Honoring the Voice of Jesus

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There are many things I love about my relationship with the Lord, but one of the things I treasure the most is being able to hear His voice. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth of who Jesus is and allows me to listen to the heart of the Father and the plans He has laid out for my life. I’ve experienced hearing His voice in so many ways- through reading my bible, praying, in my dreams, through other believers, and on rare occasions, audibly. Hearing the voice of the Lord is essential for all Believers. How will we know the plans and purpose for our life if we don’t position our hearts to honor the voice of Jesus? John 10:27 says, my sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Jesus is our true Shepherd, and He wants us to listen to His voice in every season of our life so He can lead us into all truth.

I will admit, sometimes it’s challenging for me to hear the voice of the Lord. It’s not because He does not want to talk to me; He is our true Shepherd, so He always wants us to hear His voice. I usually have difficulty hearing His voice because I have neglected to make intimacy with Him a priority. I allow other things to come in and take my time and attention from the secret place Jesus has reserved for He and I to commune. I always know when I’ve cluttered the Lord’s time with other things because two things will manifest in my life-lack of focus and indecisiveness. I will struggle to focus on what is before me, and my decision-making process is plagued with double-mindedness, which is not of the Lord. These times are not fun, and if I don’t nip it in the bud quickly, I will find myself making plans and pursuing things God has not endorsed or said, “Yes and Amen to.”

I will share my testimony on how important it is to hear the voice of Jesus. A couple of years ago, my husband and I were looking to purchase a new home. Our current home is beautiful, but we just wanted more space in certain areas. So, we go to this home-site, and of course, the model home is gorgeous, and the incentives are grand. We met a couple of times with the builder and settled on a price. I wanted this house so much that I purposely did not go to my secret place and ask the Lord if it was okay to move forward with the purchase. I was afraid He would say, “no, don’t get the house.”

We are going along with the planning process, picking out siding and kitchen appliances, and in the middle of us doing this, I heard the Lord say, “don’t buy this house.” I said, “Lord, this is why I stayed away from the secret place because I knew you were going to tell me no.” You would think I would have walked away from the deal, but no, I continued with the planning. The next several days, I tried to convince myself that we should buy this house, I start quoting Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will you the desires of your heart, more than one time. But God was relentless in making sure I knew where He stood with us buying this house. His answer was still, “no, don’t buy the house.” At this time, there was no question how the Lord felt, and He had made it clear to me. But I’m still going back and forth with the builder. My double-mindedness is apparent to everyone; it was a battle; yes, we want the house, no, we don’t want the house. My wants conflicted with the voice of God, and I felt like a yo-yo. Finally, the builder recommends that my husband and I take a few days to think about it and let them know. So, I finally take the time to go into my secret place to pray, and while in prayer, I hear Jesus say, “Oh! Now you can’t hear my voice? You have been consistent in honoring my voice, but at this moment, you are willing to compromise your love for my voice with the love of a house.” Well, His words set me straight. At that point, if I would have gone forward with buying the house, I would have knowingly ignored and disobeyed the voice of Jesus, which is what I treasured most about our relationship. I’m sure my actions would have compromised my ability to hear Him clearly in the future. I thought back over my life and remembered; it was his voice that delivered me out of my pit, protected me when Satan attacked me, and comforted me when I was hurt and disappointed. He was and is my True and Good Shepherd. And even with the house, He led me into what He knew was right for me while I was only focused on what I thought was right for me.

I heard the voice of Jesus in prayer, and the next day I went to the builder and told them we had to walk away from the deal. I was honest about why we were not ready to purchase. I shared how Jesus had revealed to me in prayer that it wasn’t the right time for us to buy a home. I’m not sure if they understood it or not, and at that point, it did not matter. My focus was on honoring one thing and one thing only, and that was the voice of Jesus Christ!

John 10:1-5 says, “most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

My voice was the stranger’s voice, and I was following it. It was not because I did not have access to the Good Shepherd’s voice, I had access to it, but I was refusing to acknowledge it because I placed more value on what I wanted for my life than what Jesus wanted for me.

In this month’s blog, I am sharing my experience to encourage you to honor the voice of Jesus in your life. He wants to speak wisdom, guidance, instruction, love, and edification over you. Be intentional about making time to commune with the Lord, so when your very own voice becomes the stranger’s voice, His voice will arise louder and more precisely to inform you on which direction you should take. The path that Jesus has for you to follow aligns with His Will for your life and will always bring you peace and success.

The voice of Jesus will protect, preserve, heal, guide and instruct you into all His truth. So please don’t ignore the voice of Jesus, but honor it, embrace it and go after it. It is your lifeline!