One of man's greatest needs in his life is to be able to hear from God. This one need far surpasses anything else we call important, for if we can hear from God and know His mind, no matter the situation and circumstances, we will be able to persevere and endure anything knowing God is aware.

Now we must understand God is not a chatter-box, He spoke to Abram five times in 25 years. God speaks when He has something to say, a quality we too must adopt if we are to be able to function and operate with God in eternal things. Jesus told the Disciples in Luke, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Then He said to them, take heed how you hear . (in the Greek) with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.” (Mark 4:23-24) Jesus was saying “take heed” or be careful not what we hear for we are not really in control of what we hear, but we are in control of how we hear. Do we hear with the right heart control and with the right motives and intentions? Have we channeled what God said to do in obedience or have we gotten off track to do what we desire to do from what God has spoken?

John too gives us wise counsel when it comes to this need for hearing God speak to us, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3) In the world today and down through the ages there have been many voices to listen to. Most common our own inward voice of selfish desire and self-seeking even for the things of God. Also included in this list would be the sinister voices and thinking of ages past that would draw us out of the simplistic wisdom of God. How can we not add Satan's subtle voice and his eternal purpose to destroy what God has said and done? And of course the voice we all must be able to hear, to flow correctly, God's. How do we know what we are hearing is from God? How do we really know God is speaking to us? Many Believers today in the Church have gotten off track because they have listened to wrong voices, but the sad thing is they do not know they are off track. It is sad not knowing something very important, but it is even sadder not knowing you do not know what you need to know. It is sad when we get over in an area not pleasing to God, but it is sadder still not knowing we are over in this area. Many voices, especially today, sound right, look right, and most dangerous feel right, but when they are exposed and heard for what they really are they are revealed not be to of God. John warns of us to, “ believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Sadly in the Church today, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12 ) that is both spiritual and physical death. And why? Because they believed every spirit and had not tested the spirits to see whether they be of God. Oh my friend, there is a great need within the Body of Christ to be able to judge, not just the spirits, but our self and others. A great need to “try” (compare or judge) words and deeds, from our self and others, and then separate them from our lives as a surgeon removes cancer. A surgeon always sacrifices good healthy tissue to be very sure he has gotten all of the cancer. Many are drunk with the deafening voices of the world and their self. You can see it in our self-centered worship services and in today's contemporary push to give the people whatsoever will satisfy their flesh to get them to come to church. They do not have the ability to hear God's voice, because my friend God speaks in a quiet and still voice (1 Kings 19:12 ) His voice is silenced in our spirit due to our love for things of this world and a great desire for an ease in life. Sadly this broad way that “seemeth right” is the way most in the Church are on. Let us not take this way, but let us take heed to, “ . . . narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:14).

The Bible teaches us to give honor where honor is due and if God cannot teach you to do this well He cannot use you. Thus, I would like to give honor to Pastor Jim Kelley who shared these three points and verses at church, but my expounding was not word for word. There are three basic questions you can answer to know if it is God's voice or another's you are hearing. You know God does not set us up for failure. He is not trying to trick us nor is He playing a big game to see if we can get it right. Oh no my friend God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11) The first questions is does it agree with the Bible? If you cannot find a reference in the Bible or an example that is plainly seen in the Scriptures then probably what you are hearing is not from God. I do not even like to use words that are not found in the Bible. Each time we add something to the Word of God, not contained in the Scriptures, we are changing the message and this my friend quickly ends us in presumption a most dangerous place in God indeed. God's word is eternally settled. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:8) If we cannot use God's word as a measuring stick to what we are hearing then we best stay away from what we are hearing. The next question to help determine if you are hearing from God is will it make me more like Jesus? God's grand master plan in our life is not to make us rich, famous, or beautiful nor is He trying to deliver us from life's many problems, but God is trying to develop and conform us into the character and nature of His dear and sweet Son Jesus Christ. For this to happen we must endure God's dealings and judgments in our lives and we must take off the world's thinking and ways so that we may be able to put on the same mind that was in Christ. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:5) As we begin to think like Christ (putting on the mind of Christ) we will begin to be conformed into His image (icon). If whatever we are hearing can be used as a grinding stone to conform us, “Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; 7 Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. 8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: 9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:” (Job 5:6-9) into the image of Christ we dare not turn away from its message. And lastly, do other Believers confirm it? One of the safest places in God is under the authority of a man who is called of God. There is much done in our lives when we learn to submit to all forms of authority. “Where no counsel is , the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) If others do not confirm (when we tell them) what we are hearing is Godly take heed our safety net may disappear. We are not independent, but so dependent on each member of the Body of Christ. God has put many great men of God in my way to counselor, mentor, instruct, correct, and so much more. How foolish I would be if I turned away from such great wisdom.

As I travel the world I hear many people pray, “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) Well, God's new thing will always be consistent with God's old thing. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Whatsoever God is speaking to you will be consistent with what He has spoken in the past. It is only new to us because we have heard His voice and out of our obedience we see, “great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:” Let us Brethren ever be quick to hear His voice and move in obedience to what we hear. We do this by rejecting all other voices. We must develop an ear for God's voice doing so we will be able to move and operate successfully with Him.