How to Hear God- more

I have four sons- three of them grown. Whenever one of the older three gives me a phone call, I always know who is on the line by the sound of his voice. Each one has a distinct voice that I have been listening to for a long, long time.

My fourth son is just 13. I used to know his voice. Then he hit puberty. Now whenever I hear his voice on the phone, I have to figure out which brother is talking. It will take time- but every time I hear his voice on the phone, I’ll get better.

Same thing with listening to God.

We come to know his voice by listening. The longer we listen, the better we know who is talking.

Practice.

Practice  by:

-reading His Word (Scripture) often

-being quiet often when you are spending time with him.

How to Listen to God- part 2

3) Pay attention

I have distinct leanings towards ADHD- I go a zillion directions at once, while simultaneously thinking a gazillion different things.

In order to actually accomplish anything in life, I had to learn some attentiveness skills. Throughout the day, whenever I can, I follow these simple steps:

1) Take a deep breath.

2) Ask myself, “Self, what should I be doing now?”

It works (most of the time, anyway).

Listening to God works the same way for me. In order to listen (to pay attention) to what He is saying, throughout the day, whenever I can, I follow these simple steps:

1) Take a deep breath.

2) Ask myself, “What is God doing now?”

3) and “What is God saying now?”

When I first began practicing those attentiveness skills,  I began to notice that God was at work around me all the time. Then I noticed that he was working on things inside me. I simply stopped and paid attention to those things he was doing- acknowledging them (even if I did not understand them).

Then, after I began to understand how he:

1) speaks in Scripture and

2) works in and around me,

I could begin to listen for what He was saying to me through those things. This step 3) “What is God saying now?”

He is always working and often speaking to us. We should pay attention.

More next time…

How to Listen to God

“God is speaking to you. Enter the conversation”- Eugene Peterson

Have you ever heard someone say, “God told me…”?

How on earth do they do that? How does someone know if God is telling them something?

Here are some ways to learn to listen to God and to recognize when he is speaking to you:

1) Learn His language

God speaks Bible (not King James only- He speaks NIV, ESV, RSV, even the Message).

Think about it this way:

My friend, Pauline, is from Liberia. If she spoke in her home language to me- I wouldn’t understand and might not even notice. In order for me to listen to her speak in her language, I would have to learn her language.

When you have learned your way around Scriptures, you will recognize God’s language as he speaks to you. You will know that the thought, “Have a hissy-fit at so-and-so” cannot be coming from God, since his word coaches you to be patient.

2) Be quiet

Hey, it works the same way in real life. You have to shut the mouth in order to hear what someone else is saying.

Now, there are folks in my life that I never have to worry about holding a conversation with. When we are together, they talk- and talk and talk and talk. I can’t get a word in edgewise. They leave never having heard anything that I might have wanted to contribute.

Even though you can’t see God, he is there- in you, around you. He has things to say. Be quiet and listen.

more later…