How can I recognize God's voice versus the other voices?

Some thoughts: Solid food (hearing from God, whether in study or in prayer) is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Heb.5:14)  There will always be a limit to discernment which correlates to our relational willingness to obey.

 

Being uncertain of the exact will of God is not unusual;  it is the norm. He is in heaven;  we are on earth. He is our Maker; we are His creation.  He knows the plans; we don’t.  To this end, recognizing the voice of God is an ongoing experience, which includes some of the following perspectives:

·        Eph. 5 and 6  - “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord”, but knowing that it will include being an imitator of God, being filled with the Spirit, and carrying out a role prescribed for us.

·        1 Timothy 1:10 uses the phrase, “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching”. There is  a body of truth about the will of God, expressed by the voice of God, which is clear and sound – love one another, forgive one another, etc. – the voice of God will never violate ‘sound teaching.’

·        Mark 6:31  Even Jesus had plans that were not fully carried out. He told the disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.”  But what actually happened was just the opposite.  The Father had thousands of people to teach and feed, and the disciples were out in a boat at 3 AM struggling against the wind and waves!!  Jesus was not stumbled by the Father’s “overruling” of His plan.  He obviously was not sinning to hope for rest for His men.  We learn from this that recognizing God’s voice incorporates our best intentions, and a requirement to be alert to the Father’s leading (voice).

·        Prov.24:6 and a few other proverbs – “by wise guidance you will wage war; and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” This is an excellent and necessary test to recognizing the voice of God. It should be confirmed by others who are also seeking His will.

 

Bob Hibbing

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What does God's will have to do with me praying?

John 14:13-14 seems to give us a blank check to get whatever we want from God but in the context it means praying with God's will as the foundation for our requests.  God loves to answer his children and we can be assured that he will also accomplish his will.  Why not pray his will and combine both?  Sure, God can accomplish his will if we don't pray but it might bring him more glory to do it in response to our prayers.  Can we pray opposed to God's will?  Yes.

 

This gets into how God responds to prayer.  He always has a plan, yet asks us to pray assuming that at times he will say yes, other times no and most often it seems wait.  Remember that God is love and has our best in mind as his creations destined to bring him glory.  So pray that God would be glorified in and through you and you'll be praying God's will.

 

Paul Johnson

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When you are praying about a specific decision that needs to be made in a timely manner, how do you decipher what God is saying to you versus your own will (or if it was just that rotten taco you ate last night)? :)

Decision making and finding God’s will are some very important issues in our lives. And very common needs.

 

First, start with a heart to do whatever God wants. In the garden before his crucifixion, Jesus cried out to the Father to relieve him of his suffering, but he covered it all with a submissive heart: “Not what I want but what you want.” Be willing to do whatever God leads you to do. And tell him that.

 

Second, pray in faith. Simply ask God for wisdom without doubting he will answer you (see James 1:5). Even thank him in advance for the answer. He is your Father and he wants to guide his children.

 

Third, God’s wisdom in Proverbs tells us to get advice. (See Prov 12:15 and 20:18.) God will often lead us through advice we receive, giving us hearts of wisdom.

 

Fourth, in the end, you have to make a decision. The answer you are seeking may not be 100% certain and “written in the sky”, but we have to trust he will lead us. So we search the Scriptures, get advice, spend time in prayer. After that, we make the best decision we know how to and commit it to the Lord in faith, even if we say, “Lord, I’m not absolutely sure what to do here, but I am walking by faith. I am choosing the best way I know. Please lead me.”

 

Brad Barrett

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