Living Biblically: How To Listen To God

First thing first, we have to understand and know how much He loves us, and what is the sign of people in love? One will have the desire to wants to speak, be heard, and be as close to each other as possible (as intimately as allowed).

GROUND WORKS
° Who can listen to God? - EVERYBODY
"The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know *them*, and they follow Me."
JOHN 10:27 AMP

This verse indicates that my sheep hears my voice, not only a certain sheep, but the sheep that are His.

° How much he loves us? - so much that he is willing to die for us (no man/woman would want to die for their partner if they are not madly in love with each other)

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life." John 3:16‭ MSG

° He wants to be close to us, do we?
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8 NKJV

°I still sin, can i listen to God? - YES.

"Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” "Genesis 3:9 NKJV

Note that He called to Adam AFTER he ate the fruit and are naked (sin), this proves thay God speak to sinners.

How to know God is speaking to sinners? When there's a nudge in your heart to repent of all the things that are not true. Responding to His call to salvation and repentance is the first step towards listening and responding to God.

HOW TO LISTEN TO GOD?
1. Be His sheep, receive the gift of salvation
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,"  John 1:12

2. Develop the thirst and longing for Him , sensitivity to his voice
"In the night my soul longs for You [O Lord ], Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;" Isaiah 26:9a AMP

3. Come boldly into the Throne of Grace
"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrew 4:16

4. Have a realistic expectations
"Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord .” And behold, the Lord  passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord , but the Lord  was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord  was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord  was not in the fire;" I Kings 19:11‭-‬12a NKJV

God will speak in ways you can recognize, but he usually don't speak in such a grand manner where there are audible voice in the room, or other stuffs

He usually speaks in....

5. A still small voice (whisper)
"and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?" I Kings 19:12b-13 NKJV

6. Selah, pause, be still, stop
"For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him, For my hope is from Him." Psalm 62:5 AMP

“Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10

Silence is good, why? Because we could cut the noise surrounding us.

7. Be neutral and objective
He might prompts us to do, change, or make the things we don't like, so keep an open heart, and accept

8. Persist and finally Accept His words
"For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened." Matthew 7:8 AMP

9. Train your spiritual senses
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run [their very best to win], but only one receives the prize? Run [your race] in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours! Now every athlete who [goes into training and] competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a crown that withers, but we [do it to receive] an imperishable [crown that cannot wither]." 1 Corinthians 9:24‭-‬25 AMP

10. Just do it - Obey unconditionally...

HOW TO KNOW WHEN GOD SPEAKS?
He speaks in many ways, ways we can understand, it could be a prompt in your heart, bible verse, billboard, thru others, and for some audibly...

And there are ways to check if God is speaking, rather he told us to check the voice:
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God," 1 John 4:1a

1. Peace or Unrest
"Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]." Philippians 4:6‭-‬7 AMP

When God asks you to do something and you are open to His word and wants to obey, peace will overcome you, a kind of peace that you cannot shake off... no matter what (it wi haunt you)...

When God is prompting you not to do something, unrest will come before you and remind you of your mistakes...

2. Double check with the Bible
"For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." 1 Corinthians 14:33

God won't say A in the bible and say B to you, whatever he says to you, must and will be according to His word

For other ways God speaks, try reading Spiritual Pathways... it explains how God speaks to different people differenly, and how to connect best to God

To end, when we want to obey and follow His words, people will call us crazy, stupid, absurd, and out of our minds, but when God really speaks, pay them no mind...

Contoh: Abram called to go "somewhere", noah building an ark, gideon fought 135k soldier with 300, tearing down the wall of Jericho by walking around it, joseph and mary...

"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And God has chosen the base things of the world and things which are despised ... so that no flesh should boast in His presence." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE GOD. HE CARES EVEN FOR SMALL THINGS

BONUS: THE MORE YOU OBEY, THE MORE YOU WILL LISTEN. Obedience is how you train your spiritual ears... and obedience is God's love language.