One of the first steps in learning to hear God’s voice is to become His child. Becoming a child of God requires faith in Jesus Christ. John 1:12 says, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God”.
When visited by the religious leader Nicodemus, Jesus did not immediately assure him of heaven even though Nicodemus was a religious man. Instead, Jesus told him in John 3:3, that he had to become a child of God, by saying, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again”.
You see, the first time a person is born, he inherits the sin nature that stems from Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. No one has to teach a child how to sin. He naturally follows the inclinations of his inherited human nature from Adam the first man. He is born with the desire to do wrong. Those wrong desires, leading to such sins as anger, lying, stealing, hating and even killing. While not all people may commit the same sins, the scriptures tell us that if we break one of God's Laws then we are guilty of breaking them all according to James 2:10.
Rather than being a child of God before we are born again, we are in fact children of disobedience and wrath. "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient." Ephesians 2:1-2. Verse 4-5 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.”
When a person becomes born again as Jesus spoke about, God quickens their new nature and makes that which was dead in them alive to God's nature. And while that person now has two natures that dwell in them, the old sinful nature that still desires to sin, they now have a new nature that will equip them to overcome these desires to sin. A true child of God will hate sin, and will fight hard against sin. As they develop their relationship with God, they will learn how to put to death the old nature that prompts them to sin (by starving it what it wants) according to Colossians 3:5. The Apostle Paul speaks in great detail about these two natures in the book of Romans. He too struggled with his old and new natures. Paul learned that if he starved the old nature of what it desired and fed the new nature of what it longed for, the one he fed the most would be the one who ruled his heart.
As a child of God develops a habit of daily devotion with Him through the study of His word and prayer, they will learn how to listen and discern what God is saying to them through the process of their getting to know Him and putting off that old nature that is rebellious against God. In order to develop this kind of relationship with God, requires setting aside time each day to read His Word and pray seeking His will in all matters. It is important to be consistent in this practice, as it will train your mind and heart to focus on God throughout the day.
Hold Fast,
Bren
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