Session 28

A secret to hearing God’s voice clearly

From Letters of Paul: 30-Day Bible Study

We all have teams we support and wear their colors proudly. But does wearing our favorite player’s jersey give us their athletic skill? Of course not. We have the player’s appearance, but not their power.

Paul says some people live “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Like the giant family Bible on display but collecting dust, we can have God’s Word but live devoid of its influence.

From advertisements to Internet memes, messages are continually competing for our attention. With so much noise, we have the potential to be “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:13).

So how can we tune out the cacophony and hear God’s voice? Paul says we start by knowing Scripture (2 Timothy 3:14-15). Paul learned Scripture as a child, and when he believed and meditated on its teachings, its wisdom took hold in him.

David, the writer of Psalm 28, did the same. Just as God heard David’s voice and answered his pleas for mercy, we are never without God’s voice as long as we have His Word (Psalm 28:1, Psalm 28:6).

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul writes, “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

When we make it our lifelong quest to love the Bible, to read it, study it, and do what it says, it becomes part of us. So wherever we go and whatever we face, we will be empowered with the truth of God’s Word.

• What can you tune out so that God’s voice becomes clearer in your life? What freedom might you find in this change?
• How does hearing God’s voice inform your identity and value in Christ?