Bill Johnson - Hear God's Voice Clearly and Become More Aware of His Presence
Open your Bibles, if you would, to the Gospel of John, chapter 12. It’ll take me a few minutes to get there, but I’ll read something to you first. A wife asked her husband to go to the supermarket and said, «Get a carton of milk, and if they have avocados, get six.» A short time later, the husband came back with six cartons of milk. The wife was surprised and asked, «Why did you get six cartons of milk?» He said, «They had avocados.» We prayerfully meditate while you ponder what I just read. The good news is it can only improve from here; there is only one way to go, and we are going to improve.
It’s funny how people believe that we are designed yet don’t believe in a designer. We have been very intricately designed for many purposes. One in particular is that we are designed to hear from God. It’s in our nature as believers to have faith, but it’s our nature as human beings to hear from God. People will say, «Well, I just don’t hear God speak.» Well, then you couldn’t be born again because our conversion is a response to His invitation; it’s never initiated by us. It’s interesting to have a gathering like this and preach on evangelism; people will come to Christ, and I don’t know if any of those who came would say, «I clearly heard the voice of the Lord,» and yet they became aware of their unsaved condition and their need for God. What is that a result of? It’s a result of hearing from God.
Comprehension is not the evidence that we’ve heard. We tend to put God on the same level as humans talking to one another, yet God’s languages are so diverse; often He speaks things that are profound and beyond our pay grade, so to speak. He speaks to our spirit man in a way that makes a deposit that may take days, weeks, or even months to unfold. Many times, people—you perhaps in business—make a decision that turns out to be a golden decision. Others of you might make a decision for a family member—maybe as a gift you give—and it was unusually timely; you had no clue. You make that phone call; it could be any number of things. What happens is we often make that brilliant decision, not realizing that God actually ministered to us in the night weeks before the event because He knew it was coming, and He spoke to us and prepared us for that decision that we think is brilliance, which was actually the product of the voice of God.
He speaks. How many of you have been in moments or seasons where you would say, «I just don’t hear from the Lord very well in this season,» but «I sense His presence»? How many of you would say that? All right, that’s His voice. He is the Word. When the Word shows up, its effect is voice. We don’t interpret it as voice, yet it is as clearly the voice of God as anything we’ve ever heard. He speaks through His presence. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus quotes this verse from the Old Testament: «Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.» We are alive because He speaks; we live as evidence of His voice.
You sitting there, doing nothing but listening to a guy talk, is evidence He speaks. If it were possible for someone not to have the ability to hear from God, the moment He spoke, they would have an ability to hear because He creates when He speaks. He spoke the worlds into being. In Romans 10, it says, «Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.» Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Why don’t you quote that with me? «Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.»
I grew up hearing people teach on that, and the most common thing I would hear is that «faith comes from hearing the word of God.» It’s not what it says; it says faith comes from hearing; hearing comes from the word of God. We listen to God’s voice not to find something in addition to Scripture but to clarify what’s been written. Ronda Warley gave us an illustration so many years ago where the Father spoke to Abraham to sacrifice his son, and as the sword is coming down, the Lord spoke and said, «Never mind.» He emphasized how happy Isaac was that his dad kept listening to the Lord. Many Isaacs have been slain because people listen to what He had said but not to what He’s saying. The present tense voice is actually the cause of faith. The very nature of faith implies, «I am hearing.»
You just have a situation come up, and you believe God for this breakthrough. How did you get it? He spoke. I hope that what happens as a result of today is that we broaden our perception of how God speaks to us. We’ve talked before about the multiple ways God speaks; the stories are fun, and we all have unique experiences in the voice of the Lord. I’m not wanting to go into that today; I just say it’s bigger than you could imagine. What I would like to emphasize today is that you have already been designed to perceive and to hear. It’s already in your design.
The passage out of Hebrews 5 says having your senses trained to discern good and evil. These human physical senses can be trained by immersion in the presence. They can actually be trained to recognize good and evil. I know you already know this, but when they train people who work in the banking system to recognize counterfeit money, they only study real money; they never study counterfeit money. They just become so exposed to the real that the counterfeit stands out. They may not even know why; they just know something is wrong, and that’s how you discern good and evil. You don’t discern evil by studying evil; you become immersed in the person, and anything that doesn’t fit in there is evil. It’s immersion in presence.
The primary emphasis I want to make today is that presence is voice. I’m not always ready to understand or to move in what He’s saying to me. That’s why we have times like we had this morning, where the worship team is leading, and there’s just this unusual awareness of God’s presence. Don’t be quick to try to figure out what He’s doing. Just be the pliable child; be the sailboat with a sail that is moved by the wind. We just catch what God is doing.
I don’t discover Him through analysis; I discover Him through surrender. It’s not that understanding is wrong; He commands us to pursue wisdom and understanding. It’s vital, but the problem arises when we only obey what we understand because then we have a God who looks a lot like us. He’s our size, and what He’s looking for is a people that are yielded to Him, who say «yes» before He speaks. We’ll look at it in a moment, if I remember. The «yes» before He speaks actually attracts His voice.
We have this statement in Romans 10: «Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.» God will not speak inconsistent with His written word. That’s why exposure to this helps us recognize that which is outside of His word. I heard this funny story; I don’t think I have all the details right, but it’s close enough; you’ll get the picture. This family is driving on a mountain road, and their little boy just out of nowhere declares, «There’s a big rock in the road right around the turn.» The father driving was somewhat stunned by the word, so he went around the corner a little slower than normal, and sure enough, there’s this huge rock in the middle of the road. They were so impressed that their kid could hear from God that they said, «What else is He saying?» He said, «We need to stop at McDonald’s when we get to town,» which sounds very typical for all of us.
I got it right once, so let’s see if I can extend it into my will. I’ve got a great plan for your life. Faith comes by hearing, but the capacity to hear comes from exposure to His word. If it were just the recording of His word—I have multiple translations on my phone; I could play it all night long, and by the end of the week, I’d have the faith of Wigglesworth if it just came from hearing Scripture. I don’t want to downplay that because I love to listen to the word of God, but faith comes from hearing the living voice, the one who is ever-present.
In that moment, I might not know what He just said, but I can tell that He just deposited something in my life. I’ll never forget—oh goodness, it was about 40 years ago. I was on staff with my dad, and I remember I had this period where I was reading through Isaiah. I got to Isaiah 62, and while I read beyond that chapter, it stumped me; it was almost like it reached out and grabbed me. I would read it and reread it. You could ask me what it says, and I’d have to say, «I don’t know. All I know is that when I read it, it grabbed me and spoke to me. I don’t understand it; I could never explain it, but something’s happening inside of me because of what I read.»
I believe that that is biblical learning, where your spirit learns before your natural mind does. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue understanding. I want to be able to explain and illustrate, but oftentimes the Lord speaks to us here first. It’s that sensitivity to the fact that He’s here and asking, «What is He doing?» I don’t know, but I’ll cooperate, whatever it is. I don’t want to dictate Him; I want Him to dictate me.
Then all of a sudden, you just have this seemingly passing thought, «I should call so-and-so,» and you do. You’re at a crisis moment that if you weren’t leaning into the fact that presence is voice, you might have missed it. Presence is voice. There’s this other passage in Hebrews 1, verse 3; it says He sustains or upholds all things by the word of His power. The billions of universes are actually held in place because He speaks. You have the capacity to sit here because He speaks. It is His voice that keeps us alive, keeps us engaged.
So much of what we understand in life came simply because He spoke to you in the night, through a friend, or through a circumstance. He arranged all the players in your life to deliver this insight, this peace at this time, preparing you to make big, noble decisions later in life. It all starts as a small concept because God is building in us the ability to become the Word made flesh. Forgive me if that sounds blasphemous; let me explain. Jesus is the Word made flesh; He wants His Word to be made flesh again. He wants people—like you and me—to model and illustrate exactly what He says so that when you look at our lives, you see the life of Christ. You see what has been written in Scripture.
So faith comes by hearing, but the capacity to hear comes from the Word of God. Jesus taught in parables not to illustrate truth. It’s one of the strangest things; I always just grew up hearing about the parables of the Good Samaritan, and so on. As you go through Matthew 13, you find that the disciples asked Him about the parables. He explained to them that He teaches in parables so that those who don’t understand won’t understand. Let me rephrase it: He hides truth in parables so that those who are not ready to obey won’t comprehend. Because if He increases the knowledge of those who are not ready to obey, He just increases their accountability. It’s the mercy of God for Him to conceal truth and then make it so that only the hungry can find it.
There’s this posture I once had—a massage chair. I’m going to be getting another one soon, thank you, Jesus! That massage chair was the will of God. You just push the right button, and you feel like you’re in heaven. I could be sitting in that chair, and Benny would be in another chair, saying, «Honey, I’m going in the kitchen; do you want something to eat?» I’d go, «Oh yes, I’m starving!» However, I wasn’t starving enough to get out of my chair and go get it. I was starving enough that if the conditions are just right and you actually bring it to me, I will consume it.
Many people look for the word of the Lord that way: «If it comes to me, if it’s forced upon me, if it comes just right, I’ll receive it.» But I don’t have the courage to get up and pursue. There’s not the leaning in; there’s not the anticipation. What would He say if I told Him «yes» before He spoke? There’s an interesting verse in John 7: «If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority.»
Jesus is speaking now; He says anyone who is willing to do His will will know whether the teaching is from God or not. What is it saying? Think through this: If I’m willing to do whatever God says, my hearing will be clearer, and I will be able to distinguish what came from the Father versus what came from a person. The distinguishing gift comes through the willingness to obey. You see, the willingness to obey positions a person to hear.
Now, John 12—you still have your Bibles open to John 12? You’re very patient people; you get extra points! All right, verses 23-26. Jesus is talking about what it looks like to follow Him. In verse 27, He’s about to go to His death, and so He makes this reference. Jesus speaks in verse 27: «Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour? ' But for this purpose, I came to this hour.» I made a list once; I went through the entire New Testament to find any time Jesus indicated why He came to Earth. It was fascinating to create that list. For example, 1 John 3:8 says He came to destroy the works of the evil one. There’s a wonderful list: He came to reveal the Father, which you find a lot throughout the Gospel of John. But this one says He came for this purpose—to die on a cross; that’s why He came.
He prays this prayer in verse 28: «Father, glorify Your name.» Then a voice came from heaven saying, «I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.» Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to Him. Then Jesus answered and said, «This voice did not come because of me but for your sake.» Now, no miracles happen in the following verses. He’s just explaining, and then we come to a conclusion. In verse 37, we see, «But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.» That’s fascinating because the more common story throughout the gospels is that people believed because of the signs. However, in this case, a crowd had been exposed to the miracles, but it did not bring them to faith; it did not bring them to surrender.
That’s supposed to be the purpose; it reveals the heart and nature of God, lays out the covenant of God, and brings the invitation for relationship. That’s the purpose of miracles, and in this case it says, «Although they had seen the miracles, they did not believe.»
Now, follow me. That was their condition before the Father spoke audibly from heaven, and Jesus gives this profound explanation. He didn’t speak audibly for my sake; it was for yours. Yet half the crowd heard thunder, and the other half thought it was angels—but it wasn’t for them. In other words, there’s a natural explanation and a supernatural one, but it’s impersonal; it’s not for me.
I can relegate whatever’s going on to either a natural explanation or supernatural activity. It’s just not for me. I remember people would say that about the revival; they would say, «We know it’s God; it’s just not for me.» What I want to paint for you is this: Here’s a group of people that have been watching Jesus do what He did, and they weren’t brought to faith. You are brought to faith because you are brought to surrender. Faith is a result of surrender, not striving.
So here they are, in a place where they see and behold yet are not moved to faith. What’s the other option? Resistance, callousness, hardness of heart. In that condition, Jesus prays this prayer: «Father, glorify Your name,» and the Father speaks audibly to a crowd. Jesus clarified, «That wasn’t for me; that was for you.» To think that the Father didn’t speak clearly violates His own personal standard for how we are to minister.
Don’t stand in front of a group of people and preach in tongues; you’re supposed to preach with clarity. We are communicators. Tongues has a role; it’s just not for preaching to people, are you getting what I’m saying? He gives instruction on clarity of speech, and for Him to speak to a crowd and not be clear violates His own standard.
So what does it tell us? It tells us He spoke audibly to a crowd, but their own resistance filtered that voice into thunder and angelic activity that wasn’t for them. I use this illustration because I believe it’s possible and necessary for us to live in continuous anticipation of what God might be saying, what He might be doing. The term we used in the early days is «leaning in.» I could find myself coming together night after night after night, just leaning into, «I know He’s here; I know He’s going to do something wonderful. I don’t know what it is; I just want to cooperate.» That’s my whole approach.
In that season, day after day, there are two questions I would ask: Number one, did God show up? Number two, did I do what He said? If I could answer «yes» to those two questions, it didn’t matter how many people came or left; it was a good day because I did what He said, and He came, and I did what He said. There is this anticipation.
Some people in the natural speak so softly in a room that you actually find yourself leaning in to hear them. Or maybe you’re eavesdropping in the airport, and somebody behind you is talking quietly. The whole point is that when we want to hear, we lean in. We lean in; we anticipate.
What the Lord speaks to us in the John 7 passage is that the willingness to obey before He speaks is what attracts His voice into our situation. The two things that I’m looking for today—first, just acknowledge that God talks all the time. I’m not always aware of it, but He does. The second thing is, in that position of anticipation, what might God be saying?
Now, here’s something fascinating to me. I don’t know how this works for you, but most of the time when I ask God a question, I don’t get an answer immediately. Rarely do I get an answer. Now, some of you have this ongoing conversation, and I’m jealous of you! But just right now, be quiet; I don’t want to hear your story; I want you to hear mine. Honestly, most of the time when I have a question for the Lord—maybe a scripture—I say, «God, I don’t understand this. I ran into something this last week.» I mean, every time you open the Bible, there’s stuff you don’t understand, but this one puzzled me.
I don’t get this; I’ve done that through the years, and He’ll speak to me, but rarely in that moment. It might be a month later, but when you ask the question, you have the responsibility to recognize the answer when it comes. Sometimes it will come through a friend in conversation, not even knowing that they are answering your question. It may come on a TV show; it may come from a worship album you’re listening to; it may be just an inspired thought while driving down the road, and you go, «Oh, I get it now.»
But it’s because you’re in anticipation of the one who speaks. Positioning ourselves as hearers of God is huge. Here’s the Bible saying, «Don’t despise the day of small beginnings.» What does that mean? Don’t discredit infancy; don’t discredit what you think is inability. Instead of focusing on small ability—did that make sense?
It made perfect sense to me when you discount any progress you’ve made and criticize yourself or think little of yourself because of what you’re not; you actually hurt the progress you’ve made. I’ve heard people say, «Well, this isn’t revival.» Go ahead; you know that three-foot circle you’re standing in? May not be fact, but if I got to vote, I would agree with you. I see God do something powerful, and then I watch the critics. Now, I don’t even mean the people who don’t like us; I’m talking about the people who like us. I’m not saying this to stir up sympathy; I’m trying to point out the fact that sometimes we have a seed that has started to grow, and somebody comes in and kills it because it’s not a full-grown tree.
I remember my first trip to Argentina. One of the first things I wanted to do was examine that outpouring I had heard about and read about for so many years. I wanted to see if it was anything similar to what we were experiencing. Besides the amazing conversations I had with leaders who were affirming to me, I basically went down and came back with this conclusion: the revival there was like a huge red ripe sweet apple, and what we are experiencing has just started to form on the tree. It might be sour; it might be bitter, but it is 100% apple.
You don’t steward this into maturity by discrediting it. Translate that now into your ability to hear from God: never say again or imply that it’s hard for you to hear from God because it’s your nature to hear from Him. It’s your nature; it’s who you are. It’s in your design. Everything about you was wired to perceive and recognize fellowship with the almighty God. Everything about you. I’m not as good at it as I want to be, but I’m better than I used to be. It’s not now what it’s going to be, but it’s my «yes» before He speaks that positions me to anticipate, to lean in. You hear better; you perceive better.
It’s the strangest things. I’ve watched it in meetings where extraordinary miracles take place. I do many of these things with Randy Clark, one of my best friends—a guy I learn from all the time. I watch him, and I learn from him—how often there’s the most subtle impression. When we think of a word of knowledge or a prophetic word, I at least think of something much more obvious—that’s a no-brainer; of course, that’s the Lord! Not those subtle little impressions that say someone was injured in a white van that rolled over. It’s as easy to miss as it is to get. It isn’t demanding; you actually have to lean into it to recognize it.
Then all of a sudden, you’re fed up with trying to protect your own dignity and reputation, and you think, «What’s the worst that could happen?» Nothing, and that’s already happening. I was in a meeting where that actually happened. I use that as an example, and there were, I believe, five people in the room who had been in white vans that had overturned. What are the odds? There were a couple of thousand people there! But still, what are the odds?
Do you have anybody in the room who has been in a white van that flipped over? Then to have five who all had the same experience—four were instantly healed. Just in the moment, and the fifth one, I don’t know about. But the point I’m trying to make is it’s not about signs and wonders; it’s not about the prophetic. It’s not about any of that. It’s about the fact that God talks and you hear. Lean in, and you’ll recognize better what He’s saying if you’ll just say «yes» before He speaks.
Did I read the passage to you out of 2 Corinthians? Okay, let me just read it to you. I’ve spoken twice already, and there’s one more to go. By the end of that one, I wouldn’t even know what city I’m in—just joking! In 2 Corinthians 3:16 it says, «Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.» It’s a strange verse: When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. You would think the veil is lifted so that a person could turn to the Lord.
It’s backwards. In His mercy, the veil isn’t lifted until they turn because there’s enough evidence to the voice of God in every human being. If there’s that turning, then suddenly what has kept them from clear perception of the things of God is lifted, and they see clearly. The clarity of sight is the reward for turning. The clearness with which we hear is often the clarity with which He speaks to us, and the clarity with which we hear is given to people He can trust with what He says.
I know this sounds a little awkward, but there’s a different responsibility before the Lord if you receive a slight impression than if you hear the audible voice. The audible voice gives you no excuses; the subtle impression is not as clear. We want to grow in the clarity with which we hear, but what regulates that clarity is our «yes» before He speaks.
All right, I’ve probably said enough about that. Let’s wrap this up. I know whenever I talk about leaning into the Lord and hearing these unusual things, I create space for weirdos to rise to the surface. Finally, there’s somebody who understands me! They then have permission to do all these weird things and blame it on Jesus. But I don’t ever have the intention of preaching a balanced message; that’s good. There has to be risk in what I say.
Let me rephrase it: The risk for what I say has to be greater than the risk for those who will misuse it. While I know that there are people who will lean in, quote-unquote, and do stupid things, blaming it on God and saying I taught them, there’s a whole other YouTube video right there. The risk is worth it because maybe there are ten people in this room who would lean in and hear things they’ve never heard before. Recognize things about their life, their family, their destiny that have never been acknowledged before!
And suddenly, there’s this domino effect through a family line because somebody was leaning in to hear, to recognize, and they said «yes» before the command came. That’s worth it, even though now I have to endure the weirdos! There’s always a chance anytime there are this many people in a room.
I forgot to acknowledge our amazing online Bethel family. My goodness, it’s a growing family and it’s literally all over the world! I forget how many—130 nations or something amazing. I want to acknowledge and honor our online family. Bless you guys for being so faithful; you’ve been faithful for a long time. It has taken this weird season to fully appreciate you as much as I do right now. I travel around the world—not lately, as I’ve mostly traveled around my neighborhood—but I travel around the world, and I have people grab me all the time. They will thank me for Bethel TV, and now for YouTube, so bless you!
Thank you! I know that there are people watching—and there’s somebody who has had multiple heart attacks. I think it’s at least two; it could be three or four—but your health is very compromised. You’re in a physical condition where there is no hope for recovery in the natural because things are just shutting down. I believe that over the next 30 days, God is going to reconstruct your heart; it’s not an instant, in-a-moment thing, although I think you’ll sense the presence now.
But the Lord over the next 30 days is going to rebuild and restore that organ for you. I wanted to throw out the net, so to speak. I know that there are people online, and there are so many who have come to Christ in these recent weeks and months. There could be somebody here who has never made that confession of faith in Jesus Christ. I want to ask all of you to stand and hold your places if you would. We’re going to have ministry time and all that up here in just a moment, but first, I just want to give the invitation. If there’s anyone here who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus—where you are His disciple, His follower, where you’ve committed your life to follow this Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
You’ve never been born again, changed from the inside out, but you’d say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave this building until I know that I’m right with God.» If that’s the case, then I want you just to put a hand up where you are, and we’re going to make an agreement with you just real quickly. Put a hand up; say, «That’s me; I don’t want to leave until I know that I’ve been forgiven of sin and brought into His family.» Okay, I’m going to assume everybody in the room is in the boat.
For those who are online, please acknowledge that you want to surrender your life to Jesus. Do so in the chat room. We have pastors; we have all kinds of people there that are ready and able to pray for you. You wouldn’t believe how many people have come to Christ online! It’s just been extreme miracles; I mean, people coming out of comas by praying online over FaceTime or YouTube or whatever. So, we just declare that healing word.