B. HINDRANCES TO HEARING
1. Hearts Not Perfect Before God
“For the eyes of the Lord search back and forth across the whole earth, looking for people whose hearts are perfect toward him, so that he can show his great power in helping them ” (2Chr 16:9 tib).
The people in Bible times understood the heart to be the seat of:
1) the emotions or affections,
2) the motives, and
3) the intentions of the person.
God is vitally concerned with these things.
a. Worldly Affections. If our affections are set on things on the earth rather than things in Heaven, this offends God (I Jn 2:15). The Bible tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Matt 22:37).
b. Impure Motives. If our motives (or motivations) are impure like the prophet Baalam (Numbers 23) then God will severely judge us. Baalam bartered God-given miraculous gifts for money, fame and prestige.
c. Wrong Intentions. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) were pretending to give all their money to the work of the Lord, but were really keeping back much of it for themselves. Because their intent was wrong, God killed them.
Oh! how we need to guard our affections, motives and intentions to make sure they are pure. God knows our heart, doesn’t He?
“For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart”
(ISam 16:7). We can’t hide these things from the Lord. And if we do not keep our hearts right in His sight, we will not hear God’s voice.
2. Hardness Of Heart
“Today, if you want to hear his voice, do not harden your hearts ” (Heb 4:7).
When my team and I go out to share the gospel, we frequently dedicate time to fasting and prayer, seeking God’s empowerment to heal and bless those we encounter.
It has become our practice to designate a specific day for these spiritual disciplines. Typically, we select three mature Christian couples to form a prayer team, and we often have five or six prayer teams available to minister on our fasting and prayer day.
The prayer teams arrange their chairs in a circle, with those seeking prayer sitting in the center. We encourage our teams to pray in the Spirit (in other tongues, as referenced in 1 Corinthians 14:13-14) and to anticipate that the Holy Spirit will provide them with supernatural assistance for those coming for prayer.
a. Unforgiveness Stops God’s Voice.
A woman joined the prayer circle that my wife and I were a part of. She was suffering from severe arthritis, which caused her significant pain in her back and hands. Her fingers were so severely curled that she was unable to straighten them.
She expressed to us that she felt the Lord had stopped speaking to her, and it had been over eight months since she had heard His voice. As the team began to pray in the Spirit, a vivid image of a cornfield came to my mind, one from which the harvest had been collected.
The earth was hard and dry, and the cornstalks appeared withered. While reflecting on whether this image related to the woman’s situation, I sensed the Holy Spirit impressing upon me,
“This is a representation of her heart—it is hard and dry.” I prayed, “Why, Lord?” The Spirit replied, “Her husband has been mistreating her, and she has not forgiven him. This inability to forgive has led to the hardness of her heart. Because she has not extended forgiveness, she has not received it in return. This turmoil has contributed to the immense frustration in her heart, resulting in the arthritis she experiences.”
I often wonder if I’m truly hearing the Lord in such moments, so I decided to share the vision I had with her. I conveyed what I believed the Lord had revealed regarding her circumstances and then asked, “Does any of this resonate with you?”
Overwhelmed with emotion, she broke down in tears and responded, “Yes, Brother Ralph, it’s all true.”
b. Forgiveness Brings A Return Of God’s Voice.
The Lord’s compassion overwhelmed me as I thought of this dear sister. Tears flowed from my eyes as I said, “Sister, Jesus loves you deeply and desires to heal you and connect with you.
Take a moment to express your forgiveness. Speak out loud and say, ‘I forgive my husband for the hurtful things he has done to me.’ When you do this, the Lord will bring healing to your heart and soften it. A tender heart opens the way for the Lord to speak to you again.”
She followed my advice, and within just three minutes, all her arthritis vanished. The stiffness and pain in her back disappeared, and her finger joints freed up, allowing her to bend her fingers normally.
A few days later, with tears of joy, she shared with me, “Brother Ralph, the Lord has been speaking to me again. He is so good!” I later learned that she was a leader in a wonderful church. This experience highlights the importance of maintaining a heart aligned with God. A hardened, calloused, or unbelieving heart—and various other “heart conditions”—can hinder our ability to hear His voice.
3. An Unregenerate Condition
I have traveled to over fifty countries sharing the gospel. One of the major challenges I face is the presence of unregenerate church leaders – clergymen who have never experienced the new birth through the Spirit of God. Is it any surprise that they struggle to hear God’s voice?
More than 200 years ago, John Wesley, the founder of one of history’s most significant revival movements, was returning to England from his missionary work in the Georgia colony, where he had been advocating for the humane treatment of prisoners. While aboard the ship, he found himself in conversation with Moravian missionaries from Bavaria.
They asked him, “John Wesley, are you born again?” He replied, “I’m an ordained Anglican clergyman.” The Moravians pressed on, responding, “That’s not what we’re asking, John. Are you truly born again of the Spirit of God?” Wesley deflected by saying, “I’ve been working with prisoners, assisting the poor, and performing various good deeds since graduating from seminary.”
He was attempting to sidestep the issue of salvation. However, the Moravians persisted, reminding him, “John Wesley! Jesus said, ‘You must be born again.'” Faced with this challenge repeatedly, John Wesley spent much of the rest of the voyage revisiting his New Testament and reflecting on verses that underscored this essential truth.
“The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Rom8:16).
He pondered, ” What is Paul talking about? “The spirit hears witness with our spirit….’ What does that mean?”
He read 1 John 5:10, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.”
He mused, “I haven’t experienced any witness in my heart like John talks about.
Am I born again?”
The more he talked to the Moravians and read his New Testament, the more he became convinced that he did not have “saving faith”.
a. Saving Faith Or Intellectual Agreement.
One day, while reading James 2:19, which states, “The demons also believe and tremble,” John Wesley realized the distinction between “saving faith” and mere intellectual acknowledgment of the historical accounts of Jesus in the Bible. He recognized that while demons may accept the facts, they lack true saving faith.
Feeling let down by his church, his seminary professors, and his missionary board for not ensuring he had experienced a genuine rebirth through the Spirit of God, John embarked on a quest for spiritual truth. Shortly after returning to England, he attended a humble mission in London to hear a preacher. As he listened to the gospel delivered with clarity and simplicity, he later recounted,
“My heart was strangely warmed.” That night, he left the mission filled with a profound peace and an indescribable joy! He finally experienced the exhilaration of being born again of the Spirit and gained insight into the teachings of Paul, John, and James.
He came to understand the vital difference between spiritual reality and mere intellectual assent to the gospel. In the years that followed, he devoted his ministry to demonstrating to people and clergy alike the utmost importance of knowing that one is truly born again.
b. You Can Know You Are Saved.
What about you? Do you know you’ve been born again? You can know! Why don’t you ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart?
Pray this simple prayer: Lord Jesus! I confess You are my Lord. I believe You bore my sins to Calvary’s cross to save me from sin. I believe You rose from the dead and are enthroned at the Father’s right hand in Heaven.
I trust You and Your blood alone to be the full payment for my sins. I renounce and turn from my sins. I receive Your Holy Spirit to bear witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. All this I ask in the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN!
If you prayed that prayer sincerely, Jesus has come into your heart. Now go and tell someone immediately — “I have received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I know, I know, I know I am saved and on my way to Heaven.”
The Bible says, “For if you tell others with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation” (Rom 10:9,10 tib).
Now that you are born again — and you know that you are — you are a candidate for the Lord to start speaking to you. You can hear His voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them and they follow me ” (John 10:27).
When Jesus comes into your heart He cleanses it and sweeps it free from sin and darkness, and takes away the hard heart and gives you a soft and tender heart of flesh so you can hear His voice.
“Your filthiness will be washed away… . And I will give you a new heart— I will give you new and right desires — and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. And I will put my Spirit within you so that you obey my laws and do whatever I command” (Eze 36:25-27 tlb).
4. Disobedience Stops God’s Voice
Brother Judson Cornwall said he was fervently praying, asking the Lord to speak to him. The Lord finally said, “Judson, why should I speak to you again, when you haven’t obeyed what I told you the last time I spoke to you?” Brother Cornwall got right up and did what the Lord had previously told him to. Then he started hearing the Lord’s voice again.
“So then faith comes by hearing the word of God ” (Rom 10:17).
Faith can be defined as “Obedient action to what God says.” To hear God’s voice doesn’t mean just to hear with your ears. It means to respond obediently to what He said.
When my son was about nine years old I spoke to him and said, “Son, take this sack of garbage to the waste bin.” He said, “OK, Dad!” Thirty minutes later I came back and the garbage was still there. Did he hear me? Not in the biblical sense. Until he obeyed me, he had not heard me.
I called my son back in and showed him the “board of education” which I was getting ready to apply to his “seat of learning.” Then he heard me, and took out the garbage.
Faith comes by hearing… the word of God — that is, hearing and obediently responding to what God has said.
a. Pride Prevents Obedience. A great hindrance to our obedient response is PRIDE. I heard Oral Roberts say, “Every time I’ve prepared to pray for the sick, I’ve had to hang my pride on the cross again — because I know that only a few of those I pray for will be healed.”
Despite doubters, scoffers and critical newspaper reporters, Oral Roberts persevered through humiliation to do what he heard God telling him to do. Because of his faithfulness to an unpopular calling, thousands have been healed and the ministry of healing is practiced more widely all the time.
Many of us have been held back from doing what God is saying to us because we fear what others will think of us if we obey the Lord. “The fear of man bringeth a snare ”
(Prov 29:25). The “fear of man” is just another expression of pride. Basically, we don’t do what we know God wants us to do because of PRIDE.
Our carnal mind thinks, “If we try what God is saying and fail, what will the people think? My minister friends won’t understand me. My denomination will not agree with what God is telling me to do.”
All these thoughts have their root in the fear of man — PRIDE! Many who desire to do the will of God are held back by fear of man.
I am often asked, “Brother Ralph, how can you be sure God is speaking to you?”
I reply, “I can’t always be sure. Often I am not sure. I test it out. I try it. I check out the facts with others it might involve.
“The Bible says ‘prove all things’ (I Ths 5:21). The only way you can prove something is to try it. I often fail in the trying — but one of the elements of faith is risk.
You have to take the risk of becoming a fool for Christ’s sake.”
Don’t let pride paralyze you. Try to do what you feel God wants you to do.
Though you may have some failures — there will be some successes too. Take the risk.
Step out on faith and attempt great things for God.
b. Preconceptions Hinder Obedi-ence. One of the most interesting stories in the Bible is in 2 Kings Chapter 5. It vividly illustrates how our preconceptions prevent us from hearing and obeying God’s voice.
1) Naaman Almost Misses A Blessing. Naaman was a Syrian general whose Israeli housemaid was a captive from war. Naaman had the incurable disease of leprosy. His maid told him about a prophet in Israel named Elisha who had power from God to heal people.
Through diplomatic channels, Naaman contacted the king of Israel and made arrangements to visit Elisha. When Naaman arrived at Elisha’s modest home, the prophet sent out his servant to tell General Naaman what God said he must do. “Go wash in the Jordan River seven times, and you will be healed of every trace of your leprosy ” (vs 10).
Naaman was angry and stalked away. “Look!” he said, ” I thought the prophet would have the common courtesy to come out and see me. I thought he would call on the Name of the Lord his God, and wave his mantle over the leprosy and I would be healed.”
(Note his preconception of how he would be healed.)
“If it’s rivers I need — I’ll go back to Syria to wash in the crystal waters of Abana River or Pharpar River — not down in that muddy Jordan River.” With that he left in a rage.
One of his servants pled with him. “Sir! If the prophet had asked you to do some great or difficult thing you would have. So why don’t you obey (key word) when he has asked you to just go wash and be cured?”
Finally persuaded, Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped seven times as the prophet had told him. When he obeyed, his flesh became as healthy as a little child’s. Naaman was completely healed.
Naaman almost missed receiving the blessing he sought. Why? Because of a preconceived idea of how God would heal him. His preconception and pride prevented his obedience.
You see, a preconception is rooted in pride. It is in effect a statement that “I know everything. I can conceive things before they happen — as they will happen” (a deific quality).
When things do not happen as we preconceive they will — it undermines our deific (pride-filled) image of ourselves, and we, like Naaman, stalk away angry and resentful because God didn’t conform to our preconception of how He would do it.
2) God’s Pattern For Your Life.
Our understanding of theology, which shapes our views about God, often clashes with the guidance we receive from the Spirit in our lives. When this happens, we risk overlooking God’s true will. When God first urged me to become an itinerant preacher, I resisted strongly.
After eleven years of starting and pastoring new churches, God was now asking me to abandon this role. I challenged Him, saying, “Lord, this isn’t scriptural. Everything You do, or will ever do, must be accomplished through a local church.”
That was my interpretation at the time. I argued, “This concept of itinerant preaching doesn’t align with the example set in the Book of Acts. I am supposed to follow that pattern!” (Hebrews 8:5 was one of my go-to verses.) One Sunday morning, as I walked to a meeting to preach, I felt the Lord prompting me: “Why don’t you read the rest of the verse?”
I understood what He was referring to—reading the remainder of Hebrews 8:5. I hesitated, replying, “Lord, why should I? I’ve read it countless times and preached from it many more. I know that verse inside and out.”
Why should I read the rest of the verse?”
The insistent voice of the Lord inside kept pressing, “Read the rest of the verse.” I opened my Bible and read, ” See saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount” (Heb 8:5b). Three words struck me like dynamite:
“Showed to thee.”
“Do ALL things according to the pattern showed to thee.”
My theology was based on a pattern showed to Moses, to David, to the early Church — but God was saying:
“You’ve got to do it the way I show you. Noah built the ark because that was My pattern for Noah. Moses built a tabernacle because that was My pattern for Moses.
Solomon built a temple because I told him to. Peter, Paul, James and John all did what I told them. That was the pattern for their lives.
“You must do what I tell you to do, in the way I tell you to do it. That will be My pattern for your life.”
Finally I understood. I had to hear and obey God’s voice. I couldn’t do things just because “it has always been done this way.” I had to obey God.
And, my friend, that is still the issue, isn’t it? God has a plan for each of us. The ministry He gave Billy Graham is like that of John the Baptist of whom the Scripture testifies: “John didn’t do miracles” (Jo1m 10:41). Kenneth Hagin and Oral Roberts are more like Stephen, who “…did great wonders and miracles among the people ” (Acts 6:8).
All three of these great evangelists are doing what God told them to do — yet each is very different from the other. Each of us must hear and obey God’s voice. That is what will distinguish you from the thousands who will not. Most will not hear and obey God’s voice. You must!
Do not let your traditions keep you from doing what God says. Hear and obey the voice of God. Some will despise, oppose and criticize you. Others will doubt and assail you. Your pride will suffer. But whatever! Do the will of God!
3) Experience On Corn Island.
In 1962 I was part of a two-man effort to evangelize a little island off the east coast of Nicaragua. A convert from meetings I conducted three years previously had preceded us to this island and started a church.
In the traditional way of evangelists, I had preached fervently for several nights
— without seeing one person converted to Christ. My co-evangelist and I were so frustrated and desperate, we announced a prayer meeting for four o’clock each morning.
In this way, we could pray with the members before they went out on the early morning fishing and fruit gathering expeditions.
We expected ten or twelve church members to come. To our amazement, the little church building was packed with about 100 people (as many as we had seen in any of the evening meetings).
Now everyone knows you do not have evangelistic crusades at 4 a.m. — but this is what the meeting turned into. God was going to shatter my preconceptions about the way He worked and teach me a lesson about hearing and obeying His voice.
We started the prayer time with a little chorus:
Sweep over my soul, sweep over my soul.
Sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul.
My rest is complete, as I sit at His feet.
Sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul.
After struggling through the chorus a time or two, one of the ladies began to prophesy. Her speech was halting. She stammered as if having great difficulty in getting out the words. It was making me nervous but I thought, “Let the poor soul try — it will do no harm.”
Three times she repeated these words, “Take off the shoes from off thy feet, for the ground whereon thou standest is holy ground.” All I heard was a woman for whom I felt sorry, stammering out words that seemed totally inappropriate for this moment of low inspiration.
My partner, dear Brother Heeley, heard something quite different. He heard the voice of the Holy Spirit calling sinners to repentance. (I’m glad he had better spiritual hearing than myself.)
He arose and began to speak quietly. “Now folks, I believe the Lord has just spoken to us and we need to respond. I do not know for sure whether the Lord means for us to literally take off our shoes or not. But just in case — it will do no harm for us to do so.”
Feeling a little foolish, we dutifully began removing our shoes. Brother Heeley continued, “What the Lord probably means is this. We are to put off the old shoes of a sinful life and step out into a pathway of righteous living. We are to abandon the old life of bondage and rebellion and step into a new life of liberty and obedience to Jesus.
“If you want to do that right now — just leave your shoes there behind, step out and come down to the front of the building so we can pray together.”
To my amazement, what all my “supercharged evangelistic sermons” did not produce — Brother Heeley’s sensitive spiritual hearing and response to God’s voice did.
People began coming from all over the little building. Then one of the most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed took place.
As they came, it seemed there was an invisible line drawn right in the front. When those who were coming to receive Christ passed that line, they fell flat on their faces as if
struck by an invisible angel. These very stoic farmers and fishermen were scattered all over the floor, weeping and sobbing tears of sorrow and repentance for their sins as if their hearts were breaking.
I thought when the first half-dozen had fallen, it would frighten everyone else and they would turn and run out of the service.
But they didn’t. They just kept right on coming until almost every sinner in the service had received the gift of repentance and salvation (over fifty came to Christ).
WOW! Who ‘ever heard of winning souls that way? Who ever heard of this
“method” of evangelism? But you see, the secret was in “having an ear to hear what the Spirit was saying.”
I shamefully admit I did not hear the Spirit in what was taking place in the service.
But — thank God — my partner did! He obeyed the Lord, and a great revival broke out that shook the island from one end to the other.
Oh Lord! Deliver me from my disobedience, preconceptions, traditions and hardness of heart which prevent me from hearing and obeying Your voice. AMEN!
