Below is an article found and shared by our Prayer Team.
Indeed, the biggest problem in hearing God’s voice is discerning between His voice, the voice of our own flesh, and Satan’s voice. Gaining more and more knowledge of Scripture helps us to discern the difference. But so does spending time with God in prayer. You will learn to recognize His voice the more you hear it.
The boy Samuel in the Old Testament shows us this truth. One night as he was trying to sleep, he heard someone call his name, “Samuel, Samuel.” He ran to Eli, his mentor, saying, “Here I am.” But Eli told Samuel he hadn’t called. This happened three times before Eli realized the Lord was speaking to Samuel. So he told the boy to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” the next time the voice called out (1 Samuel 3). In the midst of these verses lies a telling fact: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him” (1 Samuel 3:7).
That may be the case for many of us. We have not yet heard the Lord, so we find it difficult to discern His voice. The last verses in the chapter give a different picture of Samuel’s life: “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word” (1 Samuel 3:19- 21). Wouldn’t it be great to have the same thing said of our lives at the end—that none of God’s words fell to the ground. The more we listen, the more we will discern.
Lord God, learning to hear Your beautiful voice is my deepest desire. Your word says that if I draw near to You, You will draw near to me. Help me to spend all of my days drawing closer to You – leaning in to hear You speak to my heart as I pray, as I read Your word, and as I sit in the stillness. Show me how to know You so well that I never confuse Your voice with my own, or with the voice of the enemy. May I be as obedient a listener as Samuel, and throughout my life may none of Your words fall to the ground!
--Adapted from The Power of Personal Prayer (Learning to Pray with Faith and Purpose) by Jonathan Graf. This book is available at prayershop.org.
Prayer Points
Glorify God as the one who fills all of your desires and needs with his presence alone.
Thank God for being sufficient for you even when every other source of joy or support is taken away.
Confess your dependence on other people or situations to make you content and happy.
Commit yourself to making Jesus your “pearl of great price,” and ask him to make you willing to give up all you have for the sake of his kingdom, if necessary (Mt. 13:44-46).
Ask God to bring to your mind the material needs of an unsaved acquaintance so that you will be able to help meet those needs and bring that person closer to the kingdom.
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayershop.org.