The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 10:27, “MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, and I know them, and they follow me.” It’s instinctive in the believer to hear the voice of his savior. The more we listen to Him, the easier it becomes to detect His voice. Even as the youngest baby knows the voice of its mother, Christians should be so familiar with the voice of our savior that we can detect it in the loudest environment.

We read earlier in this same chapter, “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and HE CALLETH HIS OWN SHEEP BY NAME, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” (John 10:2-4)

In John 20, we have the touching story of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb of the Lord. She was perplexed as she walked away from the tomb where she had seen them lay the body of the Lord a few days earlier (Mark 15:47). We read in John 20:14-16, “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.” Mary did not recognize the Lord, but when He spoke her name, she knew for certain that it was the Lord. Indeed, “He calleth His own sheep by name.”

How do we train our spirit to hear to voice of God? Familiarity! Have you ever had a friend call you on the telephone and say, “Hi. It’s me”, and you knew exactly who it was? It’s because you have heard the voice of your friend so often, that you immediately recognize it when you hear it. When we are continually reading the Word of God, we become used to hearing from Him by the Holy Spirit. When the Lord taught His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, he said “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13)

In Revelation 2-3, the Lord writes seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. In each letter, the Lord ends by stating, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, and 3:22.) One who has an ‘ear to hear’ is one that is willing to listen to and obey what the Lord has to say. This is a familiar saying, for the Lord Jesus said it often in His teachings while on the earth. (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Mark 4:9, 7:16.) To be able to ‘hear’ God’s voice speaking to you through His Word, one must be willing to obey God’s Word. If we read our Bibles, with no desire to learn more about the Lord and to walk in the truths He entrusts us with, we will not hear the voice of the Lord speaking to us through His Spirit and by the reading of His Word. The more time we spend in God’s Word with a humble attitude and a ‘listening ear’, the more we will be able to discern the Lord speaking to us in the Bible. (339.2)