Monday May 28, 2018

 

 

The most important factor in your life is not who you are, what you do, where you live, or what you have. The most important factor in your life is your ability to hear God’s voice. Because there are so many voices competing for your attention it becomes nearly impossible to hear his voice. There are the external voices of family, friends, enemies, co-workers, teachers, preachers…the list of people trying to capture your attention is endless. As if that were not enough, through television, radio, and even your cellphones, tablets, and computers, people are trying to get your attention. When we finally get to a place and time of the day where we are able to turn off all of the external voices, then the internal voices turn up the volume. The internal voices that tell you that you must look out for yourself, you have to become somebody, or the internal voices that tell you that you are a failure and that you will never amount to anything.

 

There are many reasons why we are not able to hear God’s voice, but there are two that stand out the most.

 

1. We are not tuned in to God.

 

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voiceand opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. – Revelations 3:20 NIV

 

Sometimes we are so busy and focused on listening to all of the voices in and around us that without realizing it, the sound of God’s voice gets drowned out.

 

2. We don’t belong to God.

 

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27 NIV

 

Those who have not entered into a personal relationship with God cannot expect to hear his voice.

 

First Step

 

If you are not hearing or if you are struggling to hear the voice of God, the first and most important step you can take is to enter into a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father. The way to do this is to pray inviting God into your life; ask him to forgive you for your sins and open your heart and invite him into your life.

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely placesand prayed. – Luke 5:16 NIV

 

Second Step

 

The second step is to turn down all the voices and the noise around you so that you can spend some alone time with your Heavenly Father. Moses heard God’s voice in the wilderness, Elijah heard God in a cave, Jonah in the belly of a fish, Paul in a prison cell, and John on the Island of Patmos. When God speaks he wants our undivided attention. That is why even Jesus, the Son of God, often withdrew to a lonely place to spend time with God. You are not going to consistently hear God speak unless you take time out of your busy schedule to prioritize spending time alone with God.

 

Go ahead, schedule a time and place to pray and read God’s word and you will soon start hearing his voice.