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God may not provide a cloud for us as he did for the nation of Israel in Exodus; move when the cloud moves; stops when the cloud stops; Go where the cloud goes. But God will surely provide guidance in a different manner. Hudson Taylor said The Lords work done in the Lords way will never fail to have the lords provision. Francis Schaeffer paraphrased his saying like this The Lords work done in human energy is not the Lords work any longer It is something, but it is not the Lords work. When I studied Acts and thought of my own experience in hearing the voice of God I found out that the most common way the Holy Spirit speaks to us today is through the Bible. No one has ever illustrated this truth better than Jesus did on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13). He didnt simply revealed himself to the disciples, instead of doing that, he preached a sermon to them beginning with Moses and all the prophet, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself (Luke23:27) Jesus was telling us, right at the beginning of the churchs history, that the primary way he will be known is through the scriptures. From the beginning of my Christian life the Lord taught me to hear from God through the word of God. I took all the crucial decisions in my life after hearing from the word through his word. Even now he is speaking to me through his Word and helping me to discern his will in taking important decisions in personal life and family life. The next way God speaks to us is through our experience, which is through the events and circumstances of our lives. God may use an illness, a tragedy, or some kind of trial to get our attention and bring correction to us. Every trial in life can become an occasion for God to speak to us.

God can speak to us through audible voice , in Acts 9 we can see Paul hearing a voice. God spoke to Paul on the Damascus road. In that chapter we can see Pauls travelling companions and Ananias hearing the voice of God. In Acts 10 we can see Peter hearing a voice in a trance. He can speak to us through internal Audible voice. In acts we can see angels speaking and helping the disciples. If we can believe the testimony of Br Yun

author of the book Heavenly Man many of these thing s are happening even in our times also. God can speak to us through dreams, vision and trances. I have experienced God speaking to me in dreams and those dreams happened in my life. Holy Spirit also speaks to us through impressions, that is, Holy Spirit influencing our feelings, our physical senses or our minds. Impressions of the Holy Spirit are different from intuitions. A divine impression comes to us from the Holy Spirit, while intuition arises from within our human spirit. When I studied the lives of some people in the Bible who understood God and joined him in his work it seemed to me that God will not speak to everybody, there are three essential characteristics for hearing God speak to us, they are availability, willingness, and Humility. If you study the life of Jesus who understood God better than anyone else, one of the first things that will impress us is his unreserved availability for God. In Mark chapter 1 we can see Jesus having a busy day where he stayed up late into the night healing the sick and the demon possessed. After staying up half the night ministering to the people, Mark tells us that very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed, it was a regular practice of Jesus seeking solitude with God. He was not just finding time for God but the sons time completely belonged to the father. He only did what his Father doing (John5:19) Availability means not just having a regular quiet time in the morning; we should be available to him 24 hours, seven days a week. In John Chapter 15 God says that we are his friends. In a real friendship availability is mutual .The people who have unrestricted access to me also give me unrestricted access to them. It works the same way with our heavenly father. He is most available to those who are most available to him. If we want a deep friendship with God, it is important to cultivate a state of mind where we view all our time as Gods time, a state of mind where we are totally available to him. It is necessary to do this because God speaks to us at the most inconvenient times in order to test our availability.

When Jesus first called his apostles, he made it clear to them that their first task was not to minister him, but rather available to him. In Mark chapter three we can see that God choose the apostles for three purposes. First that they might be with him. Second, that he might send them out to preach. And third to have authority to drive out demons (Mark3:14-15). Availability to God, intimacy with Jesus, is the practical foundation for all ministries. Availability to God is the first priority in ministry and the first requirement for hearing his voice. The second requirement is our willingness to do whatever he says to us. One of the reasons Jesus heard the fathers voice better than anyone else was his utter obedience to this principle. Jesus said I have come to do your will (Heb.10:7) When God sees that in our heart of heart we are truly willing to do whatever he says, he will speak to us. Why should he speak to us if he knows that we will not do what he asks? Philip was in the midst of a revival in Samaria, in the midst of that revival an Angel of the Lord spoke to him saying Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza The next verse says that so he started out this is obedience. He would never have heard the voice of the lord, unless he had been willing to do what God had spoken to him. In Numbers 12: 6-8 The Lord was telling Miriam that there was no one else like Moses when it came to hearing the voice of the lord. The very same chapter says that Moses is the greatest person of revelation in the Bible; it also says that he is the most humble man on the face of the earth. Humility and ability to hear Gods voice go hand in hand. Humble people knows that neither physical strength (Prov.21:31), nor intelligence (Prov. 16:23), nor luck is most important- instead, it is the Lord who will determine the outcome. A truly humble person knows that no matter how great their abilities or their character, they can do nothing apart from Christ. (John 15:6) Another characteristic of humble people is that they are willing to associate with and serve people of lower position than themselves. (Rom 12:10, Gal 5:13, and Phil 2: 3-4 ) Psalm 138: 6 says that Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar and 1 Pet 5:5 says that

God set himself against the proud, but he shows favour to the humble. In other words, God is intimate with the humble, but he keeps the arrogant at a distance. Both the Lord and the apostles repeatedly emphasized the theme that God exalts the humble but opposes the proud (Matt.23.1; Luke 14:11, 18:14; James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5). Humility is the pathway to intimacy with God. So if we make ourselves available to God; willing to do whatever he tells us, and set our hearts to pursue humility; he will speak to us and will be able to work as per his direction. So let us tune our hearts to hear from the Lord. God Bless you.