KNOWING AND HEARING GOD SPEAK  (PART 1)

As a married man or woman, one major thing that will help your marriage and your ability to be the best Christian Parents you will love to be is to know, recognize and hear God speak. The possibility of confusions, crisis and marital troubles can be halved, if not totally removed, once you cultivate the habit of listening, hearing and following God’s instructions on a personal level.

There are things and information regarding your spouse that he/she may not even be aware of that God want to share with you. It’s not the mind of God that we go through the day to day rigour and troubles and joy of marriage without occasional and where possible, persistent instructions from Him. Even the way we raise our children, His mind and will for each of them are His will to reveal to you as the parent but if that must happen, we need to recognize His voice and hear Him when He speak. It makes the work of parenting so easy. The fearful part is this: God speak everyday but many are dull of hearing.

There is a word for every situation we find ourselves, an instruction for every step, that we are not hearing, and keep doing things blindly in a trial and error format does not mean God is not speaking to us showing us the way we should take. He speak as He has promised just that we might be too busy or too worry filled to hear.  Isaiah 30:21  “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left”. We are His sheep, the people of His pastures. The Good Shepherd speak to his flock regularly, if there is anything that dull the hearing, aside sin and detractions of the enemy, it is overmuch busyness and worries on things Himself knows about.

No prayers ever took God by surprise, even before you ask, He knew what’s your needs and challenges are. No situation or circumstance is new to Him, He knows all things. All He wanted is you ask Him and then let go. It’s human to ask in prayers, it’s Divine to give answers as appropriate and timely. Trying to figure out how prayers will be answered or when it will be answered is never any of our business, it’s strictly divine. All God expected is wait and listen. An impatience fellow cannot walk with God because He cannot hear God speak. It takes patience and total surenderness to God’s will in the spirit of humility to hear God speak. Overmuch busyness and worry hinder spiritual progress.

Hearing God speak also make prayers easy and fun. Prayers are more effective and efficient when the right words are said at the right time in line with God’s will. God want His children pray, yet He want them to say things that are His mind for them and their loved ones, especially the children per time “…as the Spirit gave them utterance” – Acts 2:4.  That’s the Work of His Spirit, He give utterances and He guide children of God in prayers and in day to day marital and parenting efforts.

HOW DO I KNOW OR HEAR GOD SPEAKS?

“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” – Deut. 29:29

The secrets of your home are with God, all you need to know about your children, their future and destinies are all in His hand. He is their creator and has the blueprint of all the living in His hand. If there are issues or questions you want answers to, simply ask God in prayers, He hears and He knows and He will tell you what you need to know if you truly desire Him to. He assured His followers of His Father’s goodwill to all who ask of Him in this statement “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” – Matt. 7:11. 

The following will help you know, recognize and hear God speak

1. HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

Abba, Father is a statement born out of a close and cordial relationship. A relationship build on trust and faith, a relationship between a dear caring Father and a son or daughter Whom He loves so very much. From very little in life we have come to know, recognize and differentiate by instinct the voices (verbal and nonverbal) of loved ones around us.

A child as early as possible knows and respond to the mother’s (and father’s) voice by default, as years pass by, children don’t just know and recognized their parents verbal sounds, their body language and signs are often correctly decoded when and where necessary, especially when a third party is involved. Why is this so? Simply because there was constant and consistent familiar and cordially mutual relationship among those concern.  A child that is separated from the parents very early in life will most likely have prolong difficult time interpreting their verbal and nonverbal communication for a while but that difficulty will gradually disappear as they relate and get familiarize with each other after reconciliation has taken place.

Our relationship with God and our Father is exactly the same. You can’t know His voice (verbal and nonverbal) unless you are familiar with Him. As long as the child is separated from his/her parents, even when they keep speaking, he/she may not hear, and even their sounds are audible enough, it will make no difference from other sounds and voices around. Each one of us come to have the understanding of our parents ways of speaking to us because we relate with them and by experience we have come to know them and understand them.

In a stadium there are several whistles making different sounds but the 22 players on the field of play knows that of the referee and respond correctly and timely to its sounds. Jesus says my sheep hear my voice, the voice of strangers they will not hear – John 10:4-5, 27. They hear, they know and they respond correctly to the Shepherd instructions. It takes time, it takes relationship embedded in regular fellowship, respect and familiarity. You can’t understand a man you are not close to and very familiar with. .

To understand God speak, to know His voice, interpret His verbal and nonverbal words, it will takes fellowship, love and familiarity with the ways and manner of the Father. It may not be so close and cordial overnight, No. Every good and cordial relationship takes time to build, just like it took time, patience, regular fellowship and some level of trials and errors (not in a sinful way) to know our natural parents, same is with God. The more you relate with Him, the more we know Him. It is a sign of impatience and spiritual immaturity to try to know God perfectly in just few days or after few sessions of prayers. No, it won’t work that way. A good relationship takes time to build.

Hearing God, knowing His voice and growing in Him takes time and commitment. It took us a lifetime to know our physical parents, the more couples stay together, the more they tend to understand each other and respect each other and the sweeter and deeper their relationship and fellowship. Having fellowship with God is just the same. It’s a lifelong commitment that never ends. The longer the better, the deeper and the richer. If you must hear God speak, you must also fellowship with Him. “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” – 1John 1:3.

Many are totally in the dark as to happenings in their homes and marriages. They have children and totally without the least clue as to the mind of God for each of them. They only accept things as they come. Secret things belong to God (Deut. 29:29), if you must have access to any, it must be from God and that take time and fellowship, fellowship base on trust and commitment. We often deal with God the way we deal with ourselves as man and wife. We get frustrated and get weary with each other when we don’t understand each other well enough and instead of creating more time for each other with patience, we rather allow things to get deteriorated. Same way, we often get frustrated and run away when God seem to be far away and difficult to understand. Yet He’s so close and approachable, we are the defaulting and impatient parts who often weary God with our impatience attitude just as we weary our spouses out of ignorance and self-centeredness.

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” – Heb. 5:14. God relationship with you and vice versa will only be boosted and enhance with experience and experience takes time to build (“even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised” i.e. by reason of use and experience have been able to discern God’s voice from other voices around).

Be patience with Him and learn quietly. Patience work experience and experience bring hope. Hope of an enduring relationship between The Good Shepherd and the sheep based on love that’s shed abroad in our hearts through the working of His Holy Spirit – Rom. 5:4-5. The more you know Him by experience, the better your understanding of Him and the clearer your knowledge of His will and ways and the more audibly you hear and decode His voice when He speak through whichever mean, ways or pattern He chose to communicate with you and for you as a Father to a son or daughter.

The success of your marriage and parenting efforts is hinged on this. A committed relationship always begin with a committed life in Jesus Christ and commitment to praying and reading His Word in spiritual fellowship, a book, a chapter or a verse at a time, line upon line, precept upon precept. The journey to hearing, knowing and recognizing God’s voice begin with fellowship and commitment to praying and studying the scriptures. And it takes time, humility and patience to build. The more you run away from these (praying and studying) the less you hear or know His voice and the less your spiritual senses are capable of discerning between good and evil – Heb. 5:14. I hope you will start TODAY.

May your fellowship be with The Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, Now and Always, in Jesus Name. Amen.

Olumofin Kehinde Benjamin writes for Praying Parents Prayer Group Christian Ministry (3pG).