To Be Led by God's Voice Study

This is a study I just finished. I want to hear if you have anything to say about it or add to it.

                           
                                                 To be led by God’s Voice

*You have ears, but you do not hear. What does this mean? Give scripture references.

Throughout my researching this topic I was amazed at how many times in the scriptures it says that people will hear but have no understanding. Without the Holy Spirit, Jesus in us, we cannot hear the Father. Jesus said this:

 Mat 11:27 "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and [the one] to whom the Son wills to reveal [Him].

 So first off we need Jesus, and secondly we need to have the Holy Spirit so we can hear God when He is speaking to us. The following scriptures reveal to us that it is possible to hear and not understand. A silly example, I can be sitting in class listening to the teacher talk about plants and yet I have no idea what anything he just said means. I’m totally clueless. It all sounded good and I was there intently listening, taking notes, and still nothing made sense. It’s the same with the Gospel. We need to have our hearts open to Him, softened hearts, open ears, listening for the still quiet voice, and our spiritual eyes open and ready to see what He chooses to show us.

 Matt 13:14-15  This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says, 'When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'

 Mark 4:9-12 Then he said, "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand." Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: 'When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.'

 Acts 28:26-27 'Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'

Jer 5:21 'Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:

*What does it mean to be dull of hearing?

Hebrews 5:11 I think sums this up. I have it here in a few different translations because it helps to understand what dull of hearing means.

Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.

Concerning Him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

The passage goes on to say how since the people are dull of hearing, they are like babies again, needing to learn everything all over again.  Maybe we get focused on other things that cause our hearts to wander away from God which in turn causes His still small voice to fade as it falls on ears that are no longer listening for Him.

*What does it mean? That those who have ears let him hear?

I believe this means that when we are walking daily with God, studying His Word, and praying, we are getting to know Him. Building a relationship with Him, like you would another person, takes time, but the time you put into the relationship pays off. I can receive a call from my sister and know it is her by the sound of her voice because I have spent so much time with her over the years. I can receive a call from my BFF or even my husband and know instantly who it is because I have time building the relationship with these people and now know their voice. That is what the scripture here is saying.  If you have a soft open heart and really want to hear, you need to build that relationship so you can hear God when He speaks.

 Matt 11:15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

 John 8:47 He who belongs to God hears what God says.

 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

*Does this apply to me and my life?

Yes it certainly does. If I don’t spend time with God, it’s most likely that I will not hear the answer to a question I asked Him. It would be no wonder I didn’t receive my answer. I didn’t recognize His voice because I would not have spent time building the relationship. I need to be praying daily, spending time in the Bible daily and spending time worshiping and praising Him. Or I could become dull of hearing.

*What does it mean to follow someone?

There are lost of descriptions in the dictionary on this word, follow. I feel this best describes the word in our discussion:

To imitate or copy; use as an example

To go after or along with (a person) as a companion

To go in pursuit of

I want to do all of these things when it comes to Jesus, Plain and simple.

*You have a relationship with the Lord. When things get hard, will your relationship stand?

I know my relationship with Jesus will stand when things get hard. Already in life, so many things have happened that had I not had my relationship with Jesus, I would have crumbled. He is my support, and even though there are times when I do not hear Him, I know He is always there with me. When things get hard, I go deeper to the Word and spend more time in His presence because otherwise, without that close relationship, I will drown in whatever it may be; guilt, despair, fear, regret, hopelessness.



Again, let me know what you get out of this. I really would like to hear from you!