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When God spoke to Samuel in the temple at Shiloh, it was a very rare occasion. The lamp of God was low and Eli's eyes were dim from age and he could not see clearly. The Temple atmosphere depicted the darkened spiritual condition of the land, but God was speaking and the recovery of Israel's moral condition was near . . . Samuel heard the voice of God! One of the truly great days of my early Christian life was the day that I realized that God spoke to me personally. My early prayer life was that of merely petitioning God. Then one day I began to listen. My heart was thrilled; when I spoke to God, He not only listened but He spoke back! Prayer became a conversation between God and me. My relationship with God became a fellowship. There is no joy greater than the experience of hearing the voice of God. The day in which we live is so bound in rationalism that we almost mock when we hear of one actually claiming to be able to hear the voice of God. But we must not scoff; we must not scoff for several reasons. First, men and women throughout the Bible heard God's voice and secondly, there are some highly effective men and women of God alive today who demonstrate that they hear God's voice. All sincere born again believers have a deep hunger within them to commune with God; We long to hear Him speak; We desire to hear God's voice. Our first effort to seek the voice of God must be to search the Scriptures. The Bible and Prayer must be a unit in order to talk and listen to God. Prayerfully reading God's Word allows us to hear clearly the voice of God. Reading the many accounts in the Bible of God speaking to man encourages us to listen with desire to be spoken to by God, even as He spoke to Joshua. (Joshua 1:7,8) As we read the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, He will direct us to the very portion of Scripture that speaks directly to a given situation. We should ask God to speak to us through His Word. the path is then clear as it was to Joshua when God said to him, "Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left." God speaks through His Word. We must learn to stay in the Scriptures until God speaks words of direction and our heart is fully assured that we have His Word in the matter. Even as God spoke to a young Samuel, He will speak to His children today. I have never personally heard the audible voice of God. Yet, He sometimes speaks with such strong impressions that His words are clear and often seem oral. When God speaks in this way, we are prone to reply orally, as did Samuel, "Speak, Lord for Thy servant heareth." On several occasions as I waited in the silence of my closet, the voice of God has spoken so clearly that I acknowledge orally to the Master. I say this humbly, not in boast, for this privilege of intimacy belongs to all born again children of God. Many of you have experienced such times of intimacy with Christ, but fail to tell others of hearing His voice for fear of not being believed. May I urge you to share such experiences for the purpose of urging others to deepen their prayer life. We must be certain that it is God speaking. It must be the voice of God that we hear and not that of Satan. Obedience to God is not aiming at some arbitrary target of our own, but a striving to do what He has commanded. The great task of listening to God necessitates the assistance of His Holy Spirit. Without the fullness of the Holy Spirit I strongly believe it impossible to listen to the voice of God. John 10:27 makes clear that a true believer can normally hear God accurately. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." It stands to reason that a child of God who is filled with the Holy Spirit may and can easily hear the voice of his Master. Quoting Charles Stanley: "If we as believers walk in the Spirit, understand the meaning of the cross, and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and live His life through us, then it should be easy for us to distinguish whether the voice we hear is of God, the flesh or the Devil." The still quiet voice of God speaks gently yet resulting as the twisting roar of a boisterous tornada. the Psalmist says, "The voice of God is powerful." (Ps 29) The still quiet voice of God speaks gently yet resulting as the twisting roar of a boisterous tornada. the Psalmist says, "The voice of God is powerful." (Ps 29) There is power in the still small voice of God to override the carnal whims of self. There is power in the whispering voice of God to out volume the deceitful voice of Satan. There is power in the small quite voice of God to demand that my personal will not be done. ( W. Clyde Martin is editor of the online magazine The Prayer Life, a ministry dedicated to promoting deeper prayer among the redeemed. His e-mail address: galileepastor@comcast.net __duplicating this message for distribution is encouraged)
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