“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

Christians today are hungry to hear God’s voice but many don’t know where to start. How can we hear Jesus speak to us and learn how to recognize His voice?

Frank Viola says that we need to have our senses sharpened and our ears tuned in order to hear the voice of God. He shares a few practical tips,

“One of them is to become poor in spirit. This is all about humility; this is all about where Jesus said ‘become like a little child’ (Matthew 18:3). This makes it a little bit more difficult for people who are more educated in Scripture and in theology.”

“There’s a danger to think, ‘because I know all of this theology, because I have all this education, and because I have more degrees than a thermometer, then I already know what the Lord wants.’ And that’s simply not the case.”

“It’s really a matter of being humble and saying, ‘I may know a lot, but there’s a lot I don’t know. I’m going to humble myself and become like a child and look for the Lord to give me guidance to speak to me; to reveal Himself to me in ways I’ve never seen.'”

Frank says that in addition to becoming more childlike, we also need to obey the Lord’s voice when He speaks to us.

“The Lord will only speak to us if we’re willing to obey what He says and it’s scriptural. But if I’m at a place in my life where I’m not going to obey the Lord, then He’s not going to reveal His word to me; He’s not going to give me that guidance because I’m not willing to obey it.”

“He will have to bring me through experiences to break my will to where I’m at a point where I’m ready to hear.”

Another way to hear God’s voice is to familiarize ourselves with His Word.

“The more familiar we are with Jesus in the Scripture and we get familiar with how He spoke to His disciples while He was on earth, the better we’ll be able to recognize Him.”

“One of the characteristics of Jesus is He’s always coming at things from a different angle than what we expect. That’s why the disciples are always amazed. The answers He would give to people wasn’t what they were expecting and the Lord does that today.”

“We get into a problem and we think, ‘Ok, we have this way or that way’ through rational thought, and then the Lord, when we hear Him, comes from a totally different direction. He gives us a thought we would never have imagined, and we know that it has the scent of Jesus Christ on it.”

As we humble ourselves, practice obedience, and spend time in God’s Word, we will be better equipped to recognize and respond to His voice.


Frank Viola has helped thousands of people around the world to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and enter into a more vibrant and authentic experience of church. He is author of several books including  .

Hearing God's voice
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