​How does one hear the voice of God???

​How does one hear the voice of God? How do I know if I am in God’s will? I don’t know where to go from here! What is God trying to do in my life? Am I to go or stay? Is there really a call of God on my life, or is it just my own dreams and desires?
 
I am sure all Christians have asked many, or all, of these questions at some point. We so desperately want to be in God’s will and to be obedient to whatever He wants us to do for Him in this world that we live in. We don’t want to waste the precious years of our lives going around in circles, or just spinning our wheels and going nowhere, doing nothing. But still we have questions, doubts, and unfulfilled dreams.
 
I do not even pretend to have the answers to these questions, but I do have some experience in walking by faith. I remember a few lines from a Carmen song: “Your desire is the confirmation the destination is there. God wouldn't put it in your spirit if it wasn't going nowhere. So set your sights on the promises and don't you be scared. 'Cause your desire is the confirmation the destination is there.”
 
If you have dreams and desires that are in accord with God’s Word, then you are on the right track. Continue to walk on in faith, doing what you know is right daily, and trust God’s timing and His ability to get you where He wants you. The saying, ‘you can’t steer a parked car,’ is true. As long as we are doing all we know to do, God will do the steering. He can get us to where He wants us easily.
 
Also, be reassured that everyone that says, ‘God told me,’ didn’t necessarily hear an audible voice speaking to them. It may have come as a forceful thought out of nowhere that seemed audible. Or it could have come as a nudge or feeling as God’s Spirit tugged them in a certain direction in life. God uses many ways of ‘speaking’ to us. Often times He speaks to us directly through His Word. Sometimes He uses those in ministry to speak into our lives. Other times He uses circumstances that are beyond our control to speak to us and get us where He wants us.
 
In the earlier years of my ministry, God used a friend of mine who had just graduated from Bible School to talk me into going with her to help some Home Missionaries start a new church in a city about 120 miles from my hometown. It was a step of faith, but God was faithful and there is a thriving church in that city today. There have been many other ‘steps/leaps of faith’ since then, and God has always been faithful!
 
Let me encourage you today to prepare yourself to be used of God. Spend time in His presence and in His Word. Be faithful in worship and look for opportunities every day to be Jesus in this world. Your mission field may be closer than you realize!
 
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.