In this “How to Hear God” series, we have talked about the three most common ways to hear God’s voice: Through his word, through the Holy Spirit’s impressions on your heart, and through the circumstances of your life.
In closing we must acknowledge that sometimes, despite out best efforts and methods, we can find it difficult to hear what God is saying to do. So what should you do when you cannot hear the voice of God? What should you do when you don’t have clarity on his will for you?
How can you hear God’s voice? How can you know what God’s will is for you? How can you be certain which way God is leading you?
Hearing God’s voice always starts with the Bible. If you want to know the will of God, it always starts with knowing the word of God. If you ever “hear God” say something that contradicts Scripture, you have not actually heard God. The voice of God can be heard every time you submit to the Holy Spirit illuminating the Scriptures to your heart and mind.
There’s been so many times in life where I said, “How can I hear God’s voice? I just want to know what God is saying to me so I can make the right decision! Which way am I supposed to go, Lord?” When there’s a big decision to make in life, you want nothing more than to simply know for certain what God is actually saying to you.
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As children we imagined we would find the perfect spouse, the perfect job, buy the perfect house, go on perfect adventures, and well . . . have the perfect life. Somewhere along the way, however, we quickly realized we will experience many things on this earth, but perfection is certainly not one of them.
Right next to Bible study is prayer. If we desire to grow in Christ, connect with God, find the direction we desire in life, and see God move in our lives in personal ways, then Christians must be a people of prayer.
Is it ever possible to pray too much? This question is both easy and hard to answer. The short answer is “No, you cannot pray too much.”
However, when we start talking about praying for specific people, places, and things over defined periods of time, we will need to apply wisdom and walk with the Spirit to answer this question in each personal situation people will encounter.
In other words, while you cannot pray too much, I believe it is possible to pray too much about certain things or certain desires, especially when the Holy Spirit is trying to move you forward but for some reason you won’t let a certain prayer request go.
So what does the Bible say about praying too much?
If we’re being honest, in times of trial, to “rejoice always” as we are commanded seems utterly ridiculous.
Certainly the Lord does not mean we should pretend to be joyful when we are really not. Does he? It doesn’t seem authentic to even seek happiness when trials, temptations, and tragedies are present, let alone to actually be happy in times like these.
So what does Philippians 4:4-7 mean when we are told to “Rejoice in the Lord always”?
Prayer is an amazing act. It is literally a conversation with God where we can pour our hearts out to him, thank him, intercede for others, and listen to what God is saying to us through the impressions the Holy Spirit places on our hearts and minds.
What does the Bible say about sleep? This is an important question considering that anywhere from one-third of our life will be spent on earth with our eyes closed, slumbering away in our beds. That’s a lot of time sleeping! So what does God think about sleep? Can we sleep too much, too little, and how can we use sleep the way God intended?
Sleep, like everything else God has made, is good when it’s used right but also has the potential to be greatly misused.