People often fear trying to hear God in their spirit for fear of the presumption of hearing God speak. But hearing God is a relational, personal thing. It is not meant to be weighed and examined as if it has to pass for Scripture.

Your hearing will not be perfect, because you have filters, as we all do. Filters composed of fears, passions, prejudices and doctrines. Yet listen and hear we must, if we are to experience the fullness of life Jesus promises.

However, we must do it humbly. We must walk humbly with our God, but we must walk with Him and talk with him in the daily garden of our lives!

Communication is the essence of any relationship, especially this one.

That is why God communicated so profusely through so many to give us the Bible. And why Jesus promised you a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would also teach and guide you. He will resort to guiding you any way he can, such as urges and desires (see Philippians 2:13) or through the words of authorities (parents or pastors). Or through Scriptures that leap out at you in just the right moment. Yet He wants to communicate directly to His child, expressing His thoughts to man. The Bible affirms this so many times in so many ways, such as 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 and the little book of the prophet Amos:

He who forms the mountains,
who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth —
the Lord God Almighty is his name.

Amos 4:13 (NIV)

However, it is important that in hearing God you:

• Do not presume you hear Him perfectly. Listen in faith, and believe, but weigh what you hear against Scripture and God’s character.
• Do not impose anything God says to you upon anyone else. God does not say the same thing, or have the same will for everyone. The Apostle Paul effectively explained how we should follow our own conscience before God without forcing it on others in Romans 14.
• Be responsive and obedient to what you hear. Hearing God is, like everything else about your life with God, an act of faith. When you hear something from the Lord that is a direction or personal command, you are then responsible for responding in faithfulness.

In fact, one reason people struggle with hearing God is the fear that once they know what God wants, they’ll have to do it — the old “ignorance is bliss” thing. It’s an appropriate concern; the Apostle James teaches that if you know what God wants and do not do it, that becomes sin against Him. But honestly, if you’re not ready to trust God’s guidance for you, you need a better understanding of God’s heart for you!

As we explain in our book, Can I Really Hear God? those who continue to wrestle with God — who believe in Him, but have not yet developed a submissive, yielded and honoring spirit towards God — may hear less from Him. Why? In His mercy, God may refrain from putting you in a position to be deliberately sinning against Him.

Hearing God’s thoughts and personal direction is a privilege, a joy, and is life-giving.

It is meant to be an organic, natural expression of life shared with Him. It can become so for you if you ditch the fear of presumption and the anxiety that anything you hear will be tried as if it were Scripture.

Beloved, walk in the fear of the Lord — fearing to dishonor His character and ways, fearing to misrepresent Him. But know this: when you live with this very disposition in your heart towards Him, you can relax about hearing Him, for you will be listening with the right filter, and possess what Jesus called, “ears to hear.”

Faithful, God-loving, God-fearing, God-seeking ears can hear God.

Remember this: the men who gave us the Scripture were flesh and blood like you and me. God’s spirit on them and in them revealed His thoughts and words to them. You can hear God like they did. The difference is that the Canon of Scripture is closed, so you can relax now, because this is not the purpose of your hearing from God. He speaks to YOU to teach and guide YOU in your unique life with Him, to bless you and make you wise and give you an abundant life.

Remember, it’s a conversation, not a canon. Don’t give it the same weight as Scripture, take a deep breath and get over your fear, so you may enjoy this precious communication from the Lord who loves you, and longs to make His thoughts known to you. Don’t miss out on this vital, soul-nourishing aspect of Spirit life!

Our book about hearing God is our most popular. A concise primer on this subject. It lists all the major scriptures validating God’s desire to communicate with you directly, shares stories, discusses hindrances to hearing God, and teaches you how to begin. Highly recommended for anyone struggling with this issue.