How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Have you ever wondered, “How can I hear God’s voice?” Many Christians desire to hear from God and know His direction for their lives, but they may not know how to recognize when God is speaking. Scripture shows us that God desires a relationship with His people and that He communicates with us through His Word, the Holy Spirit, prayer, and other ways that agree with biblical truth. Learning to hear God’s voice is not about chasing mysterious experiences or relying on feelings alone—it is about developing a deeper relationship with God and learning to recognize His voice through the truth of Scripture.
As you learn how to hear God’s voice, you can grow in your relationship with God, strengthen your faith, and become more sensitive to His guidance. The Bible provides important principles for discerning God’s voice and distinguishing it from our own thoughts, emotions, or other influences. In this guide, we will explore biblical ways to hear from God, how to recognize His voice, and practical steps you can take to draw closer to Him through prayer, Scripture, obedience, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Hearing God’s voice is often described as a deeply personal and transformative experience. Many people perceive it as an inner whisper, a profound sense of guidance, or a sudden clarity during prayer or meditation. God’s voice brings comfort, direction, encouragement, or reassurance.
To hear God’s voice is the most important part of your prayer & fellowship time with God. In order to hear God speaking to you you need to regularly seek Him. And seek His guidance and will for your life.
Making prayer requests for yourself and for others is an important part of your prayer and fellowship time with God. But to hear God’s voice is by far the most important and vital part of your time with Him. Thus you should give first place in your prayer time to hear God’s voice.
How To Hear God’s Voice
To Hear God’s Voice Is The Most Important Part Of Your Fellowship Time With Him
Spending fellowship time consistently with God is vital to your relationship with Him. And to hear God’s voice is the most important part of spending time with Him in prayer and in His Word. The only way to know God more is to spend time with Him. And to hear God speaking to you and revealing Himself to you.
The only way to discover God’s will and His calling for you is to have Him reveal it to you. So the first lesson in learning how to hear God’s voice is to understand the vital importance of spending time with God. And that hearing God speak is the most important part of your quiet time with God.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying “this is the way. Walk in it.” – Isaiah 30:31
“Guard your steps when you to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools.” – Ecclesiastes 5:1
The Biblical word for listen means to reverently and attentively listen, with the intent to follow or obey. This is much different than merely hearing God speak. You must in your heart have the intent to do whatever God says to do, especially in His word.
You Cannot Be A True Follower Of Jesus Unless You Learn How To Hear God’s Voice
A true disciple or follower of Jesus knows the voice of their Shepherd. You need to learn how to hear God speaking to you in order to know how to follow and obey Him.That is what the word disciple means. To be a faithful learner and follower of Jesus Christ.
And just as important, you have a heart ready to follow and obey whatever Jesus tells you. Your heart needs to be ready to obey whatever Jesus tells you. Before you even hear Him speak.
“My sheep follow Me because they know My voice. My sheep listen to My voice. I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:4,27
The story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 is a good example to follow. Martha was all stressed while preparing food and getting ready for Jesus’ visit to their house. Mary was just sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to every word He had to say. Do not be too busy in your life, or even in your Christian service, that you don’t have time to spend with Jesus. And thus you will miss hearing Jesus speak to you.
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Why Should You Listen to God And Follow & Obey Him ?
If you want to know the best way through life, then you need to learn how to hear God speaking to you. If you want to know truth, then you need to hear God’s voice and have Him reveal truth to you. When you want the abundant life Jesus promised, then you must seek & follow Jesus. To know how to follow and obey Jesus, you need Him to show you how.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” – John 14:6
“My son pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.” – Proverbs 4:20-22
“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” – Luke 11:28
Other Verses Showing The Many Benefits of Hearing God’s Voice And Obeying
“This Book of the Law shall not depart form your mouth. So that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” – Joshua 1:8
“Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit. Who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments ! Then your well-being would have been like a river. And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” – Isaiah 48:17-18
“I have set the LORD continually before me. Because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken. You will make known to me the way of life. In your presence is the fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever.” – Psalm 16:8,11
“The secret of the Lord if for those who fear Him. And He make them know His covenant.” – Psalm 25:14
“Now then sons, listen to me. For blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to instructions and be wise. And do not neglect it. Blessed is the person who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For one who finds me find life, and obtains favor from the Lord.” – Proverbs 8:32-35
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Hearing God’s Voice
We need to learn to hear God’s voice. It does not come naturally, and it takes time and effort.
Hearing God’s voice is by far the most important part of your prayer & fellowship time with Him. You cannot have an intimate and wonderful fellowship with God without leaning to hear God’s voice and intimately communicate with Him.
There can be a big difference between hearing God’s voice and listening to Him. The Biblical word listening means to reverently and attentively hear God’s voice, with the intent of doing & obeying what you hear God say. Our heart needs to be right with God, with no hindrances to hearing God’s voice. Seeking God and listening to His voice is part of having a humble and reverent heart attitude toward God.
In order to learn to hear God’s voice and discern His will for you, you will need to spend time with God. You will need to read God’s word, and take the time to meditate on His word. And you need to spend time in prayer, and take some time to be still and listen for His voice in your heart.
You can definitely learn to hear God’s voice, so keep at it and don’t give up. God promises us that if we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find Him. Here is what you need to do in order to learn to hear God’s voice:
Hearing God’s Voice and Listening Is An Active Process
You need to be willing to make the effort to learn to hear God’s voice. And keep at it until you accomplish your goal.
Spending time with God in prayer, and reading the Bible, and meditating on His word is vital. You cannot learn to hear God’s voice without making the effort. And you cannot know God intimately and personally without hearing God’s voice. Nor can you know His will and His calling for your life.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
You Need To Take The Time Necessary To Hear God’s Voice & Know God
It takes time to get to know God and to hear God’s voice. Knowing God more and more intimately is a lifelong process.
It will not take you a lifetime to learn to hear God’s voice. And to discern His leading and will. But it will take time and effort.
You need to have the desire in your heart to know God more. And to hear God’s voice.
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Meditate On God’s Word
When you read God’s Word the Bible, don’t just read it quickly. Take the time to meditate on God’s word. Ask the following questions as you read God’s word.
What is God saying to you ?
How does what I sense in your Prayer time, or in your Circumstances, or what Godly People are telling you confirm what you read and hear from God’s word ?
How can you do / apply / obey/ follow what you are reading & hearing from God ?
It will be difficult to hear God’s voice if you just quickly read God’s word. Take the time to meditate on God’s word and what God is saying.
Anticipate And Expect God To Speak To You
God speaks to His people. It is His pattern in the Bible. God reveals Himself by speaking to His people.
In the Old Testament God spoke in various ways. Primarily through His prophets.
Now God speaks primarily through His word. And through His Holy Spirit in your fellowship time with God.
Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”
God spoke to many of His people in the Bible. To lead them, or guide them, or teach them, or rebuke them.
You need to know that God wants to speak to you also. And you should expect Him to. God wants to reveal more of Himself to you. And reveals His will to you. And reveal His calling for your life.
Be Ready To Respond When You Hear God’s Voice
You need to have your heart ready to hear God’s voice. You need to be ready and willing to do whatever God reveals to you.
There is a big difference between hearing God’s voice and listening. In the Bible, to listen means to have a humble, soft, and willing heart that is ready to obey or follow. Even before you hear what God is saying.
James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Look For A Conformation When You Hear God’s Voice Leading You
When you sense God revealing His will and calling for your life, it is wise to ask Him to confirm what you are sensing.
Early in 2004 I started to sense God speaking about selling my business and serving Him full time. And God was revealing that He would bless my business and then I would sell it and use our own resources to serve Him. We had no idea what God was leading us to do.
We prayed and sought God and His will for a year and a half. Then on a mission trip to Sao Paulo Brazil in mid 2005 God spoke very strongly and clearly in my heart. God wanted us to serve as missionaries in Brazil and join Him in what He was doing there.
Before we went off and sold my business and everything else, we prayed. A lot. And we asked God to confirm His calling. God clearly confirmed that we correctly heard His voice and understood His calling. After that, we prayed and asked God to give us a clear vision of that He wanted us to do. You can see the vision God gave us on our Missions Ministry page.
It took a lot of time and prayer to hear God’s voice. And for God to reveal His calling. And it also took a soft and willing heart to do and be whatever God wanted. We also needed to be willing to pay the cost to follow God’s will and calling.
We had to be willing to use and spend our own resources in order to serve God as missionaries. That was clearly His plan for us. Realistically they are not “our” resources anyway. Everything belongs to God, including our lives. We also had to be willing to live far from our family. And to learn a new language. And to live in a completely different culture.
Ask And Look For A Confirmation
God typically speaks primarily through His word the Bible. And also through His Holy Spirit in your fellowship time with God. What you sense the Holy Spirit speaking and revealing to you must line up with what God’s word says.
And God typically confirms what He is saying and revealing through your circumstances and Godly people. And His Holy Spirit will also confirm His leading and calling.
This is an important step, especially if you sense God leading you to do something to serve Him. Especially if it involves making changes in your life.
When God was making it clear that He was calling us to sell my business and become full time, self funded missionaries, we were not about to do major things like that without asking Him for confirmations.
We prayed asked that God would clearly confirm that we heard His voice and leading correctly. God answered and confirmed that it was His will and calling for us to go and serve in Brazil. He confirmed this in several different ways, using our circumstances, and by what some Godly people were saying. And what we sensed in our hearts during extended prayer times of seeking Him.
We became absolutely sure of what God what leading us to do because of His confirmations. And because we completely surrendered all to God and were willing to do whatever He wanted, God also gave us a very clear vision. A clear vision and idea of exactly what and how God wanted us to do in our missions ministry. Or a better way to say it is that God gave us a clear vision of what God would do through us.
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
God Speaks
God speaks during your prayer time. Primarily through His word and the Holy Spirit And God sometimes uses your circumstances to speak to you. God typically uses circumstances and godly people to confirm what He has been saying through His word. Everything must match up with God’s word. God’s word the Bible is always the main way that God speaks to people.
You need to be careful with trying to interpret your circumstances. Often times our feelings and what we think we see going on can be deceptive.
Also, you will hear many different things from many different people. Even people in church that mean well can tell you things that do not match what God is trying to tell you. Or with how He is trying to lead you.
When we were in the process of being called by God to serve as self funded missionaries, we heard many different things from various people at church. And we even had a pastor give us advice that was contrary to what God was saying to us. He suggested the traditional way that people from the denomination go to the mission field. But God was clearly leading us to follow a very different path and plan.
Learning the 6 keys to hear God’s voice is very important. In fact, you will never have intimacy with God and know how to follow Him without learning the keys to hear God’s voice.
It takes time and effort to learn how to hear God’s voice, and to have intimacy with God. There is no quick way or shortcuts to take to learn how to hear the “still small voice” of God.
John 10:27 – “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
THE 6 KEYS TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE
Here are the 6 keys to hear God’s voice.
1. TIME & EFFORT
- You need to take time to seek God and listen to Him
- Jeremiah 29:12-13 – “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.”
- Psalm 119:2 – “Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”
- “If you have so much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, depend upon it, you have more business on hand than God ever intended you should have.” – D.L. Moody
2. STILLNESS
- “Be still and know that I am God.” – Psalm 46:10
- You need to have quiet and stop all you are doing
- You need to concentrate and focus on God
3. SECLUSION
- You need to get alone with God
- Matthew 6:6-7 – “When you pray, go to your room and close the door. Pray privately to your Father who is with you. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.”
- Luke 5:16 – “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
- You need to get away from all of the distractions around you
4. SILENCE
- You need to let God do the talking before you speak and pray and ask for things
- Matthew 7:24 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
- You should put worship & praise (so you can focus on God) and then reading God’s word ahead of your asking God for your needs/desires/problems and those of others
- Normally in our prayer time we dive right into our prayer requests for ourselves and others before we take the time to listen for God’s voice
5. SELF-CONTROL
- Be devoted to God
- Metthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
- Acts 2:42 – ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
- Be disciplined
- Stick with it and do not give up
6. SUBMISSION & HUMILITY
- You need to have a soft & willing & obedient heart
- Isaiah 1:19-20 – “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
- Exodus 33:13 – “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.”
- You are willing to do whatever God tells you to do
- Be willing to be whatever God wants you to be
- You are willing to go wherever God tells you to go
“God gives the gift of humility, which brings a softness of heart – a gift that will always cause you to listen to God.” – Oswald Chambers
“Lord, send me anywhere – only go with me; Lay any burden on me – only sustain me; Sever all ties, except the one that binds me to yourself.” – David Livingstone
YOU CAN’T BE INTIMATE WITH GOD AND HAVE THE FULLEST POSSIBLE FELLOWSHIP & PARTNERSHIP WITH HIM (1 Corinthians 1:9) UNLESS YOU SUBMIT ALL TO HIM AND BECOME ONE WITH HIM
How to Hear God’s Voice: 10 Biblical Ways to Know When God Is Speaking
Hinderances to Hearing God’s Voice and Intimacy With God
Hearing God’s voice is by far the most important part of your prayer & fellowship time with Him. You cannot have an intimate and wonderful fellowship with God without leaning to hear God’s voice and intimately communicate with Him.
There can be a big difference between hearing God’s voice and listening to Him. The Biblical word listening means to reverently and attentively hear God’s voice, with the intent of doing & obeying what you hear God say. Our heart needs to be right with God, with no hinderances to hearing God’s voice. Seeking God and listening to His voice is part of having a humble and reverent heart attitude toward God.
Here are some hinderances to hearing God’s voice that hinder us from having intimacy with God. There are many things that can cause us to not hear God’s voice:
1. WE DON’T KNOW GOD VERY WELL
- We need to be in God’s word regularly to know Him.
- God speaks to His people often in the Bible to lead and guide and instruct them
- Many people do not know God well enough to know that He speaks to His people
2. LOW SELF ESTEEM
- Many people don’t know or feel that they are God’s child & often think “Why would God want to talk to me ?”
3. GUILT (False Guilt)
- Satan lies and gives a person a false sense of guilt.
4. TOO BUSY
- The cares of the world crowd God out of our lives.
- It takes quality time with God and effort to hear God’s voice.
5. UNBELIEF
- You need to believe that God wants to speak to you through His Holy Spirit.
- You need to believe that God wants to give your life purpose and meaning, and He wants to use you in His eternal kingdom work and mission.
6. ANGER AT GOD
- If you’re angry at God you won’t want to listen to Him.
- People get angry at God for many reasons – they don’t like the way their life is; they are angry at God for letting difficult circumstances or trials happen; they blame God for bad things that happen…
- It is impossible to have a soft, humble, and moldable heart towards God if you are angry at Him.
- It is difficult to have a heart that wants to hear God’s voice and follow Him if you are angry at Him.
7. SIN
- I John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
- Confession is more than just saying “I confess my sin and I sorry I sinned”. Confession is agreeing with God about your sin and that you personally sinned again God, and that you intend to do something about the sin.
- There needs to be a turning away from sin (repentance) and a turn back to God. Then your fellowship with God will be restored.
8. REBELLIOUS SPIRIT
- the opposite of knowing God is rebellion, not a lack of information
- not attentively and reverently reading God’s word and not listening to Him, and living any way you want to is being rebellious towards God. It is having a hard rebellious heart.
9. YOU REJECT THE PERSON OR CIRCUMSTANCES THAT GOD IS USING TO SPEAK
- God mainly speak through His word. At times God will speak into our hearts during our prayer and quiet time with Him. If you think God is speaking into your heart, it should always agree with or match what you are seeing in God’s word.
- God will usually use people or circumstances to confirm what He is saying through His word. You need to pay attention to the person speaking or the circumstances, if they match up with what God is speaking through His word.
10. YOU ARE UNTRAINED TO LISTEN TO GOD
- You can learn to hear God’s voice. It takes time but you can learn how to discern God’s voice and what He is speaking to you.
Learning how to hear God’s voice is a very important step in your relationship and intimacy with God. Learning to hear God’s voice in my prayer time with God has helped me immensely in my walk with God, and in my life and family. And it has been vital to the self funded missions ministry that God called me and my wife Nancy to start.
I needed to hear God speak and to show us what He wanted us to do when He called us to sell my business and join Him in His kingdom mission work. And I needed to have God speak and show me how He wanted us to do it. After months of praying and fully surrendering to God, God spoke. And He gave me a clear vision of what He wanted us to do, and how to do it. The better way to say it is what God wanted to do through us, and how He wanted to do it.
Pursuing Intimacy With God
Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life… your intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.
There are hundreds of Bible verses and great truths & promises in the Pursuing Intimacy With God studies.
** New Expanded Edition of Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible Studies Book – 40% more material
Ebook version of Pursuing Intimacy With God on Google Books
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Book of Revelation Bible Study Series
Other Links
Religion vs Relationship With God
Why Should You Pray & Spend Time With God ?
Is Jesus Your First Love ? Part 2
Prayer Is Passion To Seek & Know God
God’s Purpose & Mission For You And Your Church
Spiritual Gifts: All Christians Have Gifts
Jesus Wants To Heal You & Set You Free
Salvation & The Gospel Of Jesus Christ
The Kind of Christian & Church God Wants
Kevin Bart has been a follower of Jesus for over 40 years. Kevin has taught Bible study classes, small groups, and discipleship classes for many years. He developed Pursuing Intimacy With God Bible studies website and book after many years of seeking God and studying His word. Kevin and his wife Nancy have 3 sons and 2 precious grandchildren.
Kevin is a former business owner, and current international missions ministry leader with more than four decades of combined business and ministry experience. After building and running a successful business for 23 years, with God’s guidance and blessings, he sold his company to dedicate himself to full-time global missions.
For over 20 years, Kevin and his wife Nancy have led a self funded international missions ministry. Utilizing learned business and financial management skills, as well as knowledge and experience in travel points and miles, to date they have had more than 5o mission trips to 36 countries in the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
After many years of studying the Bible and the Book of Revelation, and writing many Bible studies and articles, Kevin finally finished Unraveling The Mysteries of the Book Of Revelation. Hopefully it will be a blessing to many people.
