It’s hard to converse with people who mumble or whisper.  There are two parts to a conversation: Speaking and listening. When we are having a conversation with God, listening is more important than speaking.  Psalm 85:8 says, “I will listen to God the Lord. He has ordered peace for those who worship Him.” 

The nation of Judea in the time of Babylon’s invasion and the fall of Jerusalem lived in their fallen national capitol.  Thousands of citizens were carried away to Babylon. However, a few of the people had been left in Jerusalem. They had been told by the Lord to stay in Jerusalem but they decided to go to Egypt. Jeremiah was forced to travel with them.   (Jeremiah 42)

God told Jeremiah to speak to the people again. Jeremiah told them that they had not listened to the Lord again and again.  God told them that they would all die in Egypt. God reminded them of all the ways He had spoken to them and how they had not listened. God told them that it was more important to listen to Him and to obey him than any thing else they might do.

Jesus told his disciples, “My sheep know my voice.”

I was fearful and struggled with that for a long time. Like many people, I was afraid I would miss hearing God when He spoke to me.  One day the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “Linda, it isn’t that you must be such a good listener. I am a very good caller.”

God knows all of us and he loves us passionately. He knows how to speak so that we can understand Him. He knows us and he knows our unique voice.

What we must do is have a heart that wants to hear God’s voice and wants to be able to obey God when He speaks to us.  There is no magic pill we can take to be sure that we are hearing God. But we do have a great loving God who will direct and lead us if we are willing to hear and listen to him.

The Lord speaks in a variety of ways.  The Bible tells us more than 90 percent of what we want to know about Him and His will for our lives.  The Church has faithful teachers who write and speak with God’s authority.  And the Lord speaks to our hearts.  Iverna Thompkins once said, “You can tell the Lord is speaking to you when you have a thought that is smarter than you are.”

The Lord wants to us to be able to obey. He will speak to us in a way that we can hear and understand Him.