How to hear God's voice when making a decision
For you to hear God’s voice when making a decision, you must be willing to do the following
Spend time Praying
In the past, there was a part of me that despised praying. Although I was a born-again child of God, I just didn’t see the point of spending hours praying. I was talking to an invisible being when I wanted a genie who granted my wishes.
I hardly knew God and had to pray with my understanding often. So I got tired of repeating the same thing over and over again without any evidence to prove my prayers were being answered.
But the more I learn about prayers and the beauty of engaging the Holy Spirit, the more it gets interesting. The more I get clarity on God's leading and will for my life.
I don’t know how you grew up understanding prayers, but Prayer is your way of talking to God, and then he responds through your Spirit Man. Prayers might not solve all your problems but it gives you peace in the midst of the storm.
And that suffices.
And the Peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
You’re talking to your Father! The One who loves you more than anyone in the world.
Prayers don’t have to wait till you’re in your home and on your knees. You can pray in the bus, on the road, in the restroom and everywhere. The Holy Spirit is inside you. So just keep engaging him by talking to Him.
This helps you to always be aware of his will regarding that situation. It also clarifies hearing God’s voice when making a decision
This is the reason why I keep advocating more believers should speak in Tongues. It’s so yum.
The more I prayed in tongues, the more I would get clarity in my spirit about God’s will and hear God clearly. In the past I struggled with hearing God's voice until I started reading Kenneth Hagin's books.
Kenneth Hagin’s tongues beyond the upper room helped me a lot! I didn’t realize I’d been cheating myself till I read that book!
Talk about blessing and transformation.
I don’t think there’s anyone who can tell me otherwise about speaking in tongues. It’s been tried and tested and I don’t want to go back. I enjoy it so much.
I’d rather allow the Holy Spirit to help me speak a thousand words than just ramble out my natural understanding to God.
Book Recommendations: Tongues Beyond the Upper Room by Kenneth Hagin.
Check your Spirit
This can mean two things. We may be faced with a dilemma and uncertain about what to do. But if we wait to check within our inward Man, we will know what he wants.
This could mean we have to wait for a while to know what he’s really saying.
Sometimes our soul sounds like our spirit. But the Word of God helps us to rightly divide our soul's voice from God's voice.
Also, the Holy Spirit usually drops something in our hearts that we know we would never think that way.
Other times you might be about to do something or make a move and you get that check/nudge within that makes you feel slightly restless. With time as you grow to recognize his voice, it gets clearer.
You may begin to perceive when it’s your flesh or the world’s voice
Three things you need to know about God’s voice
God will never force you. His voice is so gentle, except in crucial situations. This also depends on how much you’ve given Him pre-eminence in your life.
God will never come barging on the door of your heart insisting or demanding you to obey Him
God’s voice usually contradicts our flesh/what we want
A Check Within Your Spirit
Another check you might get is a perception within your spirit. I recall when God was calling me out to start writing again, I was already sensing it in my spirit.
Not my soul or emotions. I got a release in my spirit that I could start writing again. Deep within, I could feel him nudging me little by little.
Anytime I’m about to do something or make a decision, I would get a check within my spirit if it’s a No. But if it’s a yes, I’d feel a release…more like a green light to go ahead.
Wait on It
When I was unsure if God wanted me to return to writing, I waited. The more I waited, the stronger the witness grew. So I used the waiting test to detect if it was God.
If you want to be sure about certain things, waiting on it is often the best way to clarify if it’s your flesh rushing you or God.
The Place of Dreams and Visions
Now you may wonder, to hear God's voice when making a decision, can God can speak to his children through dreams or visions?
God does speak through dreams, but dreams are NOT the primary route through which He leads us. So we must be very cautious about hearing God's voice through this route.
Why?
Because Satan is also spiritual! Demons are spiritual! So they can operate within the spiritual realm. This means they can pervert our dreams or visions to frighten us or mislead us.
Also, we are involved in a lot of activities in a day. Our earthly activities tend to influence our dreams, even eating in the dream can be influenced by our physical hunger.
Besides, non-Christians have dreams and they come to pass. So I am careful not to depend wholly on my dreams. Pharaoh wasn't part of God's chosen nation and he had dreams.
Same with Nebuchadnezzar and other men who didn't even know God.
So while dreams can serve as a secondary means, we must be ready to judge them by the Word of God.
The Word of God is more certain than any other anchor we have.
The first and primary way God leads his children is through the inward witness. A knowing that you can't explain and surpasses understanding. That notification you get from within.
Every child of God has access to this, so we must learn how to use it so the enemy doesn't take advantage of our ignorance.
I hope this series on Hearing God's voice has helped you and will continue to help you in your walk with God. I hope you're eager to start practicing this skill because you have been given such a great opportunity to converse with your Creator.
Don't take it for granted but use it wisely.
This is the fourth post on how to hear God's voice when making a decision on the Hearing God Series.
You can catch up on Parts One, Two, and Three for clarification.