Listening for the voice of God in our world can be a very challenging thing. Natural distractions are everywhere, competing voices are all around us, and slowing down a bit just to listen seems to be a lost art.

As Christians it is profoundly important that we listen for the voice of God. We believe that God has spoken in Jesus and that Jesus is the Word of God to our lives. In John 6:68 Peter said to Jesus, “You have words of eternal life.” Peter speaks for us in that sentence, doesn’t he.

In John 10:27 Jesus, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” It is the voice of Jesus we know and it is His voice we trust. There are a lot of good voices in the world, good for what they have to say, but there is only one Jesus and His voice is the One Voice we most need to hear.

In Isaiah 30:21 there is a wonderful word from God to His people. The people had come through a difficult time of judgment but God says to them that in the future, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” May God gives us all ears to hear that word.

I’m not sure that God shouts a lot. He might, and I wouldn’t rule it out, but most likely God will speak in the still small voice that resonates in our hearts. That’s why a listening spirit is so important to us.

There might be a hundred voices calling out for our attention but because our hearts are tuned to that One Voice, all other voices pale in comparison.

We hear His voice and we follow Him.

A lot of people know about God. Therein lies a huge problem.

People from every walk of life have an opinion about God. Just ask them. Everybody is a theologian and quite ready to debate all comers as to the truth about God.

Having opinions about God does not equate to knowing God, however. Knowing about God (or at least one’s idea of God) can have knowledge, street savvy, old wives tales, a little bit of upbringing thrown in, and who knows what else and, suddenly, we have a walking profundity called, “God According To Me."

Knowing God is a far different matter than having thoughts about God. Knowing God leads to worship not debate, celebration not one-up-man-ship. Knowing God evokes prayer not argument, praise not elitism, and hunger for more of God not an attitude of “That’s my opinion; conversation over."

Interestingly the Bible does not call us to know about God. Once we know Him we want to learn as much about Him as we can, but only because His love has captivated our imagination and satisfied the hunger in our souls. Maybe that is why when Jesus teaches us to pray He does not call us to pray, “O Thou high and omnipotent One. Instead, He calls us to pray, “Our Father.

Until we know the Father we do not know what we most need to know about God.

Do you know the Father today?