We serve a God who speaks.

Have you ever wondered if you are in alignment with God’s instruction? Have you wondered if that little voice in your head was God? Have you heard something in your spirit, then second-guessed whether it was God? Or maybe you’ve wondered whether you were in God’s will? Some of us have even cried out to God in our journey with questions like, “Where are you? Do you hear me? Do you even care?”

As you navigate through parenting alone, discerning the voice of God is critical in every part of your journey – finances, parenting, life partner, employment, kids’ schooling, name it. Here are five principles of learning to hear the voice of God in your life:

1. Don’t be double-minded. Your faith cannot be in your job, relationship status, the pastor, or church. It must be in God alone. Those things change. Our God never does. The problem with some of us is that we inadvertently put our trust and hope in something or someone beyond our God. We serve another master. We often don’t mean to, but we do. Then, we expect to be able to sit and hear the voice of God. No. We’ve been listening to the voice of others instead. Your faith must stand in God alone. He knows your heart. He knows the real you. Seek to honor and obey Him, even when you stand against the crowd, culture, or other distractions.
2. Practice obedience. Sometimes, we struggle to hear the voice of God because we’re operating in disobedience. Evaluate your life. Are there sins in your life that you know are not honoring the Lord that you continue to chase after? If we don’t lay down sin, it clouds our view. We must remove any barriers to communication in our lives. The second component of obedience is obeying new instructions by the Holy Spirit. For example, how can we clearly hear God’s instruction for a future mate if we’ve given ourselves sexually to him outside of marriage? We’ve muddied the waters of hearing clearly from the Lord about this future relationship. And the same is true in many other areas. Disobedience breeds chaos, not clarity.
3. Practice Spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines create clarity. If we sacrifice a meal, for example, and spend that time in prayer, willing to lay down comfort and convenience to hear from our Lord, this honors him. It displays our desperation for His presence and instruction. Prayer. Fasting. Praise. Worship. Tithes and offerings. Church attendance. Bible study groups that sharpen us. These are all examples of spiritual disciplines that allow for more clarity in seeking the Lord.
4. Humble yourself. Live a fully surrendered life to the Lord. Live in child-like faith. Do not operate with a religious spirit. Do not think you know everything about this Christian journey despite how long you’ve walked with him. Do not think you have arrived. Do not think you have heard it all. We are all growing in our faith. The ways of God are mysterious. God is always moving in new ways. We must humble ourselves before the Lord and lay down all pride, self-righteousness, arrogance, and piety. It’s a humble spirit that the Lord works with, not a haughty one.
5. Pray for an increase in spiritual gifts. Ask the Lord to increase in you a discerning of spirits and wisdom. This will allow you to know when a lying spirit or a spirit of fear is present. Further, it will allow you to operate in wisdom beyond your years, education, or knowledge. The more we use our spiritual gifts, the more clearly we’ll discern God’s voice

Points to Ponder:

How to practice listening to God:

1. Wait and be still, removing all distractions.
2. Listen.
3. Be specific about the sin that the Lord reveals.
4. Ask forgiveness.
5. Write down what the Lord says.