The primary indicator of New Covenant disciples is the ability the hear God’s spoken voice. Religion teaches nothing about how to do this because religion is based on religious rules taught by men. Because religious leaders do not know how to hear God’s spoken voice, they do not teach others how to listen for themselves. If they did teach others to listen for themselves, they would destroy the personal kingdoms and money making institutions they have created for themselves. New Covenant disciples, however, no longer need religious leaders to teach them about God because God teaches them about himself and his ways directly. This speaking/hearing relationship is the essence of the New Covenant.

But the ability does not come easily — especially to religionists whose habit is to listen to religious leaders. There is a certain amount of unlearning that must happen before God will open their spiritual eyes and ears to hear his spoken voice. What religionists know they have learned while they were disciples of false prophets. Things they have learned have been intoxicated with strongholds of wrong thinking that are difficult, but not impossible to destroy.

Here are a few rules of thumb to consider when trying to discern if we have heard God’s voice or not:

Of course these human words are inadequate attempts to explain totally spiritual events (i.e. hearing God’s voice). These human words are, nonetheless, useful guides to understanding when the event of hearing God’s voice has occurred.

STUDY TIP: Even though the Bible is full of dark sayings, proverbs and riddles, figures of speech, words of the wise and riddles, dreams and visions, enigmas, difficult problems, shadows, types and patterns, and symbols, signs and allegories, there are parts of the Bible that may be trusted literally.

Learning how to know which parts are to be taken symbolically and which parts are to be take literally is the big challenge for Bible students/disciples/learners. But it is not a challenge that is conquered by sheer will and human effort. Understanding is a gift from God.

It is impossible to instruct anyone about how to know which parts are to be taken symbolically and which are to be taken literally. Knowing, or not knowing, depends on God alone who gives us spiritual eyes to see what we read and spiritual ears to hear his voice tell us how to interpret what we read. This is the art of hearing God’s voice.

The main condition that prepares us to hear God’s voice is that we stop listening to the voices of false prophets. When God says “listen to my voice” and “hear the word of the lord” he doesn’t mean just listen, he also means listen to his voice and hear his spoken word exclusively. People who aspire to spiritual holiness would do well to regard these statements from God as commandments on a par with the Ten Commandments that make the way for seeing and hearing with spiritual eyes and ears.

LISTEN TO TRUE PROPHETS AND MESSIAHS
Everything written above pertains to God speaking directly to people. in spiritual language. It must be said, however, that God also speaks through True Prophets, Angels, Messiahs, High Priests and Model Warriors in human language.

When these people speak, they will use human language to interpret God’s spiritual language just like Jesus did. And yet, their verbal presentation of truth will be very much like God’s presentation. 

The tricky part of listening to human teachers is discerning between true prophets and false prophets. True prophets speak for God, while false prophets speak out of their own evil imaginations.

STUDY TIPS: See Checklist for Identifying True Prophets and Tips for Identifying False Prophets.