To Hear God We Must Know God

I hope you have enjoyed this month of stories about people hearing God. One of the main things I learned is in order to hear God we have to know God. We need to know who He is, how He acts, what His characteristics are in order to know what He sounds like.

         The first time God spoke about Himself in the Bible was when He showed His glory and goodness to Moses. He tells Moses, and us, what He is like. In Exodus 34:6,7, God describes Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, and forgiving. When we are praying and listening for God to speak to us, and we hear those characteristics we can know it is God.

         In the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples if they saw Him, then they saw God the Father, because they were the same. What is Jesus like? It is His Spirit that lives inside us, if we are His followers. His spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.  When we hear a voice that sounds like that, we can know it is God speaking.

         If we hear a voice in our spirit that makes us feel bad about ourselves, that is not God’s voice. The Bible says it is the enemy who accuses us, condemns us and makes us feel guilty. The enemy’s voice will make us feel bad about ourselves.

         God does not condemn us or make us feel guilty. He will correct us, but in a way that we still feel good about ourselves. We will be thankful for the correction. It will be a positive in our life. He will speak the truth to you in a way that will set you free.

         What we know of God, how we perceive Him and what we think about Him determines how and if we hear Him. To hear God, we must understand who He is and what He is like.

If you would like to read some great stories of people who have heard God speak to them, click on one of the links below. This is Day 29 in a series about Hearing God. It is part of a writing challenge at www.write31days.com. When you finish reading here, please hop over to that site for many great topics and blogs.

Day 1: Take Off Your Sandals
Day 2:  God in the Grocery Store
Day 3:  God in the Grocery Store - Part2
Day 4:  Peeking During Prayer
Day 5:  How Do We Know God's Voice?
Day 6:  A Young Mom, Toddler Toys and Hearing God
Day 7:  Hearing God When Making Decisions
Day 8:  Lining Up Those Ducks
Day 9:   Hearing God for Our Kids
Day 10: God or Genie in a Bottle?
Day 11: The Perfect Day to Hear God
Day 12: Hearing God in a Crisis
Day 13:  7 Ways to Test an Impression
Day 14:  Remote Assignment
Day 15:  God's Silence
Day 16:  Hearing God While Dating
Day 17:  Hearing God Bible Verses
Day 18:  What Others Say About Hearing God
Day 19:  Hearing God Through Distractions
Day 20:  Hearing God as a Child
Day 21:  Hearing God in Confusion
Day 22:  Hearing God's Encouraging Voice
Day 23:  Hearing God on a Tractor
Day 24:  An Email Confirmation
Day 25:  Do You Really Want to Hear From God?
Day 26:  Why Hear God?
Day 27:  Are You Texting God?
Day 28:  Hearing God in Our Depression
Day 29:
Day 30: Desperate to Hear God
Day 31: Desperate to Hear God (Part 2)