did. The point in each of these events was that motive is a big deal to God, and it can be a big barrier to hearing God’s voice. You can fool some of the people, some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, and some can even fool themselves, but you can’t ever fool God. God knows what is in our hearts, and if we are out to test him or to gain notoriety, or selfish riches, God will not play along.
The other issue is preconceived ideas or prejudices. In the Bible, it is pretty rare that God takes a Saul of Tarsus and slams his face in the dirt and says, I am God, and you're off track. Most often, God will allow us our prejudices and preconceived ideas about people, the world, and even religion because of our will. The Bible says that all of creation testifies to God, and for those who want to see, God’s hand can be seen in everything, but if you look at all of creation, and conclude that this is all just an accident of nature, God won’t force you out of your preconceived ideas. You can chose naturalism over all the wonder and splendor of God’s world, and see the world as random chance, but the problem is that as a Christian if you let naturalism dominate your worldview, you probably will never hear God’s voice, because you have already shut out the supernatural. I see this happen to believers who have an anti-supernatural bias when they try to read the Bible. They conclude that when Jesus delivered someone from a demonic-attack that it was just seizures or epileptic fits, but ignore the fact that Jesus healed them supernaturally. By insisting on a natural explanation (prejudice) they close themselves off from supernatural input. You don’t have to see a demon behind every bush to be a Christian. In a biblical world-view sometimes seizures are demons and other times they are physiological problems.
What other prejudices can block you from hearing? You could have theological presuppositions that are not grounded in the Bible but in rationalism or denominational teachings. If you have been told in church that God does not speak today, or if your church background has limited the ways in which God is allowed to speak, you may miss the voice of God. One such example was the Pharisees. They thought God only spoke through their traditions in Jesus’ day because it had been so long since they had a prophet. So when Jesus spoke to them outside of their traditional interpretations they rejected what he said even though it was according to the Scripture. Jesus addressed the issue when he said to them in John 5.39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Even though they knew that there was a Messiah coming and that God had spoken in the past through the prophets about him, they rejected the voice of God because their hearts were hard to God speaking outside of their traditions. Probably the biggest prejudice is “experience.”
Often experiences (or the lack thereof) dictate what people are willing to believe. If they had a bad experience with someone telling them that God said, and then they made bad choices, they may rightly conclude that it wasn’t God, but they may also decide that God doesn’t actually speak today. Or if you have never heard God’s voice (felt led by God, or had any kind of supernatural experience) you might conclude that God does not speak today.
Another prejudice that we need to be aware of is one that isn’t usually thought of as a prejudice, but it is one; it’s the fear of making a mistake. If you live in fear of making a mistake you will never hear God’s voice. If you do not listen to the voice of God you will certainly make big mistakes because of failed judgments and lack of information. Making mistakes is part of life, if we are too prideful to risk a mistake, then we will never enjoy the fruit of having God lead you further than your own intellect and information can carry you. I have often heard fear spiritualized as not wanting to mislead someone else or create expectations that God then does not fulfill. It is God who invites us to listen to his voice and follow his lead. It is God who invites us to pray and ask. Worrying about what God will or will not do may be an indication that we think we know better than God how to handle people, and may actually be revealing the real issues that fear is masking.
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEARING WELL.
Once you clear the spiritual earwax out you need some practical instructions for hearing God’s voice. First, “dial down.” You can hear better when you turn down the emotional noise. It is hard to hear anyone when you are amped up emotionally. In everyday life a discussion that gets emotional usually leads to people not hearing each other. Sometimes it means we need to calm down, sometimes it means we need to turn off the religious hype. Working yourself into an emotional frenzy does not help you hear God. As you develop in your hearing you may well need to discern God’s leading under extreme circumstances but those are rescue situations; they are not normal. The sooner you learn to dial down and listen, the easier it will be to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit and then to later identify his voice under duress. The reason that many people reject the notion of hearing the voice of God is that they associate it with fleshly emotional and religious hype. All kinds of weird things get said, and God gets blamed for the weirdness. Keep in mind the words of the Psalmist, Be still, and know that I am God… (Psalm 46.10). Consider this, there isn’t even one verse where God’s people get all worked-up into frenzy in order to hear his voice, but in 1 Kings 18.25-29, the prophets of Baal get all worked up into a frenzy and no one answers. In contrast, Elijah then steps up to the plate in this battle of the gods and in verse 36 Elijah prayed a simple (no hype) prayer that God would answer. Then fire poured out from heaven and the frenzied false prophets were defeated. God is not a religion, he is our Father in heaven and he is relating to us. When God speaks it is not an event, it is a normal occurrence that flows out of love and a desire to lead us.
Secondly, it may take time for you to learn to listen. Some people can get on the bike and ride from day one. Others take a little more time to get their balance, but once you learn you will never forget. Don’t be hard on yourself just because you don’t get it right the first time; condemnation is from the enemy. If you fall down God says get back up. God is not expecting you to be perfect; that’s why he gave us Jesus. It is a forgone conclusion that you will not do it perfectly.
Lastly, remember that each time God speaks it is unique to the individual. There is only one burning bush, only one altar consumed by fire in battle with false prophets, one talking donkey, etcetera. Don’t look for God to repeat events in history, but let God speak to you without your determining how it must happen. Those past events were uniquely designed by God to speak to them. God will speak to you in the way that best speaks to you in each event or circumstance.
LEARNING TO LISTEN MEANS LEARNING TO LISTEN.
One of the most common complaints in relationships is communication, but chances are the problem isn’t speaking, they do that fine, it’s that neither one is really listening. That’s why we offer a class called, Listening for Heaven’s Sake, it's not called talking for heaven’s sake. In communications most people are busy building their response to the other person before the other person gets done speaking. They are only technically listening but they are interpreting incorrectly. They filter everything through their own motives, experiences, prejudices, and such then interpret what they think is being said rather than what was meant. The real issue of listening is one of relationship. When someone approaches another person with a desire to get their own way, or to win an argument, or any motive other than listening, their desire is not to relate. For you to really hear what the other person is saying, you have to listen to God, not just what you want to hear.
First, one of the most common complaints about hearing God is that God never answers my prayers. That is an emotional roadblock to hearing God before you ever get started. In the Gospel of John 8.47 it reads, he who belongs to God hears what God says. That is a promise you need to hold on to. Often a few questions reveal that like most of us, they made no connection between what they prayed for, and what happened. They chalked-it-up to coincidence or the actions of others. We are like the atheist that gets lost in the Alaskan wilderness. He got so lost and he runs out of food, so in desperation he prays, “Oh God if you are really there please get me out of this mess.” Moments later a dog sled team comes along and rescues him. But, later when someone asks him about his experience, when they say, “Wow, God was really with you.” The atheist replies, “No, I tried praying but God didn’t rescue me, it was that dog sled team.” Listening involves trusting God to answer.
Second, good listening involves knowing God through Christ and learning about God. If you don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and you don’t know anything about the character of God, then you are open to all kinds of other spiritual voices. Demonic voices are spiritual too but they won't lead you to life and godliness. Often times people get involved in other forms of religion or spiritualism and then attribute these other spirits' leadings to the true and living God. Or they have recently come to faith in Christ but they have some really awful images in their head about God, from non-Christian teachings or unorthodox teachings and then filter events through unbiblical ideas, or false teachings. So if you want to grow in hearing the voice of God you need to know him through Jesus Christ, and you need to learn about him. Otherwise you may be in danger of misinterpreting what God said or did, and be led astray from what God intended.
Third, don’t go beyond what God revealed. If God shows you that there is sin involved, don’t jump to conclusions about who sinned. If God leads you to give, don’t judge the situation or their worthiness. If God leads you to pray for someone or share the gospel with them, just do that, don’t go beyond or do less than how God is leading. One of the biggest roadblocks to hearing from God in the future is a lack of follow through when you do hear. If you have already done that, the need is to repent, and on the next opportunity you get to follow through on God’s leading. Likewise, if God tells you to stop doing something or to start doing something don’t assume that God’s direction is for anyone other than you. On the other hand, if you are praying for someone else, do not interpret what you get. Just relay the impression, dream/vision, verse or whatever without your interpretation or thoughts on the matter. If you get a word, let the other person determine what that word means. Keep you out of God’s Word to them. More about this in part four of this article series.
God’s voice is available to every Christian, but learning to listen is also an art. Some people pick-up on it quickly; others take more time. Give yourself permission to learn, and forgive yourself when you fail. The goal is not to be a superstar or the center of attention. Only God is a superstar, and only God deserves the credit and attention. So use the practical steps to start you on the journey to discerning God’s voice in your life, and be on the look-out for more about follow through in part four of this series.
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