I was recently helping a refugee student with high school algebra and found quickly that his problems with algebra were not with algebra. He did not know basic math. He could not add or subtract fractions or negative numbers. He did not know what decimals represented. He struggled with the basic multiplication table and did not know how to do division. But somehow, after he came to America, the school placed him in Algebra, and he had homework asking him to graph parabolic functions. I couldn’t help him much with the homework because he couldn’t graph even a single point if I gave him the coordinates. He didn’t know what a graph was. How he got in Algebra is beyond me. He had no business being there. He learned nothing in that class because the class didn’t teach the skills he needed to learn. The class assumed that everyone already knew those skills. Math is this way. You must master lower skills before you can move on.
Life is this way too. You must learn your job before you are able to lead in it. You must see your sin before you apologize. You need to get married before you get pregnant. When you get life backwards, it’s like my student trying to do algebra when he can’t add or subtract. It’s a mess.
When it comes to hearing the voice of God, this same principle holds. God has established certain prerequisites to hearing from Him, and these, in general, pertain to your heart and to obedience. God speaks more clearly to those with pure, obedient hearts.
Why should God speak to you when you won’t heed Him? If we ask for God’s direction but are unwilling to go wherever He may lead, we have a more foundational problem than direction. Before God gives us the direction we want, we need the heart He wants.
When God speaks to you, He entrusts you with His message. If you are merely going to trample His message, why should He give it to you? God entrusts His messages to those whom He most trusts, and those whom He most trusts are those who have His heart. If you want to hear more from God, pursue His heart in you.
Pursue humility. Confess sin. Die to your desires. Let go of earthly distractions. Glorify Jesus in your heart and mind, with your words and deeds. Give thanks. Praise Him for His steadfast love and faithfulness. Consider Him holy and righteous. Enjoy His goodness and beauty. If you want to hear from God, pursue these practices from the heart. God will then begin conforming you into a man or woman more able to hear from Him. The closer your heart draws near to His, the better you will hear His voice.
The state of your heart is more important than getting guidance for your career or family. God will gladly withhold His voice if doing so forces you to trust Him. Or He may speak, but you miss His voice because your heart is not attuned to His Spirit. Either way, your heart is foundational. Everything God does or does not do for you has your heart as its primary aim. His voice and His silence are aimed at your heart. If you wish to discern His voice, you must trust Him from the heart.
