“I can’t hear God.” “How do I know what God is saying about this issue?” These questions are some of the common questions and comments you make very often, most times in the middle of a crisis. The popular notion is that God is not speaking but the real issue is that you cannot hear him.
God has not changed the way He communicates with His people. He is still speaking today as he has in the past. However, many Christians are like Samuel in their youth, who could not discern the voice of God instantly. When God called him, he kept running to Eli until he learnt how to hear and recognize God’s voice. Eli knew it was God, but Samuel did not know.
At home, you can identify the voices of your family members. How is that possible? because you are a member of the family. In the same way, if you belong to God’s family, you would be able to discern when your father is speaking and when a stranger is speaking. But first, you have to become a member of the family of God. Jesus did not find it difficult to discern the voice of the devil speaking through Peter and to know when God spoke through him also. You will hear God when He speaks, unless you are not His child.
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In school, your teachers usually start teaching you from the known to the unknown. Similarly, once you start listening to God in simple but important day-to-day activities, it becomes second nature to hear from Him on bigger issues like marriage. Do not wait until you are about to get married to start hearing from God. When you are sure of your relationship with God, He will guide you, and when He does, you will know.
“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shall go: I will guide thee with mine eye”
Psalms 32:8
No Limits
God is not limited to leading in only one or two ways. Sometimes you may ponder or doubt what the Lord has put in your heart or the vision you have received. This is when God can send another person to confirm his words to you. Other times, you may find yourself in confusion, sorrow, doubt, darkness, or disturbance in your spirit because of a particular decision.
Before going further, you must wait and confirm God’s will repeatedly. When in doubt, he can penetrate your heart and produce a deep conviction that cannot be broken easily concerning an issue. Answers to your prayers could flash through your mind like a light or knowledge that comes suddenly and refuses to go away even when you try to forget it or shake it off. Thoughts or convictions could come slowly or gradually until they consume you.
Nehemiah did not see God face to-face, but the Word of God came to him. He perceived it was the Word of God and avoided evil and satanic traps. Such a perception can come suddenly or gradually also, but when it settles, you will know that this is the will of God.
“Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay thee; yea, in the night will they come to slay thee. And I said, Should such a man as I flee? In addition, who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in. And, lo, I perceived that God had not sent him; but that he pronounced this prophecy against me: for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him”
Nehemiah 6:10-12
Learn how to hear when God speaks henceforth. Choose to know God’s voice and get familiar with it today, and you will be able to discover his will for your marriage and other areas in your life.