Hearing God part 2 – How does God speak?

When I was younger, I was terribly frustrated that the Bible didn’t give a blueprint for how to hear God. For it doesn’t. I expressed my frustration to a wise person that I know (also known as my Dad). He said to me that the reason God doesn’t do this is that he speaks in an infinite variety of ways. And he speaks to each person differently. If the Bible told us one way we would all be looking for that one way, instead we have to learn, to seek, and to find. Instead, we each get to go on the incredible adventure of discovering how God speaks to us.

What the Bible does do is give many, many examples of individuals hearing God. For the most part, there is no explanation of what that means. We repeatedly read phrases like “the word of the Lord came to …”, and “the Lord said to me …” Though of course, there are also many instances of visions, pictures and dreams.

I love and take heart in what we find at the beginning of the book of Jeremiah. It starts with God speaking dramatically to Jeremiah (though again, we are not told how). God tells him that even before he was born, he was set apart as a prophet. This is awesome and amazing, but it is the words that immediately follow this passage that I find profound.

Twice God asks Jeremiah what he sees.

Jeremiah replies with the ordinary and simple things that surround him, and God says to him, “you have seen well”.

It is as if we are given a glimpse into the way God taught Jeremiah to hear Him and how God taught him to notice the things that might seem ordinary and inconspicuous and spoke to him in and through them. In that noticing and the resulting dialogue with God, Jeremiah learnt to how to hear from God. At least that is how I read this.

How does God speak to me?

So, for what it is worth, I will share with you how God speaks to me. What I have learnt to be helpful, and what I have found to be useful. Though of course, you must bear in mind that this is my story, my experience and how I have learnt to converse with God. While I hope there may be things that are of benefit and some things I hope apply to everyone, you must walk this path and learn to talk and to walk with God for yourself. There will be many things I do not cover in the following, but that does not mean they are not significant, they may just not be part of my experience.

For me personally, I like to think in this way. It is as if God is continually inviting me to join with him in conversation and dialogue. There are many, many ways he invites me to do this. Firstly, often as I read a passage in the Bible, something resonates in my heart, it could be a particular phrase or section perhaps the way someone interacts with God or others. Other times a fragment of scripture will come unbidden into my mind and sit there, inviting me to stop, and listen.

Sometimes something visually strikes me. It could be anything, a cloud formation, a bird, a rock. Or it could be something someone says or does, the way one of my kids’ talks to me. Continuing in the visual theme often as I pray early in the morning, the Lord will speak into my imagination, and I will “see” something in my mind. Other times a thought, or train of thought, captures my attention, it will not let me go and draws me in.

Far rarer in my life, but none the less deeply significant, are the few dreams and visions that I have had. I do not want to downplay their significance, while they have occurred infrequently they have been, or have resulted in, some of my most profound encounters with God. They have shaped who I am, how I see God and the choices that I have made. They have come to me unsought, and unbidden but they have been monumental.

How do I know in each of these instances that the Lord is speaking?

In my previous post about hearing God, I talked about how we can discern if in fact, it is God who is speaking to us, you can find that post here. Each of those tools are vital in this process.

For me, I also find that in each of the instances I have described there is something about them that is different. As if the fragrance of God is hanging in the air. I have found that the dreams that have been from God have almost tasted different if it were possible to eat dreams. They have a distinct smell, a different flavour. And one could say that about each of these instances. That is not to say that it is always immediately obvious what the Lord is saying. Often it is not. But I guess that is what invites conversation. Often the first questions I ask are Lord, is this you? And if it is, what are you saying to me?

Personally, I have found journaling helpful. The process of recording my conversation with God is useful in itself. And I end up with a written record of our times together. Perhaps I am strange, but I take this even further. I also put this into an electronic document, this allows me to have everything in one place and removes the limitation of the number of pages in a book. Also, I find God speaks to me repeatedly about particular themes or verses, and so I can have everything he has said, and all our conversations on specific topics in one place. This, for me, is of inestimable value.

Let us be people who ponder

To conclude, I often find that God is not in a hurry. That he speaks over days, months and years. That our conversations can run for that length of time. To do that though I must be a person who ponders what he says, who treasures and dwells upon our conversations. I find this essential. I must let things sit and turn them over in my mind. And return to them again and again and ask the Lord what he is saying. It is like picking up a beautiful shell on the beach and holding it, turning it over and over in my hand, scrutinizing it, putting it on my window sill and taking it down, time and time again to marvel over it and examine it.

That is not to say that God does not remind me of what he has said, that he does not take the initiative in our conversation, of course he does. He returns me and tells me again and again what he has said before. But I have found that the conversations we have had over long periods usually end up being the most significant.

And so we end conclude this post with another Mary (see the previous post), the mother of Jesus, who we are told, “treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” Luke 2:19. Let us adopt her practice and learn to treasure and to ponder the things of the Lord.

Thank you, our wonderful God, that you have made us to live in communion with you. Thank you for the adventure that brings, and for the joy of hearing your voice. Please teach us to hear. Teach us to listen and to distinguish your voice. Teach us what it is to ponder and to dwell on you and what you are saying to us. Amen

So how about you? How do you hear the Lord? How does he speak to you? What have you found helpful in this process?

Feel free to comment below, or to contact us at any time. If you subscribe to our blog you will be notified when new posts are available, and/or follow us on Instagram.