How To Identify God's Voice by Pastor Anwinli Ojeikere: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

My Sheep Hear My Voice

John 10:27 — "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

There are many voices, but there is one voice — the voice of God. The characteristics of a sheep are relevant here: a sheep is directionless, senseless, one that does not understand where it is going or what it needs to analyze because it does not have its own sense of direction. So in other words, to hear God's voice you must be one who does not have a self-sufficient sense of how or where to go.

Notice the scripture does not just say my sheep hear my voice. It says, "I know them, and they follow." It is possible to hear God and not follow. It does not end in hearing. It ends in following. You can hear and refuse to follow. The moment you become a sheep that follows is when he truly knows you.

One of the major challenges we have as believers is navigating his voice, especially in relationships and marriage. Many of us are victims of voices we cannot properly discern.

Voices That Limit You from Hearing God

1. The Voice of Feelings

   Romans 8:6-8 — "Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

   Feelings are your natural human desires, emotions, carnal thoughts, and inclinations. They are real, but when your concentration stays entirely on feelings, it can lead you to destruction. The Bible says to be carnally minded is death.

   notifications_active Stay Updated

   Join the Readsermons communities for daily nuggets and new sermon alerts.

   WhatsApp Telegram

   Feeling are very loud. They cloud the mind. The voice of feelings is making a lot of young people miss God in this generation. You meet someone and you are drawn to them — the way they dress, the way they worship. You start attending choir because someone you like is there. Someone can give you gifts but not be the right person for you. While giving is an evidence of love, you must check the motive of the giver. The motive can be wrong even when the gift is good. Feelings can lead you to take decisions that affect your spouse and your marriage when you are not spiritually tuned.

   1 John 2:16 — "The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father."

   A lady came for counseling and whenever there was a quarrel in her marriage she would say she was packing out. Her husband eventually helped her pack. She had made a mistake — you do not take decisions out of feelings or emotions. A lot of us miss God when we operate entirely through feelings.

2. The Voice of Association

   Proverbs 13:20 — "Walk with the wise and become wise. A companion of fools suffers harm."

   The voices we hear from friends and family shape our understanding of how relationships work. They tell us which tribe to marry from, which church to marry from. The voice of the people can be misleading and is not always the voice of God. Sometimes it is wrong.

3. The Voice of Culture

   Culture — including your environment, social media, and tribe — can dictate the kind of person you should choose. Social media is a culture in our generation and it affects a lot of people. When you hear voices from social media and misplace them as the voice of God, you go astray.

4. The Voice of Circumstance

   Circumstances are situations you find yourself in that begin to dictate who you will end up with. For example, the first person who broke my heart was a pastor. Imagine if I had told myself I would never marry a pastor — I would have missed my husband and the Winlos may not have existed.

   Many people have hindered who they should choose because they have blocked their sight based on past experience. They say "I will never marry this kind of person" — and when you don't sit down to learn from your past and keep pointing fingers at the other person, you end up behaving like your ex or attracting the same pattern. The voice of circumstance is very loud. Hasty conclusions based on your past can make you miss the very person God has for you.


person
Pastor Anwinli Ojeikere
The Winlos
Enjoying this sermon? Browse more messages by Pastor Anwinli Ojeikere on Hearing God at ReadSermons.
library_books More Sermons

5. The Voice of a Prophet

   Either party can become the prophet — "God told me to marry you" — or an external voice may come and try to direct you on marriage. Isaiah 3:12 warns: "Those who lead you cause you to err and destroy the ways of your path." And 1 Corinthians 14:29 says: "Let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge."

   In our generation, prophecies are rarely subjected to judgment. You must check: is this prophecy based on sound doctrine? Is it in alignment with God's Word? Is the person prophesying under any form of intoxication? Subject every prophetic word to scrutiny.

   Sometimes emotions can become the prophecy. When you are crushing on someone, you can see yourself in a wedding gown in your dream and think it is God. Your emotions can be so yoked with someone that you interpret everything as God speaking.

   There is no one person that is meant for you. If the person you believed was "the one" does not respond, God is not stranded. He will bring somebody else who aligns with your vision. People have will and God respects the will of people. Genesis 24:58 — "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will go." Deuteronomy 30 — "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose." God will not choose for you.

How God Speaks

1. Through His Word

   God speaks through scripture. If you are asking God whether you should marry someone from another religion, the word already says: do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. 2 Corinthians 6:14. What other revelation do you need? The word of God stands sure. If you want to learn about marriage, how to manage a relationship — it is in the word of God. Galatians 5 teaches us about the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. That is how you treat your spouse, not by your feelings.

2. Through True Dreams

   You may also like

   

   Most Couples Miss This Critical Marriage Secret

   by Pastor Kingsley Okonkwo

   arrow_forward

   There are people God speaks to through true dreams. When God needed to reveal to Joseph what to do about Mary, he spoke to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife." However, do not be quick to interpret dreams. Go back and pray through what you dreamed to really understand what God is saying. What you dream may not be the exact way the Holy Spirit is communicating to you.

3. Through a Still Small Voice

   1 Kings 19:12 — He was not found in the fire or the smoke, but in a still small voice — a gentle whisper. God can whisper to you: "This is your wife. This is your husband." That is why you must be very attentive. If you are not attentive you won't grasp it at all.

4. Through an Audible Voice

   God spoke to Samuel — "Samuel, Samuel" — and Samuel ran to Eli. You can be in a congregation and God speaks to you audibly. It is the voice of God. He can speak audibly — and it is possible to master it.

5. Through Signs and Wonders

   If you master the things of the spirit, you can ask God to give you a sign. When Moses said "If you are the one sending me, give me a sign," God turned his rod to a snake. If it is in the Bible, it can happen today. Ask God for a sign and he will give you one. What matters is that you do not abuse this. Know the channel God uses with you and build it.

6. Through Other People — Leaders, Prophets, Believers

   Proverbs 11:14 — "For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisors." Surround yourself with people who have a solid relationship with God. There are also people around you who know your season — do not dismiss them when they push you toward marriage. God places people in your life who will push you when you need to move.

7. Through Holy Spirit Promptings and Inner Convictions

   Romans 8:16 — "The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." There is a knowing inside you. It is an inner conviction. No fear. You just know. The same way you can be restless about someone without any physical sign — the Holy Spirit is telling you that person is not right for you. The same way you can have peace about someone with no outward reason — that is the Holy Spirit bearing witness.

   I had peace for my husband. Physically it did not look like peace. But I had peace.

Safety Checks: How to Know It Is God

• Safety in the multitude of counselors. However God is speaking to you, speak to trusted counselors about it. Tell them what you feel, what you are hearing, what you are seeing.
• Prove all things. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 — "Test all things and hold fast to that which is good." Somebody can look spiritual but not be spiritual. The ways of a man can seem right but not be right.
• Acknowledge him in all your ways. Proverbs 3:5-6 — "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path."

Acknowledging God in all your ways means I have come to a point where I am not the author of my life — Jesus is. I don't worry about things I can't control. Acknowledging him is not just for when you're single. Many people acknowledge God's voice in choosing, then stop acknowledging him after marriage. The closer you are to God, the closer you become to your spouse. When you stop acknowledging him, your marriage cannot be sustained.

Start practicing now — before you meet the one. When you acknowledge God in all your ways, the right person comes to you without you laboring unnecessarily. When you are under the instruction and leading of God, he goes ahead of you and makes every crooked path straight.

Marriage Is Spiritual

Ladies and gentlemen, marriage is spiritual. You cannot do it by your flesh. By your flesh you will not prevail. This generation needs to know that there is a God who is ready to do business with you. He is knocking every day. My son, let me lead you. My daughter, let me lead you. When you partner with Jesus in your marital destiny, you will labor less.