The voice of God
The Bible shows us that God has always spoken to His people, and He still speaks today.
He speaks through His Word.
He speaks through those He has placed in our lives to teach and guide us.
He speaks through the prophetic.
And He speaks to us personally.
But if God is still speaking today…
why do so many believers feel like they never hear His voice?
There is an old hymn that says, “Just a closer walk with Thee, grant me Jesus is my plea, daily walking close to Thee, let it be, dear Lord, Let it be.”
I think a lot of us resonate with that hunger to know and follow hard after God.
I love how A. W. Tozer said it in his book the pursuit of God:
““O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.
I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.
I am ashamed of my lack of desire.
O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee;
I long to be filled with longing;
I thirst to be made more thirsty still.”
What a great prayer!
May we be a people that walk powerfully in the presence of the living God, know His voice, and are in love with His Word!
But even here, this is where many of us can get off track.
Because the Apostle Paul cautions us not to approach the Word of God in isolation, as though we were meant to walk with Him alone.
In Ephesians 4:11-14 Paul writes,
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
That is why it is so important that we submit to and learn from the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers and not just study the Word alone.
They Equip us.
They build us up.
They help us attain the unity.
They help us mature.
So that we are not carried away by false teaching.
If I could share one thing that could impact your walk with God above anything else, it would be this. Find a spiritual father or mother.
In 1 Corinthians 4:14-15 The Apostle Paul says,
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Everyone online is a, “Spiritual teacher.” You can read countless books, go to endless seminars, and go to any church to get, “Guidance in Christ.”
Guides are plentiful, fathers are few.
A guide teaches you some things a father teaches you all things.
A guide teaches you for a season, a father teaches you for a lifetime.
A guide gives instruction.
A father gives correction, encouragement, and care.
When I was going to Bible College I was mentored by Pastor Dean Christianson, who I would call my Spiritual Father. I would call him up all hours of the day or night and ask him Bible questions.
I remember one time I was struggling with a Bible doctrine. He gave me his interpretation of it but it didn’t make sense to me. I honestly thought, “I don’t think you are right about this.” I wrestled with it, going over the verses in my mind again and again.
One morning I was getting ready for work and I was going over the verses in my mind and suddenly all of the pieces fell into place for me. The apparent contradictions melted away and I suddenly saw exactly what Pastor Dean was saying. I was so excited I called him up. I said, “Dean, you were right!” He said, “I know.”
It is vitally important that we have a spiritual father or mother who we can go to with our tough questions, and who knows us and loves us enough to admonish us as beloved children when necessary.
You will have many guides, but you don’t have many fathers, or mothers. If you don’t have someone like that I know without a doubt Pastor Doug would be honored to be that for you. Although I’ll never be Pastor Doug I’m definitely here to walk with you as well.
God speaks through His Word.
He speaks through the people He places in our lives to guide us.
And the Bible shows us that God also speaks through the prophetic.
Years ago, God led my wife and me to a counselor named Pastor Ed Bontraiger. Every time we met with Pastor Ed I felt as if I had spent time with Elijah in the Bible. He is a mighty man of God. What struck me most about Pastor Ed was that he heard the voice of God. The Lord would tell Ed what we were struggling with before we even said a word.
I didn’t grow up in a pentecostal or charismatic church. I didn’t know everyone could hear the voice of God. I had never seen the prophetic gifts in use before. Imagine the first time God gave me word through Pastor Ed. I was blown away.
Here is where we need to be very careful!
When speaking of the end times Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:11 saying,
And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
Some Christians I know throw out prophecies altogether. I used to be like that. Anyone saying thus says the Lord, is almost certainly a fake.
But the Bible cautions us not to despise prophecy.
1 Thessalonians 5:20–21
“Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”
1 Corinthians 14:29 says,
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.”
The Bible tells us to, “Test,” prophecy and to, “Weigh what is said.”
There are a few, “Prophets,” I listen to regularly. Troy Black, Prophet Rob Sanches, Fred Watkens, “The unknown prophet”, and the prophetic ministry of Money on the move. I trust them because God has used them in my life. God confirmed them to me, I received a powerful word from Rob Sanches about 2025 that came to pass just as he prophesied.
But how do we test them as the Bible instructs?
A simple way is to see if, “Predictive prophecies,” come to pass.
I remember years ago I was at a friend’s house and he was excited to have me watch a prophetic word from some guy on YouTube. The guy was shouting and carrying on about how Trump was going to be president and I remember he said specifically that what God had for him to do would not be accomplished in one term.
First of all, I would have bet my house that Trump would never be president. The idea at the time was laughable. And when Trump didn’t win the second term I remember thinking back to that, “Prophecy,” and saying, “Well that guy was obviously not from God.” It wasn’t until Trump was re-elected that the prophecy was fulfilled.
I probably wasn’t the only one thinking the guy was a fraud. One way we test a prophecy is to wait and see if predictive prophecy comes true.
But what do we do when someone has a, “Word from the Lord,” for us, or we hear a prophetic word that is teaching in nature and not predictive? We take it to the Lord. Lord, is this from You? We see if it lines up with the Bible. Again, take it to your spiritual mentors. In Proverbs 15 the Bible talks about the wisdom of many advisors.
It’s true God speaks to us through His Word, through spiritual teachers, and even the prophets, but He also speaks to us individually.
Jesus famously said in John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I’m going to share with you one key that almost no one talks about that will absolutely swing wide the doors for you to hear the voice of God for yourself.
First let’s look at our Scripture passage for today:
1 Samuel 3:1-10
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
The first thing I’d like us to see from this passage is that, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”
Just like millions of Christians around the world I grew up in a church that never told me I could hear the voice of God for myself. We have made the Word of the Lord rare because we don’t expect to hear His voice. We don’t expect to hear from HIm because we have never been taught to listen.
I’d also like you to pay attention to the position of Eli and that of Samuel in this passage. Eli was laying down in his own place. But Samuel was laying down in the very presence of God.
If we want to hear from the Lord we need to begin to normalize resting in HIs presence. Now I know God is omnipresent, that is God is everywhere. But we can make a practice of being aware of His presence, acknowledging Him, and learning to engage with Him.
I also want you to notice the instruction from Eli. Eli said if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” So here is what I do. I sit down in a quiet place, usually after my Bible study. And I ask God, “Do You have a Word for me today?” Then I wait and listen with expectation.
The next thing I want you to notice in this passage is that Samuel mistook the voice of God for the familiar voice of Eli. He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
This one thing is going to be groundbreaking for some.
When we position ourselves in the presence of God, and wait expectantly on the Lord as Samuel did saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears,” the voice you hear is going to sound like your own thoughts. It is going to be the same familiar voice you hear when you think. God has been speaking to many of us for years but we mistook His voice for our own thoughts.
I know what you are thinking,
“If the voice of God sounds like my own thoughts, how in the world will I know when it’s God talking and not just my own thoughts or maybe just wishful thinking?”
Remember when I said, “I’m going to share with you one key that almost no one talks about that will absolutely swing wide the doors for you to hear the voice of God for yourself?” This is it!
Give yourself room to grow in your ability to hear God.
Humble yourself so much that you are willing to say, “God I’m not sure if that was you or just me.”
I remember one day I was camping. I had just woken up and the thought I had was the name of a town. Then my thought was, “That is where I am sending you.” Now I have no connection to that town. I have no desire to move to that town. I have not heard any call or gotten any opportunities to live or work in that town. Is it possible that I heard from God and at some point in my life God will, “Send me,” to that town. Sure. But is it also possible that I’m still learning to hear from God and that I don’t always know if it is me or the Lord? Yes.
And you need to make room for that. Here is something to remember, every time you think you hear from the Lord, God is not calling you to announce it to the world or even to your spouse. Sit with it. Ask God to confirm if the Word is from Him. See if the Word aligns with Scripture. Perhaps share it with your spiritual mentor if he or she is familiar with God’s voice.
Let me share with you how I have learned to hear God’s voice.
Like I said, I sit down in a quiet place, usually after my Bible study. And I ask God, “Do You have a Word for me today?” Then I listen to and write down my first thoughts, whatever they are. At first I would hear a word like, “Forgiveness.” I would write it down. Then I would think, “Ok forgiveness, God wants me to forgive someone. Ok, who do I need to forgive?” I remember one of my kids was acting up and really made me mad. I need to forgive them.
Over time I’ve learned that if I write it down and wait, often the Lord will share more with me.
For example:
One day the Lord said to me“Perseverance.” In my journal I wrote, “Perseverance.” The Lord brought to my mind James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (Perseverance). 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Had I stopped listening after the word, “Perseverance,” I wouldn’t have received the Bible verse that went with the Word.
One day I was praying about a difficult situation we were going through in my family and the Lord said, “Patience.” Then I had the thought of being patient for a flower to grow. Again, if I had stopped with the word patience, I would not have seen the beautiful imagery of waiting for a flower to mature.
I believe as you get used to discerning God’s voice you will hear more and more. God will give you a word, then a sentence, then a whole paragraph sometimes.
Sometimes it will be absolutely obvious that you are hearing the voice of God. One day I woke up and was still laying in bed and the Lord said, “Tungsten Metal, find out about it.” I didn’t even know if, “Tungsten,” was a metal. So I got up and looked it up. I learned that it is an extremely hard metal with a very high melting point. Later on that same week I took my son, Tristan, swimming. As I was relaxing in the hot tub the Lord told me that when I rest in Him and His strength I will be unmovable. I knew instantly He was referring to the Tungsten Metal Word.
I’m ok knowing that I don’t always hear from God perfectly. But I will never announce a Word or come to you and say, “Can I give you a Word I received from the Lord about you,” unless I first confirm that I really heard from the Lord. Every time you hear from God and He confirms it was a Word from HIm your faith is strengthened and you grow in confidence knowing you hear His voice.
The encouragement for us today is this. We know God speaks to us through His Word, so read it. Fall in love with it.
We know God speaks to us through teachers and mentors, so find a spiritual father or mother and utilize them.
We know God speaks through the prophets, don’t despise prophecy but test it.
We know God speaks to us personally, so position yourself in His presence and listen. And give yourself grace as you learn to hear His voice.
Let’s Pray:
Father in Heaven, how I pray we become a people that walk powerfully in Your presence, know Your voice, and are in love with Your Word! I pray we utilize the body of Christ in our journey with You as Paul encouraged. Help us test the prophets and learn to hear Your voice clearly.
Now I pray:
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord look down upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord look upon you with favor, and grant you peace!
In Jesus mighty Name I pray.
Amen
Brian H. Fontaine 