How to hear the Voice of the Lord

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

How to hear the Voice of the Lord

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

In our previous message we shared about the lost art of hearing the voice of the Lord for our self and the need to hear His voice for our self. Perhaps here I should mention there is a difference between hearing the voice of the Lord for our self and hearing the voice of the Lord for the Church.

In this message we want to try to answer the question, "How does a new believer learn to hear the voice of the Lord?" First of all, I believe we have to have the right equipment. This means we need to be born again and baptized with the Holy Spirit. We need to have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear. In each word to the seven churches, as recorded in Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, we find these words: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." How do we receive ears to hear His voice? by His grace through faith. 

2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all His servants, and unto all his land;

3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

4 Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. Deuteronomy 29:2-4

Can God speak to those who do not have this foundation? Of course! God is sovereign. But as a general rule, non-believers do not hear the voice of the Lord. We also need to feed on the written word of God and hide it in our hearts.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. Psalm 119:11

The Spirit and the Word agree. We need to diligently read the written word and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the meaning of the word. When we believe we have heard a word from the Lord, we should always ask ourselves whether it agrees with the written word of God. Of course things come up in our life from time to time which the Bible says nothing about.

Next, we need the proper motivation. We need to sincerely want to hear the voice of the Lord. Of course, God knows our hearts. He knows when we are sincere. He also knows when we are self-seeking or if we are seeking only to bring glory to God. We must have a right relationship to Him. Closely related to wanting to hear the voice of the Lord is that we need to ask the Lord to show us His will for us, both overall and in individual circumstances that arise. At the same time, we need to use a little common sense. For example, many years ago, my wife told a (Christian) woman who was in our home to feel free to make for herself a sandwich to eat. The woman had indicated that she had not eaten in a great many hours. So the woman, in all sincerity, no doubt, looked up to the ceiling in our kitchen and said, "Lord, should I put the mayonnaise or mustard on the bread first?" Well, we can admire the woman's sincerity, but I doubt that the Lord really cared which of the two the woman put on the bread first. Also, it is rather important that whatever we ask of the Lord should be consistent with the plan and purposes of God as revealed to us at the particular point in time.

Third, we must act in faith. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord (Psalm 37:23). We must believe that. We must believe that what we hear is from the Lord. A major way to confirm what we believe we hear is to ask if it is consistent with the written word. Let us look at the place of faith in this whole process. Whenever a word comes to my mind to do something or say something, there are two ways that I can look at the event. I can say to myself (as I did far too many times as a new believer), "well, I better not say or do that because it might just be my carnal mind." That is the negative approach, which I do NOT advocate. On the other hand, I can say, "Lord I accept by faith that you have brought this idea to my mind. Therefore I am going to take one step, by faith, in that direction. If I am wrong, please close the door or make it clear to me in some way that my step is not what you will for me at this point." That is the positive approach, and the one that I DO recommend. Further, as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him, we should expect that more and more of our thoughts are actually imparted to us through His Spirit. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." There are at least two ways that we could interpret that verse. The egocentric interpretation says that if I desire a new car every year, then the Lord promises to give me my desires (a new car). There are some Christians who actually seem to attach that interpretation to scripture such as this. But the more excellent way to interpret that verse in Psalm is that the Lord will actually implant the desire itself in our hearts. What kind of desires does the Lord want to put into our hearts? those desires that are consistent with the written word of God; the desire that God may be glorified in all things; the desire that He might be glorified in all that we say, do, and become. Also, please note the condition to "delight thyself also in the Lord." This speaks of our motivation.

In addition, if you are a new believer, it may be a good idea to confirm (or disconfirm, as the case may be) what you believe you are hearing with another believer whom you believe has some maturity. For a period in my early Christian life, there were times that I would deliberately seek out other believers who I thought would be the most likely to disagree or disconfirm that which I believed that I was hearing. If that person confirmed my belief, then I felt on very safe ground in proceeding. The word says "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" (2 Corinthians 13:1). When we were very young believers in the house church in our area in the 1970's, the common interpretation of that verse was that if I believed I had heard a word from the Lord then I should have the word confirmed by Tom Smith and Mary Jones (two or three other people). I have no problem with that interpretation for new believers. However I also believe there is a higher interpretation of that scripture. Jesus said,

17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. 

18 I am one that bear witness of Myself, and the Father That sent Me beareth witness of Me. John 8:17-18

So the two or three witnesses, IF you can receive it, are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In addition, if you are married, then I STRONGLY suggest that you and your spouse pray about and agree upon any major decisions in your life.

The objective is that each believer needs to be able to hear the voice of the Lord for him/herself. The objective is NOT to hear the voice of the Lord through your pastor, elder, or another believer (although that may well be a stepping stone in your walk).

Many years ago I was in Miami, Florida, attending a spiritual conference. The speaker one night said some things which really made a very deep impact on me. Since it was rather late at night I went to bed. Early the next morning I asked to listen to the audiotape that had been recorded from the previous night's meeting. I did not want to "lose" that critical word that I heard the minister share. I played the tape TWICE. The word I was so desirous of hearing again was NOT ON THE TAPE! What I had heard did NOT come through the minister but from the Lord Himself!

Moreover, what the Lord is saying to you might have NO relationship to the words being spoken by the minister. Many years ago I went to a Friday night meeting of believers. The host, an elder in the house church of which we were a part, had invited an elder (who I will call Sam) from another charismatic fellowship to minister the word. Just prior to the time for the teaching, the believers there began to praise and worship the Lord. We were ministering to the Lord as Paul says,

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. 

1 Corinthian 14:15

The church fellowship of which Sam was a part did not believe in singing in the spirit in public meetings. So he tried his best to cut off our worship of the Lord in the spirit, and finally succeeded. Then he started teaching on the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I looked around the room and wondered why he had chosen that topic because everyone there was already baptized in the Holy Spirit. However, his ATTITUDE was far worse than his topic selection. He obviously was trying to teach us a thing or two. His approach was quite harsh and condescending, and certainly not in the right spirit. He displayed an attitude of, "you guys are all wrong; let me teach you something." The host never interrupted Sam. After he finally stopped his tirade, the host told Sam, "I have heard that your daughter is going to have open heart surgery next Tuesday. May we pray for her now?" Sam agreed, so we all prayed for his daughter. Then the meeting ended. A few days later another elder in the house church of which we were a part called me and asked me what had happened during the Friday night meeting. He said that he was not there but that he had heard many negative reports about the word (and attitude) that was shared that night. I said, "I thought it was one of the best meetings I have ever been to. The visiting minister was indeed out of order in both what he said and how he said it. But what he received in exchange for his tirade was the love of God, when we prayed for his daughter." Evidently almost everyone else at that meeting had only seen the negative, using their natural eyes and ears. But the Lord allowed me to see the REAL teaching going on, which was OUTSTANDING! I heard the Lord during that meeting say, 

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

Allow the Holy Spirit to develop within you a sensitivity to hear His voice through WHATEVER means He may choose. I knew a man many years ago who said that he had heard the voice of the Lord at different times through observing place mats, a man's hat, a man's pants, window blinds, and a dog. Quite a strange variety! But do not limit the Holy One of Israel!

Finally, we must practice this process in order that we may be able to discern the will of God in our lives. The author of the book of Hebrews says that the recipients of that epistle are "dull of hearing" (Hebrews 5:11). The author also says that Christian maturity belongs to "those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). Obviously the senses referred to here are not our natural senses, but rather our spiritual senses. So we need to exercise (practice) our spiritual senses to discern both good and evil. Now even the natural man should be able to discern what is "evil." Almost everyone has heard of the Ten Commandments. Anyone who still has any conscience knows that it is wrong to kill another person or rob a bank. Discerning "good" is not quite so easy. Note that the verse does not say discern between good and evil. The word "both" cannot be translated "between." So what the verse is saying, among other things, is that we need to exercise our spiritual senses to discern the will of God from that which is "good." The natural man simply tries to discern between good and evil. Indeed, that is the only distinction that natural man can make. The natural man still partakes of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but has never partaken of the tree of life (Jesus Christ). 

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14 

In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and evil. The comparison, in verse 9 of that chapter, is between the tree of life on one hand and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

One word of caution, from my personal experience. It is possible to be so fervent and desirous of hearing the voice of the Lord that you can slip over into striving in the flesh.

Many years ago my wife, Linda, had a rather serious physical problem. Both my wife and I believed that we knew what the physical problem was. We also believed that the Lord wanted to heal Linda all by Himself. We were very young Christians at that time. A prevalent teaching in the house church of which we were a part at that time was that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word should be confirmed." So we did not want to act on the word that we had personally heard from the Lord without that word being confirmed by two or three other people. We never told anyone what we believed the physical problem to be. I asked numerous people to pray for Linda and see what they heard from the Lord. The only thing I ever told anyone was that Linda had a serious physical condition. I also called a woman who, I believed, had a ministry of healing. During this time period two apostles and one prophet of the Lord happened to be in town at the same time (a rare occurrence). So I asked all three of them to come over to our house one Saturday afternoon. Again I never shared what we believed the specific problem to be. I had assumed that surely one of these three spiritual giants would have a word from the Lord for us. None of them had any such word for us.

When they left, I was very angry. I did not understand why none of those men had a word for us. (A few weeks later the Lord revealed to me that He had sovereignly closed their ears and mouths because He wanted me to hear the voice of the Lord for myself.) In addition, I called for the elders of the church (of which I was one) and asked them to come over to our house one evening. Again, I never shared what we believed the specific physical problem to be. After a few minutes the elders anointed Linda with oil in the name of the Lord and pronounced her healed. Isn't that what the word says in the book of James?

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: James 5:14

I did not witness to the action taken by the elders, but I said nothing. So all of the elders went home, having followed the letter of the word (but I believed missed the Spirit).

The next day, one of the elders who had been in our home the previous evening called me. He said that he had not witnessed to what the elders had said and done the night before, but he had said nothing because he did not want to create any confusion. However, he said that as he was driving over to our house that evening (about a ten minute drive), he asked the Lord, "Lord what is wrong with Linda?" He told me that what he heard during those five minutes was that Linda had a cyst on her right ovary (a rather specific word of knowledge). Furthermore he said that the Lord told him that if Linda went to a medical doctor that the Lord would honor that course of action but that the Lord wanted to heal Linda all by Himself. That was PRECISELY the physical problem that we believed existed and it was PRECISELY what we believed we should do about it; i.e., let the Lord heal Linda all by Himself! That is PRECISELY what we did and the Lord PRECISELY healed Linda very quickly all by Himself! From all of the many believers we had contacted, we heard everything from A to Z concerning Linda's physical problem. ONE man, other than my wife and I, heard the word of the Lord.

There is no such thing as instant maturity. Just be patient. Yes, you will make a few mistakes along the way as you practice hearing the voice of the Lord. But do not get discouraged. God looks on our hearts, not on our outward appearance. In addition, we need to remember that God does not speak to us every minute of every day. Years ago I heard a genuine prophet of the Lord say that he did NOT hear from the Lord every day!

By practicing hearing the voice of the Lord, one day we wake up and say, "How marvelous it is that the Lord chooses to speak to me directly." He is faithful to those who show themselves full of faith toward Him.

To conclude, I want to share with you a personal experience that occurred on June 13, 1976. The Lord woke me up early that Sunday morning about 3:30 a.m. and told me to get out of bed, go downstairs to our living room, and read what is called the "restoration books: "Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. When I read Ezra 6:14, I heard the most powerful word from the Lord I have ever heard in my life. There was no emotion, no other person awake, no noise, and no audible voice. It simply was the Lord speaking to my spirit.

Ezra 6:14, "And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." 

Now I suspect that verse means very little to the great majority of believers. Further I had read that verse at least 5-8 times before that day. But when I read that word that morning, it was like a sledgehammer hit me. What I heard the Lord speaking to me was, "If you want to see the body of Christ prosper, then you function in the place that I have called you." Immediately after hearing that word the Lord continued and said, "I have given you the power to walk in the ministry which I have given unto you." Now at that point in time I had been a functioning elder in a New Testament house church for about seven years. I had "done" about everything you can think of ... teaching, prophesying, and we even had an evangelistic outreach meeting in our home for our neighbors. So if every believer I knew had all lined up and each one of them told me I had not been functioning, I never would have believed it. But when the Lord spoke that word to me, I knew it was truth. That day was indeed a turning point in my walking in the ministry that the Lord put me into.

Now I have never heard the audible voice of the Lord. But I believe the Lord will use just enough volume in His voice to ensure that we hear what He is saying to us. He will shout, if necessary. He will also repeat His word to us as many times as necessary. We might recall from 1 Samuel 3 that the Lord called to Samuel three times before Samuel answered

Is hearing sufficient? Hearing the voice of the Lord for yourself is crucial! It is necessary but not sufficient. James says,

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. James 1:22

In other words we must ACT, by faith, on the word that we hear from the Lord. But all is by His grace. Therefore, in our next several messages we will return to the amazing grace of God.

Until next time, may you continue to abound in the amazing grace of God as you walk in His light. Amen.