Hearing God is not reserved for a select few—it is part of the identity of every believer in Jesus Christ. In this powerful episode, we uncover why so many Christians struggle to hear God’s voice in a noisy and distracted world. Drawing from 1 John 2, John 10, Elijah’s encounter with the “still small voice” in 1 Kings 19, and the teachings of Jesus Himself, this message reveals how surrender, stillness, obedience, and communion with God position you to recognize His direction. You’ll discover why divided loyalty dulls spiritual hearing, how the distractions of modern life can deafen your spirit, and why hearing God can literally preserve and direct your life. If you have ever wondered, “Why can’t I hear God?” or “How do I recognize God’s voice?” this teaching will show you the biblical pathway to hearing Him clearly. Remember: it takes a still life to hear a still voice. — “Why A Still Life Is A Massive Step Toward Hearing God” all on this week’s Light on Life.

This Week: Slow your life down long enough to hear the voice of God.

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Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put into operation.
This weeks call is:

Decide. Align. Step Forward.

Shut off the noise. Put down the distractions. Open your Bible. Sit quietly before the Lord and ask Him to speak. Stop rushing through life so fast that you miss the gentle whisper of His direction.

Maybe you need to remove something that has been feeding the noise in your life.

Maybe you need to make time for prayer again.

Maybe you need to stop considering the world precious.

But whatever you do—don’t keep living too loud to hear God.

Remember: it takes a still life to hear a still voice.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).

This week’s question is:

Question: What has most hindered you from hearing God clearly—noise, distraction, fear, busyness, or something else?

Share: Have you ever experienced a moment where you believe God restrained, redirected, or warned you through that still small voice?

Remember: God is still speaking today—but you must quiet your life enough to hear Him.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 49 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 45 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Podcast Notes:

• Well again, welcome.
• Let’s pray.

Father God thank you for the Holy Spirit speaking on the inside of our spirits. Thank you that He knows your mind and because He does we can have an active ongoing verbal relationship with you. There is nothing more than that we want to fellowship with you. Thank you that the blood of Jesus made that possible. And, we pray all of this in Jesus Might Name, Amen.

When I Wanted to Hear God

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV) — 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

• In our last episode, we shifted from consistency into the will of God.
• We saw that God’s will is not something you stumble into—it’s something you step into.
• Jesus made it clear: “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know.”
• God shows His will after you settle your yes.
• So the starting point is not knowing His will—it’s surrender.
• We also saw that divided loyalty will always pull you off course.
• You cannot hold onto your will while trying to follow His.
• Then we made it personal with the “Africa question.”
• Not a location—but a test:
• Are you willing to do whatever God asks?
• Because your answer to that question reveals whether you are truly all-in with God.
• And that willingness is foundational to walking in the will of God.

Stop Considering the World Precious

• Let’s take a side journey for a moment to make sure there’s no misunderstanding about your ‘yes’ to God.
• In your every day walk, what does that decision look like?
• You’ve may have heard this saying.

The Bible says it—I believe it—that settles it for me.

• Now, that’s a nice catchy phrase but how do you implement it?
• Here’s one way: Read the entire New Testament from Matthew through Revelation.
• Every place you find a commandment, stop right there and ask yourself, “Am I doing this or is this real in my life?”
• Don’t read another verse until you can confidently say, “I am doing this verse.”
• True spirituality is not reading the Bible—it’s doing the Bible.
• You have to love Wuest’s Translation here—it speaks volumes.

1 John 2:15–17 (WUESTNT) — 15 Stop considering the world precious with the result that you love it, and the things in the world. If anyone as a habit of life is considering the world precious and is therefore loving it, there does not exist the Father’s love [i.e., the love possessed by the Father] in him. Because everything which is in the world, the passionate desire of the flesh [the totally depraved nature], and the passionate desire of the eyes, and the insolent and empty assurance which trusts in the things that serve the creature life, is not from the Father as a source but is from the world as a source. And the world is being caused to pass away, and its passionate desire. But the one who keeps on habitually doing the will of God abides forever.

• Stop considering the world and its things precious.
• Do that verse.
• Don’t read anything else until you come to grips with this.
• The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not from your Father God—quit considering them valuable.
• What then is valuable?

The one who keeps on habitually doing the will of God abides forever.

• God’s will is the thing that’s of value.

Hearing God Is Part of Your Identity

• Now, if you have settled that God’s will is more precious than anything the world has to offer, then these words of Jesus come sharply into focus.

John 10:27–28 (NASB 2020) — 27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

• If the sheep listen to His voice, that implies that they heard it.
• And if they heard then the next part has already been settled—they follow me.
• Your identity is clear: as a sheep, you hear and follow.

Do You Really Want God to Speak?

• So are you such a one that desires to hear God when He speaks?
• Do you actually want Him to speak into your life?
• Many want God to speak—but they don’t want Him to say anything that costs them.
• Well, that’s not going to work.
• Afterall, we call Him Lord and so He is.

The Day I Finally Heard God

• I know that hearing God was a strong desire for me when I first came to know Jesus—almost fifty years ago.
• The people around me would say things like: “God spoke to me and told me such and so.” “The Lord directed me to do this and that.”
• And I remember thinking: Wow—that’s real? You mean God actually speaks to people—right here, in everyday life?
• And I thought: If He does—I want in on that.
• So I spent the next six months trying to hear God.
• And guess what I heard?
• Nothing.
• Zip.
• Nada.
• However you say “zero” in your language—I heard it.

My Breakthrough Moment

• Then one day, I was reading The Cross and the Switchblade.
• And I read how God spoke to David Wilkerson and told him to go minister to gangs in New York.
• And I got mad.
• So mad that I said: “God, this is not fair. You are talking to everybody—but you’re not saying anything to me.”
• And then—I heard Him for the first time.
• And it scared the snot out of me.
• This is what He said:

“It’s because you have not learned how to listen.”

• So let me ask you:
• Is there a way to hear God?
• The answer is emphatically yes!
• And that’s exactly what we’re going to look at today.

Understanding God’s Voice

1 Kings 19:11–12 (NASB 2020) — 11 So He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and powerful wind was tearing out the mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake, a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing.

• Scripture gives several moments where men encountered God’s presence—Adam heard Him walking in the Garden, Moses saw His back after the Lord passed by, and now Elijah beholds the Lord “passing by.”
• Picture it.
• The prophet stands in the shadow of a mountain and as God passes by, there are four occurrences.
• First, as God passes by a wind rips out part of the mountain Elijah is standing on.
• What did Elijah hear in this moment?
• Super decibels of noise.
• God was not in the wind—meaning He couldn’t be heard through the shattering.
• Then, an earthquake—He was not in the earthquake.
• Meaning God couldn’t be heard as ground beneath Elijah began to split open.
• Then the fierce and deafening crackling of consumming fire—for the third time God was not in the fire.
• And again, He couldn’t be heard.
• Then the fourth phenomenon—a gentle blowing.
• What was God in?
• A gentle blowing—A still small voice—A low whisper.
• That’s huge to understand.
• And with that, here is the Definition of the Day.
• The phrase a ‘gentle blowing’ in the NASB or a ‘still small voice’ in the KJV means in Hebrew ‘the voice of a quiet silence.’
• What a step down in sound level from the previous erruptive sound displays.
• Gripping, perceptible silence or stillness is what God is present in, and his Presence is so real that it made Elijah cover his face with his mantle.
• To put this in langauge we can understand: this ‘voice of a quiet silence’ was almost an imperceptible whisper—a voice so refined and delicate that it existed at the threshold between sound and silence.
• Now, do you understand why a still life is needed to hear a still voice?
• This is who your Father God is.
• Possessing mountain shattering strength yet soft spoken humility in speech.
• Infinite power wrapped in quietness—that is the nature of God.
• Now Jesus is this way also.

Matthew 11:28–30 (NASB 2020) — 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

• Jesus said that He was, GENTLE and HUMBLE in heart.
• Snap this picture for your album.

Matthew 12:18–21 (NASB 2020) — 18 “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTS; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE WILL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. 19 “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. 20 “A BENT REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A DIMLY BURNING WICK HE WILL NOT EXTINGUISH, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. 21 “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

• Do see it?
• Jesus will not cry out—nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
• With that thought, here is the Historical Background of the Day.
• The streets of Jerusalem in the first century—especially during feast times—was packed.
• During major feast days like Pentecost, Jerusalem’s population could swell to approximately half a million people.¹
• During Passover, the population could inflate as much as tenfold.²
• Now put that many people into narrow streets.
• Merchants, buyers, animals, money changers, children playing.
• It would have been loud.
• Now, see Jesus teaching on one of these feast days.

John 7:14–16 (NASB 2020) — 14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me.

• If you were there that day, what would you have to do to hear Him?
• You would have to focus.
• You would have to tune in.
• You would have to block out the noise around you.
• You would have to shut down the constant chatter of your mind.
• You see, Jesus didn’t elevate.
• You had to meet Him on His terms: HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.
• And since Jesus is the express image of God, that means God is this way as well.
• That means the Holy Spirit is that way.
• Have you ever noticed—in the worst moments of your life—God whispers.
• In 2001, my wife Sharon suffered a life-altering aneurysm.
• She was in the hospital for 19 days most of it in ICU.
• On one of those days, as I was driving to the hospital, the Spirit of God spoke to me—in that still, small voice—not audible.

Psalm 34:19 (ESV) — 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

• That’s all He said.
• There were no lightning bolts.
• No, New Years fireworks.
• Just plain simple and soft: the Lord delivers.
• It was then, I knew she would be alright.

Isaiah 32:17 (NASB 2020) — 17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

• Quietness is a lost art that must be regained.
• One day the Spirit of God said to me; “Just because the world has sped up doesn’t mean you are supposed to.”
• We could apply this wisdom in other places as well.
• Just because the noise level of the world has increased doesn’t mean God will elevate above it so He can be heard.
• Jesus didn’t.
• And God won’t shout over the noise of this world.
• No, to hear Him—the noise level must be filtered out.
• God’s voice is not hard to hear—but it’s easy to miss.

The Still Voice and the Still Life

• Now, here’s the truth you need to catch.
• If you don’t remember anything today, remember this:

It takes a still life to hear a still voice.

• If you want to hear God, slow your pace—He won’t compete with a crowded space.
• An accelerated life is the enemy of hearing.
• We live in a world designed to keep your attention scattered—and a scattered life cannot hear a still voice.
• Cluttered minds and distracted souls are the disease of the twenty-first century.
• We are living in a level of noise that has never existed before.
• The Bible predicted this very thing 2500 years ago.
• Daniel by the Spirit of God said this.

Daniel 12:4 (NASB 2020) — 4 But as for you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal up the book until the end of time; many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.”

• With increased knowledge has come increased noise, clutter, and distraction.
• Cellphones ring and social media pulls.
• Our minds are pummeled and pulled as First John said with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
• In the last days, this has reached spiritually deafening levels.
• We are the most distracted people in the history of civilization.

A terrifying trend is occurring: our attention span is dropping with each passing year. In 2000, before the digital revolution (which happened around 2007), our attention span was twelve seconds, so it’s not like we had a lot of wiggle room. But since then, it’s dropped to eight seconds. To put this into perspective, a goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds.³

• How can we expect to hear God when we can’t outfocus a goldfish?
• And it still takes a still life to hear a still voice.
• The problem is not that God isn’t speaking.
• The problem is that most people’s lives are too loud to hear Him.
• And now tie this back to desire.
• If your desires are set on the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, your life will be full of noise.
• So to hear God, narrow your focus.
• Clear out the clutter in your head.
• And now—you can finally hear from Him.

Why Does Hearing God Matter?

• Now, why does hearing God matter?
• It’s not to prove spirituality or brag on an experience.
• You want to hear God because you want to obey God.
• Obey God in what?
• His plans for your life.
• None of those specifics are recorded in the Bible.
• You want to hear God because you want to know God.
• Know God how?
• Know God as your protector.
• Do you realize how many people have been involved in tragic situations when, all the while, God was trying to tell them to wait five minutes before they left the house?
• You may have heard some of the 9/11 stories.
• There were people on 9/11 who survived because they felt restrained, delayed, or interrupted that morning.
• Some missed trains.
• Some stayed home.
• Some felt deeply unsettled and did not go in.
• Their lives were spared.
• But what you never hear about are those who ignored that inward warning.
• Those people are no longer here to tell their story.
• And they are no longer able to hear a message like this one today.
• I promise you—You want to hear God because you want to walk with God in the land of the living.
• And sometimes it comes right down to that.
• Mark this down.
• If you can hear God—and know it’s God—you’ve got it made.
• Because He has the answer for your situation.
• And His answer always works.
• You won’t have to guess your direction.
• You never want to make the fig-leaf move that Adam made when He hid from God in the Garden.
• Don’t ever hide from God—run to Him.
• Run to His voice.
• Because His voice will guide your steps.
• For…

Psalm 37:23 (NASB 2020) — 23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.

Make Time To Hear God

• So, knowing that God has ‘the voice of a quiet silence,’ how do we hear Him and what do we mean when we say live a still life?
• For Elijah the great noise of wind, earthquake, and fire had to pass before the Voice could be heard.
• There had to be a step down in noise before there could be a step up in hearing His voice.
• The noise has to pass—it has to be filtered out to hear.
• The noise has to step down in your mind to hear your spirit.
• You understand that location is part of hearing God.
• God is a spirit the Bible says and He indwells your spirit man.
• God is not a mind—He is not going to speak to your mind.
• But the raging noise in your head must be dampened to hear your spirit.
• What’s trafficking through your brain right now?
• Are you overloaded schedule-wise?
• Hearing from God can’t be crammed into the morning rush hour you have in your head.
• Nor can it be stuffed into the tired part of your day when your body is crying sleep.
• To hear God, the noise in your mind must quiet down enough for your spirit to hear the Voice of quiet silence.
• Your life must stop feeding the noise.
• Shut things out—shut God in.
• To hear His voice build a Bible foundation for it.
• Build a bridge to it from the Word of God.

Hearing God Requires Development

• The word of the Lord to me was, “You don’t know how to listen.”
• So there is a “how” to hearing God.
• First, hearing God must have value to you.
• It must matter enough for you to deal with the hindrances.
• You have to let go of fear.
• Fear that God might put His finger on something in your life that needs to change.
• And He will—so get over it.
• Remember the Africa question.
• If you really want God to speak, you must be willing before He speaks.
• Communion makes communication possible.
• And deep communion makes deep communication a reality.
• If you want God to talk, He will not speed up to match your life.
• You must slow down to His speed.
• That means you pay the price of time.
• Time in His Presence.
• Time in His Word.
• Time waiting.
• If His voice is precious to you, your schedule should know it.
• Salvation is free, but growth in God costs.
• And finally, there is nothing like expectation.
• During those six months, I woke up looking for God to speak.
• That matters because without faith it is impossible to please Him.
• Faith expects God to speak.
• So ride up today and accept the challenge.
• Slow Down. Tune In. Hear Him.
• Start right now, make room for the voice of God.
• Shut off the noise.
• Put down the distractions.
• Open your Bible.
• Sit quietly before the Lord and hear His voice.
• Stop rushing through life so fast that you miss the gentle whisper of His direction.
• Maybe you need to remove something that has been feeding the noise in your life.
• Maybe you need to make time for prayer again.
• Maybe you need to stop considering the world precious.
• But whatever you do—don’t keep living so loud that you can’t hear God.
• And remember: it takes a still life to hear a still voice.
• Now, if you are listening today and all of this sounds foreign to you, maybe it’s because you haven’t accepted Jesus in your life.
• If you would like to come to know Him, bow your head and pray this prayer after me.

Father God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says that if I believe in my heart that Jesus Christ, is the Son of God, that He died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead and, if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, I will be saved. Right now, I do that. I turn from my sin, and I receive Your forgiveness. I give You my life— my heart, my will, my future. I confess Jesus is My Lord. Fill me with Your Spirit, and teach me to walk in Your Word. Thank You for saving me. Thank You that I am now a child of God. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

• If you prayed that prayer, let us know, send us an email so that we can help you get established in God.
• Why A Still Life Is A Massive Step Toward Hearing God.
• You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

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References:

• Guidance
• Faith
• Obedience
• Word of God
• Peace of God