Only God Can Confirm That You're Hearing From Him

3. Cultivation

If we really want to be able to recognize the Lord’s voice, we will have to make lifestyle changes, rearranging our schedule and beliefs to make room for Him first. The more time and attention we give to God, the more fine-tuned our senses become to His leading.

Discerning the Voice of the Lord

Now that we know the stages in developing our ability to hear, we can look practically at learning how to recognize His voice for ourselves.

Spend time with the Lord, both throughout the day and at specific times we’ve set aside, so you can objectively evaluate what you are sensing, discerning and hearing:

1. Identification (WHO is talking)

Ears to Hear

The first step in hearing the voice of the Lord is recognizing that you are hearing something! This may involve the Lord cleaning out your ears, and perhaps clearing away some wounds and beliefs that are keeping you from hearing clearly.

“Is That You, Lord?”

Remind yourself that knowing God is simple; we often want to make it complex for reasons of control of others or to keep from changing our own beliefs or experiencing the pain that accompanies getting healed. But this is really the sum of hearing: asking, “God, is that You?” We can come up with all kinds of guidelines, but the bottom line is the answer to that question.

Talking to Your Self

Being able to distinguish between our own thoughts, thoughts the enemy may speak to us and the thoughts of the Lord is a long-term process that begins with becoming aware of what we are thinking. Most of us are totally unaware of what we are thinking, feeling, or even how we make decisions. So part of the training that God puts us through is for the purpose of bringing these to the surface, so we can objectively evaluate the source. That which is Life will stand the light of day, but we must also be willing to change our beliefs.