Hear God Speak?

Do you remember the popular Bible study from the early '90s called Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby? It was the first Bible study in which I ever participated. I was 18 years old. From the beginning of the study, it was assumed that born-again believers could somehow hear the "voice" of God. Well, I am no longer persuaded that believers should assume that God “speaks” to us through our thoughts. I have this conversation often with brothers in the Middle East, where the hyper-charismatic movement has influenced many churches.

When God spoke to people in Scripture, it seldom happened and it was clearly God speaking because it happened in supernatural ways (audible voice, angels, vision, donkey). I see nothing in Scripture that says that He cannot still speak to someone in a personal, supernatural way today. Yet trying to subjectively discern whether or not a particular thought we have is the "voice" of God is never prescribed or even described in Scripture, except for the inspiration of Scripture itself as mentioned in 2 Peter 1:21.

Some might say, "But the Bible doesn't tell me who to marry, where to live, or which career to pursue. I need to "hear" from God on those things." James 1 tells us to ask God for wisdom. Romans 12 tells us to discern the will of God by renewing our minds and testing. Philippians 1 tells us to pray for discernment. Then, God will give us the wisdom to make decisions that we ourselves discern will glorify God, along with our understanding of Scripture.

I've been sharing the Arabic version of this short article about "God told me" with several Arab brothers. Would you pray for them to have biblical clarity regarding the "voice" of God? Pray also for traveling mercy to four Arab nations next month.