How does God speak? Can I truly hear His voice? These are questions I have asked myself over the years as I have walked as a Christian. Sadly, many like me are continuing to ask the same questions. Too often we walk through life thinking we are incapable of hearing our Lord. However, the Bible makes a distinct promise that completely topples this idea. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:3-5 These verses make one bold promise. It is a God-given ability within all believers to hear His voice. Regardless of feelings, regardless of circumstance, you have been given the capacity to hear heaven's call. Each has unlimited access to the voice of God. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. One of the enemy’s biggest tactics is to trick you into believing you have issues with hearing. If he can stifle God’s voice he can then keep you from walking in God’s purpose. The good news is that he can’t actually keep God from speaking. He is an illusionist instilling lies in your head that manifest in your life. The belief that you can’t hear is the only thing hindering you from hearing. Once you come to the conclusion that you were built to hear, a door is opened that seemed to have previously been tightly shut. Many confine the voice of God to just one, if not two ways of speaking. In doing so they have silenced many of the auditory avenues He has chosen to communicate through. There truly are no limits to How God can communicate with His kids. In the following pages, I would like to provide you with eight different ways, I have learned, He uses His voice. The following list creates an acronym that spells out H.I.S.V.O.I.C.E. 1. Hearing Audibly: Although I have never experienced this particular way of communication, I have read it in the Word and heard testimonies from other believers. The Father spoke audibly to Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan River. After Jesus had ascended to Heaven, He spoke to Paul audibly as he was traveling to Damascus. Although this way of communication is quite rare, it is unwise to cancel it out altogether. 2. Internal Knowings: I like to think of these as thoughts. This seems to be the most prevalent in my life. God often drops thoughts in my mind pertaining to different things throughout the day. Sometimes it is a revelatory one-line statement regarding scripture that brings understanding to what was previously confusing. Sometimes it’s a word of knowledge about someone else, which opens a door for gospel-centered conversation. It can even be a simple yes or no answer to a question I asked Him. Regardless, God often speaks to the minds of believers. After all, we have been given the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)! 3. Scripture: No one is debating whether or not God speaks through Scripture. Sadly, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have restricted His voice to the Bible only. Although He does speak through His written Word, He is not confined to what He wrote. If the Bible is His only way of communication then how will we know who to marry, what job to seek, what school to attend, or what town to reside in? However, God will never speak something that contradicts what He has already written. If the voice you hear contradicts the Bible you hold, you are listening to the wrong voice. As we read the word, God illuminates our understanding of reality and allows us to see as He sees. Those that go without reading the Bible, miss out on many of the answers they are seeking in life. 4. Visions & Dreams: Job 33 says, “Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it. In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.” Many people have experienced the voice of God in their dreams. Although our dreams are often a result of our poor meal choices, God is still willing and able to encounter you in the night. Visions can also come to those that are awake in the form of mental pictures. There are even such things as “open visions” where God gives people access to see into the spiritual realm here on earth. I know a lady who actually sees different colors over people that are hidden from the normal eye. She actually predicted our son before we knew he was coming simply because she saw the color blue over my wife! 5. Other People: God often speaks to a person through a person. This is the beauty of prophetic insight. God has often given me a word He wanted me to deliver to someone. Likewise, I have received many words from others that were straight from God. It is a wonderful opportunity to become a mouthpiece for the Lord. Have I received bad words before? Absolutely! But rather than stifle the voice entirely, I simply take personal responsibility to decipher between truth and lie. I would submit that there are daily opportunities for you to deliver a message from heaven to someone you encounter. 6. Impressions: I think of these as feelings. Although we shouldn’t let every feeling become the leaders of our lives, to avoid them altogether is problematic. God Himself has feelings. I have often been given deep impressions to do something that I later realized was completely from the Lord. It can be the impression to take a different route home, to call a friend, to pursue a specific career, or to say yes or no to a major life decision. Don’t deny your feelings, become aware of them. They could very well be the voice of your Father. 7. Creation: Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” God is clearly seen in His creation. He is the artist that signs each of His paintings. Everything that is visible holds within in it a little piece of His divine nature. His voice radiates throughout the universe through all He has crafted. The sunset that inspires creativity, the mountain that ignites awe, and the unique animal that unravels wonder, all have become a storyteller of the majesty of God. I once had a God-encounter on my honeymoon, sitting on the back porch of a rented cabin in the middle of The Smokey Mountains as I stared at a majestic mountain in front of me. Look around. He is everywhere. 8. Everything: This may seem like a complete cop-out but hear me out. I have included this way just to keep you from creating another confining religious list. He has no limits of communication. When we limit His voice, we also limit our future. My abundant future is contingent upon His eternal voice. Abundance without His voice becomes a curse rather than a blessing. God can speak through anything, anywhere, anytime. Whether it be a song on the radio, a news reporter on T.V., or even a shirt your friend was wearing, there truly are no limits. When we discover that God is always speaking and that we have been invited into the conversation, it allows us to walk with full assurance that we are headed in the right direction. Jesus modeled this when He said, I only say what I hear Him say (John 12:49).” God is in constant communication with you. Look around and hear His voice; it’s your God-given right.