Hearing God's Voice

In my ministry, I have observed a peculiar phenomenon that has troubled me for the two decades since I became a believer: hearing God's voice.

The Bible mentions hearing God's voice, but upon further study, I have found that Paul and Jesus Christ did not particularly emphasize it. In recent decades, hearing God's voice has become very popular in Christian circles. Last year, a sister in Christ called me, asking if I could pray for her money. I was puzzled, as I never pray for people's finances, so I asked her to explain the situation in detail.

She said she had noticed many pastors were poor, and she wanted to earn some money to help them. So, she invested several million in a business, only to lose everything. At night, she often heard a voice telling her to get up and pray for her money.

I could not find any precedent in the Bible for praying for money. She claimed that God often woke her up in the middle of the night, around one or two in the morning, and she would pray groggily, eventually leading to insomnia. When she came to me, she believed I should pray for her money because she thought the voice she heard came from the Holy Spirit.

I asked, How do you know the voice you hear comes from the Holy Spirit? She herself did not know. I told her it was an evil spirit, as our God does not do such things. Later, this sister stopped seeking my counsel. When I learned about her situation later, she was mostly bedridden, but she still firmly believed that the voice came from God.

In my experience, hearing God's voice has had more negative than positive consequences. Another girl, whom I used to pastor as a cell group leader in the local church, came from a very poor family. The church organized an event to go to a church in Taiwan to hear God's voice, to hear Jesus speak to them.

I did not attend this event, as I do not particularly like participating in such activities. As a result, she borrowed money to go, and when she returned, she wept to me. She said that everyone else heard God speaking to them, but she heard nothing.

What was the point of spending so much money? I felt sorry for this sister. What does this even mean? Is there anything like this recorded in the Bible? It is truly strange. Later, I discovered that whether it is feelings or hearing God's voice, I have encountered these situations repeatedly.

Some time ago, I went to a city to see my friends and classmates. Coincidentally, there was another pastor at my classmate's house. He was from Shanghai and had several million in his possession. At the time, he was very conflicted because he had suddenly heard God tell him to find a place in the Jiaodong Peninsula. He said he heard it clearly in a vision.

As a result, he actually bought land in that place, but it later became barren and unproductive. He had no plan and continued to wait for God. From my perspective as an investor, I found this absurd, but I did not expose the matter at the time, as there was no need to argue with him.

I do not believe these messages came from God. So, what are these voices? It was not until today's spiritual battle that I understood that evil spirits are often at work in this world, causing people to hear many things. This is precisely what Paul said:

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)

The Holy Spirit can move people, and so can evil spirits. The Holy Spirit can reveal things to people, and so can evil spirits. In this generation, we must be clear about what we are doing.

Full of the Knowledge of God in all Understanding

You will find that we rarely promote hearing God's voice or the anointing. I hope everyone can become wise, not wise in a carnal sense, but wise in a spiritual sense, which is to be full of the knowledge of God in all understanding.

In the teachings of the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ, such content is rarely seen. Take Paul as an example; he was caught up to the third heaven and saw inexpressible things, but in the end, he did not tell us what he saw.

Why did Paul not tell us? Paul was afraid of misleading us, that we would all pursue going to the third heaven to take a look. In this generation, there are many books about traveling to heaven and seeing hell, but these things cannot be verified.

In fact, the Bible does not encourage people to take a trip to heaven and hell. But in the Bible, you should strive to know God and be full of the knowledge of God in all understanding. Later, I discovered that those who are deceived by demons like to hear this and that. Should we not be vigilant?

Some time ago, a sister in Christ joined a company as a partner and shareholder, but the company's boss ran away, and this sister was left with several million in debt. At the time, she also prayed and believed it was an opportunity God had given her. There are many silly people among Christians because they are not clear in their understanding.

Therefore, our brothers and sisters must be smart and know how our God works. My theoretical basis is this: take Abraham, for example. He did not hear God's voice very often. Abraham only heard it a few times in his life. From the birth of Ishmael to the birth of Isaac, there is no record for more than a decade; he simply lived his life every day.

Our brothers and sisters must be clear that the righteous shall live by faith, not because they have heard God's voice. The righteous live by faith, and faith is irreplaceable. This is the clear teaching of the Bible. But if we mix faith with hearing God's voice, it can be very confusing.

Our God is not meant to confuse people, but to make things clear! We must begin to have an ability to thirst for the Word of God. Among us, there is absolutely no lack of Bible study. We study the Bible on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the pastoral districts also study the Bible. But being led to study the Bible is one thing; reading God's Word well yourself is another.

Reading God's Word well makes it difficult to be deceived. In addition to hearing, much can be seen. When I first led someone in my family to believe in the Lord, they often saw large snakes and sometimes old horses.

They saw many things. I do not deny what they saw, but later I gradually understood what was going on. I later understood that evil spirits can cause people to hear voices, and evil spirits can show people visions, but these voices and visions do not bring edification or results. This is the spirit of witchcraft and sorcery, bringing only trouble and confusion.

Then, if people make decisions based on these things, they end up failing and blaming God: God, why would you do this? In fact, it was your own decision. What problem can you solve by blaming God? In the end, you still blame God for not stopping it. Can God stop it? How can He stop it? In fact, sometimes the deceiving thing is sent by God.

That is how our God operates. The Old Testament records that He sent a deceiving person, and as a result, the king died on the battlefield. Many times, feelings, hearing God's voice, and anointing are unreliable things. There are many strange doctrines. But one thing is important: knowing God in understanding.

Our brothers and sisters should read the Bible well. If you hear something, does the Bible record such a thing? If there is no such record, is it not nonsense? If you find some precedents in the Bible, try to find them in the New Testament. If Paul and Jesus did not discuss this matter, then it is not important.

There are many important things, and we do not have time to do unimportant things. For example, read the Bible well and get into God's heart. Is hearing God's voice important? I do not think it is important. The entire New Testament speaks of building God's glorious church. Grasp this theme, as it is the most important thing.

Jacob did not hear God's voice until he was 75 years old. In the end, he had a dream and got up. What God wants are people who have faith in Him, not those who believe only after hearing and seeing. If we pursue vague and ethereal things, evil spirits will often release much deception. If you do things according to the logic of hearing God's voice and lose money, do not blame God.

Be smarter, and be very cautious. Some time ago, a sister took a driving test and was very nervous before the test. After praying, she still lost many points and did not pass. She did not even know how to drive in her understanding, and she did not know what to look at when parking. She was completely ignorant, failed the test, and spent a lot of money without knowing why.

I am saving you money, which means you need to know in your understanding and be clear in your mind about what you are doing. If you fail the driving test many times, it is because you are ignorant in your understanding. You do not even know what you do not know, which is very foolish.

In everything, you must grasp the essence of things in your understanding, such as decorating, buying a house, driving, and so on. For example, when driving, I never get a ticket because getting a ticket requires paying money and wasting time. No matter how many cameras there are, as long as I do not violate traffic rules, I will be fine.

Grasping the Essence of Things in Understanding

Know that you do not know, do not be ignorant. We must grasp the essence of things in understanding. In understanding and in mind, we must know what we are doing. A confused mind is fatal.

God gave us brains so that we can figure things out, to be filled with the knowledge of God in understanding. I myself have an advantage: if I am not clear about something, I know that I am not clear, and then I will figure it out.

Brothers and sisters, no longer pursue useless superficial things. I have discovered that there is a spirit of sorcery and witchcraft, nicknamed the weasel spirit. When such a spirit disturbs people, they will do very confusing things.

The spiritual realm is very real, and we must constantly pursue knowledge in understanding. I never believe that one can get into university by listening to God's voice. Studying mathematics well is still very important.

Our faith in the Lord must be practical and realistic. Today, brothers and sisters, we must know the Word of God in understanding, and put God's Word into practice in our lives, and believe in the Lord in a practical way. If you do not know in understanding, you will easily be deceived by demons.

If there is a sudden voice in your mind, do not believe it casually. What our God reveals in the 《Bible》 will clearly tell everyone. Everyone must learn to be astute, to know God's will, and to read the 《Bible》 well.