Hearing the Voice of God-Message from the Heart

(C) Shana Miller 2026 All Rights Reserved

Commentary (SPA)—This verse provides me with so much peace. First off, we can be in full communication with our father in heaven because of Jesus's death and resurrection. Secondly, we are covered by the blood of Jesus through our salvation and that means nothing can touch us. The effects of Satan may not be very noticeable until you surrender to God and start living for him. When we are worldly and living for the world, surrendering to our fleshly desires, we don't think much about the impact Satan is having on us. It's because we are where he wants us. Not in a relationship with our creator, our father.

I remember not long after fully surrendering to God and accepting Jesus as my Savior, the spiritual warfare began. I never knew the impact of it until I experienced it firsthand. Prior to surrendering to God, I had asked him to change my mind. It was like I was living in a prison with my thought life. That's when I quickly learned to discern the voice of God versus the voice of Satan. Sometimes it was just simply my own fleshly, worldly thoughts, because I had lived that way so long in my head that I truly needed a renewal of my mind. I asked and God quickly taught me through his word.

There is POWER in the word of God and that power is in you. 1 John 4:4 reminds us that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. That's because the Holy Spirit abides in the born-again believer and you can guarantee that nothing, including Satan, can take you out of the hand of God.

I understand the struggle of making sure we are hearing God correctly. Sometimes we question it, thinking it is our own self or he's speaking to us in a way we have never noticed before. I love what I call “Divine Appointment" happening. This is when God set the appointment up for the encounter to happen with him. Whether that is someone speaking over you, a song or verse that keeps popping up, or simply you having a deep personal encounter through praise and prayer time and you cannot deny that it's God speaking to you. When God speaks to you, He calls you to His way of thinking and seeing.

How do we know what we are hearing or what we are feeling is from God or our flesh/Satan? 

•  What is spoken must be consistent with the Word of God. God will never tell us to engage in any activity that’s inconsistent with holy scripture.
• It will usually be against the mainstream or conventional wisdom that is worldly. You hear "follow your heart," but the bible tells us that the heart deceives.  

• It will go against fleshly gratification.  If it urges us to gratify the flesh, then it's not from God or a person that is being led by the Holy Spirit. When God speaks to us, it pleases the Spirit of God within us, not our lusts and sinful desires. That doesn't mean you won't wrestle with following what God says from time to time. 
• God’s voice will not force you, rush you, or condemn you. That is the work of the enemy.

• It will grow your faith. Like I said previously, you sometimes will wrestle with what God speaks to you, but it will grow your faith. 

Why might it be hard to hear from God? 

• Our Relationship—Until a person has received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior by faith, they will not be able to hear God speak on any subject other than salvation. Sometimes we have fallen astray and need to come back in repentance and rededicate our lives. If you’re having trouble hearing from God, you may need to re-evaluate your relationship with Him and your heart position. 
• Our Understanding About God—What we hear is affected by our understanding of who God is. For example, do you view God as a loving or demanding Father? An intimate or distant friend? Gentle or angry? A generous or reluctant provider? Do you see Him as understanding or insensitive? If you struggle in perceiving God as loving, patient, gentle, generous, or understanding, it will affect what and how you hear from Him.  
• Our Attitude Toward God—As we approach God, we must be submissive to Him and His will for our lives. We must trust that He will only do what is best and right for us. We must come before Him with a thankful heart for all He has done and will continue to do for each of us.
• You're not spending time with God—If we are not spending time in His word and in prayer, it will be hard to hear from God and to keep the connection going.
  

 Being in the right relationship with the Father, understanding who He is, and approaching Him in humility and reverence places us in the right position to not only actively hear what He has to say to us, but it helps us be able to fight Satan's lies and to apply His truth to our lives.

lies and to apply His truth to our lives.

“Therefore, submit to God. 

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7