1. Does God still speak to believers? a. The answer is absolutely!
Jesus said in John 14: If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will bein you. (vv. 15-17, emphasis added).
2. Why would God still speak to us today? a. He loves us! b. We need His direction for our lives. c. God wants us to know Him.
3. How can we distinguish God’s voice from other voices? a. We can learn to recognize God’s voice by getting to know Him through His Word and through an active prayer life with Him. b. God will never ask us to do anything that is contrary to His nature. c. God would never lead us to pursue a course of action that would hinder our spiritualmaturity. d. God will never tell us to do anything that gratifies the flesh. i) The flesh, in spiritual terms, is defined as “mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God.” e. God always speaks in such a way that the results please the Spirit of God within us, not the flesh.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.James 3:17
4. Some ways God speaks to us today: a. Through His Word. b. The actual voice. c. Through conviction by the Holy Spirit. d. Through circumstances. e. Through other people.
5. Why can't we hear God’s voice? a. Sin in our lives, rebellion in our hearts, refusal to wait on Him, unwillingness to change, motives for wanting to hear from God are to promote us. b. It is possible to harden your heart against hearing God's voice. c. We live in a world of cultural clashes.
6. How Can I Hear His Voice? a. When we are in proper relationship with God, we should pay special attention both to what is going on within us and to our surrounding circumstances. b. We must practice silence before God. c. We must remember that central to hearing God’s voice is our acceptance of the centrality of the written Word in hearing God’s voice.
