Listen to the Whisper

Call to Prayer

Title: Listen to the Whisper.

By: Daniel Peter

Date: 11.12.2023

After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  1 Kings 19:12 NIV

The New Testament is less about written commands but about being led by the Holy Spirit. Then, listening to the voice of God is an important skill each one of us should acquire. Though God speaks to each of His children, as the bible says “my sheep hear my voice… (John 10:27)”, but many times we reject Him because of our expectations of how the voice of God should sound.

Scriptures like ” … his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory (Eze. 43:2)“, give us an expectation that the voice of God should be very loud. Though God can speak loudly, this is not His preferred way of communicating. We need to know that there is a difference between hearing as a Prophet and hearing as a son. As a Prophet, the voice of God may come to you in a spectacular manner so that your mind can’t miss it. However, hearing as a son comes in the place of intimacy. It takes knowing God to respond to His whisper.

Prophet Elijah’s experience at Mount Horeb gives life to this truth. When he approached God at the mount, there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t there (1 Kings 19:11). Then came fire, and still the Lord wasn’t there (1 Kings 19:12). After which, He heard a whisper and the Lord was there (1 Kings 19:12-13). Many times, people run up with the earthquake and fire but miss the whisper. The earthquake and fire may be in the form of a spectacular vision or a loud voice, and the whisper may be in the form of a still small voice in our heart, joy rising up in us when we think about a decision or a lack of peace concerning a decision we are about to make. When the devil attempts to deceive, he usually comes in a spectacular way, so we may think it is God. But by His whisper, we are delivered from lying vanities.

I am reminded of an experience shared by Kenneth Copeland when he heard something that didn’t sound right and his spirit wasn’t comfortable with it. Then he asked God that He should confirm it using scriptures. God said to Him that the first voice he heard wasn’t His. And God went on to say that because he did not obey that first voice, he would not hear it again. If Kenneth Copeland had obeyed the first voice simply because it was loud, he could have been deceived, but he listened to the whisper of God in His heart in the form of a check in his spirit and was delivered from the enemy.

The more time we spend with God, the better our recognition of His voice.

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank God for His word today. Let’s ask Him to help us recognize and to yield to His voice.