How do I hear the voice of God? Part 2

Now that we understand that those who are redeemed and have the Holy Spirit can hear the voice of God; how do I? Give me something practical something I can sink my teeth in and do.

Ok, here are a few suggestions. 

Pray

Now what do I mean? I mean talk to God as if he is in the room with you (which he is). You can't see him, but you can know he is there with you. He wants to reveal himself to you so ask him to. Then comes the hard part. You need to believe that he will speak to you. Then you have to be patient and wait. Oh boy, another tough one. So here is what I do.

I get into a quiet place and I get comfortable. Then I close my eyes and begin to worship, not out loud but inside in order to get my mind focused on Him. Then I begin to listen. Now its unlikely that you will hear an audible voice (it is possible but I never have), but I might hear a song running through my head so I begin to sing it out loud. I continue to sing until something else comes into my head, like a prayer for a friend or something; so I pray it. I continue on until something else comes and I do that as well. You may be convicted of sin,  if you are confess. You may be brought to tears for seemingly no reason. Don't spend to much time questioning, just let him sweep over you. 

What is happening is you are communing with God. He has the agenda for your time with him and he is giving you his leading. There is so much peace in waiting on God to set His own agenda for your prayer. He knows what needs to happen and he knows what he wants to accomplish when you are there. Sometimes you will not be led in any particular direction. Don't stress out as if you have unconfessed sin or something. If you have sin he will remind you until you confess. He wants to be with you. He might want to just sit there and hear your worship. So do whatever you want, but remember you are righteous as a gift. If he is silent it is because he wants you to trust that he is there, is hearing you, and is working to make your love deeper for him.

Keep in mind the things that I wrote in the last post about testing what you hear. If you hear a voice in your head and it says to do something strange, test it. Not making sense does not mean that it is not God, remember His ways are not our ways. So ask Him about it. If you don't feel confirmed that it's God then don't do it. If it is God then He will bring it up continually and each time you give yourself to him in prayer.

Never give up. This is very important. If you pray for ten days straight and you don't feel his presence, hear any direction for your prayers, or hear his voice; keep coming to him. He is not punishing you. He is God and is not obligated to speak at all, but he is still worthy of your trust. He will still lead, it may be harder, but don't give up. Keep worshipping keep on praying, and keep on listening. Don't freak out. Rest in him he is drawing you into deeper relationship with Him. If you keep seeking your longing will grow and you will find him. He is not teasing you he is drawing you. So keep asking, seeking, and knocking. Don't give up.

Now to those who pray by lists or even by pattern prayers in the Bible. I am not willing to say that these things are not helpful, they can be, but often they make talking with God a part of your agenda instead of His. If you don't hear the leading of God in prayer while waiting and you give up and move on to your usual pattern, you will miss a very fruitful learning experience and blessing. Hearing the voice of God is about making yourself available to Him to speak in His time and through his method. It is never static because it changes from day to day, but it is wonderful.

There have been times when I was scheduled to be at work at 7am. I started praying at 11pm and didn't get to bed till 4am, because I waited on the leadership of God in prayer. I will tell you that I was tired in the morning, but I wouldn't give up the experience for the world.  The next day I was sharper and heard God during the day in ways that I am sure I wouldn't have otherwise. I could see the need in people more acutely and had practical wisdom or words to say that would help them.
One last thing, when are we done? There have been times when God's presence is so tangible that it is hard to know when we are done for the night. What I usually do is say "I'm going to bed, Lord." I did this one night and after I started for my bed the Lord reminded me of a scripture that says,
Unless the Lord builds a house,
    the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
    guarding it with sentries will do no good.
² It is useless for you to work so hard
    from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
    for God gives rest to his loved ones. (Psalm 127:1-2 NLT)

This meant two things to me. 

First, it made me realize that God is a work building his house whether I was contending in prayer for it or not, and that I am not primarily needed in the process, but he loves to include us in the pursuit of his glorious expectations.

Second, God gives his loved ones rest. It is good for us to stay up late when he leads and it is good for us to go to bed when he leads.

In the next post, I will give the second of my three practical words of advice, but until then

don't give up.  He hears those he loves, and he will speak to you.