As children of God, one of the highest privileges we have is to hear the voice of our Heavenly Father. On the day you were born physically you had all your senses - hearing, tasting, seeing, feeling and smelling. As we grow, we need to learn how to use these natural senses. A baby can't see great distances and things are a little blurry at first. As they mature, they begin to see more clearly. The same applies to us spiritually. Being born again means that your spirit man can hear and see in the spirit, but these senses need to be developed.

How do we hear the voice of God? God created man spirit, soul and body. The Spirit is the part of man that communicates and dialogues with God. We can have this interaction with God because after being born again our Spirit is alive to God. That is why after being born again the Bible seems to come alive and we see verses we have never seen before. Our Soul is our mind, will and emotions and has thoughts, feelings and desires. Our body is the part of us that has the five senses. Touch, seeing, taste, smell and hear. My body responds to the information received from the Soul.

The more you come to know God the more you begin to recognize His voice. It is like when a good friend phones you, you immediately know who is on the other side, and you don't have to ask who is speaking.

There are three main types of voices and thoughts that you can have in your mind.

1. God’s Voice

One thing that you will notice is that as you learn to listen to God's voice is that God speaks in line with His Word. The Word of God is the way God speaks! The more you know the Word of God, the easier it becomes to hear God's voice. God’s voice sounds like this: “I love you (John 3:16), I have a plan for your life (Jeremiah 29;11), don’t worry, just trust me (Matthew 6:25).”

2. The enemy’s voice

Satan’s voice is negative and leaves you feeling shameful, discouraged, fearful, and insignificant. Satan usually likes to plant negative thoughts in our minds, especially about things that are out of our control. The enemy’s voice sounds like this: “There is no way you are going to make the end of the month, you are going to go bankrupt and get sick.”

3. Your own voice

Our own voice is usually neutral. Neither positive nor negative. It has to do with natural desires, like sleeping, eating and sexual desires. If we do not learn to discipline our physical desires, they can also run wild and try and control us. Our own voice sounds like: “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m cold, and I’m frustrated!”