The Voice: A Study

By Gabe Liliedahl

The Voice: A Study is the result of a passion meeting reality. The author's passion for hearing God's voice has developed into a book series to help others encounter God's voice for themselves. This second book in The Voice series approaches the voice of God in a much different manner than the first book. The first book related personal experiences with God's voice from cover to cover. This book explains God's voice using the Bible and combines that with a few testimonies in an attempt to help the reader make a connection with God for themselves. The heroes of the faith were flawed individuals. Though we can be inspired through their faith, we can also learn from their shortcomings. Abraham often gets mentioned as the father of faith, but rarely is it mentioned that God had to tell him twice to leave for what would be Israel. David also is characterized as having great faith in God, but rarely is it mentioned that God had to tell him more than once to do something for God. Both of those accounts are expanded upon within the book. The Voice: A Study teaches the reader how to hear from God and process anything He might say. There is an emphasis on the reader's relationship to God. There's an even heavier emphasis on discerning God's voice from other voices. Because God often speaks in dreams and riddles, both of those topics get discussed at length in their own chapters. Because there are false dreams and dreams generated by one's own soul, those dreams get discussed too. The author supplies more than enough information to prepare the reader for their own dream interpretation. There are two chapters devoted to signs and their significance. Signs have a voice, but are not always easily spotted. Again, explanation is given to help the reader look for signs in their own lives. Anyone looking for a deeper relationship with God would benefit from learning His voice as depicted in The Voice series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667867144

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

You haven’t lived until you’ve had an encounter with Jesus. It’s one thing to know the theology; it’s another thing to experience it firsthand. Watching God operate in your life is one of the most wonderful experiences you can ever have. Like many others, I can repeatedly testify to God’s goodness and what He has done for me. He’s transformed my life. He’s repaired relationships. He’s given me hope. I tend to talk more about the different ways He has spoken into my life. For me, interacting with the Spirit of God is a key part of the Christian lifestyle that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Really. He is the word of truth, and He is a Spirit. Jesus said that the true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). That wasn’t a reference to music. While we should worship God through our obedience to the truth of the Bible, we can also worship God by being sensitive and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

You haven’t lived until you’ve heard from God. It’s one thing to know the theology of the voice; it’s another thing to experience His voice firsthand. When God speaks to you, His voice gives you life, just as it gives you purpose (John 6:63). Just as His voice gave birth to the earth and universe, His voice does something to those that hear from Him (John 5:25). There is no greater life than to hear from the Almighty and act upon whatever He has spoken. Hearing from God is not a gift limited to just a few select individuals. God once warned an unbelieving Midianite of Gideon and the coming attack (Judg 7:13-14). While that warning is usually skimmed over in the greater context of the Gideon account, the fact remains that the warning was given to a Midianite, someone who did not worship the God of Israel. The fact remains that God once warned a non-believer of a coming attack that God himself was orchestrating. God can speak to anyone.

Followers of Christ should believe that God still speaks through the Bible, which says that it is living and active (Heb 4:12). Jesus, who is the Word of God, once told a group of people, I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35 ESV). Jesus once told Satan, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). Jesus, the Word of God, is still relevant, is still the light, and is still the way, the truth and the life to a dark, lost, and dying world. God’s truth is eternal (Ps 117:2).

Having said that, a brief overview of God’s eternal truth of the living, active Bible reveals that God spoke and that God still speaks. The living, active Bible itself says that God uses dreams to speak to people:

Job 33:14-17 (King James Version) For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.

He spoke throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments using dreams, visions, and prophets. He spoke to Paul after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. He spoke in the book of Revelation at the end of the Bible and said to listen to what the Spirit says to the seven churches. That means the Spirit is still speaking. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). God never changes. He will always be righteous. He will always be truthful. He will always be gracious. He will always act in ways that are consistent with His character. He will always speak to people, even unbelieving Midianites.

God spoke to me as a child on numerous occasions, usually at night when I was trying to go to sleep. I wasn’t in church at the time. Heck, I wasn’t saved and discouraged my family from attending church. I have looked back and viewed the conversations with God as a type of Samuel experience (1 Sam 3:7). Eventually, I forgot about all the conversations with God and became a hopeless alcoholic who stole a family inheritance. Because of my alcoholism and eventual dedication to God later in life, it occurs to me now that maybe it was not another Samuel experience. Maybe God was warning another Midianite—me. Facing ten to thirty years on a DWI-4 charge brought me back into reality. While awaiting trial in a maximum-security facility, I experienced God through a few answered prayers.

God began restoring my family. He spared me from decades in prison. I served two years. God, acting on my behalf, did speak to me—in a sense (Exod 4:8). However, it didn’t really register with me until a couple of years later. The reality of God’s voice hit me through the symbolic dreams I began having. The idea that God would speak to me through any symbolic dream appealed to me and changed my relationship with God. It was then that I realized that God was doing something personal for me. Like the Midianite, I received something unexpected: a very real communication from a supernatural God. That’s when my reality changed. The reality of a symbolic dream also brought the reality of the Bible to life. God uses dreams to speak to people throughout the Bible. Unfortunately, many of today’s churches largely ignore that topic, perhaps out of ignorance. The church tends to focus only on the reality it can explain. For me, dreams were a doorway into a relationship with God that I had never known. On this side of my walk with God and knowing how God speaks to people, I can confidently say that much of the church is missing out on an incredible journey with God. The doorway to that journey is God’s voice. Dreams are just one part of it. God can speak to whomever He wants, however He wants, and whenever He wants. He may have already been speaking to you. If you pursue Him, you’ll better position yourself to hear from Him. When the disciples asked for further explanation, Jesus gave it to them (Mark 7:17; Matt 13:36).

It would not be truthful to say that everything contained within this book is a result of my own study, though much of it is. I’ve done and continue to do my homework in the Bible. While this book is a result of much biblical study and the desire to understand what the Bible says about God’s voice, I’ve also learned from other believers who are passionate about their relationship with God. I’ve learned from various pastors and leaders throughout the body of Christ, in church, and online. At one time, it seemed that I had read every dream interpretation book written by Christian authors. I absorbed every sermon preached containing insight into God’s voice, reflecting on what was said and investigating that in the Bible.

My last book, The Voice: Words from God (hereafter referred to as VWG), was a testimony of God’s faithfulness. It recounted many true experiences of God speaking into my life, along with my take on what it all meant. From a biblical standpoint, during much of that journey, I didn’t know much about God’s voice. I had the experience but didn’t know the theology behind it. I can’t say that I have always heard and interpreted correctly what God was speaking. I didn’t always correctly apply the interpreted message that was given to me. Nevertheless, I did my best to interpret what God was saying, using the Bible as my filter. I tried to apply any message given to me by using the Bible as my guide.

This book attempts to go in-depth into the voice of God where the last one could not. While there will be more testimonies within these pages, this book is intended as more of a Bible study. Theology and experience must line up. My hope is to give you the keys to hearing God for yourself. Hopefully, you’ll find the answers to any of your questions concerning God’s voice. In this book, you’ll encounter ways that He spoke throughout the Bible. My aim is to highlight portions of the Bible that are consistent with my experiences with Him. When you see Him operating consistently in a particular way in the Bible, you can believe He will do that again (Rom 15:4). Then you’ll know what to look for in your own life as God speaks to you.

Chapter ONE:

The Voice Still Speaks

I came to know Christ in my late thirties after having wasted much of my life as an alcoholic. One of the biggest issues I struggled with was the idea that God wanted a relationship with me. I mean—how? How do you have a relationship with a book? Whenever the question of how to have a relationship with God arises, usually the same canned answer is given—Bible study and prayer. That seemed one-sided to me, and I wrestled with it. For example, would God do His part? What was His part? While Jesus’s death on a cross for all of us clearly indicates that God loves us and wants a relationship with us (John 3:16), relationships are meant to be ongoing.

Not that God has to do anything else for us. Still, I thought God needed to do something to prove He wanted a relationship with me. Having matured somewhat in the faith, I now understand it better. He doesn’t have to prove anything. He already did that on the cross. That action should speak volumes to us about His love for all people. However, He still speaks to people. God had been speaking to me throughout my life, mostly undetected. He had spoken to me as a child, and I had forgotten all about it until years later. He still speaks to me. It’s just more difficult to hear Him and recognize His voice when you’re engaged in daily activities. The trick to hearing God is to pay attention. Knowing what to look for can help. It seems to be easier to hear from God in your devotional time, reading the Bible, and through prayer. Take this example from Scripture:

Numbers 7:89 (English Standard Version) And when Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.

The ark carried the presence of God. Simply put, Moses went to meet with God, and God began speaking to him. Hearing from God is not a science. It’s not an art. It’s an experience. If you make time to meet with God, He will speak to you. The idea that God still speaks to us and that He still has plenty to say can be seen in the following passage:

John 16:12-14 (ESV) I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (12). When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come (13), He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (14).

In context, Jesus is giving the disciples some final instructions before his arrest and crucifixion. He says that he has more to say to them but can’t right now (John 16:12). He then points to the Spirit of truth who will speak for him about the future (John 16:13-14). The disciples are about to experience great loss in the arrest, crucifixion, and death of Jesus. Jesus has taught them for three years, but he is not finished. His teaching through the Spirit of truth will resume after He ascends.

That’s interesting because we know that after His resurrection, He appeared to them often for forty days before ascending. So why didn’t He just teach them what he needed to after His resurrection but before His ascension? He taught them during that period but apparently, He had even more to say after his ascension. But there’s more to it than just that.

Jesus could have taught them everything they needed to know before He left them. He purposely spoke to them the context of John 16:13. He purposely withheld some information and then ascended to heaven. He wanted us to discover that Scripture and then make the connection with the disciples and Holy Spirit. If God wants to speak to us through Holy Spirit, He can, just as He said He would do with the disciples. Personally, I think God speaks all the time about a variety of things. The previous passage in John says there were some things the disciples were not yet ready to hear. That’s still the case today, though, for different reasons than the disciples. As a whole, the body of Christ today is not sure how to hear from God. They’re still not ready to hear from Him directly because they don’t know how. I think we subconsciously put limits on what God can or can’t do in our lives. When we look at the passage in John sixteen, we want it for ourselves; we say yes to it but don’t really expect it to manifest. Remarkably, knowing the future and sharing it with us is a feature that our God has which distinguishes Him from all other gods.

Isaiah 46:9-10 (New International Version) Remember the former things, those of long ago;

I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’

Isaiah 41:21-24 (NIV) Present your case, says the Lord. Set forth your arguments, says Jacob’s King. "Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and