“If I could promise you that if you wake up tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. to have a quiet time, you will hear the audible voice of God, would you do it?” My pastor started a recent message with that question, and I immediately thought, “YES!” Despite my distaste for early mornings, I began to think about what that might feel like and what God might say to me during that time. Would he answer that question I’ve been asking him for a couple of months? Would he give me a glimpse of my future? Would he encourage me about that challenge I’m facing that hasn’t seemed to get much easier throughout the years?
Even though I’ve wanted to, I’ve never heard the audible voice of God. So it was easy to imagine how powerful that experience would be.
But, as my pastor went on to explain, of course he couldn’t guarantee that. He could, however, guarantee that it’s possible to hear from God in another way—by reading the Bible.
While I believe and love the Bible, the truth is I deflated a little when my pastor said that. It seemed like such an obvious answer, and I had been wanting more.
The Voice of God in the Bible
The Bible is filled with people who directly interact with God in their literal, physical world. There’s Enoch, who we don’t get a lot of information about, but we do know that “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24 NIV). Moses heard from God numerous times, including when he went up Mount Sinai and came down with the Ten Commandments, dictated by God himself (Exodus 19–20). The twelve disciples walked, talked, and ate with Jesus for roughly three years (see the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The list of those in Scripture who had direct encounters with God could go on and on.
It’s easy for me to get caught up in wishing for more from God when I think about these fortunate people. At the same time, because I trust God and his promises, I have to believe there are still good things for me and my faith, too. When Jesus was beginning to prepare his disciples for the time he would no longer bodily be with them, he told them: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26 NIV). The disciples, the ones who spent the most time with Jesus throughout his ministry, may have been alarmed and confused by this news. How could life without Jesus, God himself, be as good as life tangibly in his presence?
Yet this is the faith all of us who believe today find ourselves with. So to hear the voice of God, it really is as simple—and yet profound—as what my pastor said. We hear from God by reading the Bible. As we do so, we learn about God and the ways he works. We can read the stories of people like Enoch or Moses or the disciples, and instead of getting jealous of the ways they interacted with God, we can be thankful we have their stories to look to for evidence of what God does.
Though we may not walk with him physically beside us, we can certainly talk to him on every walk around the neighborhood or to the bus stop. We may not go up a mountain and write down God’s words on stone tablets, but we can turn to his word in every way available to us—whether that’s through a digital tablet, in a print Bible, or via audiobook. And while we may not dine with Jesus physically taking up a chair at our table, we can be reminded that he is, indeed, with us at every meal and everywhere we go.
The Holy Spirit’s Work—and Ours
The work of the Holy Spirit also helps us to hear from God. It may be through convicting us of sin and helping us leave a conversation we shouldn’t participate in, or helping us to understand Scripture through a daily devotional, or by bringing the right people into our lives to spur us on toward pursuing God more fully. It could also look like us sharing stories of the ways God is at work in our lives to encourage others to be on the lookout for God’s work in their lives as well. When we share how we’ve trusted God and heard him speak in our lives, we can help others build their trust in God, too.
These ways of hearing the voice of God still, at times, feel less exciting to me than being able to sit down with God over a cup of coffee. But if we’re paying attention, reading the Bible can speak to us powerfully. Our longing for more of God can also be a reminder that, as we look forward to heaven, we’ll one day be united with Him in a more glorious way than we’ve experienced here on earth. Perhaps then, I’ll finally be able to say I hear the audible voice of God.
—Written by Brianna DeWitt. Used by permission from the author.
One Response
This was an answer I’ve always been searching for , at 76 yrs old , you’ve made my day ✝️
It’s through the Holy Bible & the Holy Spirit that I’ve grown even closer too & love more each
day 💕