Discerning God's Voice

 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quietness) for your souls.

For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good---not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne." (Matthew 11:28 - 30, Amplified Bible

What are the guidelines to know if you are hearing God's voice or not? I've been so blessed and liberated by what Lana Vawser wrote in her book, "The Prophetic Voice of God: Learning to Recognize the Language of the Holy Spirit." In her own struggle to discern whether what she was hearing in her spirit was God or the devil, she learned that:

"The enemy's main aim is to steal, kill, and destroy and to hinder your relationship with Jesus, and hearing the Lord's voice. He is crafty and a master of perversion. He roams around like a roaring lion looking for whom he may devour (see I Peter 5:8).

"The 'fruit' of his (the devil's) voice is:

1.  Confusion and condemnation

2.  Lack of clarity

3.  Lack of peace

4.  Fear

The fruit of the Lord's voice is:

1.  Peace

2.  Empowering

3.  Strengthening

4.  He never contradicts His Word.

5.  His voice always reveals His nature.

"Bill Johnson says, 'Any area of my life in which I have no hope is under the influence of a lie.' 

"When growing in our understanding of the voice of God and how He speaks, we must pay particular attention to the fruit of what we are hearing and be able to recognize it for what it is. The voice of the enemy will always leave you questioning; the voice of the Lord will always leave you with peace."