Laura Henry was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies and a Masters of Education in Counseling and Human Development. Laura and her husband, Christian, have been in ministry for 7 years. They both serve at Liberty Live Church in Hampton, VA. Christian is the Young Adult Pastor while Laura works part-time as the Elementary Curriculum Coordinator and serves on the Worship Ministry at Liberty. Laura and Christian have a three-year old daughter and a baby boy.
When the Lord speaks to me, He speaks primarily through His Word, through other people, and through the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit living within me. I have never audibly heard the voice of God, though the assurance that I have when He speaks would make you think it was audible. I used to be scared that I might miss the voice of God or confuse it with my own thinking. But a wise mentor once told me, “God is perfectly capable of making you hear Him and know that it is Him.”
First, I have learned that the message that God speaks will always align with His Word. In fact, I hear the Lord much more clearly when I’m consistent to spend time reading His Word. I cannot have the discernment I pray for, in order to know the difference between God’s voice and other competing voices apart from the Word of God. Reading His Word is how I listen for His voice.
Second, I have learned from Priscilla Shirer, in her study Discerning the Voice of God, that “hearing God starts with our commitment to humble obedience.” A heart that seeks to read the Word and do what it says is a heart that is seeking after the things of God; one that will hear and follow His direction. This is the hard part. God will give wisdom and discernment freely (James 1:5-8), but He will not force us to obey.
James tells us “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25) We need not ask why God is silent, rather we should ask ourselves if we are truly listening and willing to obey.
Listen and obey. It’s that simple. If you don’t know what God is calling you to do right now, ask yourself, “What’s the last thing I know He asked me to do?” Continue to walk in obedience to that instruction. When He wants you to move, He will direct you. Remember, God is totally capable of making you hear Him and know that it is Him. The obedience is up to you.
I love when God speaks loud and clear, through multiple sources. I love when He speaks something and then confirms it once or twice more. There is freedom when we walk in obedience to God. There is blessing when we walk in obedience to God. The question is, are we willing to listen and obey.
