I listened to a great series about hearing God entitled "Can You Hear Me Now?" by Oliver (previously Vernon) Ray. He was the Bible Chair at York University. You have much to occupy your reading and listening time, but I think you would appreciate this. What do you think? — D.D.

Here are my comments on the first two talks in Ray's series:

  • John 10 – hearing his voice?  “Sheep didn’t read his word, but heard his voice.” Of course – in this metaphor, these are animals, not people! I am not sure that Oliver Ray’s teaching is that different from mine, except that he seems to be referring to “impressions,” a term that is way too subjective, in my opinion.
  • Jesus promises he will lead the apostles into all truth. Not us (except indirectly), through the apostolic witness – John 14:26, 16:13. This point, and many of his other points, are addressed directly in The Spirit.
  • We must talk with God and listen for the voice of God. The problem with this I think is that millions believe they are doing just this – but are hearing conflicting things!
  • Isa 39:20—this is referring to God’s OT people and their repentance. And their need to listen to the Lord. In the OT he speaks mainly through the Law and the Prophets. Please see Neh 9:20, 30 – Spirit instructs through prophets. If we read only v.20, we might think this was guidance directly from heaven, or came through a subjective “inner voice.” I believe Oliver’s interpretation is incorrect here.
  • “Led by the Spirit” – a significant misinterpretation of Gal 5 and Rom 8! Being led in the Spirit (Rom 8; Gal 5) refers to moral leading (like Ps 143:10) – walking righteously – not decision-making by divining God’s leading. For more on this, please refer to The Spirit or the various passages in my Living NT Commentary.
  • Acts: supernatural direction is normal? Yes, for apostles and those directly connected with them. Although even then I’d say it’s only occasional. For everyone else? Acts spans 30 years. The miracles and instances of miraculous guidance are rare.
  • Ray seems too quick to dismiss possibility that Scripture plays a far more prominent role than mystical directions—although he refers to the Bible more in his second talk.
  • Further, there is no trace of “hints” or “hunches” or “nudgings” in the Bible. However, the more we are conditioned by God’s righteousness and his Word, the more our consciences and thoughts will help us to discern God’s will.
  • Voice coming to Samuel? I don’t see how this can be normative for God’s people. Was Samuel not a prophet?
  • God’s voice will never contradict scriptures. Good point, and well done.
  • Consider Heb 3:7, 15; 4:7, 12. The “voice” did not come audibly to God’s people directly from heaven. It came through Moses, right?
  • God consistently reveals himself to us? Nature, principles of his word, wisdom of believers, etc… sure… But consistently through an “inner voice”? I don't think he established this.
  • Ray states that God speaks through creation – right. These works are the speech of God (Ps 19); gifted teachers (Eph 4:11); the family of faith—I am with him so far.
  • Then, circumstances:
    • Opening and closing doors. (He seems to confuse open doors with signs.)
    • Pain – God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world (C. S. Lewis). Always a good point.
  • Signs? Very hard to interpret these.
  • The indwelling of the Holy Spirit means “impressions sent through his Holy Spirit” – an inner voice. I like this idea, but I don’t find it Scripture.
  • I would add three more arenas in which the Lord speaks to us: the history of Israel, the life of Christ, and consciences conditioned by God’s Word.
  • Please read Greg Koukl’s short article. Let me know what you think.
  • Nehemiah heard God through an inner voice. The Lord put things on his heart. Even so, this can be a highly manipulative tool in the hands of an unscrupulous leader.
  • Holy Spirit = “supernatural hearing aid”? Nice idea – I wish it were biblically supported.
  • His profound, life-changing moment: Don’t we all experience such moments? Is this really the voice of God?
  • “What must I turn down in order that I may tune in?” Good question.

Overall, he seems like a great guy, but he has not defined the inner voice clearly, nor has he established that this (whatever it is) is normative. Overall, I am left feeling uneasy. The way he handles the Word is almost right. Very different from Koukl – please read that article.

One of my larger concerns is that for unity. When people are interpreting their own sensations as the message from God, they can end up going at all kinds of unpredictable directions. And who's to mediate or moderate between two conflicting interpretations of these impressions? The Charismatic Movement is every bit as fissile as the Restoration Movement!

For my part, I admit I need to do better at picking up on cues. Whether it is in nature or the wisdom of my elders, or any one of six or seven other ways the Lord speaks to us, I can be quite slow. I lean much more towards the analytical, and toward the scriptural. (My wife says I could have been a good engineer.) Working on relational things it's important for me; this is not a strong area. What I'm saying is that it's quite possible the Lord is speaking to me and I am not hearing his voice because of my background and brain chemistry. However, I am yet to be convinced.

Maybe there's no need to say this, but I don't consider any of these matters of salvation, and I doubt you do, either.

Finally, I really like the way Os Guiness speaks about the leading of the Spirit:

"... That it should the the Spirit who leads embarrasses many of us and our traditions today. On the one hand, the Holy Spirit is the neglected, of not forgotten, member of the Trinity for many in the Western church today. For some, the cause is the bureaucratic institutionalizing of the medieval church and the emphasis on saints and mediators rather than God himself. For others, the reason goes back to a post-Reformation dryness that stressed the Word of God at the expense of the Spirit of God. For still others, the root lies in a general inclination to see the world with the lenses of Enlightenment naturalism, and to suffer from its tone deafness and reality blindness to the spiritual realm. Yet for others, the Spirit of God is neglected because of the weird, wild and wonderful things done in his name.

Further, our modern mentality leaves us with no inclination to look or to listen to the Spirit of God anyway. Surely, we almost say, we have no need to. Never have we been better able to figure it out and do it all ourselves. Just give us a yellow pad or a white board, and within minutes we can chart the best course to adopt. Vision, Mission, Objectives, Personnel, Budget, Next Steps, Timeline, Measurable Outcomes, Best Practices—the headings flow naturally, and the thinking can be applied to any project. Who needs God today any more than we need the great consulting companies? For we are all management experts now."

— Renaissance: the Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014), 103-104.