UPDATE: Hi sweet friends! You moved me with your response to my devotion and your stories, questions and more. I’ve been praying for you as I read your comments. So many thoughts rush into my mind – things I’d love for us to process together. Please know I haven’t forgotten to come back and write more. Unfortunately, I caught my 2yr old’s cold and it slowed everything down. I’m better now but I have a project due to my publisher today for my book. With the weekend coming, let’s plan on meeting here Monday. And I’ll announce the winner of the book then too! If you haven’t entered to win, read this post and you’ll know what to do!
I’ve got a devotion today over at P31 and Crosswalk about becoming a woman who listens to God. If you’d like to read it, click here. In it, I shared how I used to wonder if I was hearing God’s voice or just my thoughts. Does that ever happen to you?
Well, before we jump into our talk about listening, I first wanted to “welcome” any new friends who are visiting for the first time from Encouragement for Today. We’re glad you’re here and hope you’ll stay a while! There is always a place for you.
One thing that helped me listen to God was learning how to capture my run-away thoughts that caused me to doubt my ability to discern God’s voice. Several years ago, I came up with a few questions I ask myself when I sense God is speaking to me, whether it be through scripture, an impression on my heart, circumstances or through His spirit in me. I always look for Biblical consistency:
- Is it consistent with God’s Word and God’s ways?
- Is it consistent with wise Biblical counsel I’ve sought?
- Is it consistent with God’s leading through doors He’s opened and closed?
- Is there a consistent theme I’m seeing in my life or hearing during my personal Bible study time, through sermons, Christian songs, conversations, etc?
There is a little more I wanted to share about increasing our confidence in our ability to recognize and respond to God’s voice, but I’m having technical difficulties as I try to pre-load this. So I’m pasting in the give-away I promised below, and will work on the rest behind the scenes. I’ll try to have it loaded later on Weds. Aster is home so I never know how my plans will go :-). Be sure to come back for more encouragement. I’ll add to this and leave the post up until Friday when I announce the winner!
If you want to become a woman who listens to God, and discover the adventure of faith He has for your life, you will want to read Lysa TerKeurst’s book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.
Today, I’m giving a copy away to one of you! Enter to win by clicking on the word “comments‘ right below this post and share your thoughts or questions about listening to God. Please include your email or friend me on Facebook so we can let you know if you win.
After you’ve entered to win, click here to download a great FREE resource from Lysa’s book with more ways to hear and discern God’s voice.
**To find out when this post is updated and to see if you are the winner, be sure to link up in the Google Friend Connect box orbecome a friend on Facebook!
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Before I went to work at age 55 it was a lot easier to sit and listen and spend time in the word. I find since I went to work and now have grandchildren close it is a lot harder to find time to get into the word, exercise, etc as I would like to and did before I went to work. Yet I know God led me to this job and he wants me here. What I do find is setting my alarm earlier in am I lay in bed and have some prayer time with him but I feel that is not enough. Thank you for your encouragement and listening.
My pastor's wife once told me that if you never tell God no you'll have an amazing life. She's a living testimony so I was all ready to go until the first thing God told me was to write a letter of apology to someone. I put it off for a bit, but finally complied. It was freeing. There were some other unpleasant assignments along the way, but I was feeling growth. Finally, God clearly spoke (exactly through all the ways you listed) something I *loved* hearing…he called us to adopt. We have been seeking his direction every step of the way and are now waiting to bring our son and daughter home!!!
Wow, so many of us are in the same place. My voice, God's voice, the enemy's voice, distractions, etc. It brings me encouragement that I am not alone in this struggle to be sure I hear God's voice, and yet I still want an immediate loud and clear on so many things. We are teaching our K6 kids this concept and I feel like I am most inadequate to teach this, but it appears I am just as average as the rest. I am thankful His mercies are new each day.
Everyone in my family looks to me to keep my chin up and have that cheery disposition. Due to several things going on in our lives I have become weary. I do not know how else to explain it. I have given God my burdens and concerns. I know he is supreme. And I desire that his will be done. But I am still weary. Your message hit the spot today. Thank you!
Thank you for your devo today, Renee. It grabbed from the first sentence. Among many struggles this is one and also the doing doing doing. Your devo is so jammed packed with truth that I think I'll need to read it several times and let it all sink in but the one I'm letting sink in now is that the Father doesn't want all the stuff to do with me (calendars, efforts, etc), he wants me. Although He choses to work through us, He doesn't really "need" me to accomplish what he wants in the world, what he wants first and foremost is ME. What a word of love to let sink in today. Then, when I'm ready and it's his time, I can do for Him want he wants in obedience to him. Thank you for your words and efforts. I hope the manuscript went well.
Renee,
Let me first start out by saying that I have heard God's voice, from a very young age of eight years old, it is a great testimony!
One day my aunt started teaching me about the bible, and I did not understand how there could be a God upstairs! She said, pray for him to reveal himself to you and he will! So one day I got on my knees and prayed that if he really existed to reveal himself to me, so I heard his voice and he asked me, do you want to ask me for something? and I said yes! I was living in a communist country at the time, that being Cuba, and the communists had taken my father away, and my mother would be sad every day, so I told Jesus that I wanted to leave Cuba some day soon.
He, then asked me, when would you like to leave, and I answered him August 26, August, being my birthday month and 26 being my favorite number at the time. I prayed this prayer in April, and guess what? August 26 came around and my family and I left Cuba on that day! I then went and shared this great testimony with my parents! I also recently prayed for my boyfriend to be saved because he had been very unfaithful to me and we both started going to church and last weekend he got baptized! I know that God answers and hears our prayers but we have to continually seek him with all our hearts every day! I just found P31 website today, and what a blessing it is to be able to share my story with other christian women as encouragement that God does hear our prayers when we choose to walk with him!
Blessings to you all!
Mary
thank you so much for the devotion on the proverbs 31 site. It has encouraged me today. I have struggled with not being good enough to serve for some time and am just now starting to step out and up for God. I'm trying to follow Him and not get carried away with my own desires. It is my hearts desire that God be gloried in everything I do. thanks again.
Wanda
I too struggle to know if I am hearing from God or if it just my thoughts and feelings. Occasionally I think I might be hearing something so I ask God to speak louder or somehow make it more clear if it is Him speaking to me! This is so timely in my life as I have just been really grappling with this over the past few weeks. I really want to hear from God and be a good listener because I truly want to be obedient to Him. I would love more thoughts, ideas, truths, encouragement on this matter!
This is exactly my weak point….determining if it's me or God. Sometimes I do what I think He is telling me to do, but nothing happens so then I think it must have been my thoughts and not His.
This is exactly my weak point….determining if it's me or God. Sometimes I do what I think He is telling me to do, but nothing happens so then I think it must have been my thoughts and not His.
When I think about the question "How Do I know if it's God Speaking to Me the one verse that keeps coming to my mind is: "Be Still and know that I am God."
Discerning God's voice – that's a tough one. I would love to be so "in tune" with God that I could know for sure what His will is in any given situation. How is that possible?
thanks for the post and giveaway.
Being of His sheep I am supposed to be able to recognize his voice as He guides me, but do I recognize His voice? Sadly, no not always. Sometimes I know I have but not nearly as often as I'd like. I don't like when I get the feeling that I'm missing a clue that I've probably already been given. Thankfully, He is always patient and will remind me over and over when I need it, much like I have to do with my energetic, curious 3yr old daughter. Like her, I usually do eventually get it, I just might take the long way around or have to start over. In any case, He is building a story in me that will bring Him Glory.
I was just praying about this today, if I really head God's voice speaking to me about my health. I'm about to have biopsy on Friday and I need the reassurance that it was really Him and not my thoughts alone. If y'all can pray with me about this, I'd appreciate it.
This was a message that I needed to see on today…I have been wondering and asking myself for the last few weeks do I really hear from God or are my thoughts overpowering his voice. This devotion today lets me know that he is and has been speaking to me because the devotions and scriptures that I have been studying over the last two weeks have been right on point with what is going on in my life. I just need to turn down the volume of life and listen to the suttle suggestions of the Spirit!
Thank you for sharing what God layed on your heart. I too have been struggling with knowing what is God's versus my thoughts. Thank you for the questions..I will ask those myself..and I know that I need to study His word more! Thank you for the scriptures and resources as well.
Thanks for this week's devotion. I've been in holding pattern for a few months. I know God has slowed me down to 'Be Still' and know and listen. Sometimes hard for the Martha in me to sit down and become more Mary like :-)I know His plans are best – thanks for the reminder that when I trust in Him His mercy is not far behind. Pray that I am granted eyes to see and ears to hear His leading.
Thanks!
René
I love your devotion, Renee! This is something I've struggled with for many, many years. Is this thought my own or is it a prompting from God? Like you, there have been times when it has been, w/o a doubt, God's prompting but He was prompting me to do something beyond my comfort zone…like publically share my testimony or reach out to someone I'd rather distance myself.
Thanks for your encouragement and advice!
Amy V. in WI
Interesting how I posted on my wall today how confused I am, but waiting on God. And then I open my email to my Encouragement devotion that lead me here. It's my marriage, my 5 children, my devotion to God and what He would have me to do, to think, to apply, etc… After 2 years of my husband and father to our 5 children walked away, I'm still trying to know what God wants me to do. Still married, but he just told me he has no intentions of coming back after just 3 months ago, telling me he wanted to come home. It's been like a ping-pong game and I'm emotionally and physically exhausted, yet evenso I have no desire to go against anything God wants to happen here – but what is that exactly? I have experienced complete brokeness which brought me extremely close to God and have stayed close to His side ever since. . . now what? I would do and be anything He so chooses if I could only know what that is. All I want and all I will ever want is His will.