“Whoever has ears, let them hear.” – Matthew 11:15
“What’s God’s will for my life?”
“Do You want me to go to college, Lord? Where?”
“Which job offer is the Spirit leading me to take?”
“Jesus, should I serve in the youth group or not?”
These questions characterize how Christians value knowing the will of God. Next to the assurance of salvation, it’s the most important subject that believers pursue. They want to avoid displeasing the Lord and wasting time and effort in the wrong undertakings. Disciples are under orders to carry out the Lord’s wishes.
“Find out what pleases the Lord.” – Ephesians 5:10
But how do we discover what that is? We know the basics: read the Bible and pray! God’s Word gives us the principles and stories to live by, but we worry that they’re too general. They don’t quite address our specific situations.
So we supplement the Word with prayer. We talk to God about all the details of the decisions that we’re facing and how we need His help. But unless He answers us, it feels like a one-way conversation.
We’re not interested in hearing ourselves talk; we want to know what God has to say.
For the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at what it means to hear God’s voice. (Here are the links to the first, second, and third posts.)
We reinforced the notion that God does indeed speak. From cover to cover, the Bible testifies that the Lord communicates with people. And this suggests that we can hear Him. One way or another, we have the ability to take in what He says.
Yet catching the sound of His voice doesn’t help us if we fail to understand His thoughts and ideas. When we talk about hearing God, we mean more than sensing His voice; we want to listen to understand.
Judging
In the previous posts, I used as a template a fourfold approach to human knowledge developed by theologian Bernard Lonergan. What he called “experiencing” and “understanding” I termed “sensing” and “listening.” These represented the first and second dimensions to the process of human knowledge.
Lonergan refers to his third cognitional operation as “judging.” In this context, to judge isn’t to condemn; it’s to verify. For example, consider the advice Paul gave the church at Corinth about prophecy.
“Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.” – 1 Corinthians 14:29 (NASB)
The apostle wasn’t advocating criticism and rejection. He sought to preserve the health of the church by scrutinizing prophetic ministry. Anybody could claim to reveal the mind of God on a given matter, but Christians aren’t supposed to buy such statements without examination. They have to see whether the prophetic word lines up with Scripture. If it doesn’t, it’s not from God, no matter how well-intentioned the speaker may be.
“Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” – Isaiah 8:20
The same principle applies to hearing God speak to us. Sensing a voice or having a thought pop into our heads doesn’t guarantee it’s from the Spirit. It might be, but we have to assess what we’ve heard. If we don’t bother, we make ourselves vulnerable to the lies of the enemy and he’ll take advantage of our naivete.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 11:3
The goal of judgment is affirmation. We check what we receive so that we can assert that we’ve heard the voice of God. (The opposite is also true. If we determine that a message didn’t come from God, we need to abandon it.) In simple terms, we aim to agree with God.
But not always!
Disagreeing
To disagree with someone, we have to understand what they mean. If we’re confused about their ideas, we have no business affirming or rejecting them.
The Bible cites examples of people who disagreed with God and lived to tell about it! Their disagreement presumes that they understood what God meant. They proposed alternatives to what the Lord was telling them.
Moses
Because of the Golden Calf incident, God told Moses that He was going to destroy the Israelites and form a new nation from his offspring. But Moses objected, and stressed that God’s reputation with the Gentiles was on the line. The Lord went along with Moses’ request to spare Israel (Exodus 32:9-14).
Hezekiah
When the king was sick in bed, God told him to put his house in order because he was would not recover from his illness. Hezekiah implored the Lord for mercy and He responded by sparing his life and extending it fifteen years (2 Kings 20:1-11).
But sometimes God won’t tolerate disagreement.
Peter
Jesus commended Peter for hearing from the Father that He was the Christ. That’s interesting! God revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Messiah but Peter didn’t know that the Father had spoken to him! So we can hear God without being aware of it!
But when Jesus shared about His upcoming suffering, Peter corrected Him. He believed that Jesus was the Christ. Far from dying in Jerusalem, He would liberate the city and usher in the kingdom of God! But Jesus rebuked Peter because He detected the devil speaking through him, tempting the Lord to forsake the way of the cross.
Peter’s ears caught Jesus’ words and his mind understood what they meant. But he couldn’t agree with them. His hearing, though genuine, fell short of Christ’s intent. (For the account of Jesus and Peter, see Matthew 16:13-28.)
Application
When you say you want to hear the Lord, what are you striving for? To this point, we’ve explored three levels of hearing. Do you aspire to sense a physical sound? Would you be content with God’s thoughts dancing within your mind?
Or do you wish to go further and understand what He’s telling you? This way, you won’t mistake your ideas, or those of anyone else, for His.
Do you long for even more? Of what value is grasping God’s will unless you align yourself with it? The Bible teaches that you’re free to engage in dialogue with the Lord about what He’s revealing to you. Prayer is conversational, so don’t be afraid to voice your questions and concerns. But do so with the ultimate aim of agreeing with God’s plans. Before His arrest, Jesus modeled this attitude in the Garden of Gethsemane.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” – Luke 22:42
In your quest to hear God, aim for agreement. It may entail a process of give and take, but make it your goal to affirm what you understand to be the word of the Lord to you. God’s plans are best.
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