08/26/2026
If you are following the Looking for the One Bible Study online tonight, you will need the following info for tonight as we get started:
Listening to God and Hearing His Voice
I. Seeking God: a biblical understanding
A. Proverbs 8:17 – “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
B. Jeremiah 29:13 – “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
C. God may make Himself “hidden” at times, but He wants to be found…like a parent playing hide and seek with their child –or later in life when a parent wants to give advice; and yet doesn’t want to intrude
D. Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
E. The heart of the Father is always reaching out to us
–Matthew 23:37-39 – “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill
the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
II. Creating a Life of Openness and Listening
A. All of the above verses are aimed at seeking God; the person –not seeking advice or answers to specific matters
B. It is okay to ask advice for specific things (James 1:5); but if that is all we want then we are trying to use God as a crystal ball. He is not a crystal ball; he is a living, personal entity who desires to share things with us that we would never even think to ask.
C. We must try to order our life in such a way that He has ample opportunity to speak to us (Spiritual Disciplines).
“…you will find me if you seek with all your heart.”
D. We cannot do His will if we don’t know what it is, and we cannot learn what it is if we do not seek Him continually.
- Romans 12:1-2 – “1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
- Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
E. Spend ample time in the Word:
- It builds our faith (Romans 10:17)
- It is the ultimate measuring stick for testing what we believe God is saying to us
F. Keep all obstacles out of your relationship with God by standing firm against temptation and confessing whatever shortcomings you have.
G. Commit yourself to obedience – this will be tested!!!
III. Ways God speaks
A. Internal witness: His Spirit to our spirit
B. Supernatural witness: dreams, visions, miracles, prophecy and angels
C. Circumstances: opening and closing doors, etc.
IV. Whose voice is it?
A. Holy Spirit’s
- will be consistent with God’s character and Word
- generally spontaneous thoughts, impressions or mental images
B. My own – built on my own wisdom, desires, character, etc. (In fact, one way I sometimes suspect it is God’s voice is because it goes against my natural tendencies and thoughts. i.e. “Go start a conversation with that stranger…” That is not normal shy introvert thinking.
C. Some demonic spirit trying to influence you
- Put your trust in the fact that the Holy Spirit is greater than any evil spirits
- Ask God to protect you from hearing or being deceived by these evil voices.
V. Testing what you perceive: ask God to confirm what you believe He has said by the three-fold confirmation
A. Confirm it in His Word (This one is the ultimate fail-safe)– John Wesley –“Do not ascribe to God what is not of God. Do not easily suppose dreams, voices, impressions, visions and revelations to be from God without sufficient evidence. They may be purely natural, they may be diabolical. Try all things by the written Word and let all bow down before it.”
- Be careful, we must make sure it is consistent with God’s Word rightly understood in its context.
B. Confirm it through circumstances
C. Confirm it through other people; especially those whom you know to be people of faith who walk closely with God in their own lives
D. Also, learn to know the heart of God through spending time with Him and other mature believers
E. Realize that sometimes God will not answer all your questions, nor provide you with the confirmations you want and you will need to step out on faith
- When you must step out and make a decision without any clear confirmation, pray that God will prevent you from doing the wrong thing as you try to step out in obedience.
- I believe God is usually more happy when we seek Him and step out in faith (even without assurance) than He is if we never take a step and end o=up being disobedient
