A Prayer to Hear God’s Voice Clearly
By: Jaime Hampton
Bible Verse: Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” - Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
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One of the biggest challenges I face as a Christian is the fact that God’s voice isn’t audible, and that he doesn’t use neon signs to help us make decisions. If I’m being honest, sometimes when I listen for God’s wisdom, even when I go to the Bible for answers, I come away not entirely sure if it’s God speaking or just my own thoughts and desires.
I remember when we were in the process of deciding whether our oldest should continue homeschooling or return to public school. My husband and I were so desperate to make the right decision and not just go with our personal preferences that we decided to take some time individually to ask God for wisdom through prayer and Bible reading, thinking that if we both came back with the same answer, it would absolutely be God’s will.
After a couple of days, we met back up to discuss what God had revealed.
We had two different answers.
I was so frustrated. It got to the point where I was seriously considering flipping a coin. Instead, we decided we should bring our son into the decision-making process. As we all prayed, it occurred to me that maybe this was why God had been silent up to that point. This time, all three of us took time to seek God’s will on the matter, and we all came back with the same answer.
It’s hard to know why God’s voice seems quiet and difficult to discern, and honestly, sometimes the story doesn’t end as neatly as the one I shared. Sometimes we’re forced into making the best decision we can based on the information we have at the time, even without having a clear answer from God. But Isaiah 30:21 tells us, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
We can be certain that when we seek God with all of our hearts, we will find him. When we pray for God to attune our spiritual ears to the frequency of his voice and his alone, he will be faithful to instruct us when we need it. There may be times when we need to first turn to the right or to the left, then faithfully continue to wait for that voice of instruction. But his instruction will come.
I take comfort in the knowledge that I might not be able to trust in my ability to always perfectly discern God’s voice, but if I keep asking for his wisdom and instruction at every step along the way, I can absolutely trust in his ability to guide and direct me when I need it most.
And so can you.
Let’s Pray:
Loving Father, we praise you for being El Roi, the God Who Sees. Even when your voice is hard to discern, you see us and love us. We thank you for caring enough to offer us your fellowship, wisdom and guidance when we face decisions and forks in the road.
We confess that we often let the noise and busyness of the world prevent us from hearing you. We ask you to attune our ears to the frequency of your voice, so that all others would fade into the background. We long to hear your voice telling us “this is the way; walk in it”. And we pray that if we’re walking down a path that wasn’t your absolute best for us, that you would correct us gently but firmly, and help us find our way back to the place you had intended for us to go.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Image Credit: ©GettyImages/LillyRoadstones
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