Have you ever wondered what God is saying to us? Are we even listening? Many of us feel as if we can’t hear God, and as a 
result we walk around aimless, clueless, and lost. What we need to do is to ask if the words of Jeremiah apply to us (Jeremiah 7:23-28). How carefully do we listen? How well do we carry out the will of God in our lives? How clearly can we discern the presence of God in our daily lives?
To help answer these questions, here are five steps that we need to follow to help us walk in God’s ways:
1. Learn to listen to God through instinct
Sometimes instinct is God’s way of telling us something. If we sense we should do a thing, then we should probably do that thing. We may be out running errands and believe we should take a different route home… that can be God telling us to take another route home instead of the normal way. Even if we don’t see anything tangible ahead, sometimes it’s good to follow our instinct. It may be the Holy Spirit in action!
2. Learn to listen to God through Scripture
Scripture is what God has already said. He’s not going to say anything that’s contrary to what He has said previously. God is not schizophrenic, hypocritical or confused. He is true to the things He’s said before, and will say them again if necessary. So read and reflect on the Word of God. It will change your life!
3. Learn to listen to God through our thoughts
Sometimes God speaks to us through our thoughts. So much gets placed on our minds on a daily basis that it hard to sort out the other voices to tell which one is God’s. We are often confused about our thoughts – if it’s us, the devil, or God. We need to learn how to sort through our inner voices and truly hear and recognize God’s voice. And that happens through prayer!
4. Learn to listen to God through prayer
Prayer is communication with God: you talk to God, and God talks to you. But you have to make time for Him to talk to you. Often times we talk to God and dump our requests on Him and then we go about our business and we forget to listen. We don’t talk to anyone else like that, so give God the courtesy of speaking as well. God has something to say too!
5. Learn to listen to God through our dreams
Sometimes God talks to us in our dreams. I know that’s the case with me. It’s good to have pen and paper handy in case this is where God chooses to talk to you. There are times when you’re so groggy the next morning that you may not even remember the dream. When possible if you believe you’ve heard God speak to you during the night, the first thing you do is to write it down when you get up. Not all dreams are from God, but some might be. Trust your instinct with this.
Let’s take the remainder of this Lenten season and make the time to listen to the voice of our Father. For the Lord says, “Listen to my voice. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.”
