Note 3 at Jn. 10:3: This verse promises all who are God's sheep (i.e. those who are born again--see note 2 at Jn. 3:3, p. 48) that they not only can, but that they do, hear His voice. Many born-again people doubt the truth of this statement based on their experience. They don't think they can hear God's voice. However, the Word of God is true--not our experience (Rom. 3:4).

The harmony between what this verse says and what our experiences say is that it is our new born-again spirit that hears God's voice. Although God has spoken and still does speak in an audible voice at times, very few people experience this. God speaks to our inner person (spirit) and our inner man hears Him. The problem comes when we aren't sensitive to or controlled by our spirit but are walking in the vanity of our mind (Eph. 4:17-18). The Bible calls this walking in the flesh instead of the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-18).

Prayer, Bible study, fasting, fellowship, etc. are ways of refocusing our mind's attention away from the voice of this world and back to the voice of our Shepherd who is constantly communicating with our spirit (Jn. 4:24).