Q & A

If you heard God speak and didn't listen, and now--no matter how you search for His voice--you get no response, does that mean you no longer have the Holy Spirit in you?

Answer

The short answer is no. Not being able to hear God’s voice does not mean you no longer have the Holy Spirit in you. If you are a child of God and if you have received salvation from your sin through His death and resurrection, you are permanently His and the Holy Spirit remains in you. This relationship, established with your conversion, is not over because you do not feel God’s presence.

I don’t know how you experienced God’s voice, but it is important to remember that while the Holy Spirit can impress upon us to do certain things or to keep from doing others, God also speaks to us through Scripture. As we read and learn and meditate on God’s Word, we hear the promptings of the Spirit.

Furthermore, if you’ve confessed your refusal to listen to the Spirit’s voice, you are forgiven! You don’t have to search for God’s voice; He is with you, and He speaks to you through His Word and through strong Christians who confirm that Word as you live in community. Since faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17), we believe He dwells in us by faith, not by something we feel. One great Christian leader wrote, “The day God is absent, when He is silent—that is the beginning of prayer.”

About the Author

Rosalie de Rosset

Dr. Rosalie de Rosset has been teaching at Moody Bible Institute in the Communications Department for over five decades.

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