Do you feel like discovering God’s will is a big mystery? Like other people seem to have it all figured out, but you are still struggling? I believe hearing God’s voice is not as hard as we think it is. I think you actually already hear God’s voice, but maybe you’re not aware. Let’s dive into this topic and discover how it actually works! Are you ready? Let's go!
I would like to start off by making a fews statements to set the stage for what I want to share:
God leads you from the inside out, not from the outside in.
One person washes the car because he is told to do so. The other person washes the car because he knows that his dad likes to drive a clean car and wants the best for his father.
Both may be sons, but who of these two is living as a son? Right, the second one. The first one is no different than a servant. Which of the two would you identify with when it comes to your relationship with God? Are you waiting for God to give you some command or instruction for you to carry out? Or are you enjoying a relationship with your Father in which you discover His heart? Because that relationship is what Jesus came to bring. We read about this in Galatians 4:1-7
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all form a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Alright, once we were like slaves. Like the one who washes the car because he is told to do so. But then something changed - Jesus came. And He came to redeem us, to set us free from that kind of life. He made us a son or daughter of God - one who washes the car because they know their dad likes a clean car and they really want do it.
This is not all there is to say about the difference between a slave and a son, but it's a starting point. And it is extremely important for us to understand the difference and to live a life of sonship instead of slavery. Actually, you will not be able to hear God the way you should if you don't understand this.
What are you saying, Stein? Do you say that I can only hear God's voice correctly if I understand I am a son of God? Yes, because that's how God has chosen to lead us.
Romans 8:14-17 states: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father". The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
This Scripture makes it very clear: God leads us by His Spirit. And how does the Spirit lead us? By reminding us of our identity as children of God!
This is radically different from the way God led people in the Old Testament. There we read about how God revealed His will by giving them rules engraven in stones. Or how he used the forces of nature to convey a message. And how he used prophets to speak on His behalf. But something has changed because of Jesus' finished work. As we saw, Jesus made us sons. Sons that are led from within, by the Holy Spirit. They are led from the inside-out, not from the outside-in. This is the contrast that Paul shows us in Hebrews 8.
Hebrews 8:10-11 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbour and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
You know God. You hear His voice. God is not far away or trying to teach you something through the circumstances in your life. Although He still uses prophets, he doesn't give you direction through them. It's just a confirmation of the things He has spoken in your heart! Because that's the epicenter of God's communication with you! That's where the Holy Spirit dwells. Today. Right now. He is telling you things and leading you!
But how does that work? How do I know where He is leading me or what He is trying to show me? Well, that's actually not too hard. It's by listening to what's going on in your spirit. You see, you are a three-part being: spirit, soul and body. We all know what our body is, but we often do not understand the difference between the soul and the spirit. The spirit is your core. The part of you that is born of God and communes with the Holy Spirit. And that's where you hear Him speaking to you.
Kenneth Hagin said about this: '“The Holy Spirit is abiding in your spirit. It is your spirit that picks up these things from the Holy Spirit and then passes them on to your mind by an inward intuition, or inward witness.” He also added: "“Feeling is the voice of the body. Reason is the voice of the soul, or the mind. Conscience is the voice of the spirit.” (Kenneth Hagin, How You Can Be Led by the Spirit of God. Tulsa, OK, United States, Rhema Bible Church, 1986.)
I think that we can find an important key in this last statement, where a contrast is drawn between the voice of the soul and the voice of the spirit. It's the difference between reasoning and intuition. Between figuring something out in your mind and knowing it deep down in your heart.
'But... am I really an evangelist?' That is went through my mind when someone sent me a flyer about the Firecamps of Christ for all Nations: a training for young evangelists. Even though I had taken mission trips before, I felt that evangelists were people that were more fiery and passionate than I was. My mind told me that I wasn't one and so I disqualified myself.
However, the desire kept growing in my heart. I felt in my heart that I wanted to go. Finally, after praying about it for a while, I felt the Lord answering me. But He did not treat me as a servant. He did not say, "You must go to this Firecamp." No, he simply reassured me: "Stein, if you have a strong desire in your heart that is in line with what my Word tells you, you have my permission to do it. I will be in it with you." This was the Holy Spirit leading me through my heart, through the desires on the inside of me. I did not meet a prophet telling me to go. I did not see a vision. No, I simply followed that still small voice of leading in my heart.
What is God telling you through your spirit? The Bible says that the flesh and the Spirit both have desires. (You can read more about this in Galatians 5.) That means that there are desires in you that are from the Spirit. Maybe it's a desire to visit a friend. Or to start up a new business. Or you just know that you should move somewhere. It's not just emotional or superficial. Now, these are desires that come from deep inside your heart. Please take some time and write down these things. Then use the Word of God and the counsel of godly friends to see if they are in line with who God is. And if they are, it's probably the Lord leading you! You can step out and live as a son or daughter who knows the heart of their Father! Discovering God's will is not hard. It's within your reach. Here. Now.