Hearing From the Lord

And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him. (Numbers 7:89, ESV)

Is it possible for us to hear from the Lord like Moses did? Here Moses enters the Holiest Place, the place of God’s special manifest presence in the tabernacle and he hears the voice of the Lord. Christians today make a myriad of decisions. Some make decisions without considering the Lord. Can we like Moses really hear from the Lord?

I have heard some Christians say, “God told me to do this.” Yet when we see what God told them to do we realize that God told them no such thing. For example a man once left his wife to move in with the 20 year old next door. When I spoke to him, he stated that he had spoken to God about it and that God approved it because it made him happy. Here is the problem. Many Christians are making decisions based upon their feelings and believe that God is speaking to them because they feel good about their choices. The truth is this. We can hear from the Lord but we cannot trust our emotions.

We do have the ability to hear from God today. The theology of this is straight forward. Paul uses the phrase that we are “in Christ.” The Scriptures teach that Christ has entered into the Holiest Place, the very presence of God. As such, we who believe are in Christ and therefore in the Holiest Place (see Hebrews 9-10). Thus, we ought to be able to hear from the Lord.

So, if we cannot trust our feelings, how do we hear from the Lord? While I am not going to discredit those who say they have heard an audible voice or have had a dream or vision, these also can be quite misleading. The point is this; The Lord primarily speaks to us through His Word. If you want direction from the Lord, you need to be whole heartedly seeking it from His Word. In any desire, vision or dream, THE LORD WILL NEVER SPEAK TO US TO DO SOMETHING CONTRARY TO THE TRUTH OF HIS WORD.

So how does this work? Below you will find some guidelines that George Mueller used. When you see this, you will find that a close personal daily walk with the Lord is essential. It is difficult to hear from anyone that you are not close to. This means a solid prayer and devotional life, and a life of obedience to God’s Word.

George Mueller’s Guidelines on Determining the Will of God

1. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the knowledge of what His will is.
2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God’s Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
6. Thus, (1) through prayer to God, (2) the study of the Word, and (3) reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly.