If God Speaks, I Don’t Want to Miss Anything!

By Cynthia Bezek

It used to bother me that my praying was all monologue. It’s not that I wanted to do all the talking. I genuinely longed to hear from God. In fact, I knew I needed to hear from God so that I wasn’t simply leaning on my own understanding (Prov. 3:5). But it takes two to tango—or dialogue—right? And God didn’t seem to be talking.

I studied the Scriptures to see what might be wrong. But from what I could tell, it seemed like hearing from God was a believer’s birthright. Everything I read convinced me all the more that God intended prayer to be a two-way conversation. For example:

• “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer. 33:3).
• “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
• “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26, NASB).
• “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15, NASB).
• “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord, I am coming’” (Ps. 27:8, NLT).

Furthermore, it seemed as if nearly every major character in Scripture (and minor characters as well) heard from God. Sometimes He spoke through angels, sometimes in dreams and visions, sometimes from a burning bush or donkey, sometimes in a voice like thunder, and many times in ways Scripture didn’t spell out. But God talked—and He talked a lot!

I was frustrated. How was I supposed to trust in the Lord and not lean on my own understanding (Prov. 3:5) if every time I talked to God and tried to acknowledge Him in all my ways, I got silence for an answer? Despite my discouragement, I continued to ask God to speak to me and guide me. But it felt as if I were talking to a stone wall.

Then one day I told a friend an idea I had for something we’d been working on together. I mentioned that I’d been praying about it. Her response stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Cynthia, do you know how often you say, ‘I prayed about it and then I got this great idea’? Do you really think all those ‘great ideas’ are you? Or do you think that might actually be God talking to you?”

Well, there was a radical idea! What if those “great ideas” of mine really were not mine at all? I felt both elated and sheepish. My friend was right. God had been speaking to me all along—but I’d missed Him because I didn’t recognize His voice.

Recognizing God’s Everyday Voice

Since that eureka moment quite a few years ago, I’ve discovered that many people think God doesn’t speak to them because, like me, they simply don’t realize what God’s voice sounds like.

What does God’s voice sound like? In my experience, at least, God’s voice usually doesn’t sound like actor Charlton Heston. So when I expected God to speak to me in high drama—like He did in The Ten Commandments movie, or in some of the Old Testament narratives—I set myself up for missing Him.

I live post-Pentecost. The Holy Spirit indwells me. He and I can quietly converse anytime, anywhere—skywriting optional.

And here’s the thing that shocked me so much: His voice tends to sound very much like my own. When the Holy Spirit speaks to me, most often He simply interjects His thoughts into mine. The difference between His voice and mine isn’t one of tone, tenor, and timbre. He doesn’t use vocal cords, after all. He speaks Spirit to spirit.

Paul explains this concept in 1 Corinthians: “God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (2:10–12, NLT).

Understanding these principles of God’s communication methods made everything about hearing from Him easier—but also harder.

It’s easier because His voice was suddenly very accessible. The Holy Spirit’s living in us 24/7 makes communicating with Him even simpler than answering a friend’s phone call. I realized that God had been speaking to me all along—for years, actually. I just hadn’t known it. I knew He had guided and helped me. But I didn’t know that all those good ideas, impressions, reminders, promptings, reassurances, warnings, songs in the night, and words of truth and comfort had all come from Him! It seems so obvious to me now. But honestly, I’d missed it before.

It’s also harder. Because He speaks through our thoughts, we can’t distinguish His voice from our own as easily as we can the friend’s at the other end of the phone. So I’m afraid I have too often and too easily dismissed what He said. If I think they’re my thoughts, it doesn’t matter if I pay attention or not—or so it seems. But if it’s God speaking, then I don’t want to miss anything!

Discerning God’s Everyday Voice

So how do we know when it’s Him or when it’s just our own good ideas and wishful thinking? Three traditionally suggested “tests” usually go like this: Does the message line up with Scripture? Does it give a sense of peace? Do mature believers concur that this word is likely from God?

These tests are good but not conclusive by any means. For example, Scripture tells us both to confront the brother who has offended us, but also that it is good to overlook offenses (Matt. 18:15; Prov. 19:11). So when someone has hurt my feelings, should I confront or overlook? Scripture isn’t conclusive. So how do we know if we heard God right?

The peace test isn’t entirely reliable either. How many times has God called you out of your comfort zone? Did you feel peaceful? Many times, when I have done something I knew God wanted me to do, I did it with heart racing, knees knocking, and palms sweating. The “peace” wasn’t exactly a sense of calm and serenity!

As for the test of godly counsel, ask two godly believers if they think God is directing you to a certain course of action and, provided Scripture does not explicitly prohibit that action, you may get two opposing words of counsel.

So, although these three tests are good to a point, for me, at least, they don’t settle the matter.

Over the years I’ve discovered some other tests that have helped me. These aren’t air tight either, but taken together, they can greatly increase my confidence that I am hearing God accurately.

What is the tone of the voice? When I talk to myself, I’m not always kind. My tone of voice can be nagging, demanding, and critical. And when the enemy talks to me, he is even worse. He condemns, discourages, shames, and threatens. However, God’s voice is not like either of those voices. Our Father is compassionate, gracious, and slow-to-anger. His purpose is to lead us into life. Even when addressing sin, He does it in a way that invites and supports. His tone of voice encourages us.

Is it higher and wiser? Isaiah 55:8–9 says, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (NLT). When God speaks to me, it’s always a “high-road” thought.

It is good in its essence. Furthermore, it is sometimes a creative idea that I probably wouldn’t have come up with on my own. A word of caution here, though: Sometimes God’s still small voice is saying simply, “Abba, Father.” I should never discount those simple words of love and comfort even though they don’t seem very out-of-the-box. Those tender words of Fatherly assurance may be some of the highest and wisest words we’ll ever hear.

Does it reflect wisdom from above? James tells us that “the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere” (James 3:17, NLT).

Will it stand up in life’s storms? Jesus’ words hold up through severe weather. He said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matt. 7:24–25). If I put these words into practice, what will be the probable five- or ten-year outcome? Will it bring measurable growth in faith and godly character for me and those potentially affected by these words?

Ultimately, hearing God with confidence is an act of faith, just like every other aspect of the Christian life. There is no foolproof test that guarantees what I have been hearing is 100 percent correct. But I am learning to trust the Good Shepherd, who promises that His sheep hear His voice. My hearing Him accurately is more important to Him than it is to me, so I keep listening and trusting Him to help me hear Him right. And I can say this for sure: Living this way is far better than it was when I leaned on my own understanding!

CYNTHIA HYLE BEZEK served as managing editor and editor of Pray! magazine from 2002 until it ceased publication in 2009. She is author of Prayer Begins with Relationship and Come Away with Me: Pray! Magazine’s Guide to Prayer Retreats, both published by NavPress. Her prayer blog, Let’s Talk, is available at prayerconnect.net/blogs/lets-talk.