Demystifying the Lord's Voice: Part 2 - Frank Viola

If you missed the first part of this two-part series, you can read Demystifying the Lord’s Voice: Part 1.

As promised, I’m going to share a few practical handles I’ve discovered that will help you to recognize the Lord’s voice in your own life. There are many more that I cover elsewhere, but here are five:

* The Lord’s voice most always comes through your own thoughts, desires, and impressions. This is because Christ dwells in you by the Holy Spirit and He is completely united to your own spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Therefore, give attention to your thoughts, desires, feelings, and impressions. Under the New Covenant, every bush is burning. So pay attention.

* If it’s the Lord speaking, the thought/desire/impression will stay with you. If it’s not the Lord, it will leave rather quickly.

* If it’s the Lord speaking, it will be marked by love — the very nature of Jesus. Specifically, the thought/desire/impression will benefit others at the expense of yourself. The Lord will also empower you to carry out what He says, which will often involve the denial of your flesh.

* If you fail to respond to the Lord’s leading, it will be difficult to recognize His voice in the future. So if you are having trouble “hearing,” go back and respond to the last thing He revealed to you. “If any one shall do my will, He will know . . .”

* On the other hand, we often don’t “hear” because we already know the answer. The Lord’s will is also discerned through wisdom. Jesus is Wisdom incarnate, so wisdom is one of the ways in which He speaks to us.

And of course, as I stated in Part 1, the Lord will never contradict what He’s previously said (i.e., through the Scriptures).

Again, there are many more practicals, and one of them is that the Lord speaks to us mostly through spiritual instincts.

As a gift, you can read my new chapters —

Spiritual Instincts …

What the Forty Days Teach Us …

The Voice of the Lord in Scripture …

The Cost of Following the Lord’s Voice

The chapters are all included in the Sampler for my new book with Leonard Sweet entitled, JESUS SPEAKS: Learning to Recognize & Respond to the Lord’s Voice.

This new hardcover book (which also comes in Kindle and Nook) covers the waterfront on the subject of hearing the voice of Jesus. Everything from visions, dreams, spiritual instincts, the four characteristics that mark the voice of Jesus, how to prepare your heart to hear the Lord, the audible voice of God, hearing Jesus through the body of Christ, how to have your own “Jesus Calling” experience, the hindrances to hearing the Lord’s voice, and the dangers associated with hearing His voice are all treated.

As far as I know, Jesus Speaks is the most practical book on how to recognize the voice of Jesus and respond to Him. It demystifies the whole process.

The Sampler also contains the Table of Contents so you can see exactly what the book covers.

JESUS SPEAKS officially releases in a few weeks, but you can pre-order it now on discount and be the first to receive it by going to JesusSpeaks.me

The Sampler is also on that page.

I look forward to hearing your feedback on the book.

My prayer is that it will help many. Especially those of you who have felt, “Why does the Lord seem to be speak so clearly to others but not to me?”