Our part in “Hearing” (III) Recognizing the “sound” of His voice

Continuing to blog on Mark Virkler’s four keys to hearing God’s voice. He answers what hearing God’s voice sounds like with “Hearing God’s voice sounds like spontaneous thoughts that bubble up and light upon your mind while, your eyes are fixed on Jesus.” The part about “while your eyes are fixed on Jesus is important. It is Mark’s second key which needs to follow the first “quieting yourself down.” There are also other things that need to be put in place to ensure that it is God we are hearing from (more next day). This morning I want to look at the phrase “spontaneous thoughts that bubble up. ” Mark also describes this as “flowing thoughts.”

The first thing to say is that the Hebrew word for prophet is Nevi which, I am told, means bubbling up. The prophet of course heard and spoke God’s words, and so essentially the prophet the prophetic utterance “bubbled up” from within. In the New Testament we read “He who believes in Me … out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Since the scripture connects water and word (Ephesians 5:26) it is not much of a stretch to see that the flow of living water can manifest itself in words.

This is Mark’s third key then, to tune to spontaneous thoughts that flow while our eyes are fixed on Jesus. It is important not to interrupt the flow, and this takes us to the fourth key, writing it down. Writing it down allows us to get the whole thing before judging what we are receiving. Without writing it down, we might be tempted to judge what we hear prematurely, before we hear the whole thing. I know this temptation first hand, especially when what I am hearing is surprising. It does, of course, need to judged, and this is part of putting safeguards in place. Knowing that we can judge it later is important, I mean we all have thoughts that come out of nowhere, that are clearly not from God.

Father, I want to thank You for your servant Mark. Thank You for the wisdom You have given him, and the simplicity of the four keys. Thank You for the many testimonies of those who have used the keys with the accompanying safeguards to come to hear your voice. Thank You for the many times the things I have heard You say in this way that have strengthened encouraged and comforted me. In Jesus Name Amen