“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Does God to speak to us?
The notion of hearing from God is something all Christians, and in fact many people, will contemplate to some extent in their lives.
In the secular world, the very notion of hearing from a deity may be dismissed as fantasy, or in extreme views, even a sign of psychosis. For followers of Jesus, figuring about how we hear from our Father will fundamentally shape our walk with God, our effectiveness as His followers and our satisfaction with the life we lead. For an agnostic, getting a grasp of why Christian’s would even consider this question can open up a new consciousness to a relationship which changes lives.
I’ve mused over this subject for a long while. Put simply, I’ve experienced a personal and increasing desire to commune with the God who makes such shockingly bold statements and promises to me (and to you). If he knows ‘when I sit down and when I rise up [my entire life, everything I do] (Psalm 139:2-3), the number of hairs on my head (Luke 12:7), and has a plan and purpose for my life (Jeremiah 29:11), then I believe he has something to say to me, and I want to hear it. I can’t not be drawn in.
As the purpose of this article is to explore the Jesus-approach to hearing God’s voice for practising Christians and hopefully lead us into greater intimacy with our Father; it’s helpful to briefly touch on the questions that might come from an unbeliever. We’ll then move on to look at this from a faith perspective. The desire to seek the face of God is something we all share in the root of our being, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not. We were all designed to intimately seek and converse with God – it’s who we are. (Acts 17:26-28)
For someone who doesn’t know God and is exploring this academically or theologically, or perhaps has experienced a key moment in life where they find themselves looking for a ‘god’ to provide a narrative to the events unfolding around them (which is in itself, a proof that our identity is found in God alone; John 1:3, Job 33:4) – the questions will probably be quite simple, and usefully direct. “If there is a God, how do I know for certain?” or “I’ve asked God to reveal Himself, but I can’t hear or sense anything?” Ultimately, God can and does answer simple humble requests and pursuits of his presence (Luke 11:9-13, Matt 8:5-13). But God isn’t like Aladdin’s genie, and isn’t a celestial servant waiting to meet our whims or uncommitted interest. The Bible tells us Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, the Name above every name, searches the heart and responds to our honest, dedicated approaches, the truly seeking soul (Jeremiah 29:13).
Whilst reflecting on the area of discerning God’s voice, it’s this holy, sanctified and enticing characteristic of God I believe is key to the following questions below, which as we unpack together, I hope will grow your relationship with our Father like it is mine. From my experiences, it seems that God honours a patient, seeking heart with revelation, increasing our desire for intimacy in the waiting and searching.
(Click the links below to read a discussion of each question)
Should we expect to hear God’s voice?
How do we hear what God is saying?
What type of conversation should we expect?
For us Christians, our instinctive attitude towards the notion of discerning God’s voice will vary, and will often be affected by the type of Christian community (church) we’re used to, our upbringing and our character¹.
My interest in this area has also grown with reflective recognition of the (sometimes subtly, but usually significantly!) different approaches churches take in their teaching and general practise on spiritual discernment, being receptive to the Spirit’s leading (‘hearing’ from God), and by follow-on; our life calling. If, as Christians, we believe God speaks to us personally, hearing what He says should fundamentally impact our life and change its direction accordingly. (If the Maker of the universe tells you do something, it be foolish not to, right?! Think about Jonah 1:1-17…) The approach which each of us takes to seeking to hear and discern God’s voice is fundamentally shaped by the measure of our faith – our relationship with God – which is (or at least should be) impacted by our church teaching. The differences in how churches present how we relate to God through Jesus and the Spirit inform the framework we build for ourselves and shape our interaction and dialogue with our Father. Our community should grow our expectation and experience of intimacy and revelation by the Spirit. Does yours?
Our upbringing and personality will also impact how we view relationship and communication with God. As a simplified example, if we experienced formal, structured parenting at home with less emphasis on emotional intimacy in our family relationships; it follows our innate approach to our God-relationship may be similar. Our expectations for closeness, daily guidance and anticipation for regularly hearing God’s voice might be lower. Food for thought, especially for any parents here.
So, church and personality differences, amongst other factors, will lead to our current expectation and experience of communication and intimacy with God, or lack thereof. Recognising we may not have a complete and full picture of how we’re designed and built to encounter God can be a good place to start asking questions. How should we expect to hear from God? Is there a clear pattern for hearing His voice in our lives and directing our paths? Have we missed this denominationally or been led to one type of relational experience based on our environment and upbringing?
Let’s get Biblical and practical.