So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11–13

To be able to hear God's voice, we must set aside time to wait in His presence and allow Him to talk to us. It's when we are quiet before the Lord that we can hear from Him most clearly.

To be able to hear God's voice, we must set aside time to wait in His presence and allow Him to talk to us. It's when we are quiet before the Lord that we can hear from Him most clearly.

I remember how the prophet Elijah learned to hear the voice of the Lord. (See 1 Kings 19:11–13.) God told Elijah to stand before Him on the mountain and a great wind began to blow. But the Lord's voice was not in the wind. Then an earthquake shook the mountain, but the Lord was not speaking through the earthquake. Next a fire began to blaze and roar, but God's voice was not in the fire. At last, Elijah heard a still, small voice—the voice of the Lord speaking to him.

So many times in our fast-paced world, we don't get quiet enough to hear the still, small voice of God. Or we don't spend enough time communing with the Lord to be able to hear him speak to us.

Communing with the Lord does not mean that we pray, "OK, God, I need an answer about this situation," and then expect Him to answer us immediately. Often we get impatient in our prayer times and make up an answer ourselves and decide that it's God's answer. We head in a certain direction or make a decision and then wonder why things don't go well.

CONSIDER: Is it hard for you to hear God's voice? If so, are you simply too busy?
What can you cut out of your everyday life so you can spend quality time with Him?