How to Recognize God’s Voice
I am currently in the midst of big God changes in my life. I don’t know if you know this, but if you answer yes to God, He’ll ask you to do more things, haha!
In all seriousness and honesty though, God has been proving to me that He has big plans for my life, and once I submitted to His authority, He has brought so many changes to my life and so many dreams to my heart. It’s been amazing to see how He’s been moving in my life. I want to be clear here though - I don’t always skip and whistle down the path He’s laid out for me. There’s been a fair share of me begrudgingly kicking my feet and grumbling along the way. I’m sometimes too similar to my toddler in that respect.
But as God has been moving in my life, I’ve had to learn how to recognize God’s voice through all of the static and noise around me. I’m definitely not perfect at hearing Him clearly the first time around, but God knows that about me and knows just what to do to get the job done, despite my shortcomings.
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How to Recognize God’s Voice in Your Life
If you’re wondering how to recognize God’s voice in your own life, I’ve outlined some ways that God has shown me how to listen, discern, and recognize His voice.
Align your heart with God’s will.
First and foremost, you’re not going to be able to recognize God’s voice in your life if you aren’t listening for it. To do that, you need to submit to God and align your heart with His will for your life.
This took a long time for me to do. I love to control all situations, and I was afraid that if I submitted to God’s will, then that meant that I was ok with allowing bad things to happen in my life.
Proverbs 16:3
3Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Luke 9:23
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
There’s a couple things going through my mind with these. If I committed my work to the Lord, then I felt like I would lose control over my life. And if I choose to follow Christ, then I have to deny myself daily and pick up whatever burdens lay ahead. That didn’t sound great to me upon first read.
So when I was first submitting my life to Christ, I prayed that I would want to want to submit my life to Him. I couldn’t even pray to want to submit to Him. I first needed to want to want to submit. And God was faithful and met me where I was - He gave me that desire and I made it to the point that I wanted to submit to Him. And then I made it to the point that I actually submitted to Him.
I want to be clear here that I’m not perfect at submitting to Him. There are still some things on my heart that I’m having trouble accepting, and it’s like I’m back to square one, praying that I’ll want to want those things. But the more I say yes, the easier it is to say yes the next time around. I do have to pick up my cross daily, but it’s ok, because I’m learning that His burdens aren’t as heavy as I thought they would be.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Check it against scripture.
Any time you think you’re hearing from God, it’s a good idea to check it against scripture. God’s never going to ask anything of you that goes against His Word.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Bible is a big book, and it’s filled with a lot of information, so it’s important to be consistently and continually reading it. You won’t know if what you’re hearing aligns with scripture if you don’t know what scripture says. Get into a daily Bible reading habit, and even join some Bible studies with other Christians to dig deep and learn what the Bible is all about.
Pray and ponder.
Luke 2:19
19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
God sends us messages in different ways, and in the case of Luke 2:19, Mary had received multiple messages from angels and people, and she collected the information from all of these sources and really thought about what they meant for God’s calling on her life.
As God sends you messages from multiple sources, keep them all in mind, pray on them, and use them all to determine the steps that God is asking you to take.
Consult fellow Christians.
Proverbs 11:14
14Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
Trusted advisors are essential for a fruitful walk. God uses those who are further in their walk to help guide us on our own paths.
I recently received a message from God, but I didn’t have a clear understanding of what that message meant. I thought I knew the actions I needed to take, but after conversations with trusted advisors, I feel that the message I received was clear, but my interpretation of what that meant wasn’t correct.
Consult fellow Christians about the messages you receive - often times, they can offer invaluable advice to help you better understand what God’s guiding you toward.
Move out of love.
Lastly, trust that God’s plans for you are good, and He doesn’t speak to you out of fear, but love.
1 John 4:16
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
Once you are certain of what God’s asking you to do, it’s time to move and take action.
This is often the scariest part for me, but I know that God doesn’t want me to just be here - He wants me to live for Him, which involves working for Him.
James 2:26
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
As a Christian, it can sometimes be difficult to know how to recognize God’s voice, but God gives us many tools and resources to understand how to move forward on our walk. Trust that as you seek, you will understand God’s will for your life, and you will learn how to recognize and put into action His instruction.
Dear God, thank you so much for leading us on our walk with you. Our flesh tells us that our ways are best, but as we learn to recognize your voice and follow you, we learn that your ways truly are superior to everything else. Thank you for being in control and for giving us resources for understanding your will. Your burden truly is light. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Blessings Friend.
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