This is the transcript for the video I made here: HGV Part 1 Grow
The bible teaches that about having a personal relationship with God, where we can talk to Him and hear His voice, and receive His guidance.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” ~ John 10:27
I hear from God often. I’ve been told that I must be very “special” or “blessed”. That is not true at all! I am certainly not anything special! I’m an average person just like anyone else. I am a sinner just like anyone else.
Gods prophets in the bible were sinners and so were Jesus 12 apostles. It says in Acts 4:13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus.”
You don’t have to be special or have special training to have a close relationship with God. In fact if you think you are more special or more qualified than others, your pride will get in the way of being close to God.
“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;”. ~ 1 Cor 1:27
You CAN have a personal relationship with God, He is open to everyone who is willing to come to Him. He is speaking to us all the time and wants to have a relationship with each of us. Like any relationship, it goes both ways so you need to do your part.
Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Rev 3:20
I will share with you in this 3 part series everything I know about:
How to Grow your Relationship with God:
If you “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8
Faith:
The first step is having faith in Jesus. Jesus is the bridge between us and God.
Through Jesus we are worthy to come before God’s throne and speak with Him.
If you haven’t already done so you need to give your life to God and invite Jesus into your life with a heartfelt prayer similar to this:
I confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and the Son of God who came in the flesh. I believe that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead and is now alive.
Father in heaven, please forgive me for my sins as I also forgive those who have sinned against me. Thank you for forgiving me.
I give my life to you and accept your gift of life.
I invite your Holy Spirit into my life and my heart. I invite you Jesus to be the Lord of my life.
Please guide me, protect me and strengthen me. Thank you.
I humbly pray through the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is the breath of God.
Our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit!
1 Cor 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
Holy Spirit calls you and moves your heart and motivates you and guides you. It is a normal part of being a christian to be led by Holy Spirit.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” John 16:13-15
John 14:26:
…the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things…
Holy Spirit can speak to us with an audible voice or a spiritual voice or impression that we hear in our spirit with our spiritual ears.
God is speaking to us all the time but we haven’t noticed. We have become so blinded to even notice what thoughts are going through our head that we miss it. It is a skill.
God spoke to Elijah with a still, small voice, like a whisper.
“Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces 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; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11,12).
In Isaiah 30:21 it says:
“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.”
Believe that God speaks to you as it says so in His word, and He will reward your faith.
Prayer:
Always come to God with a humble heart like a child. The Lord’s prayer is a great model to start off with. Always thank Him for the good things. Pour your heart out to Him. He is your loving Father and loves to hear from you!
Pray regularly everyday, if possible, when you wake up and when you go to sleep.
“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.” Ps 55:17
Take time to listen to Him. Ask Him questions and be open for the answer.
You also need to pray along with others who have a strong connection to Him, and have them pray over you.
Matthew 18:19-21:
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Read His Word:
The bible is His written word to us! So meditate on it regularly. Pray for understanding each time you read it. Read the scriptures in context. You’ll find there’s many layers of meaning to each scripture. There are shadows of things to come and things past. You’ll see patterns repeating in the way God does things. Look into the original Hebrew and Greek words and study them for deeper understanding. You will learn more in one hour reading the bible alone with God than you do listening to 100 hours of sermons. There’s so much to uncover.
“For the word of God is living and powerful” Hebrews 4:12.
The word is spiritual food. Feast on it regularly.
Obedience:
As you learn truth and your love for God grows, you will be convicted of things you are doing wrong and as you are obedient to Him in these things, you will draw closer to Him.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
Jesus promises:
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:21
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
Sanctify your mind:
You can hear His voice more clearly by sanctifying your mind. Your mind is like your home. Think about what you would change before inviting Jesus into your home.
“…whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Phil 4:8
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:2
As you cleanse your mind you make your mind more welcoming for God to come into your mind it speak to you.
Worship:
The way I experience Holy Spirit the most fully and deepen my relationship with Him is through worship.There are many ways of worship such as Praising Him, singing to Him, or any way you can think of to express your love and awe of Him. If you have never experienced Holy Spirit, worship Him with your whole heart, and His Spirit will come to you.
You need to worship and pray by yourself often because you need to build a strong personal one on one relationship with Him.
Get to know God through His Creation
You can get to know an artist through their creations, and the same goes with God.
Job 12:7-10
7 “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?
Ps 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Rom 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
God Speaks to us through Dreams and Visions:
“He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.” (Job 33:15)
There are numerous stories in the bible of God giving people dreams and visions and He still does today:
“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28,29
If you would like to receive a dream or vision from God, ask Him. You will know if a dream is from Him because it will stand out as more real and significant than your regular dreams. A vision can be either an “open vision” which is when you see something spiritual with your eyes open. Or it could be a picture or impression in your mind’s eye that you know isn’t you. Gods visions in my experience are very clear and vivid. Be prepared with a notebook and pen by your bed to jot down anything that He shows you. Sometimes He may show you things and then take it away or make you forget until sometime in the future when He wants you to remember it.
I actually have a “spiritual journal” that I keep. It’s like a diary, where I write down every vision, dream or experience I receive from God. I have actually filled 2 notebooks and I’m onto my 3rd one at the moment! These are important and worth holding onto for the future when you want to look back and confirm something or just remember and be strengthened by it.
God Speaks to us through Signs
There are limitless ways that God gives us signs; such as a word you hear from another person, a post on the internet, or a scripture that answers your question. It may be something to get your attention or confirm to you a previous message.
For example, in the bible, Gideon asked God to give him a sign. He said “I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor,” he said, “and the next morning, if there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground around it is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand” (Judges 6:37) God came through for Gideon.
Here’s an example from my own life of a powerful confirmation God gave me. Once when praying for deliverance for my son, I asked God to give me a sign that it worked and the sign that I asked for was that my son would smile. My son didn’t hear me say this. Afterwards my son was smiling and he said to me “mum I just really feel like smiling today and I don’t know why!”. Because of confirmations like this, I know that God answers my prayers. This is just one of dozens of examples from my own life and there are plenty more from others. I know that God is real and I’m not just imagining things.
One word of caution with signs is to not let it replace your relationship with God. Relationship comes first. Try to hear His voice first and then let Him confirm it to you with signs. When you see the sign you may feel Holy Spirit to further confirm to you that it is a sign.
Sometimes when I need an answer about something urgently or a confirmation, I get my bible and I humbly pray with faith, asking my question, and I randomly open my bible. Usually, the bible opens on the exact scripture that answers my question.
There’s so many ways God speaks to us and for many there are ways that are just for them. For example in my case, I once had a vision where I saw Gods right hand next to me, to my left. I asked Him why did you show me your right hand? The next day He gave me a sign which was a scripture that came up on my Facebook feed:
“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” Isaiah 41:10
So if He’s upholding me with His right hand, He is to my left. I realised then that whenever I saw Jesus and visions from Him it is to my left and whenever I saw visions from demons they were to my right or elsewhere. That’s not necessarily true for everyone, but that is one way He confirms it to me personally. As you get to know God more, you may develop a personal type of communication between you that’s just for you and signs that are just for you.
And remember: when God shows you anything, you need to ask Him for permission before you share it with others. He sometimes shows us things that are just for us or that are for a future time. If you’re not sure, you can share it with a trusted mature christian for their discernment.
End
Please see part 2 about discernment. I will show you some ways you can know if it’s really God talking to you. Please let us know and comment below ways that you have heard from God.
______________________________
Summary:
Grow your relationship with God:
1 Having faith/trust. Give your life to God/Invite Him in
2 Receive Holy Spirit
3 Pray. Regular time alone in heartfelt conversation
4 Read His word. Ask for Holy Spirits guidance.
5 Obedience
6 Sanctify your mind
7 Worship
8 Observe His Creation
9 Visions and Dreams
10 Signs
For Part 2 on discernment click here
Yeshua is Lord 
6 thoughts on “Hearing God’s Voice Part 1: Growing your relationship with God.”