Understanding the Voice of the Spirit – For You!

A friend recently reminded me of a conversation we had about prayer years ago that had made a major difference in her prayer life. In that conversation, she told of the struggle she was having in prayer as she tried to follow the pattern of a well-respected minister. It was such a life-changer for him that my friend thought she must have been praying amiss, since she wasn’t praying this way, though she had been thoroughly enjoying her time with the Lord. What she found when she tried to pray his way was that there was no life in it for her, and she was actually losing the joy of prayer. I suggested to her that God hadn’t told her to do it that way, though evidently He had told the minister.

Acts 22:9 “My companions saw the light, but they did not
understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. “ NIV

Let’s look at several things in this statement that Paul makes as he tells the story of his Damascus Road experience, the one that changed the course of his life forever. First, his companions were the ones with him, those who were of the same heart and mind, and all of them saw the light. All were aware of something supernatural happening. Also, at the end of the verse, Paul says it was “the voice of him who was speaking to me.” For His own reasons, the Lord wasn’t speaking to Paul’s companions, but to Paul alone. Lastly, it doesn’t say that those with him didn’t hear His voice, but that they didn’t understand His voice, while Paul did.

My friend was of the same heart and mind as the minister she had heard. She “saw the light” by recognizing that he had truly been changed by this revelation of prayer the Lord had given him. She heard what he said, which the Spirit had said to him, but the really critical thing for her, and for all of us in the same situation, is that she didn’t understand the voice of Him Who was speaking to the minister. Why? He wasn’t speaking it to her at that time, for whatever His reasons. She tried to act on someone else’s understanding, and it just didn’t work for her then. Perhaps another time, the Spirit would speak the same thing to her that she could understand, but that would be in His timing for her.

This is such a simple principle that can set us even freer to follow the Spirit’s leading in our prayer lives. There are so many wonderful teachings available to us today wherever we turn. We just need to make sure, first of all, that it is really the voice of the Holy Spirit; then, that it is the voice of the Holy Spirit for us; finally, that it is the voice of the Holy Spirit for us for right now.

© Copyright 2005 Kay V. Stocking