Hearing the Voice Of God is one of the areas that Christians seem to struggle with the most. Fasting sharpens our spiritual senses so that we can follow God as He leads us.
"And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:4, 5 NKJV)
One of the worst things you can do while fasting is listen for "voices". Many cults and weird Christian doctrines were birthed out of an individual fasting and listening for voices in their head.
The main way that they Holy Spirit speaks to believers is through His Word, the Bible. if you really want to know the Will Of God and hear His voice, become a student of His Word. Otherwise, without a knowledge of His Word, how do you know that any "voice" that you hear is from Him?
There are those times, however, that the answer you need may not be specifically in the Bible. For example: "Do I take position #1 or position #2? Do I marry Bill, or George? Should I move to Seattle, or LA?
There are 3 different voices that each Christian has to deal with. First there is the "Voice Of God", when we KNOW for certain that the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about a certain issue. We could look anyone right in the eye and say, "I know I have heard from God!" Secondly, there is the voice of satan. Of course, if we discern THAT voice, we're not going to follow it.
Here in John 10, Jesus alerts us to a third voice, the voice of the "stranger". This is an inner voice that we're not sure where it's coming from...it could be God, but we're not really sure. 98% of the voices we hear in our head are this type. Jesus said that His Children RUN from that voice, the voice of a stranger. The voice of a stranger is the voice that you can't identify for sure. God knows your name, address, phone number, where you are at all times, He even knows the number of hairs on your head! (Luke 12:7) So when He wants to get your attention, you'll KNOW it! Until then, be content to be a faithful servant, let Him speak to you through His Word, and let this fast sharpen your ability to hear and obey!
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