In 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But just as it is written, ‘Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love Him.’ God has revealed these to us by his Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”
The Bible is God’s letter to us. It tells us Who He is, what He does, and what He wants from us. It shows us the general will of God, and what God gives us personally will fall within the promises in the word. The Bible is like the safety check, to make sure whatever we believe we are hearing is actually from God.
But what we must notice is that the requirements in the Bible are divided into 2 categories, which are either under the law (Old Covenant) or under grace (New Covenant). For example under the law it was only prophets and priests who could hear God’s voice for everybody. But under grace every believer can hear God’s voice for themselves. Our pastors are there to hear God’s voice with us, but not for us. That means we are supposed to hear for ourselves, and then confirm it with our pastors. However the more we do this the better we become at judging for ourselves if it was God Who spoke to us.
We usually have 3 voices speaking to us; God through our spirit; the devil through our flesh; and our soul through our mind. The tricky thing is all these voices sound similar. The only way to tell them apart is to compare what we hear with the principles in the word of God. This is what is described in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
When we sit to pray and quiet our minds so we can focus on God, then He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit within us. This revelation comes to our mind as thoughts. The best thing we can do is to write all these thoughts down, so we can test them later. If not, the fear that we will make a mistake when it comes to hearing from God may stop us from trying. The assurance that as we keep doing this, it will make us more in tune with God, comes from Jesus statement that His sheep hear His voice.
GOD IS ALWAYS SENDING HIS THOUGHTS; SO OPEN YOUR MIND TO LISTEN.
