First you have to know what Gods voice is. What does it sound like? When does it come? Can you hear it or just feel it?
God speaks to us primarily in four different ways.
Through his word:
My favorite! The most distinct, straight forward way to hear Gods voice. Although you still have to be careful on what you receive when you read a certain text; because the way we can interpret text can be different on how they meant in back then since it was written in a different language. This is the reason why we have to meditate, break down and study the word not just glaze over it.
The Lord tells you all things you need to know in life in his word, Everything. Relationships, emotions, God himself, depression, lust, anger, adultery, all things he tells you about them in the bible and how to fix them. Knowing we cant fix these things on our own, we look upon Christ which makes us dive deeper into his word. Have you ever sat in a church service and the sermon was exactly about situation that you’r going through and you leave it saying ‘wow i really needed to hear that!” Exactly. The Lord knows, he speaks to you.
Our inner witness (intuition/gut instincts):
Our intuition, or conscience, is a difficult one to distinguish between God’s way and our way. You’r conscious is the voice of your spirit man, this is not your mind speaking. Meditate on the word to know what god says about the different events, emotions, struggles, blessings in your life. You can feel when something is off without having to think about it, some people calls it luck. “Oh i’m glad i followed my gut with this one!” because of luck….And i’m sure God just shakes his head and forgives you. This is God getting your attention! Do not injure your conscious by disobeying it…you will become confused on the rights and wrongs of your consciousness. Stand confident in your conscious, allow the holy spirit to enter you and do its job.
Through that still small voice :
This is difficult because many of us do not still our hearts and still quiet to hear this voice. On the same note, some are not in the word enough to distinguish what is ur thoughts and that small voice from God. Our soul is busy, our brain is running all the time, it takes you to learn control over your spirit and practice stillness. No this is not an audible voice do not be silly and wait for God to whisper in your ear. Start by worshipping him and thanking him for who he is and then ask him to still your heart and focus.
God can be specific when he speaks to you this way. Those thoughts will never be against his word. So if you are unsure about his voice this way, read his word (the other way he talks to you) and understand his voice. Im sure if you think of your mothers voice or spouses voice you now what it would sound like because you Know their voice. This is possible as well with the Lord. This comes from the heart not the head.
The desires of the heart
The more that you walk with the Lord, the more your desires become his desires. Thee holy spirit slowly changes you into becoming more christ like. Ps. 37:4. Our hearts natural desires are sinful, that is our nature. Everything we do is tainted, since the Fall, this is why we have to know gods word to distinguish tainted heart feelings and the love of god. God will helps with this process as we mature in christ.
How do we know god speaks to us?
He tells us so. In Jn 10:3, and 27 it says that the sheep (us) hear his voice. Later in verse 14 it states that we even know the Shepherds (God) voice when he speaks. Along with this Jesus even later stating that the arrival of the Spirit of Truth (the holy spirit) would definitely show us things in our lives to come. Jn 16:13. You can feel it when he speaks. Those coincidences that happens in your life, I call them God winks. You don’t have luck you have God! And he loves you and he is active in your life right now!
Why cant I hear gods voice like I used to?
Perhaps it is because of the hardness of your heart. Ask yourself have you lost some faith? Have you lost trust in your god? Have you gotten comfortable with your desires and sins instead of confessing them to god? Remember god will hand you over to the sins of this world if that is what you prefer he will not chase after you. Nor do you have to chase after him, you have to simply come back to him, repent, and pray over your heart. Also ask if you have ever heard Gods voice i the first place. Meaning do you think you falsely were listing to yourself and perceived it as God and never have really heard Gods voice? Or have you walked away from knowing his voice on your own.
