Before you can hear you must settle some things in your heart. “Does God love me enough to talk to me?” If you believe that He does, then ask yourself, “Does He love me enough to make certain that I hear correctly?” Your fears will tell you that you won’t be able to hear, or that you will get something wrong. Your fears are still lying. God is a good Father. If you ask Him for bread, He won’t give you a stone. If you ask Him to speak, He will, and He will make certain you hear correctly.
Here I must tell you that it is possible for you to add to what God says and for you to make some mistakes. The enemy further complicates things by trying to twist what God has said. But, as long as you give God time, He will make certain that you do discover where and what those errors are. Remember, spiritual ears, and spiritual eyes are something you must learn to use. In the natural, anything left dormant will atrophy. This is also true of spiritual things, but you can awaken them again. Jesus promises that Holy Spirit will lead and guide you into all truth. God will help you learn to hear, and learn to hear well.
Technique #1 Prophetic Bible Study
This is the very first method The Lord taught me, and came out of the period when I was jobless and spent all of my time reading and writing. Here is how I taught this method to the teenagers when I was a youth pastor.
- After you have cleared your conscience through prayer and have dealt with those two fears listed above, ask God to show you something in His word.
- Open your Bible to the table of contents. Look over all 66 books and whichever book your eye is drawn to is where you will start. Turn to that book.
- Next go to the last page in that book to discover the number of chapters in the book. Ask God which chapter He would like you to look up, and turn to that chapter.
- Scan the entire chapter looking for the section that your eye is drawn towards. This section might appear to you as highlighted somehow or to stand off the page.
- As you read you will notice that the reason that God brought you to this scripture is probably not obvious. God often does this to cause us to seek Him and His truth rather than lean on our own understanding. Sometimes it is easy to hear Him and you will hear immediately, other times you will have to wait. Just stop and ask God, “What is it You want to tell me?” Sometimes He will begin to reveal His personal message as you reread the passage. Other times He may send you to multiple passages. In those times, the combination of scripture lays out an answer. Once, when I was preparing a message on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Lord took me to 15 different scriptures within 20 minutes. Each scripture mentioned a unique aspect about the Holy Spirit, mentioning the Spirit of God by name. It would have been impossible for me to have done that even with study materials. God is amazing. On another occasion He took me to one scripture in a gospel. I second guessed myself, thinking that I had missed God. When I asked God to give me another scripture, He sent me to a different gospel and to my amazement I found that I was reading the exact same text. Having read the same passage from two different books in the Bible convinced me that God did in fact want me to discuss that particular topic.
I recommend that you combine this technique with the next. Journaling, as described in the next technique, will further what God is saying and allow you to discover more details.
When I first taught this technique to the teenagers, every teen came to me individually with a unique scripture and a very personal message. You will not be looking to understand the story or even to gain proper theology. Instead look for God to use His word as a gateway to intimate conversation. God wants to speak uniquely to you, and so His message will be highly personal. Interestingly enough, as you continue doing this, you will discover that a new level of revelation begins to build within you. You will gain deeper understanding and insight into God and you will also be able to recount the scriptures He used to show these new ideas to you. You will find that others are amazed at your new insights, which will open doors allowing you to help them discover God’s love.
Of the four techniques, this one is the hardest to just dismiss as imagination and will be the greatest proof to you that you do hear God.
Technique #2 Active Listening (The Quiet Time)
This technique came out of a training session I was doing with some partners in the ministry. As I taught on hearing the voice of God and discussed how I converse with God, one of my good friends, Paul Morehouse, decided that the following was how he would explore hearing God. For this technique you will need pencil and paper.
- After you have cleared your conscience through prayer and have dealt with those two fears listed above, ask God to speak to you. Tell Him that you will sit quietly as He speaks to you, and you will write down everything He says.
- You may wish to set a time limit; Paul has often used twenty minutes as his limit. Quiet your mind and ask God to speak. You can even ask Him to speak to you on a specific topic, but it is highly useful to ask Him to speak to you about whatever He desires.
- The first words you hear will probably be your name followed by “I love you”. I suggest you write down everything The Lord says. The reasons this is important are: One, it provides a mild distraction making it difficult for your mind to add to what God is saying. That point, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is, especially when you are first learning to hear. Two, it provides evidence for later that you have indeed heard correctly. Three, in the process of renewing the mind, being able to review what The Lord has said in the past will empower you to move quickly into deeper areas of intimacy and faith. And four, having a record of what God has said to you makes it difficult for the devil to twist past words. You will find that as you reread past words, the power of those moments is revisited and new insight will come from what God has already said. Let me emphasize here, that God’s current word will always be more relevant than a past word. You should continue to deepen your relationship with God with fresh words and not only feed on old manna.
- It may be easier at first to detach yourself emotionally from the process of hearing and writing, but with time you won’t need to. Whether you do or not, it is important that you reread what you have written immediately, allowing the words and emotions to overwhelm you. Allow the words He speaks to go deep into your being.
- And finally, discuss or pray or worship or declare those things with God. The reason for this is to again allow His words to wash over your mind, removing false thoughts and emotions or past lies. The truths that God speaks are powerful: they break burdens, remove lies, and reveal identity.
Technique #3 The Truth
This technique was developed by my wife within a small group meeting we lead. We later found out that this same technique is a small part of an inner healing ministry called “Sozo”, as taught by a team from the church Bill Johnson pastors in Redding California called Bethel. We have since received training in that ministry and highly recommend it as a powerful tool to receive deep inner healing. Sozo teams can be found throughout the United States and more information about that ministry can be found at Bethel’s website, bethelsozo.com.
Illustrated here is the simple method my wife developed. Notice how powerful it is. For this technique you will also need pencil and paper.
- After you have cleared your conscience through prayer and have dealt with those two fears listed above, ask God to release His Spirit, to fill the room with His presence. You may not feel much of anything, which is alright. You can also put on some music that helps you sense God’s presence. What you are trying to do is create an atmosphere that will help you hear, because we are going to ask God some personal questions. The additional anointing that is created by anointed music and/or the moving of the Spirit will make it easier to receive.
- After you have set the atmosphere and collected your pencil and paper, quiet your mind and ask God, “Is there a lie that I have believed about you?” Realize that everyone has accepted some lies about who God is or how He behaves. This is actually normal for a fallen race. Even if you don’t think you believe any lies about God, ask Him anyways.
- If you feel led to, then ask God, “Where did this lie come from?” If God reminds you of a circumstance or person from your past then quickly forgive them and release them. Say something simple like, “I choose to forgive so and so for such and such.” Be specific.
- Now, ask God, “What is the truth?” Even if what you heard before did not seem like a lie, at this point, the truth you hear will draw you closer to God and make trusting Him easier. Allow the truth to wash over you. If the truth does not seem to have much emotional weight, do not worry. You can ask The Lord over and over again about more lies you have believed, and each time the truth will have a deeper impact. Oftentimes God will deal with small lies that cover bigger lies, and it becomes like peeling an onion. The deeper you go, the closer He will come to deeply touching your heart.
- Finally, ask The Lord, “What do you say about me?” This step is important because it allows God to begin speaking to your identity. It is your identity that needs to be restored in order for you to bear the image of Christ.
- Repeat this process. Eventually you will run out of lies, but by then you will have a very accurate understanding of who God is and how much He loves you. So, repeat.
Technique #4 The Gifts
Technique #4 was given by God to Beverly Sheasby, the wife of John Sheasby. This technique uses the gifts of the Spirit to gain a personal prophetic word, given by you. If you do not have a prayer-language in other tongues, then seek out a Spirit-filled minister for assistance. Further details on how to be baptized in the Spirit are included at the end of this section. For this technique you will need a private space and possibly an audio recording device.
- After you have cleared your conscience through prayer and have dealt with those two fears listed above, begin praying in tongues.
- As you pray in the Spirit you will notice at some point that you feel confidence rising and the anointing around you increasing. When you feel ready, stop praying in tongues and begin to interpret what you just prayed. To help you, the first words of your interpretation will be, “My son/daughter, do not be afraid.”
- Once you speak those words you will discover that the rest of the interpretation begins to flood your mind, speak it out as it comes. If you are worried that you won’t remember what you are saying, then make sure to have a recording device with you. I recommend that you keep the recording going from the start when you first started praying in tongues. This way, by the time you are ready to interpret your prayer in tongues you will have already moved past the embarrassment of having the recording going. After you have concluded your interpretation and crying, or whatever emotion arises. Then play back your prophetic word, and enjoy, or do again.
Dealing with Hindrances
If at any point you find that you are struggling to hear, the issue and answer will always be faith. If you doubt that God will speak, or if you doubt that He will help you hear, that fear will make it difficult to hear. Go back and settle again those two fears. Fear stops the flow of faith. You must at least start to believe that God wants to speak to you and that He wants to help you hear.
Some people have discovered that judgments and unforgiveness can keep them from hearing God. These two failures have not stopped God from speaking to me, but if God is revealing this to you as a problem, then ask God to speak to you about why you cannot hear. Follow His lead; it could be that He won’t speak to you about another topic until you have dealt with this issue. Regardless, I am confident that He will speak to you about why you are struggling. God is a loving God, and He will help you, but He also desires that you be loving as well. Judgments and unforgiveness will prevent the flow of grace into your life.