His Still Small Voice
HE SPEAKS THROUGH HIS STILL SMALL VOICE
“My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me.” (John 10:27 NKJV) “But the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire, a still small voice…Elijah heard it…And, suddenly a voice came to him, and said, What are you doing Elijah?…” (1 Kings 19:11,12,13 NKJV)
Other than seeing Jesus, there is nothing more precious to a Christian’s life than hearing His still small voice. To think that He can live within our hearts is amazing, but to know He also SPEAKS there is wonderful. He lives inside, and no matter how far away eternity is, He will not leave or forsake us. One can be locked up in the darkness of a room and have complete fellowship with Him. What a gracious God we serve!
“…your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and He that lives within you… So use every part of your body to give glory back to God…For you are God’s temple, the home of the living God, and God has said of you, “I will live in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20 TLB / 2 Corinthians 6:16B TLB)
When we hear the Lord’s still small voice, He speaks INSIDE of us. We are actually hearing the Holy Spirit, Who lives deep inside. Tuning in is the key to hearing Him through His Spirit. Tuning in is not a ritualistic form of meditation, although meditation (pondering) upon His Word is great. Rather, tuning in is bringing into focus what is happening. It is a recognition of what is going on instead of just mundanely living life’s routine. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, (Psalm 139:14) and we house the very God of the universe within. Jesus said, “The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him, nor know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you….and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.” (John 14:17, 23 AMP) What a privilege! How He wants to increase our measure of hearing Him!
HIS STILL SMALL VOICE IS TO OUR MIND
(Not Through Our Mind)
There are two main ways to hear Him within our thoughts: to our mind, and through our mind. They are not the same. Hearing His still small voice TO our mind is a totally unbiased, objective experience. Our personality has no involvement in what He says, or when He says it. An example is being in a room with someone, while having your eyes closed. You do not know if that person will say something, and if he does, you do not know what will be said or when. There is no control over the speaker, there is no involvement in what, when or if he speaks. This way of hearing bypasses the soul or personality, because there is no personal involvement. When the Lord speaks, it is a gift — a gift of approach into your world, your private space.
The other way of hearing the Lord is THROUGH our thoughts. Through our thoughts is subjective, meaning with involvement of our soul or personality. Many have thought they heard the Lord’s still small voice, when in reality it was their own thoughts. The Lord does speak to us through our thoughts, also inspires them, but this is not hearing His still small voice. The Lord speaking to us through our thoughts is in the section about Inspired Minds.
It is easy for Christians who are first hearing Him to fall into error, simply because they have not yet heard His still small voice enough times TO KNOW THAT THEY KNOW they are hearing Him and not their own thoughts.
It is not easy to describe His still small voice because it is without sound. However I will try to explain the way His voice sounds to me! In listening to any kind of thought, I do not hear voice patterns, pitch, timbre, tone or depth within my mind. I merely hear thoughts. His voice “sounds” the same as my thoughts. I can receive emotion from what I hear, and can also figure out by the message how the Lord is feeling sometimes, but still there is no pitch in hearing His still small voice. The only complete distinction in hearing my thoughts vs. His voice is 100 percent unbiased objectivity. I RECOGNIZE what I’ve just heard is not a part of myself. It was not formulated from my own mind or personality.
I was a Christian for several years before I had the privilege to hear Him in this way. I think some are like me, either not knowing He can speak to us this way, or not recognizing Him when He does speak. His voice is so quiet, sometimes I haven’t noticed He has spoken until AFTER He has said something. It is the same as being involved in the deep reverie of your own thoughts, and someone speaks into your world. You don’t notice that something has been spoken until after something was said, and you tune in. When this happens you also have to tune in by trying to recall what you just heard.
Many, are like me who have lived in such “noise” they cannot hear the silence of His voice. Noise comes in many fashions and modes. The foundation of all noise is the word DISTRACTION.
Ps 46:10 NKJV
Be still , and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Ps 4:4 NKJV
…commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah….
The easiest way I have heard Him is to be literally at rest, and in silence — in other words, resting in bed. The attitude of being quiet is not to say He is asking us to live monk style lives in silent meditation. However it is true when we live cluttered lives it is very difficult to hear His still small voice during the day when we are first learning.
ASSIGNMENT
Lay down, be still in a quiet environment and commit your thoughts to Jesus Christ. Tell Him how much you love Him and would like to hear from Him. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you, but resist asking Him any questions. Simply be available to listen if He should choose to speak to you. Be still before Him for 20 minutes waiting upon Him. If He does not speak to you, try again at another time. Be persistent until you breakthrough.
Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
