Hearing GodSample

God Speaks through Our Conscience/Inner Witness

We hear God through our conscience—our inner witness—the internal sense of right and wrong God gives to every human being.

Have you ever tried to explain your conscience to someone else? On one hand, it’s simple: this intuitive feeling that something is either right or wrong, good or bad. Somehow . . . we just know. On the other hand, it’s complicated: we can’t prove it, it can surprise us, and we often end up wrestling with it.

God has given us a built-in receiver, a conscience, an internal way of knowing right and wrong. This conscience gets stronger when it’s combined with a pure heart, sincere faith, and genuine love.

You may think, That’s silly. That’s not God. I’m just imagining it. He may say, “Have you thought about spending less time watching that show or scrolling through your social media? It makes you frustrated, worried, and angry.” You can dismiss it as nothing . . . or you can ask God if He’s speaking to you.

There’s no formula. It’s a relationship. He won’t force you, but He will invite you. You may be thinking, Where do I even start? Great question. Just be open and ready.

Strengthening our conscience is more about inviting God to speak to everyday areas of our lives, not in a “super-spiritual” or overly religious way but giving Him the opportunity to influence and guide us in our hobbies, our work life, our errands, and in all the countless moments we experience over the course of the day. When we invite Him to speak to us in these moments, we’re often surprised to see how regularly He shows up. And like anything in life, there’s a little bit of a learning curve. It takes faith to believe and trust it’s Him.

Because He’s a loving Father, He’ll never scold us for inviting Him to speak to us about the things we care about. And when He speaks, we show our love and gratitude by being careful not to harden our hearts and to respond to what He says. The good news is, even when we miss His subtle cues or misunderstand the message, when we decide we’re going to do our best to listen, He patiently meets us and guides us back on the path.

**Caution**

Remember, we learn to hear and trust God’s voice through His Word. Get ready—this is an area where this WILL be tested!

No voice is more compelling or capable of deceiving us than our own internal monologue. Thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to desires, and once we really want something, our heart enlists our head to justify why it’s the right thing to do.

Follow your heart, live your truth, and be yourself are the most viral and trusted cultural messages we hear. All three of these feelings are in direct contradiction to what God says in His Word.

Many people think, Why would God give me these desires if He didn’t want me to act on them? There are several problems with this. Not every desire you have comes from God.

Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. This is why Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) reminds us: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

How do you know if you’re guarding your heart? Whenever there’s a conflict between your feelings and God’s Word, you submit to His Word.

Ask yourself this right now: In what ways can I help my conscience become more sensitive to God’s voice?