Enjoying the blessing of divine direction

Introduction

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, Who
teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.

Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a
river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like
the grains of sand; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me."

Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing, Declare,
proclaim this, Utter it to the end of the earth; Say, "The Lord has redeemed His servant
Jacob!"

And they did not thirst When He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to
flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out (Isaiah
48:17-21 Emphasis Mine).

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:14).

Divine direction is an asset that everyone should covet and possess. This is because: there
are many ways that you can go but there is only one way that you should go and only the
Lord knows that one way. Therefore, when He is the one leading your way, your life simply
become charged with supernatural occurrences.

There is nothing like divine direction in the life of a believer. It is the major difference
between the shinning Christian and the struggling one. It is the fundamental requirement
for a life of continuous triumph and exploits.

The leading of the Lord makes a man to live in the desert and not be thirsty. It makes a man
to walk through the sea and not get drown and it forces water out of the flinty rocks. There
is nothing that makes life glorious like divine direction.

The leading of the Lord does not mean that there will not be oppositions and challenges on
your way; what it means is that you will overcome them and walk through them
triumphantly. The children of Israel were led by God but they still had the Red sea, the wall
of Jericho and the fierce wilderness to walk through. However, the presence of God with
them enabled them to walk victoriously across all those huddles.

The truth is that on earth today, unless you are living in compliance to divine directives, you
are in for a very tough and rough time. But when you are in touch with the leading of the
Lord, you will triumph over every difficulties and obstacles that come your way.
That is why I will be sharing with you in very clear and simple terms, how you can be a
beneficiary of the blessing of divine direction. If you are a child of God, you should know
how your Father speaks and yield continually to what He says to you.

Your life is so precious to God that He cannot afford to see you live in confusion, misery and
shame. That is why He has committed Himself to be your guide in all the issues of your life. I
pray that you will have a tangible encounter with the Holy Spirit as you read this book. By
the time you are through with this book, you will be speaking with the Lord and a man
speaks with His friend in Jesus name. Amen.

Chapter One: The Reality of Divine direction

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

Divine direction is one of the spiritual blessings that we have been given in Christ. It is one of
the ‘all’ things that we have been given so richly enjoy (1Tim. 6:17). It is a treasure that we
cannot afford to live without.

Divine direction is the secret to continuous conquest. It is the only way to live a flawless life.
It was the secret of David; he had access to continuous direction; therefore, he did not lose
any battle. There is a great need for us to crave this great treasure.

If you are going to enjoy divine direction however, you need to consciously come to terms
with the following truths:-

God is a living God who speaks

He speaks to His people; He is not a dumb God, He is a speaking God. This appears simple,
but if you search your heart you might notice that you are not fully conscious of that truth. If
you will ever be led, you need to first of all realize that God speaks. He is not just sitting on a
chair in heaven doing nothing and saying nothing. God is actively involved in the matters of
the world (which includes you) and He is still speaking.

God is willing to speak to you

Not only does God speak, He is also willing to speak to you. He wants to talk to you
individually or personally. He desires to talk to you at all times, He wants to have fellowship
with you (1Cor.1:9) and fellowship is not possible without speaking.

You see, it is one thing to agree that God speaks. It is quite another to realize that He desires
to speak with me as a person. If you really desire divine direction, you must come to the full
realization of these two facts: God speaks and God wants to speak with you. You can hear
God everyday of your life.
There are several people who have heard God at one point or another in their lives. We
have a lot of such testimonies in the scriptures and even in contemporary times. He will
speak to you too once you get yourself positioned to hear Him.

God spoke to Abraham (Gen. 12:1; 17: 1), Moses (Ex. 19:19), David (2 Sam. 23:1-3), Ezekiel
(Ezek. 1:28), John (Rev 1:10; 4:1), Peter (Acts 10:19), Paul (Acts 18:9) and a lot of others
including all His prophets and Apostles. My God is a speaking God; are you ready to hear
Him? I have heard Him speak to me on several occasions; so I am certain that the Lord
speaks.

Chapter Two: The value of His leading

When God leads you, no one can stand against you without being crushed. The reason is
that His great and awesome power accompanies His leadings.

When a man is led by God, devils are cleared out of his way and obstacles are levelled out
without stress just because of the power that flows along with His leading.

What kind of voice is His Voice? The twenty-ninth psalm has a lot to tell us about the value
and the power of God’s voice.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many
waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His
temple everyone says, "Glory!"

The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever.

The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace. (Psalm
29:3-7)

1. His voice is a glorious voice. Ps 29:3; Is.30:30

God’s voice is glorious and majestic. That is why your life becomes glorious and majestic
when it is continually under the influence of that voice. When God speaks, there is such
unexplainable glory that comes along with His voice.
The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with
the indignation of His anger And the flame of a devouring fire, With scattering, tempest,
and hailstones.

For through the voice of the Lord Assyria will be beaten down, As He strikes with the rod
(Isa 30:30-31).

2. His voice is a thundering voice. Psalm 18:13; 29:3

God thunders with His voice and there is no person - flesh or spirit that can stand on the
way of that thunder. When God thunders, everyone runs for cover and stand the risk of
being consumed by that thunder.

The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and
coals of fire. (Psalm 18:13)

3. His voice is a reverberating voice. Psalm 29:3-9

When God speaks, everything shakes with a rigorous vibration. The bible says that even the
cedars of Lebanon (the hardest tree) are broken apart by the reverberating effect of God’s
voice. Any unwanted thing that has attached itself to you shall be broken away by that
vibrating voice. It shakes failure, weakness, sickness, stagnation etc out of your system.

4. His voice is a loud voice. Rev. 1:10; 4:1

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet.
(Revelation 1:10)

John said that God’s voice was like the sound of a trumpet when he heard it. God’s voice is
loud and it is loud enough to announce you. I pray that the Lord will announce you where
you are with His loud voice. If you are following His leading, be sure that His voice will soon
bring you to lime light.

5. His voice is a roaring voice. Amos 3:8

A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
(Amos 3:8)

God does not only speak; God roars and when He roars, fear and terror is transmitted into
the system of the adversary. There is no devil that can stay when God is roaring; Satan
cannot withstand it.

God’s voice is a roaring voice. That is why Jesus never struggled with any demon. Whenever
He speaks, they hear a roaring and they find their ways out of the environment. God’s voice
is a roaring voice. I see Him roaring against all your adversaries right now. Every gathering
together against you shall be scattered now by that roaring.
 6. His voice is a burning voice. Psalm 46:6

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
(Psalm 46:6)

God’s voice burns like fire and it is so strong that it can melt the earth. There is no force that
can withstand the heat that is released whenever God speaks.

God does not only speak words, God speaks fire and that fire is an unquenchable fire. It will
burn and burn until it has accomplished its mission. God’s voice is a burning voice; it burns
as unquenchable fire.

7. His voice is as the sound of many waters. Rev. 1:15

His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many
waters. (Revelation 1:15)

His strong voice is stronger than a multitude of voices. John said that His voice is as the
sound of many waters. You can’t hear it and remain the same. Only the Lord can make a
sound that will be as the sound of many waters. It is an indescribable voice.

Friend, I want you to crave His leading. Pant after His leading; that is your greatest asset in
life.

Whenever you are led by God, those sevenfold treasures in His voice accompany you
unceasingly.

Chapter Three: How His leading comes to us

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the
prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of
all things, through whom also He made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Having seen some of the benefits and power in His leading, let us study how God’s leading
comes to us. If you don’t know the nature of His leading, you will never enjoy it.

Heb.1:1-2 tells us that we can expect to be led by the Lord. God spoke to the fathers in time
past (Old testament) by the prophets but He speaks to us now by His Son.

That means if you are in Christ, you have the liberty to hear what God is saying. You don’t
need to consult a prophet before you are divinely guided. You now have an express line to
God via the Holy Spirit and in Christ Jesus (John 16:12-14).

Note:

Before itemizing how His leading comes to us; it is important to note that God relates
primarily with our spirits (inward man). Therefore, the condition of your inward man is a
defining factor in your quest for divine direction. You need to take care of your spirit man by
prayer and by feeding on the word of God.

Now, how does his leading come to us?

1. By our spiritual feelings/senses

This is the most primary way by which God leads us. Our bodies have five senses (touch,
taste, sight, odour, and hearing) and our spirit also has senses. Most of us are not yet aware
of our spiritual senses, so they remain unused and under developed.
The journey recorded in Acts chapter 27 gives us an example of how spiritual feelings work
and the costly consequences of ignoring it.

When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not
permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone.

Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast
was already over, Paul advised them, saying, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end
with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives."

Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the
ship than by the things spoken by Paul. And because the harbor was not suitable to winter
in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach
Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter
there.

When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting
out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose,
called Euroclydon. So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let
her drive.

Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on
us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. (Acts 27:7-16, 20)

Paul was referring to that spiritual sense when he said in Acts 27:10 ‘I perceive that this
voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our
lives’. You will see from that encounter that Paul was not quoting anything that God said.
He just had this inner knowledge that something was not right.

The other people in the ship were following their physical senses and feelings but Paul was
following his spiritual feeling. Their decision to go on with that voyage resulted in the loss of
the ship and of all their properties on it. It also almost destroyed their lives. Your spiritual
feeling is very important; you need to learn how it works because it may determine how
long you will live on earth.
The spiritual sense is also called “Inner witness”. Rom. 8:16 states that the Spirit of God
witnesses with our spirits that we are children of God. We all have spiritual senses but most
of us are not yielding to it.

You will notice from the account given above that the sailors had enough physical reason to
go forward, yet going forward ended into disaster. You cannot afford to continue living on
just your physical impulses. Your life should be guided from the inside. What seems right to
the majority is not necessarily the best to do, you need to begin to recognize and follow
your spiritual feelings.

At times, you will notice that everything seems to be physically alright about a particular
thing that you wish to do; yet you are feeling uneasy about doing that thing. You check
through your head to find the reason for the uneasy feeling and you cannot locate one
particular good reason for the uneasy feeling. That is a take caution sign from within your
spirit. It is a spiritual perception telling you not to take that action. Follow what it says.

At other times, a decision that should trouble you (looking from the physical perspective)
makes you feel so good. It appears to be out of sense but deep within you, it is just the right
thing to do. You feel that good sensation from within anytime you think about it. That is a
go-ahead signal from your spirit and it can be safely followed.

When the Lord told me to move to Abeokuta from Ilorin, it did not make sense at all
naturally speaking. We were having a smooth time with ministry in Ilorin but the Lord spoke
to me saying, ‘you are going to Abeokuta’. I did not know anyone in Abeokuta, I did not
really know how the city looks like, and I had passed through it just once before then. So, I
did not know anything about Abeokuta.

But during that time of decision making, I was feeling so good about leaving Ilorin for
Abeokuta. A kind of peace and joy that I cannot explain usually overwhelmed my heart
whenever I thought of moving. That was my spiritual feeling, giving credence to the word
that I had received from the Lord.

Now, let me tell you this. If I receive a word (supposedly from God) but I begin to feel
uneasy and uncomfortable from within me, I will simply throw that word aside. It is not
from God and my spiritual sense is giving a take caution signal about it.

Spiritual perception is so important that God will speak to you through it and He will also
use it to confirm whatever word He gives you from any other means. The leading of the Lord
will give you joy and peace not restlessness and sorrow.

That spiritual sense is placed there by God to guide you out of danger and to lead you into
the place where you will be lifted and blessed. You see, when you are walking towards fire,
your physical sense of sight and feeling quickly raises an alarm. You can choose to yield to
them and you can choose to ignore them and walk into the fire - but they will always
caution you.

The spiritual sense works the same way. It gives you a green light (go ahead) or a red light
(stop) depending on the prevailing spiritual condition. It is now your choice to make; either
to yield to it or to ignore it.

When you want to sign a paper and you begin to feel uneasy inside you; withdraw and don’t
sign it. You want to travel and you begin to get that red sign; unpack your bag and sit down -
no matter the appointment waiting for you (only a person that is alive will keep
appointment).

Many children of God have entered into trouble just by not yielding to the spiritual
promptings given by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit prompting will give you a green light (a
go-ahead and refreshing sensation inside you) or a red light (a take caution sensation inside
you). Yield to whatever it says and you will enjoy the blessing of divine direction.

2. By our thoughts

God also leads us by planting thoughts into our hearts. Many are confused about this
because they don’t know how it works. So when something comes to them they begin to
wonder, ‘is it my thinking or God speaking? That situation has caged so many precious
people; we therefore need to look scripturally into it.

First take note that God is aware that you think and He knows your thoughts (your personal
thinking system - Matt. 12:25).

But Jesus knew their thoughts (Matthew 12:25)

God is fully aware of your personal thinking system and He will use it to speak to you if you
will give in totally to Him.

Secondly, take note that your thoughts emanate from your heart. Or let us say that the
heart is the home of your thoughts- either the one you think for yourself or the one planted
by external forces. Your heart is the home of your thoughts. Therefore, the quality of your
heart will determine the nature of your thoughts (Matt. 12:35).

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false
witness, blasphemies… (Matt 15:19)

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil
man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (Matt. 12:35)

Thirdly, take note that your personal thoughts do not have to always be against God’s will.
That is, God can speak to you through your personal thoughts. This however, needs a lot of
teaching and training and practice before you will be confident in it and not miss God. We
shall see how that can work very soon.

Now, I want you to know that there are three major kinds of thoughts that come to you:

 Personal thoughts (personally generated thoughts)

 Satanic thoughts (Thoughts planted by the devil)
 Godly thoughts (Thoughts planted by God)

There are several examples of personal thoughts in the bible. The Pharisees ‘said within
themselves’ (Matt. 9:3). The rich fool ‘thought within himself’ (Luke 12:17). The woman with
the issue of blood also spoke within herself (Matt. 9:21). Personal thoughts can be
constructive and it can be destructive depending on how you handle them.

There are also cases in which Satan plants thought into people’s hearts. For example, the
devil put it into Judas Iscariot’s heart to betray Jesus (John 13:2); Satan filled the heart of
Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-5). They agreed with the thoughts
that Satan planted in their heart, they conceived it and acted accordingly. Satanic thoughts
always push people towards death and destruction.

Finally, there are thoughts planted by God. When Moses was forty years old, it came to his
heart (from God) to visit his brethren (Acts 7:23); Solomon finished the house of the Lord
and the king’s house; he successfully accomplished all that came into his heart from the
Lord (2Chr. 7:1).

What to do with your thoughts

What we need to know now is how to identify the source of every thought that comes to us,
accept Gods thoughts; reject the devil’s thoughts and deal with our personal thoughts.

Satan’s thoughts are not the problem of the believer. We recognize them quite easily. They
are often tempting and negative. They may be mild, but we definitely know that they are
from Satan. Reject such thoughts and speak boldly against it. Say exact opposite of what
that thought is attempting to push on you.

The real issue we have is how to separate our personal thoughts from God’s thoughts. You
know what I am talking about, don’t you? ‘Is it me or God?’ syndrome; I will help you to
come out of it if you will allow me.

The first thing I want you to realize is that God is never against your personal thoughts. In
fact, God never spoke one word in scripture against your personal thoughts, what God
speaks against is your personal intentions. So, the problem is never with your thoughts, the
trouble is always with your intentions.

Therefore, you are not to suppress, fight against or kill your personal thinking system, you
are rather to get it aligned with God’s thinking system. In other words, you are not to
destroy your mind (which is the home of your thoughts); rather, you are to renew it (Rom.
12:2).

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:2)

God’s ultimate desire is for your thoughts to be up graded to His thoughts. God want you to
grow so high that you begin to unconsciously think the way He thinks. God’s thoughts and
your thoughts do not have to be contradictory. What you should do is: get your thoughts in
line with His.

You see, what hinders God from getting access to us via our thoughts are our wrong motives
and intentions. They usually becloud our minds and make God’s will too hard for us to
receive.

Someone can be fasting for forty days; but as long as his motives and intentions are not in
line with God, he will never hear what God is saying. He will only create an answer for
himself and start deceiving himself that God has spoken to him.

There are several types of personal thoughts, based on our intentions and motives.
Examples include:

 Selfish thoughts (Luke 12: 16-21)

 Covetous thoughts (Acts 8:20-22)
 Anxious thoughts (Matt.6:28-34; 10:19)
 Unbelief/ evil thoughts (Matt.9:3-4)
 Thoughts in line with God will (Matt.9:21)

When our intentions are right, our thoughts will always be in line with the will of God. You
should work on yourself and strive to get your thoughts aligned with God’s will.

Aligning my thoughts with God’s thoughts (Is. 55:8-9)

It is possible to make your thoughts to become God’s thoughts. Your personal thinking
system can be upgraded to God’s level where you begin to think and reason the same way
God does.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And
My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

His high ways and is high thoughts can begin to function within you. The work will have to
be done on your heart; it is the home of your thoughts. The condition of your heart is of
paramount importance when it comes to divine direction. If your heart is right, your
thoughts can then be safely followed.
After Saul received a new heart, he was told to do as occasion serves him; that is, he can
safely follow his thoughts (1 Sam. 10:7, 9). When he received a new heart, he became
another man and his thoughts became consecrated.

If your thoughts will ever come to alignment with Gods thoughts, you need to do something
about your heart. A new heart will always result to a new man. What should I do about my
heart/mind?

 Renew it with the word of God

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom. 12:2)

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

The word of God re- programs or renews your mind and brings it into alignment with the
will of God. It is only the word that will enable you to begin to think the way God thinks.
God’s word is the expression of His thoughts; so, the more of the word you have in you, the
more you begin to reason like Him.

You cannot begin to reason like God until you have first of all learnt to reason with Him in
His word.

Fill your heart with the word of God. That is the fundamental step to take in upgrading your
thought life into God’s class of operation. In fact, He really desires to write His entire word
on your heart. That is what the bible says. But He will not do so until you settle down with
the word and allow Him to write upon your heart by His Spirit.

You remember that God wrote His law on the tablets of stone by His finger (Deuteronomy
9:10), which is the prophetic symbol of His Spirit (Luke 11:20; Matthew 12:28). What He
desires to do with you right now is to write His word by the same Spirit unto your heart, not
just on stones anymore. So, whenever you encounter a striking insight from God’s word,
that is the Holy Spirit writing the word upon your heart.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.

None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for
all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put
My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them. (Hebrews 8:10-11; 10:16)
God wants to write His laws on your heart, so that the word will guide your thoughts but
you need to agree with Him (Heb. 8:10; 10:16). God wants to sow His word as a seed into
your heart (Matt. 13: 19) but He needs your cooperation. Exposure to the word of God will
upgrade your thoughts to His thoughts.

Even in the natural, when you relate closely with someone over a period of time (as in
marriage), you will begin to reason the same way. It works the same way with God. Start
today, it will not happen overnight. Reason with Him in His word. Fill your heart with His
word by study and meditation you will see your thoughts becoming His thoughts.

If that is properly done, you will discover that over time, your day to day thinking process
will be perfectly in line with the will of God.

I believe you can now see that God can lead you through your thoughts. But there are other
ways by which we are led; let us go on.

3. By an inward voice

This is a more authoritative form of divine leading. At times; what God wants to
communicate goes beyond the level of thoughts; then He speaks to us by the inward voice.

The inward voice drops like rain into your heart (Deut. 32:2) from the mouth of His majesty
and it arrives as a still small voice (1 King 19:12).

If you check the prophetic and apostolic writings in scriptures, you will discover that a lot of
what they heard from God came via the inward voice. The voice of God was working in them
as they wrote.

Peter told us that the scriptures were written as the Holy Spirit moved upon the men of God
(1Peter 1:20-21). Looking at the flow and the volume of those writings, you will observe that
the words were flowing from within the prophets; not from outside. If they were just taking
dictation from a loud voice outside them; it would have shown in the writings, they would
not have been so accurate in putting it down. God spoke to them from within by the inward
voice.

Paul in some of his epistle would say things like ‘this is my commandment, not the Lord’s’ or
‘the Lord has thus instructed’ etc. (1 Cor. 7:10, 12, 25). This means that the words were
flowing from within him and he knew when his own opinion was manifesting while he
wrote.

Be sensitive to the inward voice of the Holy Spirit. A lot of times when people say,
‘something told me’ they are referring to that still small voice but they are not aware of it
since they have not been trained to recognized it. From now, expect God to lead you by the
inward voice. It is greater than an impression and is stronger than the inner witness which
just gives you a knowing. This one delivers a word to you that show you what to do.
If you are spiritual, the inner voice of the Holy Spirit will be as real to you as somebody
talking directly to you. It will be very clear and you will not miss it. The more spiritual you
are, the clearer the still small voice sound to you. The reason for the spiritual mix ups that
we experience most of the time is that we stay too much in the flesh, in the realm of our
senses. But if you can be spiritually minded, it will make a lot of difference in your walk with
God.

4. By an outward voice

God also speaks by an outward voice which sounds physically audible to you. There are
many situations in the bible where God spoke audibly to people and it is still happening
today.

When God spoke to John, He said in Rev. 1:10, ‘I heard a loud voice as of a trumpet’. That
was a classic example of hearing God by an outward audible voice.

Paul also heard the loud voice outwardly. Acts 23:11 says that the Lord stood by him and
said, ‘Be of good cheer Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also
bear witness at Rome’.

God speaks by an outward voice whenever He sees it necessary to do so. You do not have
the right to tell God how He should speak to you; all you need to do is to seek His face for
direction, open your heart to Him and let Him speak to you however He chose to (since He
knows what will work better for you). You then go forward by faith and do what He says.

There are many people who have done great and mighty things in the kingdom of God
without hearing God’s audible voice once; so don’t put yourself under pressure seeking
voices. That is a very dangerous thing to do.

Several voices exist in the spirit realm; demons and even Satan can speak to you audibly
trying to deceive you. That is why you are not to seek voices; doing so may expose you to
satanic deceptions and confusion. There are many who have heard such voices and have
become agents of the devil because of the things they heard. Don’t be deceived.

God speaks audibly but you do not need to mandate Him to speak to you in that manner.
Let Him chose to do it at His own discretion. What I have often noticed is that spectacular
leading like audible voice is given by God when the issue is very major in someone’s life or
when it is a life threatening situation. The audible voice does not just happen anyhow, God
know when it is needed, so walk with Him.

Your emphases should not be in hearing God’s audible voice; it should be in recognizing His
leading and walking with Him by faith.

5- By visions (Acts 2:17)

 Visions are spiritual pictures made to appear to a person, communicating a spiritual
message at the point in time. God speaks by visions and there are many visions in the bible.

If you study the Acts of the Apostles, you will notice that visions are a vital part of the early
church. It was so common to them and they were very used to it. In the same way, as a child
of God you should go beyond the level of dreams to visions.

Visions are spiritual pictures planted on your heart by God and there are several types of
visions:

Open vision: In which you see into the spirit realm with your eyes while you are still
conscious of your physical environment.

Trance: In this case, your physical consciousness gets suspended.

Vision of the night: It happens at night time either you are sleeping or not. The message is
usually very clear and vivid. Some who experience this refer to it as dreams but in reality it is
vision of the night.

Precaution

You need to know the word of God, so that you can be able to judge all that you see in
visions. Satan is a pretender (2 Cor. 11:4) and can also give you visions, so if you do not
know the word of you may be easily deceived and manipulated.

6. By prophetic guidance

This can come through two main ways

(a)By the ministry of the prophet. Hosea 12:13.

There are new testament prophets, the prophetic ministry did not end in the old testament.
Jesus said that He will send prophets to us. This is referring to new testament prophets
(Matt. 23:34). Ephesians 4:11 said that God as given to His church Apostles, Prophets,
Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. So, God has given prophets to His church and we are to
enjoy their ministry. In Acts 13: 1-2 we see some prophets in the church mentioned by
name. Acts 21:10 there, the prophet Agabus was mentioned. In Acts 15:32, two prophets
were also mentioned.

The work of the New Testament Prophets

Heb. 1 : 1-2.

In the new testament all of us can hear God but that does not cancel the ministry of the
prophet.
 (I)The ministry of the prophet is for guidance into the will of God. They help you to
appreciate and function well in what God has assigned for you.

(II)They tell us what God is saying to a nation or a group of people like church
families. A church with a prophetic head will receive a word from God through the prophet
which will set directions to the church. This in turn will perfect a church according to Eph.
4:11-12.

(III)They expose the mysteries of God. They show us the deep things of God
(Eph.3:5). A true prophet will gain access to the deep things of God and convey them to us.
We are then expected to comply with those things. The main work a prophet is not telling
you things about you, but to tell you the deep things of God.

(b) The second means of prophetic guidance is by the manifestations of the gift of
prophecy. To prophecy means to speak under divine inspiration. The four daughters of
Philip had that gift of prophecy Acts 21:8-9.

The gift of prophecy can manifest in several ways:

-Tongues and interpretation.

Effects of a good prophecy.

1Cor.14:3-4. This is what a good prophecy will do.

-Edification

-Exhortation

-Comfort

If a prophecy is not edifying the church nor exhorting nor comforting anyone, that
prophecy is not from God.

7. By scriptural leading

God’s leading is always available in the bible and all other forms of leading must comply
with what the scriptures say.

Whenever you are confronted with a challenge, carry your bible prayerfully and with
expectation and His leading will come expressly to you.

How to more sensitive to His leading

1. Living in the spirit.

Let spiritual things fill your heart.

2. Meditating on the word of God

3. Speaking in tongues

4. Commitment to worship

5. Rest and quietness

Be restful. Lean to live without clamour and anxiety. That is why you need to separate time
out to stay quietly before the Lord expecting His word to come to you.

6. Be a giver

7. Make inquiry

Those who make inquiry don’t miss God. Start praying the prayer of inquiry. If you pray
with sincerity and listen for His response, He will answer you.

Your prayer is not finished until you hear God. Whenever you pray, listen and let Him speak
to you.