Steve Sampson - You Can Hear the Voice of God: How God Speaks in Listening Prayer

Learning to Know His Voice

Part of me wanted to title this book Ten Ways to Hear from God , because through my years of personal experience, I have recognized at least ten ways that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. My thinking was that in reading these pages, you might reason, I may not be able to hear God in all ten ways , but maybe I can hear Him in at least one or two . Listening for God in a couple of ways is certainly better than not expecting to hear from Him at all, but it is still too limiting. I am confident, however, that if you will apply the simple principles I present in these pages, you will hear Him in many ways.

In this new and revised edition, I will be sharing firsthand illustrations of my own experiences over the years. This book is easy to read, and the principles are simple, yet profound. They have proven true repeatedly in my experience for over thirty years. I have been blessed with so much positive feedback from those who have related how these truths have changed their lives and enabled them to begin hearing the Holy Spiritdaily.

Henry Ford had an amazing vision. He wanted every person to be able to own an automobile. Toward that end, his company manufactured millions of affordable Model T and Model A Fords. My vision is similarthat every Christian be able to hear the voice of the Lord.

If you have an earnest desire to hear from God, this book will be life-changing for you. Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice (John 10:27). He did not say certain sheep or special sheep. You can hear His voice. Yet hearing Him is not just about prayer, but about listening when we pray. Hearing the voice of God should be the most basic, foundational thing we learn as new Christians. Little is written on the subject, however, at least in any practical sense. Learning to hear is a process. Just as a child learns to talk and walk, we all grow in our confidence when it comes to hearing God. The key is not to let religious activity become a substitute for intimacy with God.

This book is not a work to convince the skeptics, but rather to feed and equip the hungry. I am in no way trying to be a theologian, but rather, I am sharing with you the principles the Lord has taught me (combined with experience). This entire book gives practical instruction on how to stir up the Holy Spirit and begin to hear His voice daily. Christians are weary of fleshly hype and hoopla; they desire to hear the Masters voice. There is a divine desire kindled afresh in the hearts of believers everywhere to know the mind of the Spirit and to expend energy only on that to which He has called them. Hearing God is encountering life. Yes, it is possible to hear from Himdaily.

As a pastor, I noticed firsthand something about those who were growing spiritually. They would always relate how they had heard the Holy Spirit speak to them through a Scripture, or in some other way, that made them aware that they were communicating with Him. As a result, their spiritual growth was phenomenal, while the growth of others seemed stunted. Hearing Gods voice has a huge impact on your growth rate as a Christian.

At first, it seems easy to grow. New converts always seem to have wonderful experiences in the first days of their Christian experience. They may not have a lot of wisdom, but their receptivity and response to the Holy Spirit is precious and priceless. They may not know Genesis from Revelation, but they have an amazing awareness of the Holy Spirit talking to them.

As weeks turn into months, however, new believers generally experience hearing the Lords voice less and less. Distractions begin to take over. Sincere Christian leaders involve baby Christians in church activities and quickly give them a job title, involving them in special projects and immersing them in all manner of religious busyness. Yet nothing is done to train those spiritual babies to exercise their spirits by listening to the Lord. All the emphasis is placed on looking outside, not inside . The spiritual growth of new believers stops because communion with the Holy Spirit stops. Instead, they are taught to trust a prominent Christian magazine, the denominational headquarters or a popular and gifted teacher rather than trusting the Holy Spirit within. The simple truth has been forgotten, the most basic New Covenant principle, None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the L ORD , for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them (Hebrews 8:11).