Before saying “Yes” to God can become your lifestyle, you have to practice hearing His voice daily. This is the final blog of our 5 part blog series! This blog will explain the importance of hearing God’s voice. Then, it will give you some simple ways to practice. The intention is to bring you closer to Him, so He can reveal His plans to you personally. But first, let’s recap the series..
In the first blog of this series, we talked about the differences between the logos and rhema Word of God. (Read it here!) Throughout the series, we used the lives of biblical characters to show what can blossom from trusting God. The connection between Noah, Abram, Moses, David, and Jesus’ lives were displayed to bring deeper understanding of the Bible. Hopefully, it also gave some perspective on the impact our own “yes” to God can have!
The Rhema Word of God
Briefly, rhema is the Greek word which means “word.” However, it’s definition refers directly to the spoken word of God. In contrast to the written word of God, which is the Bible. An example of a rhema word would be God speaking to someone about a current event in their lives. If you’ve ever had someone pray for you and their words matched your exact situation, you’ve experienced rhema. God spoke to them about what you needed to hear. That person may not have even realized it themselves! If God spoke to them, He could speak to you too.
Hearing God’s Voice
Consider this, Christians are very familiar with the idea of believing God for signs, wonders, and miracles. Would it be so crazy to think that He speaks to us? Sometimes, we think of hearing God’s voice is a miracle in and of itself. What if it wasn’t? What if it was the key to seeing more signs, wonders, and miracles happen on earth?
That’s exactly what God wants for us. That’s why He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us! So, that we could experience communion with Him and have a personal relationship with Him. As it says in 1 Corinthians 2:11-13 (ESV), “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So, also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the spirit that is from God. That we might understand the things freely given to us by God. And we impart this not by human wisdom. But taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
God wants to reveal His thoughts and plans to us! This, in and of itself, is not a miracle. This is simply a simple truth. So shake off the expectations and just be open to what He wants to share with you! Often times, we imagine the voice of God to come from the clouds. (Exodus 24:16) But the Bible also refers to the still, small voice of God. (1 Kings 19:12) However it comes is pretty cool! The point is that it’s hard to be obedient if we don’t know what He’s saying..
Start By Listening
One of the best ways to practice hearing God’s voice is to just start listening. A common struggle of trying to hear His voice is wondering whether or not it’s your own voice. So just practice listening first. Then you can start to feel out the difference. The main difference is in the character. At first it might sound like your own voice, but then you will begin to hear God’s character coming through. He might nudge you to talk to someone, or do something differently than you normally would. If it’s Him, it will always be good and will always align with the values He shows in the Bible. Lean into hearing that voice!
Ways to Practice
ACTIVATION: When you have free time, pray and ask God how to spend it. Then, do it! (Hint: He might tell you to do something you enjoy, because He wants to enjoy it with you. Just because it’s God’s voice doesn’t mean He’s going to tell you to read your Bible.. But if He does, ask Him which book He wants you to read.)
ACTIVATION: When you’re struggling with a person, try asking God what He thinks about them. God created each and every one of us in a unique way! He might show you something about them that will make see them the way He sees them.
ACTIVATION: Write a letter to yourself from God’s perspective. Ask God what He wants to say to you, then write it out ! You might be surprised what He has to say..
A Place to Practice
YWAM Redding’s Discipleship Training School (DTS) is a safe environment to practice hearing God’s voice. It provides plenty of opportunities to listen and respond to what He’s saying. Through activities like intercession, worship, and evangelism. The good news is that there is still time to apply to our Fall DTS! Click below to either learn more or apply for the school.