Hearing God's Voice Pt.2
- Allie Andersen
- Mar 12, 2024
- 7 min read
How God Speaks
If you haven’t read the first part of this two-part post, I’d encourage you to go back and read it now. It sets the foundation for what I’m about to write here, and if you’re struggling to hear God’s voice, it gives biblical precedence for how much God actually wants to speak to you.
My great-grandma's Bible is marked up with prophetic words for her kids. This is one she was feeling the Lord speak over me while she was reading.
What Does God Sound Like?
There are many ways God can speak to us, the Bible probably being the most obvious. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but some of the other ways God speaks are:
Prophetic words from others
Audible voice
Angels (common in the Bible)
Dreams (even more common in the Bible and requires our imagination)
Impressions
Our physical body (words of knowledge for healing are sometimes spoken through our own bodies, we might feel pain in our knee and it’s the Lord saying He wants to heal someone’s knee)
Inspired thought (requires our imagination)
He also may speak plainly, or He may use colours, pictures or symbols that we need to interpret (kind of like Jesus did with parables).
The most common way I find that God speaks to people is through inspired thought which simply means God using our imagination and the voice in our head to speak. However, as my dad would put it, God doesn’t speak with an accent. If you’re struggling discerning if it’s the Lord speaking to you, you may not like what I’m about to say. There is no magic formula for discerning it was God. There are guidelines as to what God’s voice should and shouldn’t sound like, but the only way to truly discern whether it was God speaking comes with intimacy, practice, and faith. The more you try, the more you trust, the more you seek Him, the easier and quicker it will become to discern His voice.
There are three sources we can hear from: God, the angelic/demonic realm, and ourselves. If you’re just starting out, here’s a couple of guidelines that may help:
Pay attention to what you feel. If you’re hearing/seeing/experiencing things that scare you, look demonic, or make you feel gross, that definitely isn’t God. That is the demonic realm, and you don’t have to be afraid of it. Don’t be afraid nor ashamed if you hear something from the demonic. You haven’t done anything wrong; its only purpose is to intimidate you. Remember what I wrote about our responsibility? Simply take whatever the demon is saying and give it to God. In my experience, demons shut up pretty quickly when faced with the truth (and when they realize you aren’t afraid of them).
God is consistent. If what you feel you heard is counter-biblical, it isn’t God.
God is good. He builds us up, cheers us on, corrects us, and showers love on us. If what you hear isn’t good, it isn’t God.
Aside from those, being able to discern God’s voice is something you grow in, like a how lovers grow in their knowledge of one another. It isn’t going to happen unless you put in effort. Sometimes it can be hard to discern the difference between God’s voice and our own thoughts, but the way you grow is through faith. Trust that the Lord is speaking to you. If you make a mistake, who cares? God certainly doesn’t, and His opinion is the only one that matters. He’s excited that you’re trying.
Actually, art is a really good way to practice hearing God’s voice because it’s a comfortable way to make mistakes - there’s little to no risk involved (depending on what you’re doing with the piece). It’s just a picture on a piece of paper. God loves practicing with you. He is in every part of what you are doing and guides you along the way. He’s proud of you and cheering you on. You’ll likely be surprised how it all comes together in the end.
I had a moment a few months ago while working on a painting where I was having a tough time distinguishing between my thoughts and God’s. I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking about putting on the painting, but I kept wrestling with whether I should do it and couldn’t clearly hear God. I had reasons for putting whatever it was on the canvas, but I had reasons to not as well. After going back and forth for some days I finally stood up and said, “God, I need a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Should I add this to the painting?” Instantly I felt a “no” in my spirit and put the matter to rest. How did I know it was God? Honestly, experience and faith. I could have brought up all the reasons to add that element to the painting, but I knew Him well enough to think it could have been Him and I chose to trust that I heard the Lord clearly.
How do we translate what we hear from God to our art?
Awakening. Acrylic on Canvas. 2012. This is one of the very first paintings I did. The Lord didn't give me a plan for it. I just put colours and shapes where I felt to put them. I wasn't sure about the dove. In fact, I didn't want to put a dove. I felt like birds needed to go on it but didn't want to put a dove because that's cliche. My great-grandma was pretty certain a dove was supposed to go on the painting, and it turns out, she was right.
When God uses colours, symbols, and pictures, those are obvious and easy to translate for visual artists. But to put it simply, whatever you are hearing translates through obedience. If you see a colour, you need to trust God, take a step of faith, and obey. If you see a shape or image, obey.
When I started out creating prophetically, I actually went into all my paintings blind. I had no idea what the outcome would be. I had to trust the Lord on what each colour would be and where it would go. Sometimes, He would show me a picture or symbol, such as a lion, that needed to go on the canvas. But I always started the work without a plan. Having the knowledge I do now about creating a good design (balance, colour theory, lighting, placement, etc.) there are things I’d probably change about some of those pieces. But good design wasn’t the point; the point was learning how to be able to hear God’s voice and learning to obey. Now, I’m at a place where I plan out my work with the Lord (He told me a couple of years ago that it was time to start planning), but there are still parts of the work that He reveals as the painting develops. I don’t have a full plan, but I do have an idea.
The plan for one of my His Name is a Melody paintings. This is one of the first planned paintings I had done.
How about you try now?
Imagine if love was personified. Imagine if all the love you could possibly dream of were a physical person standing before you. What does that love look like? What is its smile like? Laugh? How do you think that love carries itself? What do you think it does for others?
Now imagine that the personified love is all directed at you. How does it express itself? How does it look at you? How do you feel? Do you feel overwhelmed or awkward? Do you feel unworthy or ashamed? Do you feel overjoyed? Excited? Overwhelmed in a good way?
Now let’s give love a name: Jesus. Imagine all that love wrapped up into Jesus. How does He look at you? Does He look how you’d expect love to? Does He look sad or disappointed? Does He look excited and pleased? Does He look at you with wonder and pride? Go back to what you felt when love looked at you before and expressed itself, do you feel that way with Jesus? Don’t think about how you know you should feel. How do you actually feel?
If you sense any sadness or disappointment in Jesus’ eyes, or if you feel ashamed, awkward, or unworthy when He looks at you, let’s spend some time finding out why. Those feelings are an indicator that you are believing a lie about either you or God, and whether you realize it, that lie is hindering your relationship with God.
If you think sin might be in the way, deal with it. Sin isn’t allowed to hold you back. Repent of the sin, ask forgiveness, give Holy Spirit permission to hold you accountable. Remember, if you feel the temptation again, it doesn’t mean you’re not free. That’s the enemy trying to get you to sin again. Say no, and tattletale on the devil. Take it to God.
Now, take those negative feelings and put them in Jesus’ hands. Ask Him why you feel that way. Keep digging and asking questions until you come to a lie about yourself or God you are believing. It will be an, “I am…” or “God is…”
God might show you a picture, bring back a memory, or speak in any of the ways mentioned above. He’ll likely use your imagination. Lean into faith and trust that you are hearing Him, even if it sounds like yourself.
Once you get to that lie (or lies), repent for believing it and break the agreement you’ve made with it. “Lord, I repent for believing that… (insert lie here). I recognize that it is a lie and I break the agreement I’ve made with it over my life.”
Now ask Him for the truth. Again, lean into faith. Embrace the truth: give Holy Spirit permission to hold you accountable to it and make a plan with Him for how you are going to embrace truth. The plan could look like writing the truth down somewhere, acting differently in situations that trigger the lie, or it could be as simple as reminding yourself of the truth each time you feel the lie trying to rear its head. Again, lean into faith and trust that you are hearing the Lord clearly.
Ok, now that we’ve taken some time to deal with lies, let’s do some art. Go back to that place where you are standing before Jesus and all His love is directed at you. Ask Him why He loves you and draw out what He shows you. He’s going to show you through your artwork, so follow His lead. For example, if He’s showing you colours and you’re going into the drawing blind like I often do, ask Him where to put the colours and do so. Keep following His lead until you feel the artwork is done. Write down what you feel it means.
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