How to hear the voice of God

Several times in my life, I was convinced that I was hearing the voice of God moving me in certain directions to help others or steering me away from harming myself or others through sin.  When Jesus says, “Follow Me,” how do we know it’s Jesus and not just our own imagination?

In every decision we face, where is Jesus and what is He trying to lead us into?  What do we need to better learn how to hear the voice of God?

Are there any areas of our lives where we are not following Jesus?  If so, what voices are pulling us away from the will of God?

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me” (John 10:27).  As our Good Shepherd, He wants what is best for us — from the perspective of the Kingdom of God.  We wish we could hear His voice clearly every time He speaks to us.  He’s never silent.  He loves us too much to deny us any information that could help us follow Him well.

Meanwhile, there are many wolves in shepherd’s clothing who demand our obedience, not the least of which is our own misdirected will. Upon reflection, I came up with a few ideas about how I try to hear the voice of God successfully and discern that from all other voices and noises:

To hear the voice of Jesus and follow it, first we must be in a good relationship with Him.  We need to know Him as our Savior without whom we will never reach Heaven.  We need to know Him as a personal friend who cares about us.  We need to relate to Him by connecting our lives to His life, our burdens to His burdens, our sufferings to His sufferings, and our joys to His joys.

Next, we must examine our consciences in light of scripture and the traditional teachings of the Church: What have you heard that you have rebelled against?  We must examine our decisions: What are you deaf to because you’d rather believe it’s really not from Jesus?  We must examine our lives: What area of your life is not fully given over to Christ and filled with Christ?  (For example, are you sure that all of your political views have been taken over by Jesus Christ?  Have you voted for a politician who has policies that are anti-Christ, anti-life, immoral?)  Whenever we cannot hear or we fail to hear the voice of Jesus, we need to admit that we’ve been separating ourselves from Him, we need to obtain supernatural grace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and we need to desire to increase our holiness with the help of the Holy Spirit.

To hear the voice of Jesus and follow him well, we definitely need the help of the Holy Spirit. We must have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. Give the Holy Spirit permission to take over your life, your heart, and your soul. Start every morning with a prayer something like this: “Come Holy Spirit, fill me. Come Holy Spirit, open my ears to hear Jesus. Come Holy Spirit, change me.”

To discern the voice of Jesus amidst uncertainty and contrary voices, we benefit greatly from relationships with others who are also filled with the Holy Spirit.  God confirms what He’s telling us by reiterating it through Christian community.  It’s possible to successfully hear Him in our hearts and yet remain uncertain.  We long to hear God externally, in an audible voice.  Although sometimes He does it that way, He usually echoes what He has spoken to our hearts through other externals (for example, a supernatural Word of Knowledge that someone speaks in a prayer meeting, or a friend being anointed during prayer and receiving an idea that matches what you’ve been thinking).