I am sure you all know someone that has heard the audible voice of God. But this is probably far from the norm for most of us. The important thing though is that God speaks to His children and that every one of us can hear His voice if we listen to Him. It may be that still small voice, or a scripture in the bible. God may use people, dreams and visions or even circumstances to speak to us. Let’s look at an example how God spoke in Bible. I would like to highlight two themes in this passage of scripture: 1 Hearing Gods voice 2 Fear of man Acts 9 – God spoke to Paul and Ananias Paul seeks authority from the chief priests to kill believers; those who follow the Way. His tool was fear and intimidation. He was on the way to Damascus when Jesus struck him with blindness. He had no answer when Jesus asked why he persecuted the believers. When Jesus speaks to us about a wrong motive or attitude, we are sometimes also left without a reply. Indeed there is no point in arguing with God. In this case Paul realized that being surrounded by an awesome light he needed only know who it was that does this. He asked and Jesus answered him. Paul’s response was to fast and pray. It was revealed to him that Jesus spoke to Ananias and said that Paul was sending Ananias to him. This time there was not an audible voice but a vision. The second person was Ananias. He was familiar with the voice of Jesus. Jesus revealed himself and said he needed to go to Saul. It was clear that Ananias spent time in prayer. When he heard Jesus speak he questioned the Lord. Ananias was fearful. Should Saul with his authority take him away to Jerusalem, he could be imprisoned or even worse die. His family may be taken from their home. The stakes were high. God in his mercy answered and Ananias immediately obeyed. His obedience was rewarded with the miracle of restoration of Paul’s sight and a brother that was won to Christ. Later on we see that after a while Paul was introduced to the disciples in Jerusalem where he preached the Gospel. The atmosphere changed from fear of man to an atmosphere where there was freedom in the fear of the LORD. Peace and favor followed for the church. Application 1. Do you know Gods voice and how he speaks to you? 2. Are you able to recognize his voice? Jesus says: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 NIV Ask Him to speak to you and to help you to hear His voice. Imagine if every time God speaks to us and we are obedient? God spoke to Ananias and he was obedient and reached out to Saul. 3. Has God asked you to reach out to someone during a quiet time? 4. Is there fear of man in your life that prevents you from hearing Gods voice? 5. Ask the Lord to show you these things. Take time to meditate on this scripture: There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. (NKJ) 1 Jn 4:18. In closing, Gods will is for His children to hear His voice clearly and for us to be obedient to Him. His desire is also for us to walk in freedom from fear of man.