I used to struggle with preparing sermons before I spoke before "governors and kings", in other words God's people - a nation of kings and priests, until the Lord rebuked me by saying "stop working so hard on preparing sermons and work on preparing your heart". He told me it's a waste of time to prepare a sermon if my heart isn't  right before the Lord. Keeping my heart pure is far more important than impressing people with how much I know.
"For whom the Lord loveth  He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he recieveth". "My son despise not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him". "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent". Be zealous! Israel had a zeal for God but not according to knowledge, Paul testifies but I testify that the Church of today (who think they've replaced Israel) had knowledge of God but no zeal. They are zealous for a great many things but not for Him! For his very presence in their midst. "For they being knowledgeable of God's righteousness", (still) go about to establish their own righteousness". This is a worse sin than Israel's for they were ignorant while the Church is not! The churches of today, the vast amount of denominations "have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God", saith the Lord, "for Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth". Yet the churches have made God's New Testament into another form of Law that brings bondage to God's people, not the freedom he died (and lives) to give them. The Word has been reduced to a set of doctrines to be believed in and followed, rather than a person - the person of Jesus Christ himself. Get that - he calls Himself the Word - so we don't get caught up in following words but in following Him!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God". "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" - and now dwells in us! So yes, we imbibe the Word written but it is meant to bring us to The WORD HIMSELF - JESUS, that we may commune with Him forevermore, world without end, Selah. 

We should always keep one ear open to God and one to people we are speaking with. This way, He can cut through all the confusion and unbelief and trivialities the devil seeks to fill our days with. With one ear always available to the Holy Spirit - he can bring clarity and purity of purpose to an otherwise wasted day. The devil doesn't waste his time and he doesn't care if you listen to him or not, with his lies and falsehoods, he's just as content if you spend your life listening to your favorite music or newscast or sportscast - as long as you avoid the voice of God!

His voice is a tether, an anchor you can attach your soul to that will never fail you, never steer you wrong. Learn to hear His voice personally by reason of use. When you hear him in the depths of your heart - as deep calling unto deep, then you'll recognize His voice in others. Everyone's voice is distinctive to them, including His. Hopefully, you'll hear Him speaking in your place of communion. One single word from God himself spoken by his spirit directly to your spirit has more power and impact than all the words a man can speak. Remember - the closer to the source of the river you get, the more pure the water is. The more intimate we are with our Heavenly Father, the purer our ministry will be. The closer we are to His throne, the better off we'll be for the River of His Mighty Spirit flows from there - "and He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev:22:1). If God is enthroned in your heart - His Spirit, full of His words, a mighty river of life, will flow out of you, quenching the thirst of all who will receive on this desert planet so void of true eternal life. In the beginning the earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep and so shall it be at the end - men's souls will be without form and void and worthless to our God and darkness shall cover the depth's of men's spirits because they denied the Holy One who made them.

Only they who are born of God shall know light and shall live forever in the New Heavens and the New Earth. Drink deep of the mighty river spoken of in Ezekiel 47. Let it flow out of your belly "so that everything shall live whither the river cometh". And, as this mighty river flows through you, as you become a tributary for him, your soul shall become as "a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth His (The Father's) fruit in His season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Psalm 1). "And the fruit thereof shall be for eat, and the leaf thereof for medicine" (Ez:47:12). Go, so that they may come! In the desert, they are too weak to come to you. Bring Him to them! Let Him flow out of you - freely you have received, freely give! Let His words, which are spirit and life - flow out of you! And when you come before governors and kings (everyone is the governor and king of their own heart) "take no thought how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak". (Mt:10:18,19). 

Did you know that each of us can make a conscious choice to hear God's voice? "and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. For they know not the voice of strangers". "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". Notice the "proceedeth",,,present tense, not past.. "The words that I speak unto you are spirit, and are life". 
Each born-again, spirit filled child of God, can and will hear his voice - this is why Satan ensures as many churches as possible deny this by teaching the opposite - "doctrine of devils" and it's also why he ensures the world is filled with such a cacophony of voices that God's voice becomes just one of thousands we encounter as we saunter through life.
Think about it - in our generation especially, the ability to mass communicate has reached a fever pitch. A movie can be released these days and overnight can be seen by literally millions around the world. A video on YouTube can go viral and get a billion views! It's so easy to fill our ears with a multitude of voices, as well as the aforementioned movies and Internet, there's TV, radio, music, books, magazines and our nosy neighbor Edna. Even churches seek to monopolize our ears with the Pastor's voice, or our elder's but in all this - do we ever hear God's voice? The only one who's words are spirit and life? The only one that can save us from daily dangers as well as eternal ones? Is his voice even a priority to you? Do you take time out from your busy life to tune out the world and tune in to God? Do you ever obey God's command to "be still and know that I am God"?
Are you aware that he speaks to us in a "still, small voice"? In other words - a whisper? We cannot hear a whisper unless we draw near to the one who is whispering, and we most certainly cannot hear a whisper while we are speaking. No, to hear a whisper, we must be still, we must draw near and grow quiet and listen with all our hearts. It is those who are intimate with him that will hear his voice.
So intimacy then is our chief passion and goal in this life - intimacy with our most intimate of God's. Whether he speaks to us or not - we should desire to just be near him. John, in his gospel, in 20:2 and 21:7 calls himself, not by his own name, (which, incidentally means "beloved of God") but says "that disciple whom Jesus loved". His very identity had become absorbed by the love of his God to the point where he wanted no attention for himself but only for his beloved Savior. He wants to share with all that he is loved by Jesus! But not only is he loved - he loves in return, for we read this of him in 13:23-25 - "Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spoke. He then lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto him, Lord, who is it?" Do you see it? He mentions not once but twice that he is "lying on Jesus' breast" at the supper table. He wanted to be as close to Jesus as he could get, and the other disciples acted as if it's no big deal for John to be leaning on Jesus' breast. So I surmise it was fairly common for him to do so. I want to be "that disciple whom Jesus loves". I want to get as close to him as possible. I want to lie on his breast and be still, content to just be near him. I want to be so close to him I can see everything he's doing and do it too, and hear everything he's saying and repeat it too. 

I saw tall trees
surrounded by dead leaves.
Life and death
joined in intimacy.
Cities
full of dead, walking.
Death stalking.
True life rare.
I couldn't help but stare.
So few aware,
as smoke filled the sky
tears filled my eyes
as I realized
Man at the last...
bound to his past.
No understanding
could be found
in city or in town.
Voice of Truth drowned
in a cacophony of noise
all meant to destroy.
Blind and deaf,
men's souls were bereft
of the Truth that frees them.
Oh how I long for the Freedom
they could have known
but filthiness is all they've sown,
eternal blessings ignored...
I'm sailing for another shore....

The next great holocaust - the next mass assault by the enemy - will be on innocence and purity. Abortions have been happening for years, for the enemy is desperately trying to keep the Moses's, the Jesus's of  each generation from arising. He's trying to keep deliverance and righteousness from being birthed in each successive generation. Yet, if he cannot keep them from being born - he will try to twist and pervert them at as young an age as possible. We will now see him attacking the very concept of purity itself - the very idea of it will be endlessly mocked and ridiculed. He will call all things pure - unclean and he will declare all things impure to be pure. He will seduce and betray any vestige of innocence, of purity. Virgins, children, anyone bought with the blood of Christ, anyone clean by the Holy Spirit's presence within them, anyone innocent of a heart unyielding to God - the Bride of Christ herself will under go an assault like never before - till the name of Christ is a mockery on the lips of the lost - till, even among "christian" churches - anyone seeking holiness - not through a religious spirit, not through their religion, which breeds a false holiness, but through the presence, guidance and tutelage of the Holy Spirit's leadership, will be scorned to derision. When the Holy Spirit is rejected - all manner of uncleanliness and impurity is accepted, especially in the area of doctrine. A flood of filth is being released into this earth like we've never seen before - and God help those churches that wallow in it and yet stand before God and praise his name. God help our children - to whom are exposed the open sewers we call TV shows and movies. God help us to align our hearts, souls, and spirits with Him, not the spirit of filthiness this world loves to embrace.
Jesus paid the price for our purity, personal and corporate purity - we must not disdain it any longer. We must learn the difference between the Holy and the profane and act accordingly. We must think pure thoughts - that our enemy may not gain entrance into God's holy temple - which he seeks to corrupt with his presence We must carefully guard our hearts - what we allow into our ear gates and our eye gates. God help us please to be wise virgins - spiritual virgins - spiritual Mary's, ready for the day of your visitation. For out of the bitterness of this fallen world will arise a purity as of the Son of Man - arisen as the Day Star in our hearts - and this purity, his innocence, will purify all who will receive it - all who will walk in it - and the darkness will rail against it, the heathen will rage - they will take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, but he that sits in the heavens, where our hearts dwell, will laugh, he will have them in derision - he will disdain the scornful and the mockers, who exalt their words above His. He will vex them in his wrath and sore displeasure. And the fire of the presence of His Spirit will consume all flesh - those who gave their flesh willingly to Him in sacrifice will be saved - for the fire cannot consume what it has already consumed. Those who denied him and kept their flesh for themselves will perish - and damnation will be their everlasting lot. The fear of the Lord has come upon me.. i can write no more...