Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey begins with learning to talk frequently to God, listening for the Holy Spirit’s guidance within, and allowing your spirit to pray through tongues as taught in Psalms 89:15-16, John 16:13-14, 1 Corinthians 14:18, Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:18, and Jude 1:20. This four-step process—clamoring, listening, praying in the Spirit, and listening again—opens a hotline for transformation, spiritual insight, and faith-building communication with the Lord.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Scriptures used in this lesson:
Psalms 89:15-16, John 16:13-14, 1 Corinthians 14:18, 1 Corinthians 14-15, Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:18, Jude 1:20,
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
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Hearing the Voice of the Lord
For me, hearing the Voice of the Lord is a four-step process.
1. Clamoring to the Lord
2. Listening, but Knowing to Whom and Where to Listen
3. Praying in the Spirit – Allowing My Spirit to Pray
4. Listen Again
I want to move through the first two as quickly as possible and spend the majority of our time on Praying in the Spirit to hear the Lord’s voice.
1. Clamoring to the Lord
I’d like to share with you how I most frequently communicate with God. Amazingly, it’s not what I call prayer. It’s more like I am talking to a friend several times a day, just as the Lord did with Moses in Exodus 33:11. Here is a Scripture explaining what I do.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Psalms 89:15-16 BLESSED are those who have LEARNED to ACCLAIM [clamor] you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name ALL DAY LONG; they EXULT [to rise] in your righteousness.
Points from Psalms 89:15-16
(1) There are special blessings for those who learn to do this.
(2) What we learn to do is “acclaim” the Lord. I didn’t know precisely what “acclaim” meant, so I looked it up in the Hebrew (the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic). The Hebrew word translated as “acclaim” means clamor. Clamor means to talk a lot. Have you ever known someone who never stops talking, like me? Reading it with this understanding, the verse says, “Blessed are those who never stop talking to you.”
(3) It says “all day long.” This isn’t a daily prayer time or a devotional time. This involves clamoring to the Lord throughout the day, at any time and in any place. We invite and include the Lord in our daily lives.
4) They exult “in your righteousness.” I probably read that verse ten times, reading it “exalt in your righteousness.” No, it’s “exult in your righteousness.” “Exult” was not in my vocabulary. I needed to look it up in Hebrew to see what it means. The Hebrew word translated as “exult” means “to rise.” Those who clamor will rise in His righteousness. They rise in their righteousness level. This is where a life change takes place.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
2. Listening, but Knowing to Whom and Where to Listen
I’ve learned that many Christians are unsure of what to listen for. There are many ways the Lord can speak to us, i.e., reading His Word, prayer, dreams, visions, and so on. The Lord can talk to us any way he chooses. He spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:2-4), to Balaam through a donkey (Numbers 22:28), to Belshazzar with handwriting on a wall (Daniel 5:5-28), to Peter through a rooster (Matthew 26:75). I know the rooster didn’t talk, but it surely spoke to Peter.
The Lord speaks to us anyway He chooses. However, what is the primary way the Lord designed to speak to us? Let’s examine this passage to see. We learn His primary way in John 16:13.
The Role of the Holy Spirit
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; HE WILL SPEAK only what he hears, and HE WILL TELL YOU what is yet to come.
14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and MAKING IT KNOWN TO YOU.
Notice, it says, “He will speak,” and “He will tell you what is yet to come.” The Holy Spirit will speak to us what we need to know now, and “He will tell you” what we need to know about the future. Hold on to those two thoughts for later. The experiences I will share provided me with insight into the “now” and the “future.”
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
We have a talking God. From Genesis to Revelation, God is speaking. He’s never stopped talking.
The Holy Spirit is directly connected to the Lord and will take from the Lord and make it known to us. The Holy Spirit is a “hotline” from the Lord to us. As we will see later, He is also a hotline from us to the Father.
It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility, His job, a purpose of His, to communicate to us what the Lord has to say to us about what we need to know about now and the future.
The Holy Spirit Within
Question: Where is the Holy Spirit? He dwells within every believer. So, according to Jesus, we are to listen for something within.
Discerning the Lord’s Voice
I want to explain as clearly as I can how I hear the Lord’s voice. We all have a conscience. Our conscience says, “Don’t do that! You know that’s wrong! You know what’s going to happen if you get caught.” Or, “Do this. That’s the right thing to do.” For example, we’ve probably all heard our conscience urging us to forgive someone. What we “hear” the conscience say isn’t audible. We hear loud thoughts. Hearing the Lord’s voice is similar in that we hear loud thoughts.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
My problem was that I knew the Lord was speaking to me through the Holy Spirit, and I knew I was desperately listening. However, I didn’t know how to filter what He was saying from everything else—my thoughts, what I wanted to hear, the enemy’s thoughts, erroneous teachings, traditions, and so on.
Here is what I learned. I learned that after clamoring, if I took the loudest thought I was hearing inside and continued to clamor (acclaim) about it, it would filter out some of the junk. Then, I take the next loudest thought, clamor about it until I get the next loudest thought. I say, “Lord, is this what you mean? Can you provide a Scripture reference for this? Is there a biblical example you can remind me about?” Then clamor about that until I fell like I’ve heard from the Lord.
This is where I shared the story about Judy losing her sense of smell in 2001, which was attributed to COVID. Then she caught the flu in 2025 and had a hideous cough. I said the Lord told me that her cough would cause her sense of smell to return. That’s true, but I didn’t share everything that I did. This is where I want to take us into praying and hearing the voice of the Lord more deeply.
One thing I didn’t mention was praying in the Spirit, or allowing my spirit to pray.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
3. Prophetic Experience
I pointed out in John 16:13-14 that the Holy Spirit would speak to us what we need to know now and tell us what we need to know for the future. That is what happened when we were prophesied over (listen to or watch the message). This led me on a deeper journey of prayer and hearing the voice of the Lord. It actually setup my ministry for the next 30 years.
Praying in the Spirit
My point is that praying in the Spirit, i.e., tongues, opens a communication with God that nothing else can. We will hear things when we pray in tongues that we have no other way of hearing or knowing.
When Randy Adler prophesied over us, I was familiar with “praying in tongues,” but the experience in 1985 took me on a deeper journey, giving me a more profound understanding of praying in the spirit, i.e., in tongues.
For me, I often hear the loud thought saying, “Pray in the Spirit.” I know that means to stop clamoring and pray in tongues. I don’t question, “Is this the Holy Spirit?” I know the enemy, or my carnal mind, isn’t going to suggest I pray in tongues. It usually means the Lord is about to reveal something to me. I immediately begin praying in tongues.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Concept of Tongues
I realize that the concept of tongues is new to many of you. The reason is that you’ve never been taught adequately about tongues. I need to do a brief teaching on the Holy Spirit, tongues, and praying in tongues to validate that praying in tongues is Scriptural and relevant for today. It’s just not taught. Tongues seem foolish and unnecessary to many people. They are not, however, when you understand a few key things.
All the apostles prayed in tongues and spoke in tongues. In the Bible, churches and their members spoke in tongues and prayed in tongues. The apostle Paul said this:
1 Corinthians 14:18 I thank God that I SPEAK IN TONGUES MORE THAN ALL OF YOU.
In 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14, the Apostle Paul instructs the church at Corinth about the gifts of the Spirit. Paul discusses the gifts of the Spirit in two chapters. I am not aware of any other topic in the Scriptures that receives two entire chapters of attention. Much of that attention is given to tongues. He corrects the misuse of tongues and explains how tongues should function. He says this:
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
1 Corinthians 14:14 For IF I PRAY IN TONGUES, MY SPIRIT IS PRAYING, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
Praying in tongues is a valid Scriptural way to pray. If I pray in tongues, it’s not me praying. It’s my spirit praying. Did you know your spirit can pray? Did you know your Spirit wants to pray, and when your spirit prays, it has its own language? That language is tongues.
Paul said he didn’t understand what he was saying when he prayed in tongues. A misconception about tongues is that every time tongues are spoken, there should be an interpretation. That is incorrect. The only time tongues should be interpreted is when spoken in a corporate setting by someone with the gift of interpretation of tongues.
Let’s read that verse again and the next verse.
1 Corinthians 14:14 For IF I PRAY IN TONGUES, MY SPIRIT IS PRAYING, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
15 Well then, what shall I do? I WILL PRAY IN THE SPIRIT, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.
Apostle Paul said the proper way to pray is to pray both “in the Spirit,” i.e., tongues, and to “pray in words I understand.” We note that when Paul says “pray in the Spirit,” he means pray in tongues, as he goes on to say he prays in words he understands.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
A point I want to make here and talk about later is that Paul said he prayed “in the Spirit” first, and then he prayed in words he understood. Why do this? It opens the “hotline” to the Lord, and as we will see shortly, the hotline to the Father.
Paul also said he will sing in the spirit and sing in words he understands. Did you know your spirit wants to sing, can sing, and when your spirit sings, it will sing in tongues?
FOUR PURPOSES/USES FOR TONGUES IN SCRIPTURE:
(1) Tongues identify the baptism in the Holy Spirit, not the receiving of the Holy Spirit [Acts 2:3-4, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:6].
(2) Tongues are a spiritual gift to be interpreted by those with the gift of interpretation [1 Corinthians 12:7-11].
(3) Tongues are for praying in the Spirit [Romans 8:26, 1 Corinthians 14:14-15, Ephesians 6:18, Jude 1:20].
(4) Tongues are for praising and singing in the Spirit [1 Corinthians 14:15].
Today isn’t a detailed teaching about tongues. Our focus is on praying and hearing God’s voice. I have Scriptural references to each purpose and use for you to study. If you’d like to learn more about tongues, you are welcome to visit my website, SermonsbyDelbertYoung.com, where you’ll find more information than you need.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
WHY I PRAY IN THE SPIRIT OR TONGUES
Why do I believe praying in tongues is essential? Isn’t praying with English words, or words I understand, sufficient? I’m going to give four reasons why I believe praying in tongues is the most powerful way anyone can pray.
(1) To Hear The Voice Of The Lord
As previously discussed, the Spirit will speak to us and reveal what we need to know about the present and our future. Praying in tongues, i.e., in the Spirit, opens our “hotline” for the Lord to speak to us.
(2) When I Don’t Know What To Pray For
Have you had times when you didn’t know how to pray about something or for someone? We end up praying something like, “Lord, your will be done.” What if there’s a deeper, better way? What if you could pray the will of God every time you pray?
Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our WEAKNESS. FOR EXAMPLE, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the HOLY SPIRIT PRAYS for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
The “weakness” is that we don’t know what to pray, but the Holy Spirit knows and will pray with sounds that cannot be expressed in words. Paul says to allow the Holy Spirit to pray. How do we let the Holy Spirit pray? By praying in tongues. When we don’t know what to pray or how to pray, let the Holy Spirit pray through us using tongues. Next verse.
Romans 8:27 And THE FATHER who knows all hearts KNOWS WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING, for THE SPIRIT PLEADS FOR US BELIEVERS in harmony with GOD’S OWN WILL. [NLT]
The Father knows what the Spirit is saying. Praying in tongues is a hotline to the Father! We can pray the will of God every time.
Every Sunday, people ask me to pray for them Online in private prayer. I don’t know them. I can’t even see them. They type out a few sentences for me to pray about. I don’t know how to pray for them, but the Holy Spirit does. I pray for them in tongues and then type out a prayer in private prayer chat, and I believe I have prayed for them the very best way I can.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Additionally, we receive Connection Cards with prayer requests from people. I receive between thirty and forty prayer requests every week. How do I pray for them? I let my Spirit pray in tongues. Then I’ll send them an email to let them know I prayed for them. I know I’ve prayed for the will of God for them.
When you don’t know how to pray or what to pray for yourself or for others, pray the will of God by praying in tongues.
(3) Spiritual Warfare
Have you ever been in a battle such as for your marriage, finances, sickness, children, loved one, etc.? In Galatians chapter 6, Paul instructs us to put on the whole armor of God to resist these times of evil —(1) a belt of truth, (2) a breastplate of righteousness, (3) feet fitted with the peace of God, (4) a shield of faith, (5) a helmet of salvation, (6) the sword of the Spirit. Then, he says this for the seventh item to put on.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Ephesians 6:18 And PRAY IN THE SPIRIT ON ALL OCCASIONS WITH ALL (due measure) KINDS OF PRAYERS AND REQUESTS. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
We’ve seen that when Paul talks about praying in the Spirit, he’s talking about praying in tongues. Do this “on all occasions.” Every time we pray, and every time we face evil, pray in the Spirit, i.e., pray in tongues.
The Greek word translated “with all” means “due measure.” Paul again first lists “Pray in the Spirit” and then says measure out or add all kinds of other prayers, such as prayers you understand, thanksgiving, and so on. Always pray in the Spirit first. Open the hotline. Then pray other prayer types.
(4) Build Up Your Faith
Have you ever been down spiritually? Things have gone badly. You found yourself questioning God, asking, “Where are you? Don’t you care about me? Are you real, God?”
Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, warned the church about false teachers who were teaching immorality and had believers’ true faith beaten down. He said this:
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Jude 1:19-20 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and PRAY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Jude warned believers about individuals in the church “who do not have the Spirit.” Then he said, “But you…” meaning you do have the Holy Spirit. Because you do have the Spirit, “Build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.” He didn’t say, “Pray.” He was specific. “Pray in the Holy Spirit,” i.e., pray in tongues. Allow praying in the Holy Spirit to help build up your faith. I like the King James Translation. It says:
Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
My faith can’t be low when I pray in tongues. When I am down, I build myself up by praying in tongues.
It was January 2014. We got a text from Bonnie, our daughter. She had a mammogram, and it showed something. She was scheduled for a biopsy. Judy and I went to Atlanta to take her to the appointment. I was confident it would be nothing. However, the biopsy showed it was malignant cancer. Our daughter had breast cancer! We went back to her house to tell Jody, Bonnie’s husband. Everyone was upset.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
I, trying to be the man of God with strength and power, attempted to tell everyone things would be okay, but inside, I was a mess. Judy and I came home. The two-hour drive was nearly silent. We pulled in and unloaded the car. I told Judy that I needed to go to my office. I couldn’t wait to get to the sanctuary and cry out to the Lord.
When I got here, I came into this very auditorium. I hit the altar and began clamoring something like, “I don’t understand. Bonnie’s been a perfect daughter. She loves you. She kept herself pure for her husband. She’s brought people to Christ through her spirit. I know I’ve prayed your will for her.” I was reminding the Lord how I’d walked past her open bedroom door and saw her dancing before Him.
My daughter had cancer! I’d lost my sister to breast cancer. Our world was crashing. My faith was flat. I said to the Lord, “We’ve done our part. Why didn’t you do your part?” I heard the loud thought we’ve talked about say, “Pray in the Spirit.” When I hear the loud thought say, “Pray in the Spirit,” I know my Spirit wants to pray. I immediately begin praying in tongues.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
In a few moments, I went from our daughter could die to God was in it, and she would be okay. I heard, “She’s going to be okay.” I said, “Thank you, but why didn’t you heal her?’ The Lord said, “I’ve made it so it’s been found early. Delbert, you’ve got to trust me.” I remember saying, ” Lord, you know I trust you.” My faith was back. I went into combat mode and began spiritual warfare. Eleven years later, there she sits – our beautiful daughter, cancer-free.
There are times when we need a hotline to the Lord. There are times when we’ve prayed the will of the Lord, but don’t understand. Times when we are in warfare. Times when our faith is down. Praying in the Spirit, i.e., tongues, gave me back my hope, faith, and peace that she would be okay.
Closing
If you already pray in tongues, good for you. I pray that I have taken you on a deeper journey to pray in tongues more frequently and hear the Lord more clearly. Some of you could pray in tongues, but don’t. You likely have never been shown the importance of it. I pray I’ve taken you on a deeper journey to begin. Some would like to pray in tongues but don’t know how. Allow me to tell you about my first time speaking in tongues.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
It was 1978. I had only been serving the Lord for a few months. At the time, I was working in Griffin, GA, at a textile plant as the overseer of the midnight to 8:00 a.m. shift.
After a shift change, around 8:30 a.m., I was walking through the parking lot to my truck. I had the strangest loud thought. It was, “Speak in tongues.” I didn’t know that loud thought was the Lord at that time. I remember thinking, “Where did that thought come from?” I wasn’t thinking about tongues, so I shook the thought off and continued walking to my truck.
We were attending a Pentecostal, charismatic-type church. There were times when tongues were spoken, but I didn’t understand them and had never been taught about speaking in tongues. Tongues seemed weird to me. Why would anyone want to do that?
Climbing into my truck, the thought came again, “Speak in tongues.” I thought, “Well, maybe that’s the Lord. I suppose I could try.” I remember looking around to see if anyone was watching me, but how could they be since I was in my truck alone? “How would that sound?” I thought.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
I listened inwardly, as we do when we are thinking about saying something. We get/hear a few words of what we are about to say. Then the rest comes. I could “hear” a few words of tongues. I spoke them out loud. Then I could hear more words, and then more words. It was about a twenty-minute drive to our house. All the way, I continued speaking in tongues. By the time I got home, I could talk in tongues rather well.
I thought, “Okay, I can speak in tongues. Now, I had to learn what tongues were about. It led me on a long study of the Scriptures. I shared many teachings about tongues right here in this building. I have a prayer life that is an envy to many. A significant part of that prayer life involves clamoring with the Lord and praying in tongues.
Perhaps you’re saying, “I really want to pray in the Spirit, i.e., tongues,” then do it.” When we’re honest with ourselves, it comes to our pride, which is why I think the Lord uses tongues. If we speak in tongues to get closer to Him, then we’ll do nearly anything for Him.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Perhaps you’ve heard something like ‘tongues are not for today.’ I’ve shown you differently. Maybe you’ve heard that you have to have hands laid on you, fall on the floor, and do some foolish-looking things. No. No one in the Scriptures ever acted strangely when they spoke in tongues. Everyone merely began speaking in tongues exactly as I did. I didn’t have hands laid on me. I didn’t do anything foolish.
In a few moments, I will ask you to stand, raise your hands as high as you are comfortable, close your eyes, and listen inwardly to the Spirit of God within you. He will give you a few words in tongues. Whisper them or mouth them.
Here is what I suggest you do within the next few days. Find a private place and ask the Lord about tongues. Clamor with Him and then listen to what He says. Listen inside for a few words in tongues. Imagine how it would sound, and then speak them. More words will come to increase your tongues vocabulary.
If you want a deeper journey in prayer and hearing the Lord, allow the Spirit to speak the language He gave you. Stop worrying what it sounds like—start speaking what the Holy Spirit wants to say. Today, take the deeper journey—clamor, listen, and let your spirit speak.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Closing Prayer
The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Praying and Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Deeper Journey
Other Related Sermons and Messages:
Continuous Presence of God: How to Transform Your Life
Praying In Tongues: How to Mature in Spiritual Growth