I’m trying to grow in listening to God– in not running ahead of him nor running behind him. How I do I run with him? How do I hear what he is saying and not just what I want him to say? Jesus says that he only does what the father tells him to do, that he only says what the father tells him to say. I want to know what that could look like in my life.
So, I’d love y’all to help me! How do you hear the voice of God? What does that look like in your life?
Put your comments here and lets get the conversation going!
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This is a tough one. I believe I hear the voice of God a lot. That makes me either charismatic, psychotic, or both. What I do is try to immerse myself in the writings and inventions of God, so I know more and more about what God is like. God invented the natural Earth, not buildings. God invented relationships and families, not ski boats and ariplanes. God wrote the Bible. As I immerse myself in the things of God, I begin to hear a still small voice commending things that are beautiful while being lovingle and justly critical of things that are not. It is in embracing and noticing God’s worldview of beauty v. not so beautiful that I feel prompted by the Holy Spirit to act in relationship to things around me.
Usually God is a still small voice in my head daily. but this one particular time it was as loud as thunder. My husband and I where on a mini vacation at Laguna beach and we had rented a hotel room right on the beach. That night as we slept I was dreaming of the waves crashing on the shore and I heard a loud voice saying “Love Thy Enemies.” It verberated through my head so loud that I will never forget it as long as I live. I knew that it was Gods voice at that very moment. To this day I try to remember what God had said on that night in everything that I do.
Thanks Cheryl for asking this querstion, for me I hear from the Lord in the simplest ways. When he talks to me it’s like a normal converstion with a friend, there is no proper “Thus says the Lord speach” it’s a normal voice in normal words that I can understand. Sometimes He speaks just out of the blue, and other times it’s in conversation. I have learned to recognize His voice, and I don’t know how I recognize it I just do and I know it’s Him. We don’t talk always talk about “spiritual” stuff, we talk about stuff that I like, airplanes, hiking and trucking. I get some much joy and healing ever time we speak, we have a good time.
Something that you will notice when hearing for God is that His voice is very loving and gentle. You will not hear any negitive or harsh words form Him. Everything He says is love and in love.
One thing that’s very important is that if you talk to Him or ask to hear His voice, He will always respond back.
I have so much more I could tell from my times with Him, but I hope this helps.
Blessings, Brian
Sometimes, without provocation, I simply know something is true or not true. Like beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sometimes, an idea pops into my head on repeat. If I keep hearing something along the same lines over and over, I usually go do it.
I started to answer this once and then I realized that there is more than one way, there are many but if I had to summarize I would say that I hear from God the most when I am practicing being in conversation with him. This may be by being in his word and then asking what he wants me to learn from it, from being out in the world and just paying attention to what is around me and appreciating it in the moment and saying a little prayer of thanks, or by being in my day and asking for God’s help moment by moment, in the midst of a difficult conversation praying while I speak to ask for the right words, when I see something that breaks my heart asking why are you showing me this and by just sitting and telling God in my prayers or my journalling how I am, what I am feeling where I need help. I have found that when I am seeking he is there, waiting to answer in a breeze across my face, a whisper in my ear, a subtle nudge to do something, in the kind words of a friend just when I needed to hear them and in the holy spirit that tells me to STOP or go, or gives me the words to say that are just right in the right time. There have been some really specific instances over the years where I “heard” from God, but like you I am seeking for it to be less of an event in my life and more of a lifestyle.
Thanks for the question I look forward to seeing all the responses.
Pattie — I loved to hear some of those specific instances too! But this is so helpful — practicing awareness, an on-going conversation. I want that.
I’ve definitely sensed God literally speaking to me before but the past year has really been hard at times and I have struggled to hear God’s voice. In the midst of trials, when my faith has been tested, I think God has spoken to me through close friends. I remember one night distinctly during M28. It had been a particularly hard few months I remember saying how I was struggling to sense God’s love and really see evidence of him in what was going on. Someone spoke up in the group spoke up and said how clearly she saw God working in my life. She then listed off several ways she saw him working. I was floored by what she said (it literally resounded with truth) and how utterly blind I had been. In that moment really felt God saying, “Now do you see just how much I love you!?”
I love that Becca. Thanks for sharing!
I call myself a “dyslexic charismatic” because I hear God speaking to me, but it takes me a bit longer & I sometimes get it backwards. “Hearing God” is something that came to me later in my Christian life, but has truly changed my life. The first time I can truly remember hearing God was several years ago when I was in ministry, a young mom, very busy. I got a call at home on my answering machine asking me to do a funeral for someone I didn’t really know. It was a large enough staff on the church that I could easily say no w/o being a jerk. I planned to do that because I was really busy and really, no one likes to do funerals. But for some reason I went for a walk first. I wasn’t really thinking about the decision– I’d already decided. But by the time I returned from my walk I knew I was to do the funeral, and that God would give me the time. It’s hard to explain, but that simple experience changed the whole course of my ministry– the way I minister, how I minister. 10 yrs later in my “farewell party” at that church, a man I didn’t know well came up to me and said, “I’m sure you don’t remember it, but you did a funeral several years ago for my friend, and there was something different about it that changed the whole way I saw you…” Ever since, that has been the way God has spoken most often to me. Sometimes it is in prayer, sometimes in worship. But most often, I will pray and ask God to show his will to me, and just rest in that. Then, some time later, very often while I am on a walk, God will speak to me. It won’t be an audible voice or even thought. Rather, when I begin the walk I will be unclear as to what to do, and by the end of the walk I will know w/ certainty: a particular kind of certainty that comes not from my own (far inflated) cognition or opinion or knowledge, but something that I am aware comes from God. It has changed everything.
This is so helpful to me — on numerous levels. Thanks Vikki!
is it cheating to tell 2 stories– and this one not about me, but about my dad? My dad (now deceased many years) grew up in a very dysfunctional, unhappy home w/ no religious background whatsoever, not really a believer. When he was in high school (Hollywood High) he was going out for track. So one day after school he was running laps. He was the only one on the field. As he ran, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and heard a voice say, “you’re my man, Clark (his name)”. Totally freaked him out. He had no religious context in which to understand such an experience, so he told no one for the next 20+ yrs. More than 20 yrs later, thru a chain of events, he became a Christ-follower. It was some time after that that he began telling this story. Whenever my dad told the story of how he became a Christian, it always began with that moment when he was all alone on the field, and felt God choose him, long before he chose God (Rom. 5:8).
Vikki – I’m so so glad you shared this story. How amazing. I love it!
Sorry….I needed to repost. I found some typo’s and didn’t know how to delete the one before it.
I have been wanting to comment but put it off. Then I felt a nudge again to go back and write about my experience. I am reading a book by Jentezen Franklin “Right People, Right Place, Right Plan (Discerning the voice of God). This book caught my attention because this is something I desire to learn more about. It has only been the past 4-5 years that I have heard God speaking to me. I’m sure He was speaking to me before but I was too busy to even notice or hear him. Then the Lord took me on a journey of “being still”. My personality doesn’t do “being still” very well but decided to be obedient and see what would happen. What happened was that God started talking to me and it started transforming me and it gave me a desire to hear Him more.
I started hearing God on a daily basis (sometimes it was simple things like call or email that person, send a card, speak words of encouragement, send or give money, etc). I needed to hear God in a big way last June 2010. It had to do with my younger son moving 3,000 miles away to live with his dad and step-mom. Everything inside of me was saying NO but I knew that was my answer. God showed me the day He and I were going to talk this out. I decided to fast (which has been another avenue I have experienced God speaking to me). Long story short, God asked me to let my son go and live with his dad for 10 months. I was heart broken but I heard the Lord say two things: Let him go and I will bless you. He kept His promise. I felt such peace during that time and God was speaking to me often. The way He blessed me was that after 6 months of my son being gone, he came back to California for good. I felt like God blessed my obedience and showed me things about myself I needed to see. Today, my son and I are doing better than we ever have.
In closing, there is one part of the book I want to quote from Jentezen Franklin. He writes “Are you racing ahead or are you being led”? Your spirit wants to lead you; your flesh wants to race ahead like a toddler loose in a parking lot. The flesh thrives on noise, activity, competition and busyness; the spirit thrives on silence, stillness, solitude, and Scripture. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10
This is a very challenging topic and of keen interest to so many souls today. I have found that the best way to hear God and get direction for your life is through others that have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and have the gifts of the Spirit as Paul mentions in letters to the Corinthians. I’m not talking about people with God-given, natural-born “talents”. I’m talking about deep spiritual revelation that comes directly from heaven through someone who asked the Holy Spirit to baptize them with fire. Like what happened to Apollos in Acts 18 and 19.
Here’s an example. A few years back, the market for software engineers wasn’t too great. I knew quite a few former co-workers that were getting law degrees, so I figured it may be a good move for me as well. I started to carefully consider the option. It would be a large investment of time and money that could distract my service to God. It could also be a good opportunity to serve the community and provide for my future family.
On Sunday, I brought the topic up for prayer. As we prayed, a worker in the church saw a vision about me. There were two mountains. I was on one mountain but was looking toward the other mountain. It was very clear from the description of the other mountain that I needed to stay on my current mountain.
I immediately dropped any effort toward law school and continued focusing on software. Now demand for software engineers is better than ever. I can genuinely see the fulfillment of this vision every day I head to work. I also was not distracted from the financial burden and stress of law school and could use that time to focus on God.
It was a win/win decision that I would not have made in my own understanding. There have been so many similar times the Spirit has kept me from the wrong eternal path. However, in this particular instance, it is easy look back and see the result..even in my short time here in this world. Praise God!
I used to think it was just my conscience. Turns out that’s been Him all along.
God speaks to me through analogies I see in the world. For example, the other day I saw this lizard that was clutching onto the mesh veil over my fireplace. He looked dirty and dehydrated, and I wanted to rescue him. Well, naturally, when I picked him up he flew out of my hands, which started about a 10 minute stand off between us. I was getting so frustrated chasing him about and trying to keep my dog away from him, because the whole time I’m thinking, ‘If only you knew that I was trying to help you, you’d quit running away from me! You belong outside, not in this world.’ And then I thought–Oh I bet that’s how God feels. I’m all mad at him for grabbing my tail when I was just fine living ‘in the world’ but He knows where I am destined to be. If I would just quit fighting him and allow him to put me on the tree (analogy for Jesus?) where I’d flourish, then I wouldn’t fight him so.
i hear from god in so many different ways. like other have said there really isn’t a formula but rather, i think, a being open and attentive to what he has to say. listening by reading scripture, listening to teachings, friends, nature, silence, listening prayer etc. my favorite way god speaks sometimes is when out of the blue coincidences will happen in something i’ve read or heard or am thinking about. i LOVE this b/c i don’t try to conjure it up, it just happens.
for example, i was having a really hard time after a death in my life and i felt like god led me to a scripture one morning. on a run the same afternoon i was listening to a sermon and she preached on the exact same scripture. OR we moved across the country last year and i was feeling particularly lonely and we went to small group one night and both a reading and the worship song/video used in the group where from people i knew in knew in college. it was something simple, but i knew God was giving me a little bit of familiarity to let me know i wasn’t alone.
these kind of coincidences happen a lot for me. i think b/c i tend to question a lot about whether or not i’m making something up, he drops these incidents in that i can’t control.
point being: he knows what each individual needs to hear him and he speaks that way to us.
Cheryl, it is so beautiful to think about this today, thank you for blogging on it so I could enjoy a moment thinking about God and how readily He speaks to us. It is in my need for Him, that He most often speaks. The life of obedience and discipleship often puts me in circumstances that I would not choose myself, there is much giving up and loosing of self to be the seed that produces life after death. As I live out that life, the one of obedience, I find I am often if not nearly always, quite out of my depth. I wind up unable to do anything that I am needing to do, as my daily life is quite out of my competencies (caring for children, home making, tender listening to a husband, loving with gentleness and quietness). With that, the life becomes one of constant conversation with God. There is really no other way. I talk with God about how to tackle the laundry, what to make for lunch, how to help my children grow in His love and mission. I ask how to make moments for Aron and how to find friendship in my little world. I ask Him to help me find ways to serve and to give and to evangelize even though my world is so small and insignificant. It is amazing, what living a life without your rights does to your need for you Master to direct all your paths, even the simplest things. I find God talks to me in ways of peace in my heart, an inner compass, the right words to soothe or direct or guide, timing of chores, presence of mind for the children. And, somehow, quite miraculously, it all gets done, and this too, is super revealing of His hand. Sometimes it is a direct voice from Him, sometimes He gives me an image that repeats, sometimes He sends me to the bookshelf and I pick up the right book, or a quote or blog of a friend’s site, or a direct phone call with love and kindness on the other end. Daily, when I read the scriptures, I start by asking Him to meet with me there, to show me the one word or phrase or idea or character trait I need, and then I remember that as I go throughout the day, as my Word from Him for the day. Seasonally, He will give me a big message, and that is usually confirmed in other’s prayers for me and images, and verses. That big message stays with me for a long time, and is the answer again and again for me, sometimes 10 or 15 years (like the decision to stay at home or for us to move on the block). When I ask Him to tell me if I am making the right decision, He will direct me back to when I first received the word from Him on the matter, and I will see that those are still my marching orders for this season. About 8 years ago, I began to live in the charismatic gifts after meeting a very charismatic person who laid hands on me and asked that I receive them. From that time on, I have been more present in every moment, trusting God and realizing even the tiniest task of my life is from Him, and so conversing with Him ever so much more regarding every little point of my life. I also feel called to pray for others, some times in the middle of the night, and try to respond by praying then and there, often in tongues, and sometimes will do a follow up call or email to tell them they are loved. Sometimes God shows me who needs to feel His presence and seems to want me to invest in them for a while, and so I try to respond well. Oh, I love this thread and the ability to reflect on how living and current our God is in our lives. It is making me want to stop writing a spend a moment asking Him to show what he is up to, right now, right here, in my little home of children and me. So fun to have a God willing to meet little insignificant me. Hope some of this was purposefully helpful to you. Love you Cheryl.
Oh, and one more thing, I find God often has one thing He is working out in my character, and for 3 months to 3 years, I will be forced again and again to whittle away the sin that so easily incumbers me, and run toward His perfect purity in that area of my life. Thing God has asked me to work on confessing a repenting in large seasons of my life have been: humility, gentleness, trust, obedience, love, other-centeredness, etc. During those seasons, when things go wrong, arguments happen, difficulties in relationships, and I pray to God to help me, He will point me back to that one thing: “Mary Robin, I said it before and I will say it again, we are working on gentleness in you and you just did not give a gentle answer in that circumstance. Go and sin no more” kind of what He says, though it is more intuitive than a clear voice. I love that He does that for me, because I grow as a result. But it is very hard, I do not like to hear of my own sin and how I need to repent of it, especially if I have been trying, but He meets me and listens to me cries of “help me with this area” and often makes it more and more simple to be different.
I really love this topic. I’m just a beginner in learning to hear from the Lord. Just reading everyone’s comments again has been wonderful. Right now at this spot in my journey I think I can identify a couple ways the Lord speaks to me.
He likes to repeat things, or send me the similar message through a variety of channels. I hear him when I’m in the word and specific passages or concepts really touch my heart so I record them in my journal and sit with them with him and even go to a commentary or a dictionary for a more in depth understanding. Sometimes, I will be reading the bible, I’m just going from cover to cover and I just read however much I can and still process each day. I don’t have a set amount and I don’t feel pressured to read a certain limit daily or whatever. Something will touch my heart. Then later or the next day I’ll be running and listening to past sermons that are teaching on the exact same story that I was reading. Then I’ll go to church that week and someone will specifically preach on the exact same thing. Then I’ll go back to my journal to reflect on the previous service’s message and notice that my last recording was the exact same passage, word for word that was really touching my heart at the service the night before. So, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a little slow, but I do so appreciate that the Lord will just keep telling me so that I will actually stop and see and hear and listen and get it.
This exact pattern is just happening to me this week with a couple different messages. Specifically I was speaking to the Lord about my fears and walking in obedience in the path that I feel he is calling me to take small steps in. I was questioning wether the way I deal with my fears is healthy. I don’t want to dwell on them. I plan to be obedient. So, although I will allow myself to quickly name my fears a bit in my mind I don’t allow continued thought on the subject because I don’t want to get into a pattern of dwelling or talking myself out of something with gospel-less fretting when I truly feel that this is the way the Lord is leading me. I was asking God, am I being irrational by not thinking the fears all the way through. Is this some past part of my personality that has made me able to do stupid things by just stuffing the knowledge of possible danger or risks or whatever. Is this bravery or courage or is this a bad thing. Well, the message I am getting from God in my bible, in Aron’s most recent sermon, in the sermon I just listened to from jan 2010, and in a whisper in my heart is Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Ahhhh, thank you Jesus. I am not going to do anything stupid. I am just going to continue on track taking these little steps of obedience that lead toward the way the lord is leading me….. Tanzania? I trust that my god will open or close doors accordingly. I am not going to let my fears stop me from walking in obedience.
I pray often and live in kind of a long run on sentence sort of conversation with him throughout each day. Sometimes, usually when I’m running and listening to sermons or worship music he speaks to me. On occasion, after truly seeking his answer to a specific question in a way that I am kind of just offering up the same issue with all that I am, I will get an answer like a directive, specifically in a direct phrase. Specifically, I was really feeling like I need to get more involved but I was asking God what can I do with James, or how can I do what I’m supposed to do for his kingdom and still work out what to do with my son. God said “turn him over to me.” I didn’t actually hear the words, I just knew them and I knew they were from him. I also knew more specifically how he wanted me to do that and I struggled with it for like a month. It was uncomfortable to me. But, I have become obedient and I am so grateful for God’s direct leading and guidance, and of course his mercy in the amount of time it took for me to actually be faithful and do it.
Sometimes I ask, and I don’t get any answer at all. So, I just keep asking. And waiting. I have faith in the Lord. I know he is with me, I feel his presence and it often brings me peace in these situations. Although I am not in tune enough to always hear the answer, I always feel his presence in response to my question and my spirit is soothed with the fact that he hears me and that I am not alone. I feel his love. I mean, I truly feel loved by him and when I can’t hear his words I still can feel his love.
He speaks to me through others as well.
I’m still learning but I think sometimes he speaks to me and the feeling I have is like I just figured something out, like an epiphany. It’s not that I would be thinking about whatever the topic was that I had the epiphany on. It would just come out of nowhere and it would feel like it was true, like I had just had some sort of revelation of truth. But this one I am still testing. I record these things down and then just wait to see if they come true, or come back at me through another channel.