How to Hear God's Voice in Prayer
Discerning the voice of the Lord in Scripture, impressions, dreams and visions
God speaks directly to people. Jesus made that very clear in John 10:27 when He said,
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
God wants to lead you in a personal way, like the Good Shepherd that He is. If God is speaking to His people, then the true struggle is not with hearing God’s voice, but with discerning God’s voice. He is speaking to you; you are hearing Him; you just may not realize it sometimes.
Understanding the way that God tends to speak to you can help you grow in your discernment of the voice of the Lord in your life. As you begin to notice Him speaking to you, your love for Him will grow exponentially. Prayer will begin to seem like friendship. Obedience will start feeling like partnership. Bible reading will turn into an adventure. Your life will become a journey that you take with God as His friend, rather than an obligation to please Him as HIs servant.
Hearing God in The Bible
The primary way God speaks is through the Scriptures. The Bible is God’s word, and is vital in learning to cultivate a relationship with Him. Every verse is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is divine, and it provides a bedrock of truth to build your life upon. God will never speak in a way that contradicts Himself, which means He will never contradict His written word in Scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
As you read the Bible, you can hear God’s voice. Have you ever had a certain verse or passage jump out at you as you read? That is the voice of God. That is the Holy Spirit illuminating specific truth to you. All of the Bible is God’s word and is valuable; however, sometimes the “spirit of revelation” “opens the eyes of our heart” (Ephesians 1:17-18) to see and understand in ways we have never experienced.
I have also found that sometimes the Holy Spirit will randomly bring a Bible verse to mind throughout the day. This is another way He speaks. He does this to encourage you, remind you of truth, or to give you something you can share with others. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would help remind them of what He had already spoken to them. In John 14:26 He says:
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
The reminders from the Holy Spirit can only happen as you regularly fill your heart and mind with Scripture. Reading the Bible is the starting point for hearing God speak.
I am old enough to remember when phones would not show a caller ID. The phone would ring, and you picked up the receiver and said “Hello?” to find out who was on the other line. If you were calling someone you did not know well, your response would be to first introduce yourself to the person who just answered on the other end of the line.
However, if you knew the caller really well, no introductions were necessary. If a parent called a child or a husband called a wife, the initial “Hello?” would be followed by a “Hey! What’s up?” from the other person. They immediately recognized the caller’s voice because of the tone and inflection they heard.
What is my point? Reading the Bible is a way to learn the tone of God’s voice. The more I know about the God of the Bible, the more I can recognize Him when He’s interacting with me or speaking to me in other ways.
By studying God’s written Word, I grow in understanding His nature, so discerning His voice becomes more natural. When a still, small voice speaks to us, we can know it’s God because we have heard that tone before.
Silence and Solitude
Perhaps one of the reasons that many still struggle to hear God’s voice is because our lives are so filled with noise. Every moment of the day is filled with screens flashing, notifications buzzing, music playing and people wanting our attention. Many people turn on their phones as soon as they wake up, only to be bombarded with the latest news, text messages, and social media updates. We find ourselves so overstimulated that we do not even know how to pause and be still.
The Scriptures invite you to draw away to God in stillness and solitude to commune with Him and hear His voice. Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God.” When the prophet Elijah was overcome with depression after battling with Jezebel, he hid in a cave, and God came to speak to him.
There was a great wind, a strong earthquake, and a terrifying fire. Elijah waited safely in the cave, while the noise and chaos raged around him — similar to the noise and chaos of our lives, filled with technological stimulation and overscheduled calendars. Yet God was not in the big, loud, exciting moments; after the wind, earthquake, and fire subsided, Elijah heard God speak. What he heard was not a thundering voice from heaven but a “low whisper” or a “still, small voice”. (I Kings 19:12)
Many say they want to hear from God, but who is regularly taking the time to stop and listen?
In order to hear from God clearly, you need to press in and wait for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Your mind may race. You may get distracted. You may want to pick up your phone or turn on the TV. But if you wait for the Lord, there is a treasure to be found after everything in your soul settles.
Just as someone who is blind can develop an acute sense of hearing or smelling, I believe you can amplify God’s voice in your heart as you slow down, get quiet, and disconnect from the whirlwind of activity.
The Bible commands us to wait on the Lord. This is not just an encouragement to be patient regarding God’s promises, but it is an invitation to spend time with Him in patient silence and solitude. Just as a waiter “waits” on a table, you position yourself before God and wait for Him to speak. Waiting is not a passive position, but an active thoughtfulness that allows you to pay attention to God. This requires intentionality.
In our day and time, every phone app, marketing guru and big tech corporation is researching the best way to get and keep your attention.
Attention is a precious commodity, and Jesus is worthy of it.
Solitude is a way to tell God that His voice is more important than all the other voices vying for your time and focus. Henri Nouwen says:
“We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone. Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine savior.” (The Way of the Heart, pg 20)
The way you practice stillness may vary. I find it helpful to literally sit down with no sound, stare at the ground (or close my eyes, if I’m not too tired), and try to focus my thoughts on Jesus. I will usually set a timer for how long I want to wait and listen. I inevitably get distracted and have to constantly reorient my mind towards the Lord.
Sometimes it helps me focus to imagine Jesus on the cross. Sometimes I envision the Father running towards me with open arms and a smile on His face, like the story of the prodigal son. Sometimes I will envision Him sitting right beside me on the couch, and we just sit together, without any pressure to say or do anything.
Sometimes God speaks clearly in those moments, and sometimes He does not. But it is always communion with Him. As I wait in silence and solitude, my awareness of His presence grows stronger and stronger. I take deep breaths — sometimes involuntarily.
As the noise begins to fade and my mind begins to settle, I enter into a deep and sweet peace. This is prayer.
Jesus himself practiced solitude while on the earth. Mark 1:35 says:
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
I would love to discover exactly what Jesus did in the desolate places when He got alone with the Father, but I do not think the specifics matter a lot. You do not have to practice silence and solitude the same way I do. Many people are more kinesthetic, and like to take walks, pace, or move around in some way as they wait on the Lord.
The key is to disconnect from the ongoing noise of life and settle yourself in a way that you can tune into what’s happening in your own soul, where the Holy Spirit abides. Often we cover up our own feelings and the voice of God by activity and overstimulation. If we can slow down, tune in, and be patient, we will find that the voice of God begins to “bubble up” inside of us through silence and solitude.
Hearing God Through Impressions
The Bible is God’s Word, but it does not replace God’s voice. In fact, when I read the Bible, I see clearly that God wants to speak to me in a direct and personal way. Some people falsely promote the idea that God does not speak to us anymore because we now have the canon of Scripture.
Yet God’s Word says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He has spoken throughout history, and He continues to speak now. Why would Jesus bring us into a new covenant, fill us with His Spirit, and then cease communicating with us?
This raises the question, what does God’s voice sound like? When God speaks to you, His voice is usually not audible. It is not typically a sound you will hear from outside you that comes to your ears. As a Christian, God’s Spirit dwells inside you, so most of the time God’s voice seems internal rather than external.
I believe God can speak audibly, though I have not had that experience. Those that have heard God audibly say that it is relatively rare and quite a jolting experience. I was with a man once as he heard (what he claims was) God’s audible voice, and he immediately began weeping uncontrollably.
I believe that the most common way God speaks is through impressions. Impressions are simply thoughts that come to our mind from God. It can feel more like having an idea than hearing a voice. But this is a primary way you can hear God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. Mark Virkler says:
“Recognize God’s voice as spontaneous thoughts which light upon your mind.” (4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice by Mark Virkler)
I have found this quote from Mark Virkler to be the most accurate definition I can find for the way God has spoken to me over the last 20+ years of having a relationship with Him. God’s voice comes as “spontaneous thoughts which light upon your mind” that carry the tone of God’s voice that we know from Scripture.
Sometimes impressions are more like feelings. Sometimes impressions are specific words or phrases that come to mind. Sometimes impressions come as vague or specific ideas. Sometimes impressions come as still or moving images in our imagination.
One way we notice that a thought or idea could be from the Holy Spirit is that it is spontaneous. Most people think linearly. One idea leads to a related idea which leads to a related idea, etc. But when God speaks, it tends to interrupt our existing train of thought. God’s voice “breaks in” to our mind and reveals truth.
If you have a random thought or idea, especially during times of worship and prayer, do not dismiss it. It could be the Lord speaking to you.
As you act based on the impressions God gives you, you will grow in your discernment. You may believe God has spoken something to you, so you take a step of faith based on what you heard. What you will find is that God will confirm what He has spoken to you with grace, joy, and peace. It does not mean that you will always want to hear what God is saying, but deep in your heart you will know that it is just what you need.
The longer you walk with God, stopping to listen and obey His voice, the clearer you’ll be able to distinguish the voice of the Lord from your own thoughts or the whispers of the enemy. Your confidence will grow as you not only listen to God’s Word, but respond with faith and obedience to what He is speaking to you.
