Why Can’t I Hear God? – Everyone Can Hear God!

Why can't I hear God? It's a very common question, particularly for people new to the Christian faith... or those who have been in the faith a little while.

But here I'm going to meet that question head on because everyone can hear God (even if you don't think you can).

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but there’s something that happens to believers as they mature in the Christian faith.

We begin with the Bible and learn the truth about Jesus and all that he achieved for us. Then we go to church and absorb more truth.

But as time passes, slowly but surely, the myths, lies and half-truths creep in.
This happens even in churches that teach clearly from the Bible. Somehow, alongside all the truths we believe, we manage to assimilate lies as well.

And one of the biggest lies is this:

Today I want to tackle that lie head-on. I’ll talk about how we come to believe it in the first place and 4 reasons why everyone can hear God, including you.

Why We (Think) We Can’t Hear God

Why do we ask the question, "Why can't I hear God?" in the first place? Well, there’s one simple reason, and a more complex one.

The Simple Reason

The simple explanation is that the enemy doesn’t want us to hear God, and he’ll do anything he can to prevent us from doing so.

When we hear God’s voice, we learn his intentions and can follow his will. And that makes us powerful because when we continually obey what the Lord tells us to do, we witness to our neighbours, and miracles can start to happen.

Therefore, if the enemy can prevent us from hearing God’s voice, he will, because he’ll also keep the Kingdom of God at bay.

The Complex Reason

The more complex answer is that we can misinterpret or misunderstand the Bible.

Most of us are used to reading about the lists of spiritual gifts as found in places such as 1 Corinthians 12:

This chapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is familiar to us and it’s deserving of all the attention it gets.

It’s Paul’s great treatise on the place of spiritual gifts in the church and how we are all different in our giftings, but also complementary.

We need each other and each person’s gifting as we endeavour to build God’s kingdom together, and Christ builds up his church.

Different Gifts, Different Kinds Of Leaders

In his letter, Paul goes on to say how we need not only different kinds of gifts, but also different kinds of leaders.

The key verse is in 1 Corinthians 12:29-31:

Despite Paul’s exhortation to “eagerly desire the greater gifts”, this gives us pause for thought. And sadly, that pause may lead us into error.

The argument in our head goes something like this:

It’s not true and it’s time to debunk this terrible lie!
Hearing God's voice is not the same as prophecy: prophecy is listed as a spiritual gift, but hearing God is not.

In other words, prophecy is a spiritual gift, but hearing God is not.

The fact is that everyone can hear God and listen to him, and it has nothing to do with whether you have a gift of prophecy.

Now I’m going to show you why.

4 Reasons Why Everyone Can Hear God

There are many reasons why the idea that "not everyone can hear God" has spread through much of the church, but one reason stems from personal experience.

If we have never truly heard God’s voice in our lived experience, we tend to settle for that as normal life.
However, we should not assume that what went before will always be the case in future.

What is important is that there are concrete ways to demonstrate that everyone can hear God today.
Here are 4 of them.

1. God Speaks

From the creation of the world in Genesis chapter 1, we know that God speaks.

At his voice, the universe was made and everything in it: God’s voice has power.

He is still speaking today, and when He speaks, situations and circumstances change.

We should expect that as he speaks, he will tell his people what he is doing.

And if God is speaking now, wouldn't he make sure we can hear him?

2. Prayer Is Intended To Be Two-Way

If God is speaking, then his voice demands a hearer.

But this isn’t about what God demands, so much as what he desires. And what he desires most from us is _relationship_.

We gained everything we need when Jesus won it for us on the cross: redemption from sin, access to the Father, peace, healing, and so on.

Simultaneously, he removed the barrier of sin and made it possible for us to have communication with the Father. And communication is two-way.

Prayer is intended to be the medium of relationship and communication with God.
Prayer isn’t just a shopping list; it’s a place to be found in God’s presence, where we can enjoy him - and he can enjoy us.

We can talk to him and tell him our worries and concerns. But it’s also the place to listen and hear his voice, to know and understand what he thinks and how he feels about us and our circumstances.

Sometimes, when people ask, "Why can't I hear God?", they're speaking their prayers to him, but not stopping to listen.

3. Jesus Implied That Hearing God’s Voice Is An Ability Not A Gift

We could view Hearing God as a spiritual gift in the sense that we hear God with our spirits, not just with our minds or our physical ears.

Having a gift implies a giver. And if a gift is given, it could also be taken away (or not imparted to us in the first place).

However, standing against that are the words of Jesus himself:

This implies that all followers of Jesus must be able to hear him. Otherwise, how could we know his voice and follow him?

Therefore, we should not see the ability to hear God as a spiritual gift.
I believe that we should understand the gift of hearing as an ability inherent in every believer. It’s something intrinsic to the way we’re built, as a new creation in Christ.

When you gave your life to God, he remade you, you were born again, and you received the ability to hear his voice.
The question then changes from "Why can't I hear God?" to "How can I hear God?"

4. Listening To God Is A Pre-Requisite For The Spiritual Gifts

Listening to God is a prerequisite for using spiritual gifts, and is even more important for becoming truly effective in them.

Jesus said, “I only do what I see the Father doing”.
In other words, he watched and listened to his Father and only did as he was led, no more and certainly no less.

If we want to be followers of Jesus, we must be able to do the same. We must listen to him, and to listen, we must be able to hear.

Everyone Can Hear God, Every Day

I hope you've realised that the question, "Why can't I hear God?" is based on a lie.
Once you accept that, you can receive the truth that everyone, including you, can hear God's voice.
But that brings up another question I alluded to earlier: "How can I hear God?"

There's a difference between hearing and listening, and another time, I'll dig into that.
For now, if you're struggling to hear God, maybe even for the first time, then here is a prayer you can say to him:

Next Steps

If you prayed that prayer, or even if you didn't, you may be wondering how it works out in practice.

I came up with Hearing God Activation Ideas, a short downloadable workbook (PDF) of 10 activations you can purchase for a very low price to help you do just that.
You can get it from here.

(P.S. If you want to try out 2 of the activations before you take the plunge, enter your email in one of the forms on this page to get started.)