Listening to the Holy Spirit
By far one of the most encouraging and uplifting aspects of my Christian journey has been hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. His voice has brought clarity and direction when there was confusion in my life but ultimately it has transformed my life to be more like Jesus. As I write this article, it is my prayer that my story wouldn't just resonate with you but would encourage you to seek after His voice and have the confidence to pray this simple prayer “Lord speak to me.”
My Christian journey began when I was around 15 years old. Although I grew up in the church all my life, I never had a personal relationship with Jesus. It was when I was around this age that I started to make my faith my own. I remember picking up my Bible for the first time in my life before bed and start reading the book of Genesis. A few days later I came to Genesis 12 where God speaks to Abraham: “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1, ESV). I remember thinking to myself “Wow, if God spoke to Abraham, can He speak to me too?” So I began to pray this simple prayer “Lord, speak to me, I want to hear your voice.” After praying that prayer for about 4 months and He still hadn't spoken to me, I began to become impatient and frustrated with God.
One day I was walking home from school and I was mad because of something that happened that day, so I took my anger out on God since I was already frustrated with him for not answering my prayer for four whole months. As I was walking and complaining to God this distinctive thought came into my head “If there was a God, why would he put handicapped people on this earth without a chance to go to heaven?”; meaning why would God create people with such handicaps that they lack the mental ability to acknowledge and receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour [of course God’s grace saves people with such handicaps]. The thought was so clear that I stopped walking and shouted it out to God twice.
As I got home my frustration and anger settled down but that thought remained in my head. Later that day I went to youth group, and that evening the youth leader was answering random questions that the youth wrote down for him to answer from the previous week. He answered my question which was about dinosaurs in the Bible, but then he answered another person's question “Has God ever spoken to you before?” The youth leader shared a story about how God undeniably spoke to him through a person, and as he was sharing I was silently asking God “After praying for four months, why haven't you spoken to me?” The next question that he answered was “Why would God put people on this earth without a chance to go to heaven?” The youth leader read out loud the very phrase that I shouted out to God only four hours earlier. Honestly, I don't think I even listened to the youth leader's answer to the question because I was so stunned that God had finally spoken to me in such a personal and a clear way.
There is nothing like hearing His voice! In some of the most difficult days of my life, one moment of hearing him speak to me brings sudden peace to my heart. I’ve had seasons where I have felt it difficult to follow God and yet He spoke to me. Simply hearing His voice in the midst of my struggles encouraged me to follow Him even more. In times when I’ve needed to make a difficult choice or decision in life God spoke and gave me direction. His voice guides us, encourages us, and ultimately transforms us.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. “ (Jeremiah 33:3, ESV)
God still speaks today, and he's wanting to personally speak to you! If you are reading this and haven't ever heard his voice before, or maybe it's been a while since you've heard his voice, God is wanting to speak to you. The story I shared about God speaking to me through another person is only one of the ways he speaks. He speaks in many other ways; sometimes through undeniable circumstances, other times in visions and dreams, and above all through His word. God is God, and he can speak to us in anyway he wants to.
Jesus desires to speak to you! All you have to do is ask him to, and then watch for His voice in your life. I invite you to pray this prayer with me: “Jesus, I want to hear your voice! Would you speak to me like you spoke to many in the Bible. Speak to me however you want; all I want to hear is your voice.”
(Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash)
