God Speaks – Inclining Our Spiritual Ears

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28 (ESV)

In a previous devotional, we talked about Dimitri, who was imprisoned by the Russian authorities for pastoring a small house church. While he was in prison, he endured tremendous suffering, both physical and emotional. They tried to break him so that he would sign a document denying his belief in Jesus Christ and confessing to being a spy for the West. But Dimitri refused. Until they told him that his wife had been murdered and his children put into state care. This broke Dimitri. He agreed to sign the confession the next day. Dimitri fell into deep despair and cried out to God.

In that place of fear and desperation, God heard his cry. God opened Dimitri’s spiritual ears so that he could hear his wife, his children and his brother praying for him a thousand kilometres away. Fear and despair dissipated. He was overwhelmed with peace. The next morning, the guards, full of bravado, gave him the documents to sign. Dimitri refused. He told them that he knew that they had lied because God had shown him that his wife was alive and his children were with her. They were astonished when Dimitri told them that God had revealed this to him.

My Sheep Hear My Voice

God is able to reveal to us things that we cannot see in the natural with our physical eyes. This is what the Lord said to the prophet, Jeremiah:

“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” Jeremiah 33:3

God wants us to call out to Him in our hour of desperation. But we need to be ready to hear what He has to say to us. As followers of Jesus, we have a relationship with Him. But we need to cultivate this relationship so that we can grow in our intimacy with Him. Part of this process of growing in intimacy with Christ is understanding and recognising His voice. God speaks to us in different ways. God supernaturally spoke to Dimitri. He made him privy to something happening in the natural realm that he couldn’t see with his physical eyes. Dimitri had a deep and intimate relationship with the Lord, and he was able to recognise that what he heard was from God. When we strive to have a deep relationship with the Lord, he will help us train our spiritual ears to hear His voice. We will be ready to incline our ear to Him. Call out to Him in your hour of need. He is ready to reveal, through Holy Spirit, great and mighty things that you do not know.

Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live. Isaiah 55:3 (ESV)

Reflection:

Are you intentionally growing in intimacy in your relationship with Christ? When you do this, you will grow in your ability to hear and understand His voice.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I desire to hear your voice more clearly. Help me to be more intentional in growing in intimacy with You. I call out to You, Lord, in this situation I’m in. Reveal Your supernatural wisdom to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.