Knowing the voice of God

The topic of knowing the voice of God is much larger then a blog post but I wanted to give some foundational thoughts in hearing from God.  The season of life have a lot to do with in hearing the voice of God.  That is we tend to seek God more when we feel we need to hear from Him in specific ways concerning present situations in our lives.  That is just how we function as humans but if we are truly going to be sensitive to God in hearing His voice we must establish a process that we are sensitive to God in all seasons of our life.  My present life situation of being in between ministry has caused me to pray more about hearing the voice of God.  I admit that I must continue to pursue to hear from God after I have heard from God.  The desire to live for God and to do His will was the heartbeat of Jesus.  Not to over complicate how to hear from God I am going to give you three things that I think are essential to be sensitive to the Lord.  First, create a hunger and thirst for God and His Word.  In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord gave a great promise to Israel in returning to their land in stating that He have a great future for them.  The verses right after that promise is the key to truly understanding that promise and its fulfillment.  Within the verses following that promise they were encouraged to call unto the Lord, to seek the Lord and then to do that with all their heart.  It is one thing to stand upon a promise but it is important that hear from God in how He wants you to live in order to see the promise actualized.  This happens when we do whatever is necessary to have a great hunger and thirst for God and His Word.  Second, spend time in His presence.  We were created in the image of God and the original desire that God had with Adam and Eve when He walked with them in the cool of the day is still present today.  God wants us to spend time with Him and it is through that time that He will communicate with us.  Psalm 27:14 encourages us to wait for the Lord to be strong and courageous and wait for the Lord.  Many other scriptures encourages us the same thing, wait for or upon the Lord.  That is to spend time with Him.  Third, when He speaks respond in quick obedience.  The quickest way to hear from God more and more is to respond to Him in obedience.  The best place to start is when you read the Bible is to determine that you will not only just read it but you will do what it says as James 1:22-25 encourages us.  To walk in willful disobedience and still expect to hear the voice of God is foolish and can result in listening to lies of the enemy rather then truly hearing the voice of God.  God is speaking all the time and the real question is: are we willing to listen to what He is saying or do we want to do our own thing.  I trust you will develop a heart to hear from the one true God.
May the God of all wisdom and mercy give us ears to hear His voice.