I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. The thought kept going through my mind: “What if I died tonight? I’m not ready to go to heaven.” Since I could not shake the thought, I got up, went downstairs and waited for my parents to come home from their meeting. When they did, I announced that I wanted to get saved, and that day I was led in the sinner’s prayer at 15 years of age.
It was God’s voice that was speaking to me that night, calling me into His kingdom. His voice came as a spontaneous thought inside my head. However, I didn’t define this as the primary way God’s voice is heard until I had completed a desperate 10 year search to hear Him clearly.
Christianity is unique among religions, for it alone offers a personal relationship with the Creator beginning here and now, and lasting throughout eternity. Jesus declared, “This is eternal life—that they may know God” (John 17:3, emphasis added). Unfortunately, many in the church miss the great blessing of fellowship with our Lord because we have lost the ability to recognize His voice. Though John 10:27 promises us that “My sheep hear My voice,” too many believers are starved for that intimate relationship that alone can satisfy the desire of their hearts.
I was one of those sheep who was unable to identify the voice of my Shepherd. I hungered for deeper spiritual intimacy with God, but I couldn’t find it. Then on the 11th year of my Christian life, I had the spontaneous thought that “I should take a year of my life and focus on learning to hear God’s voice.” I decided to act on that thought and devote a year to focused effort, learning to hear His voice. Unknown to me, it was the Lord calling me to invest that time.
That year the Lord revealed four simple keys which unlocked the treasure of His voice: stillness, vision, spontaneity and journaling. I’ve devoted the last 30 years of my life to sharing this message with the world. Will you be next?
