How do I hear from God?
Most people asking this question are not looking for a voice in the air; they want to know where God actually meets a person, and how to be sure the direction they sense is His. The writers below answer with striking agreement on the main channel — and with real caution about the substitutes.
God has not gone silent
The first thing to settle is whether God still communicates at all. One writer compares our position to Israel in the wilderness, who were moved by silver trumpets and a cloud, and insists we are no worse off.
C. H. MackintoshGod can and does communicate His mind to His people now, just as clearly as He did to His people of old. True, it is not now by the sound of a trumpet, or the movement of a cloud; but by His word and Spirit. It is not by anything that strikes the senses that our Father guides us; but by that which acts on the heart, the conscience, and the understanding.
God's last word is a Person
Before asking how God speaks, it helps to see what He has said. The letter to the Hebrews opens by contrasting the many partial messages God once sent with the one He has now given.
William KellyGod speaking was no new thing; for He had spoken in many parts and in many ways. Now there was no limit; for it was in a Son, only-begotten, full of grace and truth. It was therefore no mere collection of revelations from God, divine but partial and suited to the instruments and the circumstances; it was God revealing Himself.
That has a direct edge for anyone who has never yet heard God at all. The same writer argues that no religious preparation is needed first — the message itself is the voice.
William KellyDo not question that the Lord is still speaking from the same heavenly glory... As truly as He once spoke upon earth at Sinai, the same One is now speaking from heaven... When the gospel goes forth to your ears, it is God speaking to you from heaven in His Son.
The Spirit's usual instrument
Ask where to go and listen, and the answer is the Bible — not as an old book, but as the tool the Holy Spirit picks up.
Frank WallaceThe first one is, as I have already mentioned, through the word of God. In whatever way the word of God has been inspired, then the Holy Spirit can use that to speak directly to our hearts and consciences... the Holy Spirit has used very precise words to convey, in concise terms, the truth that God wants us to understand.
An ear that has been opened
Hearing is not only a matter of God speaking; it is a matter of the listener. One writer describes both the moment his hearing began and the loyalty it produced.
G. V. Wigram"He who has ears to hear, let him hear." I had no ear to hear till God opened it; and now that it is opened, I shall not take in any voice but the Shepherd's... it is very searching when He who knows the heart tells me what He would have me do.
The condition: a will already surrendered
Much confusion about guidance is not a hearing problem but a wanting problem. Jesus said that a single eye fills the body with light (older translations read "single" where the ESV has "healthy"), and one writer presses that hard.
C. H. MackintoshA single eye rests simply on the Lord and His word... His word is to be my light and my authority... all I want is a single eye, a subject will, a teachable spirit, to be led aright. If I really want to be guided rightly, my God will surely guide me; but if I am looking to men, if I am governed by mixed motives, if I am seeking my own ends and interests, if I am seeking to please others, then my body will certainly be full of darkness.
Impressions, and how to weigh them
Here the commentators differ in emphasis. One warns bluntly that an inward feeling can simply be our own wish wearing God's name.
Samuel RidoutWhen you ask God's guidance, is it asking of an idol, or is it asking of the living God? The living God has His will expressed in His Word. How often you find people saying, the Lord led me to do this or that... meaning that they had an impression to do this and that. Was that impression of God?
Another allows that the Spirit can press a course of action on a believer, while ruling out the theatrical version of it.
Frank WallaceI want to guard here against any mystical idea. I am not saying that voices are heard through the air or visions seen... but I am thoroughly convinced that the Spirit can impress me with a certain course of action if I am near enough to the Lord to know something about His direction and guidance.
Summary
- Source. God has not stopped speaking; He now speaks by His word and Spirit, working on the heart, conscience and understanding rather than on the senses.
- Substance. His fullest word is not a message but a Person — in the Son, God is revealing Himself, and the gospel preached is that same voice reaching you.
- Instrument. The Spirit's normal way of speaking is the Bible, whose very words He chose to carry the truth He wants understood.
- Ear. Hearing begins when God opens the ear, and grows by refusing every other voice than the Shepherd's.
- Will. A single eye and a surrendered will are the condition of clear guidance; mixed motives leave the path clouded, and impressions must be weighed against God's expressed will in His Word.