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In the last part (Part 4), I will discuss about the “WHAT” factor – What if we are still unsure? Especially for major decisions, it is imperative for us to really know that it is the voice of God’s. Following our “intuition” is going to cost us grief in the future if we are not in tune with God’s will.

Then I’ll close it with the “WHEN AND WHERE” – when you feel God is silent or just doesn’t care with what you are going through at the moment. Or when you just can’t seem to hear His voice or answers to your prayers.

WHAT – What if we are still unsure?

 
There are moments when we are still unsure what God wants from us even when we’ve prayed hard. Perhaps there are 2 difficult choices that we have to make (such as studying in different universities or being offered a job in 2 different companies).

If you are still unsure (as both options seem good):

1. Keep praying for it EVERY DAY and WHOLEHEARTEDLY to find God’s wisdom

   Jeremiah 29:11-13 – 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart

   God promises when you really seek Him, you will find Him. God says when you ask for wisdom, He will give it generously without finding fault (James 1:5-8). Pray for it. Fast for it.

2. Ask for signs from God

   If you are still unsure and you really need to know God’s will, ask for a sign. However, don’t let this become a habit and certainly remember your position when you ask from God (that He is your father IN HEAVEN). If you really are close to God, you should be able to identify God’s voice clearly so you don’t need to ask for “supernatural” signs. I remember when I gave God a deadline to answer my prayer so many years ago for a sign. I was ashamed now, although in the end, He indeed answered and showed me that sign on the last day! Occasionally, I still ask for signs when I am really unsure and when I really need to find out His will for really major decisions.

   Read how Gideon in Judges 6 and Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24 about asking for signs from God. Even signs can be misleading, so keep the prayer up and be closer to God.

WHEN? WHERE? – When God is silent

There are times when God is silent. If you really can’t hear from Him no matter how hard you’ve prayed, then pick a choice (out of the choices you are praying about – as long as it does not contradict with the scriptures). Take a step of faith and walk on it (and keep praying about that choice). I’m sure when this happens, He wants us to walk in faith with Him – to strengthen our trust in Him.

This is probably the hardest moment in your life when you think God has left you and as if He doesn’t care anymore about the decision you are about to make. Wrong! He allows times like these to bring you even closer to Him than before. Open your heart for God to speak through the scriptures, through others, and through things that you would never have thought possible.

When God is silent – He is there. He wants us to grow our faith in Him.
When God is silent – Doesn’t mean He doesn’t care
When God is silent and we are at our deepest, darkest valley – it is the time we realize that we can’t live without Him, without His love, without His wisdom, without His grace.

Ask Him. He listens. He will answer. In His time.

I hope that these series have been a blessing to you and I do pray that you will always follow what God wants from you, not what YOU want. Often we don’t know what we want but by following what God’s want, you’ll find that you’ll always have joy in whatever you do. It’s never a disappointment when you follow what God wants from you. God bless.

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This is Part 3 of “How to hear God’s Voice” series. Please make sure you read How to hear God’s Voice – Part 1 first before you read this one through.

In Part 3, I will discuss about the “HOW” factor – How goes God speak to us? If you’ve been asking that you’ve never heard the voice of God, you are definitely wrong. He has spoken to you so many times but you probably weren’t aware that it’s God’s.

HOW – How does God speak to us?

God speaks to us in many ways but often we want a supernatural phenomenon to confirm the voice of God. In the Old Testament, God often spoke audibly and directly to His people. Sometimes He spoke through other means like the burning bush to Moses, or to Mary through angels, or even through an animal like Balaam’s donkey! Of course, we might be spooked if our dog suddenly talks, so thank God that He doesn’t need to speak to us in that way!

So how does He speak to us then nowadays? There are a few ways that He uses but DO NOT take one of these on its own as a sign of God’s voice. Except for point number one, you CANNOT be sure that it is from God’s. You have to pray for it consistently until you have a solid conviction that it is indeed from God.

1. God speaks through His Word – reminded by the Holy Spirit
   His Word comes from the Bible (through reading it, daily devotional, sermons, seminars, spiritual books, or even songs). The Holy Spirit then reminds us of His Word in our daily lives.

   John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” -ESV

   John 16:8 – “And when he (The Helper – the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” -ESV

   Whatever voice we’ve heard, if it contradicts with the scriptures, it is NOT from God. Period. God never contradicts Himself and He never made a mistake when He guided the writers to write the Bible! So if you think that God answers your prayers, think again. As such, it is really important for you to know His Word to be able to differentiate this. In every “road intersection” in life, you always have to go back to His Word to get an answer whenever possible.

   For example, let’s say we are struggling financially and we then pray about it every day to God. All of a sudden, the phone rings and we are given a job offer with a really good pay! However, it requires you to work on Sunday all day long and you will not have time to go to church as a result. If you are not careful, you might think that this is the voice from God for answering your prayers! If you really know Him well (from His words), you’ll realize that God actually commands you to honor the Sabbath day and there are other verses telling us that God was angry when the Israelites didn’t honor it! He definitely wants you to go to church every week to worship Him, to listen and study His Word, to serve, to encourage one another, and to share the good news to newcomers. Be careful with what you think as God’s answer to your prayer – if it contradicts with the scriptures, it is not God’s.

   Have you ever done something and all of a sudden, a verse “magically” appears in your mind? Such as when you got angry and all of a sudden you remember God says to be quick to listen and slow to speak? I have that kind of moment many times. One day, I was just being so lazy to wake up from bed and thought of telling my boss that I was unwell. All of a sudden, the verse from Proverbs 6:9 struck my mind (shouting at me for being lazy and telling me to get up from bed!). Not to mention that “Satan is the father of lies” came after I woke up (when I was literally ironing my shirt and still thinking to lie and took that sick leave!). This is the work of the Holy Spirit and as such, it is crucial for you to be filled with His Word.

   He can also speak to you through songs – when you are feeling down or in distress, His Word through the songs strengthen you to get back up (which happened to me quite often too from my “favorite songs in different situations”)

   I’m sure God has spoken to you too so many times in this way. Often we focus too much on our current problems and want God’s answer just on that specific problem (such as a hard choice that you have to make a.s.a.p). Where in fact, God wants to speak to us on different matters – things that we need to let go (sins, bad attitudes, etc) or things that He wants us to do before we even come to Him and ask for His guidance.

2. God can speak through your thoughts
   These are the things that are not directly related to Bible verses. Sometimes you may be given a thought to do something weird all of a sudden (such as talking to a complete stranger, or to call a certain friend to ask how he/she is only to find that he/she is in distress). Or have you ever wondered why you took a decision that didn’t make sense in the past? I still wonder why I decided to study in Melbourne when I certainly never thought of studying abroad – yet He called me in 2002 in Melbourne, so yeah, there was a purpose in that definitely!). Or have you ever thought of a long lost friend all of a sudden when you prayed for someone to be invited to our Christmas celebration? Or perhaps you were being reminded of your own prayer some years before?
3. God can speak through other people, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ
   After David sinned, God spoke to him through Nathan, the prophet (2 Samuel 12). There are times when God speaks to you through other Christians but again, you need to be careful as this does not always the case and as such, it’s important to go back to prayer and have that conviction that it is from God’s.God spoke to me once about one of my ministries as a webmaster (at ebcmelbourne.org). I always wrote a sermon summary every Sunday and uploaded it to our website. About a year after, I got “burnt out” because I realized there weren’t many who read the sermon summaries so I was thinking to quit that ministry altogether (why should I bother with the tedious work if it’s for nothing?). I struggled and brought it to prayer for about 2 weeks.

   God spoke to me through 2 people: a stranger (through our guestbook) and an ex-member of our church who had gone back overseas.

   This stranger, named Edwin Maxmillian, wrote:
   (14.07.2003) – “I was so confused when my friend asked me to preach on his son b’day…. and finaly i found this website… it help me a lots to find topics”

   It hit me hard. As if this was not enough as a confirmation, there was an email coming to our mailing list not long after from an alumnus. She wanted to thank whoever updated our website with the sermon notes as she had been blessed by it. I was almost in tears as I realized that it is God who truly spoke to me. All these times, I wanted to see results and also appreciation from others when I served Him. I was ashamed because God had to take these steps to remind me of what it means for truly serving Him. After this, my philosophy changed and I promised to be glad in serving Him even if I couldn’t see any obvious results or even when no one seemed to appreciate. Even if it’s just one person who got blessed from my ministry to God, it is enough. I hope you have this same mentality too and do not need God to remind you like He did to me.

   There are many other experiences where I got reminded by God through my closest friends,  my pastor at church, or even from someone in a restaurant, but I’ll tell you some other time :)

4. God can speak through events or things that happen around us
   He can speak through things that are happening in your life right now. He can even speak through “unimaginable” things like when you are watching a cartoon movie, a TV commercial, or by reading someone else’s Facebook status. He is creative!Sometimes He speaks by “closing the door” when we make a wrong choice. Remember Jonah? He didn’t want to go to Nineveh but God made a storm came, made the lot fell to Jonah, and sent a whale. This is an extreme example, perhaps (as Jonah knew exactly what God wanted and tried to run away), but it can happen to us too. Again, be careful in this. If you take this literally, you may think that God does not want you to work because you always fail when you try to apply for jobs! Remember that He spoke in the Bible that you shouldn’t eat if you don’t work. Again, pray hard.

   I believe when God has a big plan for us, He will tell and direct us to that plan no matter what happens. We’ll then end up on a place where God wants us to be all along. Don’t waste it and listen to Him well!

5. God can speak through a sense of peace
   When a choice you make (or you are going to make) does not seem to bring peace (or there is this uneasy feeling that you cannot describe), then there is a possibility that it’s not what God wants you to do. This can give a false sense of security though, so pray for it, again.It is amazing that when you really know what God’s will is, you will never be scared even when things aren’t going well in life.

It is important to be sensitive all the time so that we can hear His voice for often God’s voice is just a gentle whisper.

1 Kings 19:11 -13 – 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Our hardened heart, being too busy with our own activities and struggles, playing too much games, or when you don’t spend enough quality time with God can kill our sensitiveness in listening to God’s whisper. Things then go downhill fast. We struggle a lot because we weren’t following Him (He knew what would happen when we took a choice that we thought was good). Your ministry will get harder to cope and you always have this feeling that you are “burnt out”. Ask Him. He has blessed you with specific gifts. If you know what your calling is, you will not get burnt out (exhausted, yes – but not burnt out as you are always be filled with joy for doing what you were called to do)!

Stay tuned for Part 4 – What if we’re still unsure it’s God’s voice? And what if we’ve been praying for so long yet we feel that God is silent? What should we do then? Why is this happening?

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This Part 2 of “How to hear God’s Voice” series. Please make sure you read How to hear God’s Voice – Part 1 first before you read this one through.

In Part 2, I will discuss about the “WHO” – How do we know if it’s the voice of God? How can we be so sure? This is probably one of the struggles that Christians have been through.

WHO – Whose voice is it? God’s? The devil’s? How do we know that it is God’s voice?

This is the most crucial thing that we need to ponder about. When you think you’ve heard the voice of God, think again. Are you sure? The devil is not stupid and often he didn’t give a “black and white” trivial choice.  Remember in Genesis how the devil (through the serpent) twisted God’s words to tempt Eve? The choice sounded good to Eve at that time.

Often even a “white” option does not always lead to what God wants in us in our lives too. Even when you think your choice is to glorify His name even further, it may not always be the case. For example, you may have thought that God wants you to evangelise in a certain place. It’s good, right? It’s what He wants anyway BUT what if He actually has a different plan in you? Maybe He wants to call you to be His shepherd in a certain church? As such, it is important to be able to identify which voice comes from God and which voice comes from the devil or from your own desire/flesh.

In the Bible, Samuel in 1Samuel 3 didn’t recognize God’s voice at first because Samuel “did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” (verse 7 – ESV). At the end, he was told by Eli that it was the voice of God who’s been talking to him. He then replied to God in verse 10 – “Speak, for your servant hears.” It is important for us to follow Samuel’s example here – to say to God: “Speak, for your servant hears”. Have we ever said these words to Him – “God, please speak to me, for I want to hear Your voice, to know Your will in my life”? Or we just want to do what we want to do and we only call Him when we desperately need help?

Now, observe Abraham in Genesis 22:1-3:
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. – NKJV

In verse 1, it’s really clear that Abraham knew God’s voice for he replied straight away when God talked to him. How amazing that is! What amazes me more is what God said to him and what he did after.

Note how God emphasized “your only son” and “whom you love”? If I were Abraham, I would definitely think “Do you even need to remind me of those, God? That he is my only son and that I’ve waited for so many years in tears and struggles for Your promise? That I love him so very much?”. Not to mention God even said to offer him on “one of the mountains“. I would probably say “Can’t God be more specific? This voice is so dodgy. Is this really from God??”. I would then probably pray, fast, or struggle for days, weeks, or years even! But what did Abraham do? He rose early in the morning and just did what the voice told him to do! Now, surely Abraham would have never done this if he wasn’t sure that the voice was God’s!

How can we be like Abraham? Well, to know that the voice we are hearing comes from God, we need to have a STRONG and PERSONAL relationship with God! Abraham has been in a close relationship with God for so many years so it is therefore, not surprising for him to recognize God’s voice that well.

Now, close your eyes for a moment and think of the closest person to you (best friend, partner, housemate, or anyone). Try to ponder for a moment about him/her and then answer these questions:

• Do you know the way he/she speaks? And also, what words that he/she often says when certain things happen or on certain events?
• Do you know what he/she likes and what he/she dislikes?
• Do you know his/her character? (ex: his/her temper, helpful, kind, patient, etc?)
• Do you know what he/she is trying to say when other people don’t understand him/her?
  Sometimes we know what our best friend is trying to say even when his/her words don’t seem to make sense to others.
• Do you know when he/she is sad or happy even when he/she doesn’t tell you a thing about it?

Finish with answering these questions? The closer you are to him/her, the more you can say “Yes, I do!” to all these questions. Now, put him/her aside for a moment and replace him/her with God.

Then, answer the same questions..

• Do you know His Word (through the Bible)? Do you know He would say in your situation now? Or do you know what Jesus would have done if He is in your current situation?
• Do you know what He likes and dislikes?
• Do you know His character? (He is holy, He always fulfils His promise, He is patient, He is love, etc?)
• Do you know what He is trying to say to you even when other people mock you in disbelief? Noah believed God wholeheartedly even when he never saw a rain before and when other people mocked him for hearing God’s voice.

The key point here is: the closer you are to God, the more you can recognize His voice from the others. If you are close to Him, you know what He wants, you know what He dislikes, and you know what He would choose. In the end, you will ask God less frequently because you already know exactly what He wants you to do or what He wants you to choose. This doesn’t mean that your relationship with God is deteriorating, in fact, it’s the other way around.

You need TO KNOW ABOUT GOD (Knowledge) and KNOW GOD PERSONALLY (Personal relationship) to be able to hear from God!

You can tell me that you’ve read the Bible 5 times or know about every theology in the Bible. There is no point in that if you don’t have a personal relationship with God. At the same time, it is important to have the true knowledge about God (for true faith comes from the true knowledge). You cannot separate these two together! It is important to have a solid daily devotional with God to be closer to Him (not to mention your prayers’ life, worship, participating in a cell group, and so on!)

The closer we are to God, the easier it will be to hear from God and the easier it will be to know that it is from God!

Stay tuned for Part 3 – How does God speak to us?

I shared this topic to our Youth group last Saturday. I received good feedback about it so I decided to write a summary about this topic so you can shared it to others too.

How do we hear God’s voice? This is probably one of the most “popular” questions from every Christian out there, including myself. We often wonder: How do we hear from God? How do we know that it’s from God? When does He speak? Which option should I choose? Which job should I take? Should I go back to my home country or should I stay here permanently? Should I be with this man or woman? And many others. As such, it is important to be able to hear from God and to hear it clearly.

I’ve decided to divide this topic into 5W + 1H: Why, Who, How, What, and When/Where.

This is How to hear God’s voice – part 1. I’ll discuss on the importance of hearing the voice of God briefly.

WHY – WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

(1) Because He is Our Creator!

He created us and therefore He knows every single thing about us – our strengths, our weaknesses, our gifts, etc. A clay is being shaped by its potter – for a purpose that only the potter knows! (Make sure you check my post about God is the Potter and we are the clay later on). Therefore, it is important to find out what He wants in us.

(2) Because we may have a great plan but He knows the MASTER plan!

Ecclesiastes 11:5 – “Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything”Human beings often think that they have made a good plan for the future. We often think that our plan is the best one we can ever think of. However, it is always based on what we see, what we perceive, what we think. We never know what the future holds but God does.

(3) Because we are His children

Just like we are supposed to listen and obey our parents, we need to listen and obey God. We have to respect Him and shouldn’t close our ears when He speaks! We are to follow what He wants out of love, fear (in a good way), and respect!

(4) Because God disciplines us when we are stubborn

There are times when God disciplines us because we don’t want to listen to Him. Sometimes He let us do what we want but at other times, He disciplines us. It is not because He is a scary God but He disciplines us out of love, just like what parents would do to their kids when they don’t want to listen. Don’t let this happen to you because when God “slaps” us, it hurts! Listen to Him and listen well for your own good! The Israelites didn’t want to listen to God and they were disciplined by God for 40 years!

Zechariah 7:11-14 – “11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts.13 “As It called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts,14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”  – ESV

It is really important to listen and ask from God for wisdom. What looks like a simple yand trivial decision can actually affect your future for many years to come!

Next: Who? How do we know it’s God’s voice or the devil’s? Stay tuned for Part II.

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Happy belated Easter and hope this video serves as a reminder that we as Christians need to truly grasp and remember His sacrifice for our sins and live as true and genuine Christians in this world for His glory.

Everything by Lifehouse drama skit video:

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Note: Before you read this, please read my article on God is the potter, we are the clay (Part 1) first.

So we have truly understood what it means to know that God is our potter. What should we do as the clay, now? Does it mean we can just stand or sit idly, while we let God shape our lives as the potter? No! I’ve heard so many excuses people throw such as “It’s God who made us grow”, “It’s God who shaped us into a better person”. It is true, it’s God’s. But there’s no way God magically makes you a better person, a man of patience, a man of obedience, a man of big faith. You have your responsibility to learn and to make the necessary changes as God instructs you to. You cannot just be a patient man out of the blue without learning how to be patient in the midst of “annoying” people or situations!

I AM THE CLAY

1. Clay is naturally impure – we are naturally sinful
   First, we need to know, understand, and accept that we are naturally sinful, just like a clay with impurities. We all have impurities, weaknesses that we need to overcome. But even though we are sinful, our Master Potter can use any clay and remove impurities as He shapes the clay (there is no fail product in His hands. He can shape whatever happens in our life for a greater good – read Romans 8:28) 

   He knows our strength and our weaknesses. He knows our limit. When He shapes us, He’ll make sure that it will surpass our limit (1Cor 10:13). Unfortunately, often we give up too soon and proclaim that it has already beyond our limit! Who knows better? The Potter or the Clay?

   The clay actually goes through a burning process (1,000-1,500 degrees Celsius) in a period of time. A painful process, of course, but to achieve a much greater good and purpose at the end. We, too, must survive this painful process if we want to be shaped. Sanctification is a process that we all must go through after we receive the gift of Salvation from God.

2. Each clay in the potter’s hand has the same, yet different purpose
   The final product glorifies its master (the potter). We are all called to glorify our Potter, our God. Out of a potter’s hand, a clay is just a lump of soil, has no purpose at all. 

   Every clay that is being shaped by the potter will end up as different pots – as a flower pot, to store wine/water for drinking, etc. Each of us is uniquely shaped by our Potter for a different, specific purpose in life. The question is, have you found your specific purpose yet? Or are we jealous because a different “pot” is being used for a “better purpose than us?”. We often think that God blesses others more than us, or God gives more talents to our friends than ourselves. DON’T! If you are blessed with just a lovely smile, serving Him as an usher is the same as serving Him by singing with a lovely voice in a Sunday service. A lovely smile brings warmth to those who come to the house of God. It doesn’t matter if a church is full of talented worship leaders, singers, or musicians if no one is there to greet the newcomers with a genuine smile! So never think that your talent is nothing, for God works wonders even through “simple little” things that you have. I believe everyone has been granted many spiritual gifts. It’s a matter of not comparing yours with the others!

3. Be a clay that is willing to be shaped by our Potter!
   There is nothing more frustrating than keeps on resisting when the Potter wants to shape us to His will. We can struggle as much as we want, but the end result will be the same. He wants you to grow maturely, spiritually. Be soft and willing to listen to His will. It’s sad when we just want to remain as a clay and do not want to be transformed into a pot. It’s concerning when a Christian does not want to grow spiritually! It will only make the shaping and molding process more painful if you resist!

When bad things happen in your life, believe and have faith in God that He can make it into something fruitful. Be a good clay and let the Potter shapes you into a wonderful pot for His purpose, His glory! Maybe you are experiencing