My Sheep Really Do Hear My Voice! - Church Prayer Leaders Network

Four Keys to Intimate Fellowship

By Mark Virkler

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. Though only 15, I kept thinking, What if I died tonight? I’m not ready to go to heaven. Because I could not shake the thought, I got up, went downstairs, and waited for my parents to come home from their meeting. When they did, I announced I wanted to be saved. They immediately took me to our pastor’s home. He explained the plan of salvation, and I accepted Christ.

It was God’s voice speaking to me that night, calling me into His Kingdom. His voice came as a spontaneous thought inside my head. However, I didn’t define this as a primary way to hear God’s voice until I had completed a desperate ten-year search to hear Him clearly.

Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator, beginning here and now and lasting throughout eternity. Jesus declared, “This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3, emphasis added).

Unfortunately, many of us in the Church miss the great blessing of fellowship with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice. Though Jesus promises us that “My sheep hear My voice” (John 10:27, NASB), too many believers are starved for that intimate relationship that alone can satisfy the desire of their hearts.

I was one of those sheep who could not identify the voice of my Shepherd. I hungered for deeper spiritual intimacy with God but could not find it. After 11 years as a Christian, I had the spontaneous thought that for one year of my life I should focus on learning to hear God’s voice. Unbeknown to me, it was the Lord calling me to invest that time.

That year the Lord revealed four simple keys from Habakkuk 2:1–2, which unlocked the treasure of His voice. Using the four keys together has allowed me to easily hear God’s voice on a daily basis.

Key 1: God’s voice in our hearts often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts.

Habakkuk knew the sound of God speaking to him (Hab. 2:2). Elijah described it as a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12, KJV). I had always listened for an inner audible voice, and God does speak that way at times. However, I have found that God’s voice usually comes as spontaneous or flowing thoughts.

For example, have you ever been driving down the road and a thought came to you to pray for a certain person? Didn’t you believe it was God telling you to pray? What did God’s voice sound like? Was it an audible voice, or was it a spontaneous thought that lit upon your mind?

Experience indicates that we perceive Spirit-led communication as spontaneous thoughts, impressions, and visions—and Scripture confirms this in many ways. For example, one definition of paga, a Hebrew word for intercession, is “a chance encounter or an accidental intersecting.” When God lays people on our hearts, He does it through paga, a chance-encounter thought “accidentally” intersecting with our minds.

But Satan’s thoughts also come to us as spontaneous thoughts. That’s why God commands us to “take captive every thought” (2 Cor. 10:5). Evil thoughts come to all of us, attacking our minds even in the middle of our prayer and worship times. The following criteria can help us discern where our thoughts originate:

God’s thoughts line up with Scripture and with His various names: Comforter, Counselor, Teacher, Giver of Life, Healer, and Deliverer. His thoughts edify, exhort, and comfort..
Satan’s thoughts line up with his various names: accuser, adversary, thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy. His thoughts condemn and bring despair, rejection, fear, doubt, unbelief, and misery.

Key 2: “Becoming still” enables us to sense God’s flow of thoughts.

Habakkuk said, “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost” (Hab. 2:1, NLT). Habakkuk knew that to hear God’s quiet, inner, spontaneous thoughts, he had to first go to a quiet place and still his own thoughts and emotions. Psalm 62:5 encourages us to let our souls find rest before God. A deep inner knowing (spontaneous flow) in our spirits happens when we quiet our flesh and our minds. If we are not still, we will sense only our own thoughts.

Loving God through a quiet worship song is one effective way to become still. (Note 2 Kings 3:15.) If thoughts of things I have forgotten to do come to me, I write them down so I can take care of them later. If thoughts of guilt or unworthiness come, I repent thoroughly and receive the washing of the blood of the Lamb, putting on His robe of righteousness and seeing myself spotless before God (Isa. 61:10; Col. 1:22). If I fix my eyes upon Jesus, I can receive the pure word of God. But if I fix my gaze upon some desire of my heart, that desire affects the intuitive flow.

Key 3: Fixing our eyes upon Jesus helps us see in the Spirit.

To have a pure flow of the Spirit we need to become still and carefully fix our eyes upon Jesus (Heb. 12:2). Habakkuk said, “I will look to see what he will say to me” (Hab. 2:1–2). This prophet was actually looking for a vision as he prayed.

From Genesis to Revelation God gave dreams and visions. He specifically said that in the last days He would pour out His Spirit, and we would see dreams and visions (Acts 2:1–4, 17). But we need to look if we want to see! Daniel saw a vision in his mind and said, “I was looking . . . I kept looking . . . I kept looking” (Dan. 7:2, 9, 13, NASB).

As I pray, I look for Jesus. I watch and listen as He speaks to me, doing and saying the things that are on His heart. Many Christians will find that if they will only look, they will see flowing pictures in the same way they receive spontaneous thoughts.

Jesus demonstrated the ability of living in constant contact with God. He declared that He did nothing on His own initiative but only what He saw the Father doing and heard the Father saying (John 5:19–20). What an incredible way to live!

Is it possible for you and me to do this? Yes! It is called “abiding in Christ” (John 15). The torn veil gives us access to the immediate presence of God, and He calls us to draw near (Luke 23:45, Heb. 10:19–22). Paul prayed that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened (Eph. 1:18) in order to know the hope that is before us.

Key 4: Journaling brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice.

God told Habakkuk to “record the vision” (Hab. 2:2, NASB). This was not an isolated command. The Scriptures record many examples of individuals’ prayers and God’s replies (e.g. the Psalms, many of the prophets, Revelation).

I call the process “two-way journaling,” and I have found it to be a fabulous catalyst for clearly discerning God’s inner, spontaneous flow. As I journal I am able to write in faith for long periods of time, simply believing God is speaking. I know that what I believe I’ve received from God must be tested. However, I do not test until I am finished journaling. When the flow has ended I can test and examine it carefully, making sure it lines up with Scripture (1 Thess. 5:21).

You may find this process helpful as well: Take out your pen and paper (or computer or iPad). Sit back comfortably, smile, and turn your attention toward the Lord in praise and worship, seeking His face. Write this: “Good morning, Lord! I love You. What do You want to say to me?” Then become still, fixing your gaze on Jesus. You will suddenly have a very good thought. Don’t doubt it; simply write it down and test it later. As you read over your journaling, you will be blessed to discover that the content is amazing and that you are indeed dialoguing with God!

Sure Foundations

Knowing God through the Bible is a vital foundation for hearing His voice in your heart. So develop a solid commitment to knowing and obeying God’s written Word. He commands His servants to meditate on Scriptures (Josh. 1:8). As we pray over Scripture, verses seem to leap off the page. This is another powerful way God speaks to us. He not only commands regular scriptural meditation, He demonstrates, through the lives of His saints, how essential it is to an effective Christian life.

Staying connected to solid spiritual counselors is also very important for our growth and safety. So seek confirmation from your counselors for all major directional moves before you act upon them. The Bible says every fact must be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses (2 Cor. 13:1, NASB). Also, in the multitude of counselors, there is safety (Prov. 15:22). So walk in meekness and seek out and receive input from your spiritual advisors. We dare not skip this step!

The Apostle John used the same four keys Habakkuk did. In Revelation 1:9–11 we find he was in the spirit (stillness), and he heard a voice behind him (tuned to spontaneity) saying, “Write in a book [journaling] what you see [vision].” So in both Old and New Testaments we find the same four keys to hearing and receiving God’s voice.

May you experience the fullness of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. May communion with God be deepened in your life, and may His healing and creative rays fill you through and through.

MARK VIRKLER and his wife Vicki are founders of Communion with God Ministries and have co-authored more than 50 books.