How to Make Hearing God’s Voice Over the Noise Easier
Sometimes all the things in your head get really loud. You’re anxious over everything imagined and irrational. Your self-set expectations make you feel small, and in the tangle of untruths toying with your mind, you’ve got to remind yourself that hearing God’s voice isn’t for the ultra-spiritual alone. It’s for the worn-out worriers, the willful wanderers, the wisdom-deficient, and the opportunity wasters. For those spiritually “in training,” as my pastor says.
I feel it rising in my soul as I witness waves of health scares and financial strain. God’s peace-instilling, direction-setting, way-making voice is available here, in the middle of the noise.
The stuff of actual life roars like a megaphone in our ears, but the whisper of our Lord carries more authority. Do you remember the story of Elijah in the cave? Here’s a man well-acquainted with God’s voice. He’s God’s spokesman. A prophetic voice in a time when it could cost his life.
But right now Elijah is feeling incredibly insecure. The voices of fear and defeat have gotten stuck in his head. That’s why he’s here, hiding in a cave, instead of where God asked him to go.
With the same kindness God speaks to you and I, He reminds Elijah that His voice trumps the noise. Let’s turn to 1 Kings 19:11-13.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
NIV
God doesn’t shout over the chaos, thunder over the turbulence, or speak in lightning bolts. He whispers with a soft, steadying voice, bringing inner peace in the midst of the noise.
Receive His Peace
Peace. Isn’t that what we want when we’re frantic with hurry, wrestling with worry, rehashing the past, or solving hypothetical problems?
Peace that seeps into our soul like the curl unfurling from a tea bag when it touches warmed water.
Peace that steps in to say “time out” to the cesspool of swirling thoughts in your head.
Peace that picks you back up and gives you a hug.
God’s voice brings precisely that sort of peace. But like Elijah, I tend to forget that I don’t quiet the noise in my head with something louder, but something softer. Something I must lean toward not to miss.
It’s rest, not running, that reveals God’s voice to Elijah. I imagine the noise in Elijah’s head along this trek pounded like the thud of his footfall. We know that defeat drove him to retreat.
But clarity comes when Elijah reaches the cave. Sometimes we have to slow our physical speed to set the pace for our brains. Rest gives our minds permission to receive God’s peace.
In the stillness of the cave, Elijah begins to unwind. God calls him to come outside, and while Elijah doesn’t immediately obey, he recognizes the familiar voice of God. His response to God’s whisper is evidence that Elijah can tell the difference now between what is God’s voice and what isn’t.
This gives me hope: even Elijah, who was well-practiced in hearing God’s voice, needed a mind detangler. A time-out. A timely rest.
Rest redirects our attention from everything deficient to the One who brings inner peace. It helps us separate what’s insistent from what’s God-inspired. What turns us inward from what turns us toward Him.
Want to make hearing God’s voice easier? Build in rest. Take time to talk with God. Read His Word. Practice listening. Make space for expectancy.
His voice will steadily become more familiar to you.
Answer God’s Questions
When that becoming dear-to-you voice cuts through the noise with a question, pay attention. Just as He asks Elijah, He invites you and me to honesty, even when it’s painful. Even when it strips away our self-righteousness and self-pity. Even when we’re overbooked or outnumbered. Even when life feels unfair.
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:13 NIV), God asks, more than once.
To answer such a question is to acknowledge you’re not where you should be. You’ve gone your own way or gotten stuck inside your head. God’s questions are meant to turn you around, back toward Him.
Choose to dialogue with God and see how the noise in your head begins to dissipate. The more you lean in, the more readily you hear God’s voice. The more willingly you obey His gentle nudges, the more the inner chaos in your heart is displaced with peace.
Can we take it one step further?
Open up. Let someone know to pray for you. Share with a neighbor or friend how you’re stopping to rest and reset, quieting the noise by listening for God’s voice, and building familiarity with the One who brings peace to your inner angst.
When you let the work God is doing inside you help the people around you, God’s smile could break the horizon.
Hearing God’s Voice
As we pray, tuck this into your heart: God doesn’t force us to pay attention. But He’s always available, relentlessly attentive, gracefully calm, and quietly strong. Even when we can’t hear His whisper, He is speaking.
Lord, you know what is going on inside us. Cut through the noise with Your voice. Speak to us through Your word, a sunrise, solitude. Help us to get still so we don’t miss Your whisper. Give us courage to obey, no matter what You ask. Grace us to embrace honesty as we dialogue with You.
And Lord, as You teach us to recognize Your voice, may we offer a hand to others also seeking inner peace.
In Your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
Just a friend over here in your corner,
What if you gave your faith the chance to ripple right into your neighborhood? These quick tips provide a wide variety of baby steps to help you begin to build friendships with your neighbors. When we get close to God and let others get close to us, the things God is working out in us can show.
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