Do you remember how excited you were the first time you picked up the phone and could immediately recognize the voice on the other side of the line? If you’re a late Millennial (like me 😉) then you might still have some pretty good memories of those clunky looking landline phones attached to by wire to the wall. Or perhaps you might remember the traumatic experience as a little child getting lost at the store? Do you recall how relieved you were beneath all the tears streaming down your face when you finally heard your mom’s voice floating across the shop? (*surely it’s not just me!*) Similarly, when we begin knowing how to discern God’s voice from a sea of other sounds trying to grab our attention, it is really just as exciting and relieving.

The reason why a sense of excitement and relief is created within us is because hearing the voice of God is what will bring us an unspeakable sense of comfort and safety in a world that is unknown and frightening. There is nothing quite like being able to discern the voice of God in a chaotic world where there are so many sounds left and right trying to distract us from the most important voice of all. But discerning God’s voice isn’t the easiest thing.

However, this is exactly what this blog post is about. To help you answer some of the hardest questions about how to discern the voice of God such as 1) what the Bible says about hearing the voice of God, 2) the importance of knowing the voice of God, 3) steps to discerning the voice of God and 4) what you should remember if you struggle to discern God’s voice.

What Does the Bible Say About Hearing the Voice of God?

So what does the Bible say about hearing the voice of God exactly? Check out these bible verses on how to discern God’s voice…

* We won’t have time to dive in depth into each of these verses, so I encourage and welcome you to go straight to the source itself (scripture) and read over these verses in context.

How to Discern God’s Voice Bible Verses | Scripture on How to Know God’s Voice (From Your Own + the Enemy)

• “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” — John 10:2-6

• For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12

• Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. — Romans 10:17

• Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” — John 8:47

Click the image below to grab your FREE workbook on how to discern God’s voice. Go through this beautifully designed workbook so that it can help you discern step by step if your thoughts came from God. 🙂

Why Should We Know How to Discern God’s Voice | The Importance of Knowing the Voice of God

Have you ever played Marco Polo? And if you have, have you ever been ‘it’? The one blindfolded and having to completely rely on the others to call out to you so that you can try and tag someone… all so that you can finally break free of being blindfolded?

When we don’t know how to discern God’s voice, it is kind of us like us playing a game of Marco Polo… only nobody is making a peep. And we are still expected to run around blindly trying to catch someone out. Not recognizing God’s voice means that we will continue just moving blindly around without any help or direction… expected to do everything with our own strength.

Our Creator can see things that we cannot see. He knows things that we do not know. So by doing things through our own strength, we are essentially living life blindfolded… defiantly trying to move around all by ourselves and without any help when we are completely incapable of seeing the world around us. We need to let Him take control and listen to His call, not our own.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”, declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth, and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” — Isaiah 55:8-11

Steps to Discerning the Voice of God | How to Discern God’s Voice From Your Own

Step #1 to Discerning God’s Voice: Recognizing the Characteristics of our Creator, the Enemy and Our Own Flesh

Do you remember what it was like being in a crowded classroom where you were trying so desperately to hear the conversation your crush was having? And for some reason, you were capable of hearing his voice chatting with a bunch of his mates in a noisy room full of overly hyper students. Well, the reason why it was so easy for you to recognize his voice was because you were so familiar with it.

The most straightforward way to know how to discern God’s voice from your own and the most obvious way to know how to discern God’s voice from the enemy is by simply getting familiar with the characteristics of the Creator, the enemy and your own flesh. Each of the three has their own distinct voice… but recognizing the voice of each one becomes easier when we become more familiar with them all.

THE VOICE OF GOD VS. THE VOICE OF THE ENEMY

For example, when you’re hearing the voice of the enemy, it will never propel you towards the gospel, nor will it ever push you to further the kingdom by spreading the true good news. When you’re listening the voice of the enemy, it will not help you to bear the fruits of the spirit such as love, joy, gentleness and peace. Instead, it will bring about things in your life such as jealousy, strife, fear, shame, hatred etc.

And the best way to get familiar with the characteristics of the Creator? Spend time in scripture. Because within every page of the Bible, we will be able to read and experience who our Creator is and His intentions for His Kingdom.

Click the image below to grab your FREE workbook on how to discern God’s voice. Go through this beautifully designed workbook so that it can help you discern step by step if your thoughts came from God. 🙂

Step #2 to Discerning God’s Voice: Check it Against Scripture

The most important way to know if it is God’s voice that you’re hearing is to simply check it against scripture. For example, if you think you can hear God’s voice telling you to go out and date that super cute non-believer because you might be able to bring Him to Christ through the whole ‘flirt to convert’ and hair flipping business, then you can whip out 2 Corinthians 6:14 which talks about how we should not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:16-17

More often than not, when we think something is from God (when it truly isn’t), it is because it is part of a ‘sandwich’. This means the statement sounds so close to being ‘Christian’ that it is so easy to mask as something that is biblically true. However, these half-truths are in actual fact far more dangerous than the downright absurd.

EXAMPLES OF DANGEROUS HALF-TRUTHS

It was the serpent that told Eve the deceptive half-truth about taking a fruit from the garden: “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). It was true that Eve’s eyes were opened, but she certainly did not become like God by knowing good and evil — in fact, all it did was open the door for her to choose the serpent’s way of thinking. The serpent baked a truth with a blatant lie to make it look like an attractive win-win situation.

Another popular ‘sandwich’ is the common saying: “God won’t give you anything you can’t handle“. This phrase can often be taken in the wrong context… leading to a generation of believers who spend more time relying on their own strength than realising that it is only because He gives you a way out that you will be able to endure all things.

This is why it becomes so important to differentiate truths from lies when it comes to discerning the voice of God. And the best possible way to recognize the truths from the lies is to simply dive deep into scripture and see if it lines up with what God has to say.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15

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Step #3 to Discerning God’s Voice: Bring it to God in Prayer

Imagine yourself as that lost child in a store. If you want to find your parents again, would the best way to try and find them be quietly looking for them around the store, or trying to call out to them as you go about looking for them?

When you honestly want help in discerning God’s voice, call out to Him and wait to see if He calls back. You might not necessarily get an answer the way you expect. It might not be that super suave ‘boombox’ experience (but how awesome would that be??), however He might give you clarity with the help of His peace that transcends all understanding. You also might not necessarily hear back from Him the moment that you want Him to, but that doesn’t mean that He isn’t listening. Rather, because of His Word, and His promises of who He is, we can rest in comfort knowing that He hears us… we simply just have to be still and wait patiently.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. — James 1:5

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Step #4 to Discerning God’s Voice: Ask Yourself these Two Questions…

If you have brought your concern to God through prayer and have dived into scripture, but still don’t know whether or not what you’re hearing is the voice of God, ask yourself these two questions…

1. DOES IT MAKE YOU SHOW THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT?

God puts us through a constant process of molding us like clay into His image. The process is good but this doesn’t mean that it is always pleasurable. Just like a gymnast that needs to undergo difficult training, sometimes we will come back home with calluses on our hands and bruises on our knees. It isn’t always easy or feel good to your flesh, but anything that is from God will bear good fruits.

When we are responding to the voice of God, our identity will be more firmly planted in the image of Christ, we will begin exhibiting more fruits of the Spirit such as “love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control” — Galatians 5:22-23. However, when it isn’t the voice of God, we will not be made more like Christ because everything the flesh and the enemy stand for is the complete opposite of what God and the Holy Spirit stand for.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. — Galatians 5:16-20

2. WILL IT BRING FORTH THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

Nothing that the enemy or your flesh wants to do will ever bring forth the Kingdom of God. It seeks to destroy people, create shame, and hopelessness. And you will never, ever hear the voice of the enemy or even your own voice tell you to share the true gospel.

Click the image below to grab your FREE workbook on how to discern God’s voice. Go through this beautifully designed workbook so that it can help you discern step by step if your thoughts came from God. 🙂

Step #5 to Discerning God’s Voice: Seek Wise Counsel

You know how they always say that we sometimes see things through rose-colored glasses? Sometimes, when we are in a situation ourselves, it is so hard to think and see things objectively. This is why having reliable, Godly counsel is so important in our lives when it comes to trying to discern the voice of God.

After all, when our own personal wishes, desires and experiences get in the way, it can impact the way we see a situation. So asking for advice and seeking wise counsel can be an important aspect when trying to discern God’s voice. However, while God can use others to bring clarity in a situation, like all things, the most important way to determine whether or not something is of God is to go straight to the source Himself (through His Word then in prayer).

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel. — Proverbs 12:15

Step #6 to Discerning God’s Voice: Test Every Action

Sometimes we will be required to take a leap of faith when we don’t know for sure if God is leading us somewhere. In those moments when we aren’t entirely sure if something is coming from God (and we have made sure that it doesn’t contradict scripture), don’t be afraid to take a step of faith in the direction that you believe God is leading you.

While standing still can also be wise, sometimes taking a step forward is what it will take for us to see beyond the immediate fog. When we take a step of faith, it can become a lot clearer whether God is opening or closing doors. For example, if you believe that God is calling you to serve as a missionary overseas, taking that step of faith by reaching out to different missionary organizations can be a good thing. And if God has it in His plans to bring you to Africa, then you can be sure that He will pave the way for you despite all odds.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. — 1 John 4:1

This is What You Should Remember if You’re Still Struggling Knowing How to Discern God’s Voice…

1.     It is OK to Take a Step Forward.

I felt afraid the first time I strapped on my first pair of rollerblades. I was also scared the first time I was asked to speak in front of a large assembly. In fact, I refused to let go of my Dad’s hands when I first skated and needed a hug from my friend before I went on stage.

The reason?

I was afraid of getting hurt. So here is a gentle reminder to you… even if you don’t have full control over a situation and you don’t know everything yet, it is actually okay to take a step forward sometimes. If you’re still struggling knowing how to discern God’s voice and you’ve checked that it isn’t against scripture, the character of God and you’ve brought it forth to Him in prayer, don’t be afraid to strap on those rollerblades and try skate towards the direction you think you’re called to take.

If you have a heart that genuinely yearns to hear God’s truth, it will be revealed to you whether or not you’re heading in the right direction. And even if it doesn’t make any logical sense why you should continue, if He has called you to carry on, He will give you His peace that transcends all understanding.

However, something that I’ve learned is to be very careful about judging things by our feelings alone because what our heart tells us might not be right because “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” — Jeremiah 17:9.

So continue to take it slow, pray over every step forward that you take, and dive into His Word for the final, authoritative word in all matters. Just don’t be afraid to take that first step!

For we walk by faith, not by sight. — 2 Corinthians 5:7

2.     You’re Not Ignored or Forgotten

Sometimes you can feel like you are being ignored or totally left to your own devices when you can’t hear a straightforward answer from God. While answers might not come in the form nor the speed that we desire, we can rest knowing that He does indeed hear us and so long as we approach Him with all our heart, He will give us answers in His own good time.  

“Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” — Jeremiah 29:12-13

Click the image below to grab your FREE workbook on how to discern God’s voice. Go through this beautifully designed workbook so that it can help you discern step by step if your thoughts came from God. 🙂

Discerning the Voice of God Study Questions | How to Know God’s Voice Reflection Questions

1. How have you been trying to discern God’s voice?
2. What does scripture say about the character of God?
3. How might you try and grow your relationship with Him so that you can become more and more familiarized with His voice?

Hey! Hope You Liked This Blog Post on How to Discern God’s Voice…

Drop a comment below and let me know how you try and discern God’s voice! But before then…

Here are Some Other Relevant Resources You Might Like…

If you liked this complete practical guide on how to discern God’s voice, you might also like…

—> How to Find God’s Calling for Your Life

—> 5 Biblical Truths & Prayers on Hearing God in the Midst of Hard Times (+ FREE devotional!)

—> How to Overcome Negative Thoughts Biblically (+ FREE thoughts journal!)

—> 5 Creative Daily Quiet Time Ideas with God

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