Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
137 | How Does God Speak to Us?
145 Plays4 months ago
Phylicia Masonheimer discusses how to hear God’s voice through Scripture, prayer, and the Holy Spirit, emphasizing the importance of grounding oneself in God’s word.
Referenced in this episode: ⦿ How to Hear God's Voice: https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/product/how-to-hear-gods-voice/
👩💻 Watch the entire Beginner Believer Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLybB3dkK5l8mBBBHlb6GteDUMJbTwYR8v
Subscribe to Verity Podcast: ➡️ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/verity-by-phylicia-masonheimer/id1495210734
————————————————
Verity Podcast is an Every Woman a Theologian company. We believe every woman should be a theologian. Every woman should be a student of the heart of God.
Find our latest books, kids books, and hospitality product releases on our website, here: ➡️ https://rb.gy/h4szl3
Order “Every Woman a Theologian” ➡️ https://rebrand.ly/yju441w
Our latest release: “A Christian Guide to Fundamental Mormon Beliefs” ➡️ https://rebrand.ly/vu6hcw1
Follow us on Instagram: 📸 Phylicia Masonheimer: https://rb.gy/qma0y8 📸 Every Woman a Theologian: https://rb.gy/zwyxld 📸 Verity Home: https://rb.gy/epiovd 📸 Faithful Kids: https://rb.gy/ke8r4t Please like, subscribe, and share our content—
It means a lot to us and helps us continue to create the kind of content you need and enjoy!
Recommended
Transcript
Recognizing God's Voice
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm going to return to Scripture and say, what does Scripture say? How does God speak? Because I want to recognize the pattern of His voice. I want to be able to recognize the intonation of His voice so that when it comes, I know what it matches up against. That He is hopeful and loving. He is truthful, sometimes convicting, but always convicting in a gracious way.
Introduction & Episode Focus
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello friends, and welcome back to Verity Podcast. I'm Felicia Mason-Himer, the founder of Every Woman a Theologian, and we're in the middle of our Beginner Believer series. This episode is all about hearing God's voice. How do I hear God? How do I know that it's Him? We're going to look at some scriptures that talk about hearing the voice of God and what that looks
Denominational Influences
00:00:45
Speaker
like.
00:00:45
Speaker
It can be very confusing, depending on the denominational tradition that you grew up in or you're currently in, to discern what the voice of God sounds like, how to discern between God's voice and your own thoughts or anxieties, and whether God speaks at all. There are some denominations that believe God doesn't speak personally to us by his Holy Spirit. Now, full disclosure, I believe God does speak to us personally.
00:01:11
Speaker
But everything that he says will always line up with the Word of God and how he's revealed himself throughout history in scripture.
Scripture Alignment
00:01:20
Speaker
And so as we talk through this, we're going to look at those scriptures and then walk through how to actually walk out that discerning process for yourself.
00:01:29
Speaker
As I said, this is part of a series. So if you want to know more about the foundation behind hearing God, what the gospel is, how to walk by the Spirit, how to be sanctified and to become more like Christ, go back and listen to those episodes. So we're going to start and we're going to actually begin right in Romans 10.
Faith Through Hearing
00:01:50
Speaker
Here's what this verse says, Romans 10, 17. So faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. I want to start here because I want you to keep in mind that the word of Christ, the word of God, is the foundation for everything we will ever hear from God Himself.
00:02:13
Speaker
What happens when we kind of unhitch the voice of God from the Word of God is that we struggle to discern what truth is and whether what we're hearing or what we're sensing is actually God's leading or it's only our own thoughts.
00:02:32
Speaker
This happens quite often when people are in church traditions that don't value the Word of God or teach it regularly.
Discerning God's Voice
00:02:40
Speaker
And so I'm going to address both sides of the pendulum, so to speak, on this topic. And I'm going to start by addressing traditions that tend to minimize the Word of God and elevate the voice of God. And that's why we're going to look at Romans 10, 17 first.
00:02:56
Speaker
Faith comes through hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Our faith, our belief in Him and His graciousness and His character comes from hearing. We can't believe what we don't know, and we can't know what we have not heard. Paul says if you want to hear God, you want to be led by God, you have to know the words of Christ. Where are the words of Christ? They're in Scripture. They're in the Bible.
00:03:21
Speaker
So sometimes I will be talking to people online. I'll be having a conversation in DMs maybe about how to hear God and they'll say, I just, I never hear him. I just don't ever hear God's voice. I feel like he is ignoring me. But then when I press just a little and I ask, you know, have you spent time in the word? What is your, your time in scripture look like? They admit that they actually don't spend time in the Bible at all or very, very rarely.
00:03:48
Speaker
The primary and first place that we will hear God's voice is in Scripture. And when we don't spend time in Scripture, when we don't spend time in the Word of God, we not only don't hear the words that have already been revealed, we don't know how to recognize God's voice when it comes.
00:04:06
Speaker
This makes us very susceptible to deception, both from other people who might be well-meaning but are teaching falsely, and from our own thoughts and desires. Even as Christians, we have our own thoughts, our own desires, and even if they're not always inherently bad, they can be misleading.
00:04:24
Speaker
and they can lead us away from the truth of what God wants or what God is speaking.
Seeking Guidance in Prayer
00:04:30
Speaker
And so to discern the voice of God, we must first ground ourselves in the word of God, which is what Romans 10, 17 is saying in regard to the gospel, that if you want to have faith for salvation or faith just for the day to walk out your salvation, you need to be grounded in the words of Christ. The second verse I love that talks about this is Jeremiah 33, 3.
00:04:55
Speaker
Let's see what it says. Now in context, this is a prophetic book. It's in the Old Testament. God is speaking to the people of Israel. But what he's saying here, the principle of it, calling to God,
00:05:13
Speaker
Speaking to Him, asking for direction, is a pattern we see all through the Old Testament and in the New. And the principle of calling on God and having His guidance is something that applies even today. We can take that principle about God, knowing that His character is unchanging, and we can live that out today in our modern context. And so God says to them, Call to me, I will answer you, and I will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
00:05:40
Speaker
If you want to know God's will, God's leading, His specific direction, you have to call to Him. You have to engage with Him. You have to pray to Him. We need to be in prayer to hear God, but prayer is not just this litany of requests, this long list of requests that we're constantly just launching up to Him. We also have to continue to have this relationship with Him where we're listening for Him. We're responding to Him.
00:06:08
Speaker
So we want to be sure that as we're giving God our requests, we stop and say, Lord, what do you want to tell me about this? How do you want to lead me? And then spend time listening for God and then ask, is the thing that I'm hearing, the thing that I'm being led to do in alignment with the principles of God's word?
00:06:28
Speaker
So God is saying that He will give wisdom for the decisions we have to make. He'll tell us the way we should go, but we have to be listening in order to hear that answer. So ground yourself in the Word of God and then be in prayer, be in dialogue with Him, listening for what He's going to say.
Holy Spirit's Role
00:06:45
Speaker
And then, of course, in John 14 through 16, we learn that the Holy Spirit
00:06:50
Speaker
is going to give us even more help in that process. So if we look at John 16, we see this verse, when the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come. So this is Jesus talking to his disciples. He's saying to them, I'm going to leave you. But guess what? Someone's coming.
00:07:18
Speaker
a helper, a counselor, a comforter is coming and he is going to be with you for every step of this journey. So when you become a believer in Christ and when your allegiance shifts from self to Jesus, you are given the Holy Spirit, the seal of your salvation, the voice of God to guide you into holiness, to guide you in God's way. This spirit speaks to you and you must recognize and listen for his voice and that gets easier the longer you walk with God.
00:07:48
Speaker
That voice, the voice of God, will always align with what Scripture teaches because the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and He's not going to contradict it when He's speaking to you. So if you are in the Word of God, you're in prayer with God, you must recognize the power of the Spirit of God to directly speak to you. You have access to Him. And a daily discipline of prayer and Bible reading and listening for the Lord is a great first step to hearing the voice of God from the Holy Spirit.
Trust and Recognition Analogies
00:08:16
Speaker
This brings me to Psalm 32. Psalm 32 is beautiful as all the Psalms are. This is one of my favorite places to start with prayer is praying the Psalms if you need a place to start. Here's what it says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with a bit and a bridle or it will not stay near you.
00:08:41
Speaker
I don't know if any of you have horses. I grew up doing equestrian sports. I showed horses throughout high school and then I actually was a Wrangler leading trail rides in the New Mexican mountains when I was in college. And when you are riding a horse, it's not just like you get on and it does whatever you want. Sometimes that's the case if you have an extremely well-trained or old horse.
00:09:04
Speaker
But ultimately, horseback riding, and especially when you're doing it at a competitive level, is a trust relationship between the horse and the rider. I had one horse, particularly in the course of my riding career, who was extremely stubborn. He would not stay near you. He thrashed his head around. He made it very difficult to ride. He absolutely hated going into trailers and he hated being bathed. And so it was always some sort of issue anytime
00:09:32
Speaker
I got him out to go for a ride. I had to be prepared for anything because he just had difficulty trusting. This was due to some trauma in his past, but it made for a very uncomfortable and difficult riding experience. As a rider, my goal is to be in unity with the horse to accomplish the purpose of this beautiful experience together.
00:09:55
Speaker
If I'm in a show, I want to perform well with my horse in partnership with him. And there's beauty when we do work together. But if the horse is fighting the rider, doesn't trust him, you'll end up with this dysfunction and inability to communicate between you, and it will be very apparent to everyone watching.
00:10:16
Speaker
And so what Psalms is describing here is what God doesn't want. God is the perfect equestrian. He knows exactly how to lead us, to guide us, where to take us, and He is totally trustworthy. But too often, we don't see Him as gentle and kind and righteous and how He's leading us and where His voice is calling us. So we won't stay near Him.
00:10:39
Speaker
And Psalms is saying, no, I want you. I want you to be near me. I want to instruct you and teach you, but to do that, you have to be close to me. You have to listen to my voice.
00:10:52
Speaker
There are some horses that I rode that you could make the most subtle sound with your voice and they would respond. They trusted and they understood. But with other horses, I had to be much louder because they did not want to listen. They did not trust me. And so what is described in this analogy here is the difference between a distrusting relationship and a trusting relationship.
00:11:14
Speaker
When we know God's character for ourselves based on the Word of God and not just our experiences, not what humans have done to us, but what God says about Himself, we can then continue to walk forward in a way where we can trust His voice and we listen more quickly to His voice as time goes on. When we pull away from Him and aren't walking with Him in obedience to the Spirit, we often
00:11:38
Speaker
don't hear God and then we blame God but we need to ask ourselves did God move or did I? Did God stay close this whole time but I moved away because maybe I didn't get the answer I wanted or I'm disappointed or maybe another human hurt me and I'm kind of projecting that hurt unto God? I need to ask myself
00:12:00
Speaker
Am I willing to allow God to define Himself as Scripture says, and will I believe that as the basis for trusting Him? And when we operate from that truth, it's much easier to hear His voice, and His voice gets louder the more we listen and obey.
00:12:18
Speaker
The word of God, prayer and the spirit, walking in obedience and listening to God. This is all part of hearing God's voice. The last verse that I want to look at is John 10 27. I love this, this verse. It says, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.
00:12:37
Speaker
I just read the book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Excellent book if you're interested in reading it. If you love Psalm 23, you'll love this book. But in this book he describes how sheep recognize their shepherd's voice. They grow to a point where they trust him.
00:12:54
Speaker
and they follow him, and the shepherd knows his sheep. So when we are listening for God's voice, when we're accustomed to listening for him and then obeying when we sense a prompting from his voice or a response of his voice, and that response lines up with Scripture, we are like the sheep in John 10. We know his voice, we follow him. And he's right there, the good shepherd, protecting and guarding and guiding us.
00:13:22
Speaker
never speaking wrongly, never speaking harshly. He might convict us or correct us, but he will not condemn us because we are safe in his fold. We are under his care. My friend Taylor years ago told me about this verse that when she would have anxious or intrusive thoughts, she would turn to this verse and remember that those thoughts, those are not God's voice.
00:13:52
Speaker
those anxious, worried, oppressive thoughts, that's not the shepherd's voice. And because it's not the voice of the shepherd, and she knows that, she can simply let those thoughts go and return back to the truth. That is such a great example of a practice of hearing and listening for God.
00:14:11
Speaker
where you are not overthinking these thoughts or condemning yourself for these thoughts, but instead you say, you know what? That's not the Lord. That's not my shepherd. I'm just going to let those go. And I'm going to return to scripture and say, what does scripture say? How does God speak? Because I want to recognize the pattern of his voice. I want to be able to recognize the intonation of his voice so that when it comes, I know what it matches up against.
00:14:34
Speaker
that He is hopeful and loving. He is truthful, sometimes convicting, but always convicting in a gracious way.
Resources for Hearing God's Voice
00:14:44
Speaker
When you're wondering how to hear God, go back to His truth. What does Scripture say? Go to the source. God inspired His word and He consistently has said who He is.
00:14:53
Speaker
Memorize it, put it in your heart, and then pray. Ask God to reveal himself to you. Ask him to show you how to listen to his Holy Spirit. Let him speak to you and keep listening. We do not have to overcomplicate this. We do not have to overcomplicate this, but the key is to continue to show up in faith that God is already showing up to you. Come to scripture.
00:15:16
Speaker
Be in prayer. Know that God loves and rejoices when you pray and He meets you there. And then continue to listen to those promptings in your spirit that move you towards the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control. The Holy Spirit moves you that direction. He leads you that direction.
00:15:35
Speaker
and he will never lead you into evil, into temptation, into hurting another human being. He will always lead you into the truth and into grace. And so keep grounded in scripture, keep praying, keep listening for his voice, and then as Dr. Charles Stanley says, obey God and leave all the consequences to him.
00:15:56
Speaker
I hope this episode was helpful. If you'd like to know more about this, you can grab our booklet in the Every Woman the Theologian Shop, which is called How to Hear God's Voice. It's $6 in the print version and $3 in the PDF e-book. And then, of course, you can check out the full line of books in our Verity Press publishing house at my website, FeliciaMasonheimer.com. Thank you as always for joining Verity with Felicia Masonheimer, and I will see you next time.