How to hear from God
Want to know how to hear from God? Listen.
Know what to listen for. In this post I describe a few ways I’ve heard God speak. In addition, time spent in the Bible gives us a feel for how God speaks, what God says, and truths about God. Not sure where to start? Here are a few ways and verses to get started.
Before much else I prayed
I woke up this morning with a big project on my mind. I wasn’t sure what direction to go in, but I knew I had some writing to do on a book project.
Before much else I sat down for ten minutes and prayed. My prayer happened to be written down, but you can say yours aloud or in the quiet of your heart.
I said what was on my heart, then, wait for it, I listened. Yup. Gave God a chance to speak.
I waited
I waited. In my heart I sensed I was supposed to open my Bible and spend time reading Scriptures instead of going straight to writing. This was a bit counterintuitive because I have a lot of writing to do, but I obeyed, complied, did what I sensed God wanted me to do.
Well, guess what? I took four pages of notes, made some incredible discoveries, and ended up with fresh ideas and plenty of notes for my writing project.
Not sure how?
Not sure how to go about listening?
Share a prayer with God, then pause. Wait. Without an agenda. It’s OK if all you hear is silence or distracting sounds of everyone and everything around you. The key is to start. Create an expectation that you will hear from God.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 NIV
Where to start
Not sure where in the Bible to start? Are you familiar with the 23rd Psalm? Start there. Open your Bible to the middle, approximately where the Psalms are, and read through Psalm 23.
Try reading it slowly or one verse at a time then pausing.
Does a word or a phrase catch your eye?
Does it bring you a sense of peace?
Does it convict you of something in your life?
Scripture is one way God speaks to us.
God can speak to us
Taking a moment to open the Bible and focus on Scripture creates an opportunity for God to show us something in the text, to show us something about who He is, or something He wants to show us about ourselves. These are just a few ways that God can speak to us through Scripture.
And if a person’s name or a situation comes to mind while you are reading, that could also be a prompt you are to pray for that person or situation.
What to pray
Not sure what to pray? There’s an app for that.
Apply this Scripture during your prayer time anytime you don’t know the words to pray:
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27 NIV
Prayer
The more comfortable we get with the idea of praying to God, the more likely we can say a short prayer in any context of our lives. Stuck in traffic? Pray. Sitting at work? Say a quick prayer. Doing chores around the house? Say a few words in prayer. Stuck at home? Pray.
The more we practice this notion of prayer, the more easily it can become a habit of prayer.
In a season of uncertainty, prayer might just be the thing to help our hearts.