Hearing the Voice of God
by Darrell W. Johns
Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Romans 1, Acts 7, Revelation 3:20, Proverbs 11, Proverbs 15, Proverbs 24, 2 Peter 1:19, Psalms 119:9, Psalms 119:11, John 10, 1 Chronicles 29:6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/darrell-w-johns--hearing-the-voice-of-god
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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for Samuel chapter 3 start in verse 1 reading from the King James version of the Bible the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was precious it was rare in those days there was no open vision that came to pass at that time when Eli the older man the priest laid down in his place and his eyes begin to wax dim that he could not see and air the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was Samuel was laid down to sleep that the Lord called Samuel and he answered here am I I want to talk to you today on a really important subject in your life not just in this season I want to speak from the Bible about hearing the voice of God God bless you please be seated hearing The Voice of God is not the strong silent type he's strong he has all power in heaven and in Earth but he is not silent he is a speaking God job said God speaks once yes twice man doesn't even perceive that God is speaking the Bible teaches that God speaks in multiple ways he speaks through General Revelation he speaks through nature and conscience the Bible said that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork day into day utter speech night into night utters knowledge there is no place where their voice and their language is not heard God is a speaking God and he speaks through creation when the son came up this morning God was saying I am real I am a god of order I am the god of the universe I'm a God whose mercies are new every morning and Romans 1 Paul said that the things that you cannot see are understood by the things that are made by the natural world even God's eternal power and godhead God also speaks in the conscience of men and women you can educate your conscience you can sear your conscience with the hot iron Paul said I trust I have a good conscience toward God and men but the Bible said that God speaks to the hearts of people in their conscious bearing them witness either condemning them or accusing them accusing or excusing them God speaks in the conscious of man but that's not always reliable I'll come back to these next points later but God speaks through a special Revelation more than just the generic revelation of nature our conscience God speaks through his word the Bible we have a more sure or reliable word than Visions dreams or prophetic gifts God speaks through his word and he also speaks through his Spirit the impressions of the holy spirit that guide and direct us according to the word of God not separate from not different from the word of God but pointing specifically to what God would say to us in a given time in our lives the spirit speaks expressly or specifically in the last days that there will be perilous times God is a speaking God Amen he is not the silent type of God Adam and Eve heard the voice of God Walking In the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day Abraham heard the voice of God Called to him to get out of your country and Kindred and go to a land that I will show you I will make you a great nation I will make you great I will bless you and you will be a blessing and in you in your descendant naming Jesus Christ or meaning Jesus Christ all the families of the Earth shall be blessed Moses heard the voice of God at the burning bush and became a deliverer Joshua heard the voice of God was thinking of Joseph Joshua heard the voice of God and in and he obeyed the voice of the Lord to be strong and of a good courage David heard the voice of God to build the temple that we're talking about in this campaign Daniel heard the voice of God pray to God three times a day Paul heard the voice of God Saul God in a vision and he said I was not disobedient to that heavenly vision Barnabas heard the voice of God and having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet God speaks and if we're wise we listen we recognize and we respond to or obey the voice of God when it speaks in our lives now the story today is about a a young man probably about 12 years of age or so according to the historian Josephus he was miraculously conceived and born to an older woman named Hannah who had been Barren and her husband elkana and gratitude to God Hannah vowed this he prayed a prayer in church as she said Lord if you will give me a child a son I will lend him back to you all the days of his life Samuel it was a Nazarite from birth so she has this boy Samuel and gives him back to God it is interesting that God blessed Hannah for her sacrifice she returns Samuel to the Lord and God blessed her with three sons and two daughters he blessed her five times what she gave back to the Lord he's a speaking God and by the way he's a blessing God Samuel lived in a Time when the light of God's favor was growing dim in Israel Eli this man of God was growing older hearing from God was a rarity there was not a lot of openness to God there was no open Vision so no Open Hearts no open vision Eli allowed his sons hafni and Phineas to take advantage of women who came to worship they resented or despise the portion that belonged to them that God had allocated and took more than what was provided there was a sentence of judgment that was hovering over Eli and his sons and all of Israel you may remember the name Ichabod the grandson of Eli that means the glory is departing as the ark was taken away by the Philistines in his old age Eli lost his physical Vision his eyes redeemed but more tragically in his older age Eli lost his spiritual vision he cannot clearly see what God was saying and he cannot speak on God's behalf to Israel he looked the other way to Injustice and he really gratified himself and his family on what was provided by God Samuel lent by his mother and father to the Lord is literally living in the house of God in the temple he is sleeping where the Ark of the Covenant is that symbol of the presence and power of God here is Samuel living in a Time a spiritual decline corruption complacency of people backsliding Israel but Samuel in the middle of that kind of a culture learned how to hear the voice of God and I should say to you that right now in your life no matter what is going on no matter your background no matter your circumstances if you want to hear the voice of God you can and nothing and no one can stop you from hearing what God is saying in your life one night when the lights were going out Samuel's drifting off to sleep Samuel first Samuel 3 and 4. the Lord told Samuel and he answered here am I it was a voice that Samuel did not recognize he had never heard it before he assumed that it was a voice of Eli maybe it sounded like the voice of God I don't know but Samuel heard this voice his feet at the floor the Bible says in verse 5 he ran to Eli I like proactive people I like people that move you know not just kind of Saun her around Samuel gets up and he runs that's good preaching for some of you that little sluggish you know all the young people gonna get their first job Samuel's got his first job he runs to Eli and he says you called me and Eli said I I didn't call you go lay back down and he went and lay down now Eli must have thought that Samuel was imagining things hearing things maybe Samuel thought he was hearing things so he went back to bed Shrugged his shoulders and didn't give it a second thought until the voice spoke to him a second time verse six and the Lord called yet again Samuel Samuel arose and went to Eli and said here am I for you didn't call me and Eli said I I called not my son go lie down again now the Bible then gives us this little insight in verse 7. now Samuel did not yet know the Lord he would come to know the Lord but in this moment he doesn't know the voice of God and neither had the Lord yet revealed unto him the word of the Lord so he never heard this voice that didn't know what it was if I have a feeling that Eli is a little weary with this but we don't know that for sure everybody goes back to sleep goes back to bed anyway and uh it happens the third time and the Lord verse 8. called unto Samuel again the third time he rose and went to Eli he said here am I for you to call me I know you call me quit playing games with me is this some kind of a test and finally Eli the lights go on to this dim-hearted man verse 9 therefore Eli said unto Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he called thee I I I'm sorry this third time Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child sorry I didn't say that but then he says I want you to go lie back down and if he called thee that you shall say Speak Lord for thy servant heareth so Samuel went and laid down in his place if I was Samuel I think I would have been rehearsing those lines over and over while Eli's eyes were growing dim and is the ability to hear the voice of God was not what it once was it was not as sharp as it used to be Samuel is now learning to hear the voice of God Speak Lord your servant is listening Eli even in this state of mind recognizes that God is speaking to Samuel verse 10. and the Lord came and stood and called as at other times Samuel Samuel this time he calls his name twice in the Bible when the Lord calls your name twice it's significant Simon Simon Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you like wheat it's like your mom or your dad using your first and middle name Daryl Wesley I'm in trouble Samuel Samuel and then Samuel obediently said speak for thy servant heareth it's an amazing thing if you continue reading that story not now please God tells Samuel some things that are kind of hard to comprehend that God would speak to a young early adolescent boy a young man God would tell him about the demise of Eli and his sons and the Judgment that would come on them forever and ever because they did not regard the voice of God and were not serving the lord you never know what God is going to speak to you amen you may be a young child a young a person a teenager but never discount how much God trusts you and wants to speak to you amen I want to hear the voice of God there are a lot of voices calling to you today voices calling your name that are not the call of God it may be the call of compromise to live a lesser life it may be the call of complacency to just chill out and not give it your best it may be the call to success outside of the kingdom of God and the blessings of God may be the call of Temptation like the serpent calling Eve or Potiphar's wife calling to Joseph there are many deceptive voices wanting to speak into your life and it is imperative that you learn how to differentiate the voice of God from the other voices and learn to obey the voice of God when you hear him speaking to you practice those lines Speak Lord your servant heareth listen God here I am I am listening for your voice I want to assure you today that God wants to speak to you I know that you may think that God only speaks to people when he calls them to be preachers or missionaries or to leave everything and walk away but I assure you that God is not the silent type and he wants to speak into your life in a specific way not just through General revelation of Nature and conscience but specifically through his word and by his Spirit God desires to speak to you he may speak to you in this church service today he may speak to you in the quiet of your room in a day when you push back the noise so you can hear from him I'm trying to learn to silence the world around me so I can tune my ear to the voice of God we live in a world of constant stimulation of audio visual or voices speaking to us in our life not all evil voices but always something in putting us programming us but I challenge you this week as you pray and fast as you seek God that you push back from the noise and you find a place of silence and you say Lord speak to me for your servant is listening [Applause] his voice it's the most important voice that you will ever hear I've learned that there are there are some hindrances to hearing the voice of God most notably is stubbornness Rebellion we don't want to hear his voice the Bible says if you have ears to hear if you have the capacity to hear Let Him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches the Bible said that some people had the capacity to hear but not a heart to receive what they heard Zechariah spoke of Israel who had stopped their ears and the Bible said it pulled away the shoulder they did not want to hear and Stephen's sermon in Acts chapter 7 at the end of that sermon the Bible says that they they literally stuffed up their ears and they ran on him and stoned him to death they they had a stubborn heart and refused to hear the voice of God Revelation 3 and 20 Jesus said behold I stand at the door and knock if you read that and study it it means I'm constantly knocking I'm standing here as a presence in your life and but then the Bible Bible said If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in and in Revelation I will sup with him I will dine with him I'll talk with him and he can talk to me here's what I see in this verse that God says that it is up to your initiative to open the door he allows the lock to be on the inside and if you ignore his constant knocking then God will not barge his way into your life and fellowship with you but if you will open the door this week if you will open the door in your life today God will speak to you [Applause] amen quit holding that stop sign up to God no trespassing God not here not in this area of my life I'll do what you say there but not over here he should have full access to every facet of your life you have you have Samuel's problem about hearing the voice of God he's not rebellious he just doesn't recognize he's never heard that voice before and when God speaks to him he thinks it has to be a human being and God audibly speaks to Samuel amen when I was a teenager I wondered and was trying to learn how to recognize the voice of God not as a preacher to come up with a sermon as a teenager trying to find direction for my life I I asked how do you know the difference between the voice of the devil my own voice and the voice of God I want to know the voice of God my Uncle Mike he was a pastor told me that sometimes when God speaks to you this thing comes into your mind but it doesn't pass through your ear it didn't go through your auditory system but God speaks into your mind God can speak audibly he can speak by Impressions but here's what what I was taught about the voice of God and the voice of the devil and my own voice the devil will never tell you to pray that's a no-brainer the devil is never going to tell you to turn from your sins if you're feeling that you need to go ask someone to forgive you that is not the devil if you feel you need to forgive someone that is not the voice of the devil he is a divider not a reconciler so I've learned that there are some things that the devil's never going to speak to me he hates God he hates you and everything he does in your life is to steal and to kill and to destroy well what if it's my voice but if it's my voice that I think I need to fast or pray or give what if it's not God but it's something good I would rather do something good and it'd be my initiative than to risk not obeying the voice of God and I'll give some other insight into this a little later in my message there's so many voices but right now I want to hear the voice of God Amen now I don't know if you realize this but you are capable of recognizing thousands of different voices some reachers researchers say that you can remember and a number and unlimited number of voices they say that you can recognize the voice of a friend or a relative after them speaking just two words if it's your wife just one word honey dear Daryl that's all I need to hear and then speak Carol thy servant is listening listening to that voice you have the ability to recognize many many voices verse 7 told us that Samuel did not know the voice of God he never heard it before don't be too hard on Samuel for just trying to learn what the voice of God felt like and sounded like when it spoke into his life I've learned that one reason people have a hard time hearing the voice of God is that there's a lot of competition I've already alluded to this but so many other voices that you have given access to your life and no time for God to speak to you if you open every app on your phone but your Bible app if you open every other book but the good book no wonder you have a hard time hearing from God there's too much competition in your life from music and media even if it's good stuff but no room for God in your life amen and then sometimes we just feel like we're not a candidate to hear the voice of God and why in the world would he speak to me he's not calling me to be a missionary to the Congo it's not calling me to sell all and follow him although he might be because God only speak to people about Ministry matters and you're being used in the gifts of a spirit and being called to distant lands I hope you don't think that but when I read the Bible God speaks to his people who will listen to him about all of those things that we consider spiritual but he also speaks to you about relationships and decisions and business matters and every facet of your life why would he tell us to acknowledge Him in all our ways if he wasn't interested in giving us guidance in all of our ways God wants to speak to you and give you an edge that only his voice can kill so don't think that you're not eligible for God to speak to you open your heart don't be stubborn don't make God compete with everything else in the world give God some time I'll never forget the first time I told the Lord I would give him an entire day and I just went off with my Bible in a notepad in the words next to the Bible College and I was bored out of my mind for a while there were no cell phones back then if they were they were only like super rich people had them and I was wanting to hear the voice of God so I was there and trying to think and then I saw a little Pond and I wondered if I should fish in that little Pond and if I'm going to spend some time with God and there's all this competition but throughout that entire day I learned that if I would hang in there and not get too bored and not give up but if I would wait on the Lord that he would speak to me I believe that God is speaking to you today that he has a lot that he wants to say to you and now is the time in the season of our church and in your life to hear the voice of God how does the voice of God sound what is it like well you know to Samuel it sounded a lot like his spiritual leader and I do believe that God speaks through spiritual leaders he chose by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe God speaks through the preaching and teaching of his word to every person who lives under the roof of your parents the voice of God sounds a lot like the voice of your parents just letting that sit there for a few minutes seconds amen it's amazing how many young people somewhere in their teenage years they think their parents IQ goes way down and their IQ goes way up if I did an early adulthood they realized that all along their IQ was way down and their parents was way up it's amazing how smart your parents get when you become an adult the voice of God sounds a lot like The Voice of your parents you're to obey your parents and to honor them it is the first commandment with promise and I could not leave this out of my message today it's amazing how people want to hear from their parents until they know their parents are going to tell them something that they don't want to hear don't date that person don't go there that's a mistake I did not say this in the nine o'clock service but I feel to say it now if God has always spoken to you through that voice he is still going to speak to you through that voice tune your ear to hear the voice of God amen God speaks through the Deep impressions of the Holy Spirit that still small voice of God that will speak into your spirit giving guidance to the word of God the word of God is the sword of the spirit it is the spirit that guides the word to speak into your life at specific times to give you guidance and Direction the Lord will speak you and we compare spiritual things with spiritual things as God speaks to you God can speak through visions and dreams as he did to many in the Bible Joelle that Prophet tells us that all men shall dream dreams and young men shall see Visions God speaks like that God speaks to you through the multitude of counselors where you will find safety Proverbs 11 and 15 and 24 all repeat that idea that in the multitude of counselors there is safety when you're making a big decision don't make it on your own look to Elders in your life who have been there to guide you it is God's way of protecting us from Big mistakes amen I thank God that in my life I've been protected from mistakes because I was willing to listen to the voice of God through the voice of counselors Godly men and women who spoke in my life the voice of God it's most clearly spoken Through the Bible it is a more short word of Prophecy second Peter 1 19 tells us that holy men of God wrote as they were moved on by the Holy Ghost the Bible is a clearest expression of the will of God for your life and if there's something in the Bible that God is speaking to you to do or to not do don't expect God to speak to you about something that's not specific in the Bible if you're not willing to do what the Bible already tells you to do you want God to reveal Mysteries to you start with opening your Bible and let God open his word to you the Bible is not a rule book it's a road map for life it is God's Owner's Manual of how to get through life and how to get to heaven and not be lost in hell sometime read through that longest chapter in the Bible Psalm 119 to see the many ways that the word of God will bless you wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heat there to according to Thy word Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee God speaks many ways or when he when he talks what's he saying what does God say when he's talking to us well first of all the voice of God calls everyone to Salvation amen he calls us to repent times past Paul said God looked the other way winked at these things but now he commands all men everywhere to repent that's what God calls us to he calls us to Salvation that's why he died he called us to come lay down our heavy burden and come to him and he would give us spiritual rest he told us that he's standing at the door knocking the voice of God always calls you first to Salvation And if you're not saved don't expect God to speak to you about all the other things you would like for him to talk about when you've ignored his voice to turn your life over to his lordship that's your first step toward hearing the voice of God God calls us to sanctification that's actually becoming holy God calls all of us out of darkness and into life he calls us to be a holy separate people by the sanctification of the spirit he calls us to be conformed to the image of his dear son Jesus Christ this is what God calls us to to Salvation and to sanctification and God also calls us to serve us calls us to make a difference in the world he saved you to serve he gifted you with abilities and and all kinds of spiritual gifts so that you would serve and the Bible says that by giving God your entire life it is your reasonable service God equipped us and called us for that purpose and he put every one of us in the body of Christ as it has pleased him to a place to make a difference that calling can be General to serve where you're needed it may be more specific to call where you're gifted but all of us are called to serve in the kingdom of God we're called to Salvation we're called to sanctification we're called to service but we are also called to sacrifice amen discipleship Jesus said is the call to take up your cross and follow him just where did Jesus go with his cross he didn't go to a place that you should never go he didn't go for a walk he went to Calvary or he gave his life on the cross and he said if you want to be my disciple then you need to love me more than every other relationship your father mother sister brother your own life also and take up your cross and follow me go to the same place I went with my cross which was the place of total surrender or obedience to the call and will of God that is what my cross is my cross is the test of total obedience to the will of God when I hear his voice and recognize that it is God calling me and he calls me to sacrifice I should go where he calls me to go knowing that there is Joy on the other side of sacrifice [Applause] praise God Apostle Paul said I am willing to spend and be spent I've learned in my life in Ministry that there are some things I do and I spend my time in energy by choice I spend but then in my life in Ministry there's a lot of things that I do that I do not choose I am spent it is what service is all about that you serve when God needs you when God wants to spend you you don't choose how you're spent we're like coins in the hands of the master that we have no right to tell God to spin me this way but I learned from a sermon in my teenage years that I belong to God and I'm to glorify God in my body and in my spirit which belongs to God and when God chooses to spin me a certain way then I just say Speak Lord for your servant is listening [Applause] amen specifically in this season in our church and this imagine Vision campaign God is calling our church sacrifice for the kingdom of God to build his kingdom so we've been praying and preaching about and together as a church and then imagining what the future will be as we give our resources for God's glory and now is a time to be tuned into the voice of God that's why so many Wednesday night prayer meetings that's why days of prayer and fasting I thank God that the commitment from our church has already started even before we said much about the campaign just in the early weeks people were having miracles happen in their life and giving generously to the kingdom of God I was thinking and speaking about this recently of the of the model of giving in first Chronicles 29 in the building of the temple the first temple the Bible says that David the king the leader he gave generously and sacrificially the Bible said if you add it all up it's about 6.6 billion dollars that David gave then after he gave he asked his leaders how many of them would follow his sacrifice and the Bible says in first Chronicles 29 6 that the tribal has the leaders the captains the generals they all gave willingly and the way I calculated is about 11.1 billion dollars that the leaders in Israel gave and you can go back and see the amounts of gold and calculated in today's numbers as of a couple days ago I know you may have heard this because word spreads really fast but this week a group of leaders in our church made a preliminary commitment to the Imagine Vision campaign that amount as of last night is 2 million 648 716 dollars would you just take a moment to give glory to God that we are on our way but 2.6 million dollars committed I say thank God and to God be the glory that God is speaking and we are listening to his voice amen that amount is going up already David gave the leaders gave and then the rest of the nation gave I've asked numerous times researched the cost of the temple it was in billions and billions of dollars but the lowest I've ever seen is 33 billion 87 billion just this week I researched it again you know there's a lot of inflation right 150 billion dollars the cost of building the Temple in today's money whatever it was billions and billions of dollars and it was given in Free Will offerings by the people there was no Bank to go borrow any money from there David asked who will follow my example and give offerings to the Lord today it is an amazing thing some more generally than imagine because I care about your life and your eternity I'm asking you today to learn to hear the voice of God recognize that it is his voice and then be committed to obeying whatever God's voice speaks to you specifically to imagine I'm encouraging you to pray and listen and obey and I felt like I needed to say it this way do not fear what you hear has God ever told you something is scared the Daylights out of you whatever the Daylights are now I don't know if I've ever had the daylight scared out of me or not there's been some times in our life my wife and me and our ministry that God said some things that were far beyond anything we could ever fathom but do not fear while you hear when God speaks to you if God calls you to Great sacrifice it is only because God intends to pour out on you great blessing if you give it shall be given unto you God will never be in debt to you and in more ways than just Financial blessing God will always bless you when you put his kingdom first when it comes to imagine or your life in general you have resources don't just think about putting them on the table for discussion why don't you put them on the altar so that God has access to them I'm talking about everything you have not that you should give everything you have but put everything you have on the altar then his brother Mitchell said last week let God tells you what you can take back off that's yours to keep and be a steward of what he says he wants that stays on the altar that is what God is calling us to do sacrifice giving something up to give to something greater liquidating acids one-time commitments we'll do that on May 21st that Sunday well I want to hear the voice of God I want to hear God's voice when he speaks to me but I also want to assure you of something today that while we want to hear the voice of God I assure you that God knows your voice and he hears your voice when you go to him in prayer when Moses talked to God the Lord told Moses Moses I know you by name in John 10 Jesus said the Sheep know his voice and he calls them his sheep by there is something like 7.88 billion people in the world and I assure you that God knows every one of them and he knows all their names and you're asking maybe is God that smart that he knows every person in the world and he knows them by name I just want to tell you that's nothing for God to know that for they estimate that there are 200 billion trillion stars in the universe and the Bible says that God numbers them and he calls them all by their names so knowing your name and knowing your voice is no big deal for God your voice matters a whole lot more he never gets your voice confused with anybody else I've done this before I know who people have done this you know like God this is me it's Daryl I'm standing here you know where I am not hearing from you lately and uh can I get a witness anybody ever felt like that have a little talk with Jesus well I didn't talk to you and take all your needs to the Lord open your heart to hear the voice of God