The Frequency of God: Am I Tuned In To Hear Him?
When I first thought about how do we hear the voice of God, the first image that came to mind was trying to find the perfect radio station in a new city. We usually have no idea where to start, so we start scanning and scanning until we find it. Now I know radio isn’t the most popular thing anymore, but stick with me here.
Being the nerd that I am (I regret nothing, lol), I researched a little more about how radio stations work; more specifically how radio frequencies work. This is what I found! Before a station can ever be located, there must be an antenna in place (Brain, 2000). The antenna attracts all the frequencies available. Since there can literally be thousands of frequencies in the area, a tuner is used to navigate the static and the rush of noise. The function of the tuner is to amplify one station/frequency to where it is heard more clearly and more prominent than any other (Brain, 2000).
Just like in the radio communications, we have antennas, frequencies and tuners as well!
Our antenna is our desire to hear God.
Our antenna is internal and it’s that desire that all humans feel to be connected to something bigger, even when we can’t always find the words to express it. Some people call it connecting to the universe, others call it a higher power. But God put words to it and Psalms 42:1 HCSB told us that “As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God.”
The frequencies are all the different streams of information that will come our way.
As we try to hear God more, other things will scream for our attention and more loudly than usual. It’ll appear that suddenly work becomes more demanding, family becomes more trying, social obligations become more appealing and our human logic becomes more important. This also isn’t a surprise. From the day we decided to know God more, there’s been a plan to keep our hand from reaching that tuner! “Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of the age, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Mark 4: 18-19 HCSB
The tuner is our prayer and study life.
This is the active part of finding any good radio station. The antenna is already there, the frequencies are already there, but the tuner has to be moved by us. If we’re riding in a car and all we hear is static, we would immediately start looking for other stations. Same here. All other information is static if it’s not God’s voice; it may even be appealing static at times, but still static. Our prayer and study life moves us through all the other stations until we reach the One. “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10: 27 HCSB
Okay, so now we want to hear the voice of God, but hooooooooooooow?! Gotcha covered!
Hearing God’s Voice
Time
Invest in and commit to time where we are only actively seeking His voice. This isn’t a time where we have worship music playing in the background or a podcast on as background noise while we finish daily task. This is a time where it is God, His word, us and prayer.
Jesus went away from the noise, from the obligations and from the expectations to be with God because he knew the importance of connection.
Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayer. Luke 5:16
Motives
Evaluate why we want to hear from God. Are we wanting to hear His voice because we want to be near to Him? Or do we want him to fix or cosign on something we did or planned?
God desires relationship with us. Any motive less than His pure presence in our lives won’t be acknowledged. We can have good intentions, but still wrong motives.
You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may send it on your evil desires. James 4:3 HCSB
Believe
We have to believe that God can and will speak to us. There isn’t a hierarchy of who’s been saved the longest or who prays the longest prayer or who spends the most time at church. If we are God’s child, we are eligible to hear from Him. That’s it, no other qualifiers needed.
But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. James 1:6-7 HCSB
Fight
Every single reason not to seek God will come up when we decide to honestly seek Him. We’re only a threat to the enemy when we’re actively working for God. If we’re distracted and chasing things all over the place, we’re not a threat to the enemy, but we’re also not being an asset to God.
We have to make a personal commitment to seek Him and fight past any distractions, especially the distraction of doubt. Nothing can take us out of the game faster than our own thoughts.
You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from the One who called you. Galatians 5:7-8 HCSB
Stop Talking (Listen)
This is pretty straight to the point, shut up. I know grandma popped us and told us that was a bad word, but it’s accurate and shift+F7 (Microsoft Word humor) didn’t have any better alternatives. We start praying and talking to God sometimes and don’t come up for air. But in the process of not coming up for air, our ears were closed too.
Many, many times in the Bible, Jesus would tell the disciples or the crowds to “listen” right before He dropped some lifesaving knowledge. Do we really want to miss out on that? But the thing is, to listen, everyone got quiet first.
Then He said, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!” Mark 4:9 HCSB
Summoning the crowd again, He told them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:” Mark 7:14 HCSB
“But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you,” Luke 6:27
Accept
Here’s the big finale! Not really, but as people, we often don’t like to be told what to do, so this can be the most difficult step sometimes.
However, we have to accept whatever God tells us. All of it, no leaving parts out that we don’t agree with (or didn’t even ask for). More likely than not, God’s answer is going to be without all the fluff and is going to let all the air out of this major (dramatic voice) issue that we brought to him. That’s because God has perspective beyond what we can imagine. Our job remains to accept His answer and obey.
“The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.” John 8: 47 HCSB
Oh, we’re so not done. Now that we know how to hear from God, let’s put a personal plan into action!
Disclaimer: This is your personal plan! Please be honest with you and God!
Time
What time am I solely seeking God today? __________________________________________________________________
What passage from His word am I reading? __________________________________________________________________
What is more important than this time that I have designated for God? __________________________________________________________________
Motives
What are my motives for seeking God today? __________________________________________________________________
Do my motives align with God’s desires? __________________________________________________________________
If not, how can my motives align with God’s desires? __________________________________________________________________
Believe
Do I believe that God will speak to me? __________________________________________________________________
If not, why do I think God won’t speak to me? __________________________________________________________________
Will I chose to believe what I think or will I believe what God said? __________________________________________________________________
Fight
What distractions increased when I picked a time to seek God? __________________________________________________________________
Which of these distraction is greater than God? __________________________________________________________________
How will I fight off the distractions and continue the plan to seek God? __________________________________________________________________
Stop Talking
What is pressing on my mind and heart today? __________________________________________________________________
Now that’s out. Am I comfortable being in silence? __________________________________________________________________
If not, what’s uncomfortable about the silence for me? __________________________________________________________________
Accept
What did I hear from God? __________________________________________________________________
How did I feel when I heard? __________________________________________________________________
How can I put what I heard into practice in my life? __________________________________________________________________
Citation:
Brain, Marshall "How Radio Works" 7 December 2000. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio.htm>