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The Power of God
Hearing His Voice
by haRold Smith
a citizen of the Commonwealth
(Ephesians 2:12)

"My sheep know and recognize My Voice." John 10:27
"For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My People. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you'." Jeremiah 7:22-23

I was desperate. The circumstances I found myself in were overwhelming and demanded that I hear a clear and concise Word from the Lord. I had left everything behind to arrive at this place and, at the time, it seemed as though my very life depended on hearing God. The whole evolvement of events surrounding me had taken on an atmosphere of extraordinary surrealism. The people I was involved with had proven themselves to be less than discreet with the information previously given them, so I had come to not trust in their counsel. I felt very alone and very isolated. I was desperate to hear God's direction. With no one to turn to, I went to my room, closed the door, sank to my knees and began to pray - determined that I was not going to leave that cubicle until I had heard from The One who had brought me to this place about what to do next. I did not realize until later that this was exactly the place where He wanted me to be.

After a couple of hours of praying all that I knew to pray and not getting anywhere, I picked up a Bible from off the nightstand next to my bed, opened it and began to read. It was then that I became aware of a still, small voice speaking from within me that said, "Put the book down and don't pick it up again until I tell you." Knowing absolutely that God would never tell me to not read His Words, I began to "rebuke the devil" (click on highlighted words to view content) in all the ways that I had heard others do over the course of my short life among Christian people. This voice persisted, however, and after repeatedly rebuking what I thought to be "the enemy" to "be gone in the Name of Jesus" and it stayed; I started to think that maybe, just maybe - this might be God after all. So, (remember, I was desperate to hear anything) I laid the Bible back on the nightstand. Encouraged that something, anything was happening, I began praying out loud and interceding for those persecuting me (wanting to heap fiery coals on their heads). Once more, the same unction arose from within only this time it said, "Be quiet." Again, being absolutely convinced that God would never give me a commandment not to pray, I started rebuking the enemy even louder this time - thinking more "bluster" was required to subdue him. But, again, that still, small voice persisted when I got quiet enough to listen. Finally, as I went back and forth wrestling with the thoughts in my head, I became aware that a scripture from Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God;" was floating over and over within me. Quieting myself, it became obvious to me that the Spirit of the Almighty was directing me to just be still before Him. It was with much reverence and humbleness that I then began to comply; not saying or doing anything but merely sitting like a puppy before his owner, waiting on Him to speak.

Two hours later, I woke up from a sound sleep not having heard anything and left my room very frustrated and feeling very guilty over my seeming inadequacy - but, I was desperate. So, the next day, I went back into my room and began the whole process over again. "Put the book down and don't pick it up again until I tell you," and "Be quiet" kept recurring to me. After 15 or 20 minutes of complying with this solitude, I again fell asleep. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures, however, and the situation I was in was driving me back into that room. I had taken some solace in the fact that, at least I was hearing something. Slowly, over time, I noticed that two things were beginning to happen. The first was that, with each new day, the time before I fell asleep was growing longer and longer and the second was that I was beginning to become more engaged in a conversation, a communion, if you will, with God. This was not at all what I had expected. I was coming into an awareness that He was speaking to me about things that concerned me, although, nothing of what He said was directed at the situation that had driven me before Him initially. He began to make me aware of what my behavior should be in adverse situations and began to expose the state of my heart - showing me that He had already given me all that I needed to overcome whatever obstacle life could put in my path simply through knowing Him, His Nature (2Peter 1:3). So sweet had this communion become that, over time, I found that I was no longer being "driven" into my room as before. In fact, so rich was the experience, I began to actually look forward with anticipation each day for the time apart when I could leave the worries of the outside world and shut myself away with this Love. I started to understand that when He spoke, it was not so much with a voice that I could hear, but it was more like what was mentioned in Psalm 46 earlier - a knowing. I just "knew" what He was speaking to me.

After reading the article, Arrows of Famine, Gideon wrote to ask, "How do you distinguish it was 'HE' that was speaking to you??" We must be constantly reminded that the whole purpose YHVH put into motion the Kinsman Redeemer, to restore the Kingdom of YHVH to echad (Hebrew for "one") as it was in the beginning is because He wants for us to hear Him more than we want to hear Him. There are two tools He has given us to accomplish this goal. The first one is found in John 17:3 where Yeshua said that the Way to Life is to know Him and the One Whom He has sent, Yeshua, to example before us how to live YHVH's Words. Today, the woman I married can call me from any place on the planet, speak a single word and instantly I recognize her voice. How does that happen? Because I spent a lot of time alone with that girl and my ear became trained to the sound of her voice. The same is true for our Father. The way we come to recognize His Voice is the same Way Yeshua did. Scripture tells us that He spent more time alone with His Father than He did with anyone else. Scripture says He was always drawing apart, hiding Himself for just that purpose. If we are to know and recognize the voice of the Father, the same dynamic applies - we must spend a lot of time with Him, training our "spiritual ears" to hear Him in the same way the Son did. There is no substitute for that process. The second way we distinguish His Voice is through scripture because He will never deny Himself. Most people approach scripture "to study" to show themselves approved and there is nothing wrong with that except when we allow that "study" to get in the way of hearing His direction. Yeshua said, "You search the scriptures for Life and it is the words of scripture which speak of Me" (John 5:39). We have been given scripture to validate that what we hear in Spirit is truly of our Father - or not. That is why, as the Arrows of Famine article attests, after speaking those words to me, He took me directly to Revelation 19:10b to validate what He had just said.

The Hebraic language differs from English in that it contains a duality of meaning for some words and phrases. In Hebrew, the meaning of "hearing" is not just sound waves striking the sensory portion of the ear but has a concurrent meaning as well. The Hebrew word translated as the English "listen" or "hearken" in Exodus 15:26 is shama' - but, in Exodus 19:5, this same Hebrew word is also found to be used for "obey". In Hebrew, to hear IS to obey, to obey IS to hear. So, from a Hebraic perspective, whether you hear what is spoken or not is measured by how you obey what you hear. Conversely, how you obey determines whether or not you heard what was said. To say "God is good" is to also say "good is God" at the same time - they are the same. The Hebrew apostle Sha'ul (Paul) uses this same Hebraic dualism in the whole phrase of Romans 10:17 that says "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Hebraically, this phrase is rendered "faith IS hearing/obeying His Word – hearing/obeying His Word IS faith". The sincerity of faith spoken of in 1Timothy 1:5 can now be rendered as actionable obedience to His Words - the same faith spoken of in Habakkuk 2:4. As I became more familiar with that "knowing" and more obedient to His Words found in the scriptures, the circumstances I was in began to take on less and less importance in light of the joy I was experiencing in just knowing Him. I began to understand something I had never understood before - how Yashua could stay all night in prayer. One morning, as I looked out my window to see the sun rising, I realized that He, too, had not set out to engage in an all-night marathon, but had just become so immersed in the moment with the Father that He looked up to remark, "Oh my, where has the time gone - it's dawn!"

About six months after He first told me to "put the book down", as I was in this place of communion with Him, a scripture started running through my mind, but I could not remember all of it - how it read, exactly. I reached over to the nightstand and found the verse in the Bible. As I was reading, it dawned on me what had just happened and, in an instant, I realized what the scriptures were for - they are given to us to verify, to validate and to reinforce that what we are hearing is truly the Word of YHVH. Yes, there are many voices out there - believe me, I have heard most of them. What we can trust, however, is that He said that He would guide us into all truth. The scriptures state in 1John 2:27 that I do not need any man to teach me and again in John 14:26 that He will bring to my remembrance all the things He has spoken. In other words, as long as we are not coming to Him with our own agenda and are willing to follow just what the words say and mean; we can trust God Almighty to teach us Truth because that is Who He Is - Truth. He gave the scriptures to validate that Truth. If we are to walk as Yeshua did, then we must do as He did as well - which means we have to first come to know Him. But, when we do, then the verse in Proverbs will come alive to us and we will be able to discern His Voice speaking to us anywhere, anytime. The promise is that we will be able to hear His voice floating above the noise of the marketplace:

"Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares. She cries out above the commotion. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words." Proverbs 1:20, 21

I asked the Father why He had never spoken to me like this before. His reply informed me that He is and has been speaking to me all the time - I just needed to stop and listen to His "still, small voice" (1Kings 19:12). Hearing God's voice is not restricted to just a few, but is available to all who call upon His Name and is the foundation of relationship with Him. His desire is that you, too, walk in the fullness of all that He has for you.
The Power of God Series
Part One: The Power of God
Part Two: Hearing His Voice
Part Three: Arrows of Famine
Part Four: the Godhead

"And you shall seek Me and you shall find Me, when you have searched for me with all of your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-12

???Questions???
Please feel free to email them to me at harold@hethathasanear.com. While not claiming to have all the answers, it would be an honor to share with you what the Spirit is uncovering.