Why Can't I Hear God's Voice?

(I had planned on posting the comparisons between the 12th Imam (Mahdi) and the antichrist, but I feel a prompting to detour.)





I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU:


Do you hear God speaking to you?


I used to wonder why I never heard from God. I would hear people speak about their conversations with God, or instructions from God… And I felt cheated!!

I had been a Christian my whole life, but I had never heard God speak to me. Even when I needed to hear His instruction, there was nothing. It was upsetting, I felt ripped off, and if I am honest, there were probably times that I was downright angry. How many of you have felt that way? How many of you still feel this way?

Why does it seem that God speaks to some people, but not to others? I didn’t understand, and I even thought that those people who had heard from God must be lying. Pride will do that to you- it will make you bring other people down to your level…

ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE…

A while back, God took the scales off my eyes. I began to read the Bible, and the words became clear to me. It was nothing that I did, nothing that I deserved- it was God’s grace. The only thing I did was ask for wisdom, understanding, and knowledge- and I did it with the right motives. It was never given to me until I “washed” my motives. I’m sure we have all asked God for righteous things, but with selfish motives. Thankfully, God pointed me to the book of James one day:

James 4:2-3
…You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.


ABOVE ALL ELSE…

With my “new eyes”, I came across a passage that simplified my questions about the voice of God.
Proverbs 4:23
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

When I looked at the word “heart” in Hebrew, it also translates “conscience”. So I read it again like this:
“Above all else, guard your conscience, for it is the wellspring of life.”


I was also reminded of this passage:
Jeremiah 31:33
"…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

There’s that word again- “heart”. It helped me to understand by reading it again:

“…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their conscience. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

THAT STILL SMALL VOICE

Elijah was in a cave at Mount Horeb, when he heard directly from God:
1 Kings 19:11-13
11… And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

Even in the days of Elijah (under the old covenant), God’s voice was not found in any of the loud and spectacular events. His voice was a still small voice. Elijah even went out of the cave to hear it! This implies that it was so quiet, he couldn’t hear the words while he was in the cave.

Under the new covenant, established through Jesus, God’s law can be found inside us. He has written it on our heart/ conscience.


CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART

Think back to your childhood, when you had a clear conscience and innocence. Do you remember how it felt the first time you did something bad, even though you knew it was wrong? Do you remember how your conscience “got the best of you”? Maybe that was God’s still small voice, inside your heart, telling you to stop and repent.

Now think about something bad you have done multiple times- knowing it was wrong- but still doing it. Did it get easier each time? Did your conscience become quieter each time you ignored it? If you did it long enough, you probably weren’t bothered at all anymore! Maybe you even convinced yourself it was ok, by justifying it somehow.

Maybe you are still doing it…

EACH TIME YOU IGNORE YOUR CONSCIENCE, YOU MAY BE TURNING THE VOLUME DOWN ON GOD’S VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEART.

EACH TIME YOU JUSTIFY YOUR ACTIONS, YOU MAY BE TURNING THE VOLUME UP FOR SATAN.

Think of your un-repented sins as a gong, or the sound of smashing pots and pans together. If I was whispering something to you while you were banging the pots and pans, would you hear me? If I was invisible (like God is), and whispering to you while you were banging the pots and pans- would you even know that I existed?

Maybe God’s been speaking to you all along, but your life is so noisy you can’t hear Him.



IS GOD SPEAKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW?

If you are starting to feel your conscience now, while you are reading this, get off your seat and onto your knees. DON’T WAIT! Do not ignore the voice of God- Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me…”


Walk to a quiet place and pray this Psalm:
Psalm 51:2-3,
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.