Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. (John 12:28-29)
In our last study, we saw the mystery of the Alpha and Omega and how it was prophetic in nature. Today, we are continuing our study on the book of Revelation on another topic. We are going to address the subject–What are you hearing? I am sure we have heard many in the body saying–I need a word. People want to hear from God and walk in his ways.
The first thing I want to do is ask the following question. Are you listening? You can be hearing people talking to you but are you listening? Let take Jesus as our example. Jesus was having a conversation from heaven with the Father. (John 12:28-29) At first, people just dismissed it as Jesus spending time in prayer with God. All of a sudden, a voice answered him. It was the voice of the Father.
This took the people around him by surprise. The voice was so loud that there was no doubt that God was speaking. The problem was that some people were not listening. Some said that it thundered, not hearing the contents of what was said. The others claimed that they heard an angel, not recognizing the voice of the Father.
This voice was a loud and booming voice. The few that heard it was the Apostle John. He was being trained to hear the father’s voice. A skill that he would use at a later time in his life. Learning to listen to the Father’s voice takes practice and time.
The voice of a trumpet
The voice of the Lord came upon the Apostle John, again, at another time in his life. While spending time in the isle of Patmos, he decided to seek the face of the Lord. Hidden in a cave and isolated from all civilization, he did not get discouraged. Let look at the verse below–
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet (Rev 1:10)
Notice he was in the Spirit. There is a good possibility that he might have been praying in tongues. Praying in tongues has been so misunderstood in the body, that it has caused many to miss their blessings. I believe that the Apostle had spent some time praying in tongues. This, in turn, allowed God to unravel a mystery. A word that he would carry to the seven churches.
A still small voice.
Another way of hearing God is in the still small voice. Let’s look at the verse below–
And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (I Kings 19:11-12)
We associate hearing God’s voice with the spectacular. In the verse above, it was not in the great and strong wind nor in the earthquake. Like John, the prophet Elijah was taking refuge in a cave. It was during that time, that he heard a still small voice.
Sometimes, we let outside circumstances take the place of the voice of God. This kind of mentality could mislead us and cause us to miss God altogether. God spoke to his prophet in a still small voice. There are times when God will speak to you when everything around you is calm and quiet.
There are other ways in which God speaks to his people, but I will leave you with this thought— Study and meditate on his word. (Joshua 1:8) The Bible has the words of life and is a sure prophecy to you. Practicing and doing that will sharpen your spiritual hearing.
Consistency in that area will prepare you for the service of God. It’s time to develop your spiritual hearing so you can discern the times in which we live. So, having that in mind, let’s apply that principle so that we can be useful vessels in the kingdom of God. Who knows what impact you might have on future generations to come!
