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Hearing God’s Voice

Itarsi: October 17, 2004
Dr. Matthew K. Thomas
(Senior Pastor, Pentecostal Church, Itarsi)

Introduction

-          Gen.3: 8a – the voice of God.
-          In our age, we are bombarded with different voices all the time.
-          We need to choose what to hear and whom to hear.
-          Our God is not a distant deity; we need to recognize God’s voice.
-          God is speaking, but our minds are cluttered and clouded with trendy voices.

I. How God Speaks. - Through
A.    His Word
B.     Holy Spirit
C.     Church
D.    Circumstances
E.     People

II. Six Reasons Why God Speaks
A.    Because He loves us. Love always communicates.
B.     To have intimate relationship with us.
C.     To give us guidance and direction.
D.    To give us comfort.
E.     To give us assurance so that we’ll be strong.
F.      So that we can know Him.

III. How To Recognize God’s Voice
A.    Be in range. A radio needs to be placed in range of the waves, moving it from one corner of the room to another till it comes into range. The range is God’s presence.
B.     Tune to the right channel. Even if we fast and pray for God to get Vishwani beam on 85 MHz it won’t. We need to be in tune with God’s will.
C.     Make a minor adjustment. When the needle comes near the right channel and still there seems to be an overlapping of stations, a minor adjustment is needed. If we don’t make the minor adjustments to stay close to His love all the time, we will be hearing two stations.

If you spend time with your Father, you’ll recognize His voice.

IV. What Happens If We Fail To Listen To God’s Voice?
            Genesis 3
A.    We end up listening to wrong and unfamiliar voice (v1).
B.     We are easily deceived (v4).
C.     Pride and independence enters our lives and we become rebellious.
D.    We make decisions that please our flesh, desire, and appetite. Appetite, Beauty, and Knowledge and a life controlled by lust (v6).
E.     We excuse ourselves and blame others (v12).
F.      We’ll suffer. (Vv. 14-19).
G.    We miss the best.
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