Recognising God’s Voice

This illustration has been used both in youth group and in church to show how the more we get to know God, the more we can effectively listen to him and be guided by him through our lives.
Before the group meets, get a few people together and record them speaking for about 10 seconds each on a tape (they can say anything – tell a joke, talk about their favourite food, whatever). Try and get a couple of people who everybody knows, and one or two people that the youth will not know.
Play the tape to the youth group, and get them to see if they can recognise who is speaking. They never cease to get excited about hearing theirs or their friends voices on tape!
Explain the illustration by pointing out that it was easy for them to guess the voices of the speakers that they knew well, whereas no one really knew who the stranger’s voice belonged to. Explain that it is like this with God – the more we get to know him, the easier it will be to recognise what he is trying to tell us in our lives.