Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. NIV
On several occasions, i have heard the devil. I doubt if there's any man that hears God who hasn't heard the devil. One of such occurences happened when i was travelling to Minna some years ago. We had a stop over at Jebba to eat. I ordered for a plate of food. After i finished eating, i requested for extra satchet water. As i was drinking the water, i heard a voice saying, 'If you don't pay for the water, you'll come back to Jebba to restitute for it.' I was confused because the lady didn't ask for money and i knew the voice i heard was a hoax.I decided to test the genuineness of that voice.
I gave the lady N5 naira note, she returned the money to me. I asked her why she did. She said the money i paid for the main meal covered for the extra satchet water she gave me. That was how the devil was disgraced. You see, someone else may hear thesame voice and say 'the Spirit of God spoke to me and i became contrite in heart so that i might not sin'. Some have heard the voice of devil's accusation and condemnation thinking it was conviction of the Spirit. In your walk with God, you need to be trained on how to distinguish good from evil, voice of the Spirit from that of demon spirit.
Spiritual maturity begins the day you start recognizing the voice of God not the voices sounding like his. Sometimes, when God is speaking, we don't know He is talking to us because we lack training in that regard. Just like the case of Samuel, he thought Eli was talking to him. Eli, as an experienced man in the things of the Spirit who knew what was happening gave him a simple instruction. We all need to be trained in the things of the Spirit constantly. Mature men are trained men. Some still doubt if training is needed for spiritual things. Apostle Paul endorsed learning about the operations of the gifts of the Spirit, 1Cor12:1. The closer we are to the word, the better and we need to be around men that are spiritually mature not religious men.
Father, i refuse to be untrained in the things of the Spirit In Jesus name.