1 Kings 19:12 - The gentle voice of God
“After the earthquake there was a fire—but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the soft whisper of a voice.” (GNT)
God has the power of thunder at His disposal, so why does He use a gentle whisper? He could speak louder, but He shouldn't need to zap us with lightning to get our attention! God wants to speak to us all the time, but often it may be just “something on the inside,'' as one Pastor I listen to often says. TV and social media bombard us with so much noise and there are so many messages coming at us all the time, that it’s hard to focus. God works best when we give Him our undivided attention and when we listen closely, we can begin to recognize His voice from amongst the clamoring noise around us. Listening to God really is like tuning into an FM or CB radio frequency. When you have the Holy Spirit, it’s like you now have the right receiver you need to hear from God. When you spend time with God and tune to the right frequency, you can then begin to separate His voice from others around you and His gentle whisper (His ”still small voice “) will come through clearly.
Here are some steps for hearing from God: 1. Set aside a time and a quiet place. (This can be anywhere you want it to be, as long as it is a place where you can give God all your attention.) It is in that place where God will speak to you. Jesus would often go away by Himself to pray and speak with His Father. 2. Be still and worship. 3. Pray then read the Bible. 4. Listen and write down what you think God is saying to you. Friend, if you listen closely to God this year and take notes, you will see just how much God has to say to you in 2020!
