How to Journal and Hear God's Voice!

This is a subject that is of great interest to me and to many other Christians. How can I hear the voice of God? How can I be certain that it is really God speaking to me and not some demon or just myself?

We need a quick foundation: Without faith it is impossible to please God. Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice." Genuine faith touches the "reality" of God's Presence. True faith repents of any known sin. Once sin is under the blood of Christ and we sense that we are forgiven we can sense the Presence and Favor of God. Then we are ready to listen to what He might say to us through the Holy Spirit who dwells within our hearts.

I usually begin my journaling sessions with praise and worship and if needed repentance. Then, once I am sensing God's Presence I simply ask, "Father have you got any thing that You want to say to me right now. Without exception He begins to speak to my heart and mind. I simply write down all the words that come to me.

(An important note here: the reason that I focus on writing these words down is that it frees me from needing to judge or analyze immediately what is being said. Later I will apply three major tests to the text: First are the words that I am hearing Biblically sound and second is there a dark spiritual element in any part of what I have written. The devil is the father of lies and he cannot speak the truth without corrupting it. Thirdly, I test it to see if is just my own thoughts or really the heavenly Father speaking to me. So if there is something unscriptural in the text or the text simply inflates human ego or selfish desires I will reject it. Finally, if the text has passed the other tests and I sense God's peace and presence when I am writing and in reading the text over I have an inner confidence in my heart that it is accurate and reliable.)

I have taught a good number of people how to keep a spiritual journal in this manner. Another helpful hint is to share what you feel the Father has shared with you with another believer whom you feel listens to His Voice as well and lives a godly life style.

Almost always when the Father begins to speak to me He addresses me as "My son". He is after all our heavenly Father and we are His children through faith in Jesus Christ. Many times He explains the scriptures to me in a fresh and powerful way. The Word of God comes alive under the direction of the Holy Spirit as we hear His Voice speaking within our hearts and mind.

One example of the explanation of scripture was a journaling session in which He told me that, "You are in Christ and Christ is in you! You are One with Me through faith." When I heard these words spoken in my heart and mind, the Presence of God was so strong I felt an incredible Oneness with Him in that moment of time. There are literally hundreds of things that I have learned through this process of journaling and listening for His Voice.

So I encourage you to "invest in faith" some quality time with God in prayer and worship. Relax and soak in His Glory and listen respectfully for His Voice. When you feel His Presence ask for more of a saturation of His fullness.

But, by all means be careful to apply the scriptural and common sense tests to make certain you are not just talking to yourself or even worse hearing some other spirit not from God. Many people have deceived themselves and have not genuinely repented before God. It is very dangerous to try to hear from God when you are unrepentant and self-centered. We have all heard the accounts of people telling other people that god told them to do some awful thing, "that god" was not the True and Living God.

Be careful when asking the Father about something you want very badly regardless of what it is because our emotional element in the matter can open us up to deception. The best way to deal with these types of issues is to genuinely submit these desires to Him and ask Him to show us His perfect will. He is God, Almighty and He loves us so much He will protect us from ourselves if we will let Him. You can be certain His Master Plan for your life is better than anything you can dream up on your own.