Hearing the voice of the Lord is a must for believers, and it is even more important in these end times. The Bible says in Acts 2:17, ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’
Hearing the voice of the Lord is critical, and Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” This means that it is indeed possible to hear the voice of the Lord.
Many believers use statements like, “Something told me to call you,” or “I got an impression inside of me to make a certain decision.” Sometimes, you wake up with someone’s name on your mind, and later in the day, you receive a call from them, leaving you surprised or sometimes shocked.
It is so important we hear the voice of the Lord in order to understand His will and purpose for us. Throughout the day, many thoughts rush through your mind—sometimes good, other times lustful or evil. How do you discern whether it is the Lord, your mind, or the devil? I will give you a few ways to judge and confirm whether you are hearing the Lord or not.
The mind is the part of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences, to think, and to feel; it is the faculty of consciousness and thought. What you feed your mind as a believer is very important, as it determines whether it becomes a ground for God to speak or a place of confusion.
What you fill your mind with determines what the output would be. If you want your mind to be a place where God can speak to you, then read the Word of God. The Word of God carries His voice and purposes. The Bible contains all the vocabulary that Jesus will use when He wants to communicate with you. For instance, when you enter a law court, they have their laws and specific grammar, and both the lawyers and judges understand each other when they speak. Many of us become clueless when we read a written judgment from the law court. It is the same with hearing from Jesus; you need to read His Word to appreciate and know His voice. The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” God wants us to feed our minds by meditating on His Word; meditation means thinking deeply about something. The more you read the Word, the more familiar you become with the voice of the Lord.
For instance, if you have been a single lady for a long time and a married man approaches you, saying he wants to sleep with you and leave his wife for you, you may hear two voices: one saying, “Yes, he is your husband, go ahead and sleep with him; he has come to end your days of singlehood,” and another voice saying, “No, stay away; this is adultery.” Once you read the Bible often, you can discern that Jesus is indeed telling you to stay away from the man. This leads to my next point: judge the voice you hear in your mind against what is written in the Bible.
In Matthew Chapter 4, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days, the devil tempted Him, asking Him to turn stones into bread. Jesus however discerned it was the devil and judged his words against scripture. Matthew 4:2-4 says, “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungry. 3 And when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ 4 But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus could discern what He was hearing by referencing Deuteronomy 8:3, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Knowing the Word of the Lord can help you discern whether it is God or your mind.
Another way to discern whether it is God or your mind is to ask for confirmation if it is the Lord. Isaiah 7:11 says, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.” Gideon heard the voice of the Lord, who told him that He would bring victory to the Israelites through him, but Gideon asked God for a sign. Judges 6:36-40 states:
“So Gideon said to God, ‘If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.’ 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.’ 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.”
There were times I heard a voice to embark on a fast or do something, and I told the Holy Spirit, “If it is You, give me a sign in Your Word.” The first thing I might hear after this would be, “Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone,” or I might hear a sermon on fasting that day. You can ask God to confirm His Word through a dream, a scripture, or a sign. For example, if you wake up and hear a voice saying, “Take an umbrella, for it will rain today,” you can ask God for a scripture to confirm His Word. By His mercy, you might hear James 5, and upon reading the chapter, you would find verse 18, “And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” God can choose whether to confirm His Word based on His sovereign will. He may also be silent, requiring you to obey Him by faith. I will expand on this later, but you should desire to know God so diligently that, based on your walk with Him, you can discern whether it is God or not.
I hope these ways help you judge whether it is your mind or God. There are many other ways, and the Holy Spirit can customise one just for you. That is how amazing the Holy Spirit is. Finally, since your mind is a battleground for the enemy, always feed it with the Word of God. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” In summary, let your mind always be filled with good and pure things so that when the Holy God speaks, you can easily discern that it is Him.
Share in the comment section if you have had any experiences with God speaking to you about a decision. God bless you.
