For many, the subject of hearing God’s voice is a mystery.

Maybe you too have sometimes wondered what it is like to hear God’s voice. Maybe you even know a weird person who, unlike you,  is always hearing God speak. Maybe you’re not even sure God can speak. Or maybe you are standing at a crossroads and you do not know what to do. Whatever the case, God can speak to you clearly. But knowing how he speaks makes all the difference.

Do you hear God’s voice? For some, this question boggles their mind.  However, your answer to this question will have a large impact on your leadership as well as the rest of your life.

The good news is that hearing His voice isn’t as complicated as you might think it is.

For example, if you’re like most leaders, you know how to make choices. There are various exercises to do this. For example, you can take a piece of paper, draw a line down the center, and write benefits at the top of one column and negatives at the top of the other. You then enter info under each column. Then you come to a conclusion after weighing the benefits and negatives.  

While this sort of exercise is useful, it’s not always the best way to hear God’s voice. The problem is, God doesn’t think like we do. He is much wiser than we are and the only way to tap into his wisdom is to hear his voice. There are no exercises, other than listening, by which you can know his thoughts.

Here are four primary ways God speaks to you.

First, the Holy Spirit guides you through prayer. God wrote through the prophet Jeremiah, “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). If you want to hear from God you have to pray. But guess which discipline leaders tend to toss out first when their schedules are full? Answers to prayer, in particular, are a clear example of God speaking. If you struggle with prayer, try this. Decide right now to pray poorly. To pray poorly is better than not praying at all. If that seems odd, think about it this way. You were once a novice in some areas that you are an intermediate or expert in now. We don’t get better by not practicing, we get better because we stick with it. The same is true of prayer and hearing God speak through prayer.

Second, the Holy Spirit guides you through God’s Word (the Bible). When you sense God is saying something to you through prayer, confirm it with what the Bible says. The more you know God’s Word, the more you will recognize God’s voice. Let God’s Word influence your thinking. Fill your mind with it daily. Not only will the bible change the way you think, it fills you with wisdom that the Holy Spirit can tap into. The bible, for instance, says that when you face a difficult situation, the Holy Spirit can speak to you. Rather than reading the bible to collect trivia, look at it as a valuable lifeline that God has provided so that you can have an intimate relationship with him.  

Third, the Holy Spirit guides you through believers. The bible also calls these types of people counselors. For example, who do you go to when you need advice, besides Youtube? You look for experts. Likewise, be on the look out for people who know God. People who know His will. His voice. And His ways. The bible says, “He who walks with the wise will become wise” (Proverbs 13:20).  Just as a the President of the United States fills his cabinet with the strongest experts available, connect with people who are connected to God.

And don’t just connect with one. Choose several. Some of them may be great fathers. Others may handle their finances well. Some may be men or women who pray. Whatever you do, be on the lookout for these types of people and ask to meet with them. If possible, become friends with them and build a relationship. They are people that God can speak to you through.  Maybe some of them have been just waiting for you to ask them.

Four, the Holy Spirit speaks to you through circumstances. Now that you are reading your bible regularly and talking with God and people who know him, keep your spiritual antennae alert for God’s voice as you go about your daily living. That random phone call. That unusual response from the person in the grocery store at the check-out line. World News. Even a social media post :-). Yes God speaks through prayer, the bible and fellow believers, but he also speaks to us in various other ways. As we listen for God, we learn that He is speaking often in more ways than we could ever imagine.

I remember one particular time when I was seeking the Lord’s will about a big decision that I had to make. I tried all kinds of different things to hear what God was telling me. At the time, I was focusing primarily on hearing from Him through his Word.  

Then I spoke with my pastor at the time and I’ll never forget what he told me. He said this, “God can make the answer perfectly clear. Whatever you do, don’t decide until he does”.  

That seemed like crazy advice at the time, but that’s what God does… He makes the answer perfectly clear! It’s not important for you to know how He did that because you might think that is how He is going to speak to you. I don’t know how God is going to speak to you, but I do know that opening and employing these four primary pathways is important. God loves you and wants you to hear His voice and when you do, you will hear Him loud and clear!