Question: The Bible says “My sheep hear my voice….” How do you really hear God? I am going through some difficult times in my life. I am seeking God and crying out to Him to lead me, guide me, tell me what to do, but honestly I don’t feel like I’m getting much back. I know He speaks many times to people through his Word, but doesn’t He speak to our hearts through the Holy Spirit, as well? That is what I am having trouble figuring out. I don’t know how to tell the difference between my own thoughts, things the devil might try to deceive me with, or thinking God might be telling me something. Is there anything I can do to make sure I “hear His voice”?

Answer: Hearing God’s voice is not complicated, but it isn’t always easy, for the very reasons you give. How exactly does God speak to you? How do you know that your thoughts are from God and not from some other source? How do you make sure you are hearing God’s voice?

You are exactly right when you say that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit and His Word. In fact, those are the primary ways God speaks to us today. In Old Testament times, God spoke audibly to people. He spoke to Samuel, who at first didn’t recognize God’s voice (1 Samuel 3:1-10). God gave Gideon physical signs of His presence, not once but three times (Judges 6). In the New Testament, God spoke to people through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus knew He would be leaving the earth and would no longer be with His followers in a physical sense, so He told His disciples that God would be sending the Holy Spirit to be with them (John 16:5-8). The Holy Spirit is the presence of God in all who have a personal relationship with Him. As you said, the Holy Spirit speaks to us—not audibly, but through our thoughts—to guide us into truth (John 14:17) and to convict us of sin.

God doesn’t need to speak to us audibly any more because we have the Holy Spirit, and because we have the complete Word of God, which was not available to people in the Old Testament. God has given us His Word in order to guide us and equip us for living the way God wants us to live (2 Timothy 3:16).

So, given all of that, how do we know God is speaking to us? First, we have to be in the Word. We have to read it regularly, meditate on it, and let it soak into our lives. Second, we have to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us each and every day (Ephesians 5:18). That means we have to deal with sin as it comes into our lives by confessing it to God and asking forgiveness (1 John 1:9). The Holy Spirit will not do His work in us if we have unconfessed sin in our lives. When we live by the Spirit’s power rather than our own sinful power, our lives will bear spiritual fruit, and we will know what God wants us to do (see Galatians 5:16-26).

As for wondering if your “thoughts” are from God or another source, that’s actually pretty easy to discern. If your thoughts are in line with the Word of God, then you know they are from God. If your thoughts contradict God’s Word, then you know they are not. And what about thoughts you have that aren’t specifically in God’s Word? Well, you are going to have a “conviction” in your heart that you are following God. If your heart is restless or confused, then you can be pretty sure that your thoughts are not God’s thoughts.

Like we said, this isn’t complicated, but it isn’t easy. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. You are absolutely on the right track to want to know how to hear God’s voice. It’s the most important thing you can do!