15 Years of Study Led Me to These 5 Tips to Hear God
I haven't always understood how to consistently hear God, much less know Him. 15 years ago, I began studying what it takes to know and hear God. This month, I'm sharing with you my top tips.
I have a confession to make.
As a young pastor just out of college, I could tell you the fundamentals of following Jesus, but I didn’t understand how to know God. With further honesty, I didn’t know God.
I knew ABOUT God, but I didn’t know God.
Over the last 15 years, this has changed. Through trial and error, by studying the lives of those who know God (both ancient and contemporary), and by talking with others on this same path, I’ve developed strategies for knowing God.
This path is simultaneously simple but not easy. This is why people from all backgrounds know God, but at the same time, so few people of any kind do.
The focus of this newsletter is to lead you to a place where you can say, “I know God.” I’m giving you the tools, tips, and training to know God. This month, I’ve narrowed this focus to the three most essential tools:
How to Hear God.
How to Determine God’s Purpose for You.
This week, we turn to hearing God.
How to Hear God’s Voice
If you’ve been around church or Christian culture, you’ve heard some form of the expression “the voice of God.” Most likely, you’ve wondered what that means. Is it an audible voice? Does God really speak to “regular” people? Can I hear God’s voice? Is it all just a bunch of religious hype?
The Old Testament tells a story about the prophet Elijah, who stood up against the false god Baal, 450 priests of that religion, and two of its essential followers: the king and queen of Israel (Arab and Jezebel).
The still, small voice of God
In this story (1 Kings 18-19), Elijah has just defeated the prophets and priests of Baal in an epic showdown. God shows up and puts these holy men to shame (think water, fire, and wicked, clever quips). The people of Israel rise up and kill these false holy men. The queen, Jezebel, is beyond angry and vows to kill Elijah.
Elijah runs for his life.
Hiding on the side of a mountain, Elijah has this encounter:
““Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?””
-1 Kings 19:11-13 (NLT)
One of the outcomes of Jesus’ coming to earth was His gift of the Holy Spirit to us. Jesus and the Holy Spirit tore down the wall between the average person (me and you) and God.
This allows us to have the same encounter Elijah had with God. Specifically, it enables us to experience the “gentle whisper,” or what the King James Version of the Bible describes as the “still small voice” of God.
How, then, do you hear that voice?
5 Tips to Hear God’s Voice
Go to the right places, and you’ll find many over-the-top stories of how God has spoken to people. I am not in the business of discounting these experiences, but I know there are ‘typical’ ways to hear God.
More to the point, I most commonly hear God in these five ways and determine it is Him.
1. Slow Down (and be quiet)
We leave too much of our spiritual lives to chance. We live intentionally in our relationships, eating habits, physical routines, and finances, yet we let life happen in our spiritual lives.
I’m guilty of this. The problem isn’t, “Will God speak to me?” but “Will I listen for the voice of God?”
There is only one way to listen, which doesn’t fit our 21st-century lives. How do you hear God’s voice? You need to slow down and be quiet. It may be one of the hardest things in today’s culture, but you can take intentional breaks to listen for God.
Patterns and habits work best.
You may hate to hear that, but listening for God must be an intentional part of your life. For me, this habit of listening for God happens best early in the morning at my kitchen table. However, it may be best during the lunch hour to walk through a nearby park. It could be before bed in your favorite lounge chair.
The key is finding the time and a place where your heart and mind can be quiet and still. Find a place where you won’t be interrupted by people or technology.
Where is your quiet place?
Where can you slow down and listen?
2. God’s voice: pay attention to “loud thoughts”
Why do we need to slow down and find a quiet place? As the story of Elijah demonstrates, God most often speaks to you through a gentle whisper to your spirit. If you’re not in a physical or emotional space to hear it, you won’t hear it.
Now, what does it mean…a gentle whisper? What is a still, small voice? The best description I’ve heard is “loud thoughts.” A gentle whisper from God is a thought, an impression, or even a feeling that is significantly ‘louder’ than your normal thought.
These are thoughts that you can’t quite let go of. You try to move on to the next idea but keep falling back to the loud thought. I suggest that if you come across one of these loud thoughts, you write it down. Use a journal or a notes app on your phone to capture this idea.
Just because you have one of these loud thoughts, it doesn’t mean it is the voice of God. We’ll take a look at how we can measure these thoughts below. Between those safety nets and experience, you’ll quickly begin to decipher God’s voice in your life.
What “loud thoughts” have you had recently?
Where did you record it?
3. God’s voice: the “outside voice”
I once volunteered at a local elementary school by spending time with a troubled little boy. Once a week, we spent the lunch hour together. In this lunch room was a stop light that lit up based on the volume level in the room. When the stop light hit red, the wrath of the lunch lady would come down on the kids.
Inevitably, she would say something to the effect of, “Use your inside voices, or hell will reign down on you.” Something like that.
I’m sure you were scolded at some point like this. I was. You may have been told to use your “inside voice,” not your “outside voice.” Many times God speaks to us through an outside voice.
I don’t mean it’s a loud, audible voice (though God can speak this way). The outside voice is God using people, circumstances, music, books, media, or any outside source to talk to you.
The ancients called this “contemplation.”
In some ways, it is similar to those loud thoughts from God; it just comes from outside of ourselves. I may hear the outside voice of God as I read—the Bible, spiritual nonfiction, nonfiction, and even fiction. (Have you ever noticed how often an author promotes a particular worldview?). Sometimes, I hear God driving in the car, listening to the radio. I even hear the voice of God watching a movie or television show.
It won’t always be a “Christian” source, either! God isn’t picky when it comes to speaking to us. God is Lord over all. He will use His creation to talk to you. He will use anyone and anything to speak to us…even a donkey!1
Again, the question isn’t whether God speaks this way; it’s whether you will hear His voice when he speaks. In this case, it doesn’t mean we are in our quiet place, but our heart is in a posture to hear.
The posture is humility.
When have you heard God using His outside voice?
What is your current heart posture?
4. Measure it (pt 1): Compare to scripture
So you had one of those loud thoughts or a conversation that changed your thoughts about something. How do you know if it is God speaking? Was it just your weird idea? Was that person just really convincing? Was it the burrito I ate last night?
The first place to turn is scripture. You can be assured about this when it comes to the Bible:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
If you hear something contradicting the Bible, it is not God.
If you think you hear God saying, “Ask that person on a date,” while you’re married, you know it’s not God. Why?
“You must not commit adultery.” -Exodus 20:14
“Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” -Hebrews 13:4 (NLT)
That may seem like an obvious example, but it is why so many people are skeptical when someone says they heard the “voice of God.” That phrase has been used to abuse people, institutions, and the truth. We protect ourselves and others by comparing what we hear to what God has already said through the Bible.
Where Do I Look in the Bible?
If you are new to the Bible, this may be overwhelming. How do you know what the Bible says about what you heard? The internet is your friend. But don’t search for people’s opinions. The internet is full of “Christian” views that have nothing to do with the Bible.
When you search the internet, search for scripture. In the above example, search for scripture on “marriage” or “adultery.” You’ll have plenty of options to look and read through on almost any subject you are weighing. Also, don’t settle for finding just one verse or story. Try to find multiple references in the Old Testament (before Jesus) and New Testament (after Jesus).
What does the Bible say about what you’ve heard from God?
Have you searched Scripture?
5. Measure it (pt 2): Take to mentor
Sometimes, scripture isn’t clear. It may seem obvious when you read one passage, but you read another that seems to say the opposite. In some cases, scripture doesn’t specifically cover what you’ve heard.
Maybe you felt like God called you to quit your job to return to school so you can get a better job. There isn’t scripture to answer the question, “Is this from God?”
Could you take it to another source? Take to someone you admire and trust in how they live their lives. It could be a pastor or minister, you know. You may have a friend or parent who fits this role.
Again, the critical position to have is humility. They may respond with the exact opposite of what you want to hear. They may challenge you in areas of your life you don’t want to deal with.
“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
-Proverbs 1:7 NLT
Submitting what you think you heard from God to another person (or small group of friends) is wisdom. The fear of the Lord is respecting God enough to ensure you genuinely hear from Him.
Who can you turn to when you hear God’s voice?
Do you fear God?
Now you know.
When it comes to our spiritual lives, we tend to complicate things. We make knowing God harder than necessary, and we complicate scripture. The same applies to hearing God’s voice. We make it bigger and more challenging than necessary.
God wants to speak to you, and He probably has spoken to you more than you realize. You just haven’t been still and listened to the loud thoughts. You may have dismissed those outside voices as something other than God. Trust that God has been trying to speak to you, so take those loud thoughts and outside ideas to Scripture and a few friends.
Now you know, and as I learned from GI Joe in the 4th Grade, “Knowing is half the battle.”2
What has God spoken to you recently?
Finally, I want to thank you for your subscription and welcome Gregg as a new subscriber. I am amazed you appreciate my writing enough to make space in your inbox. All the posts from this newsletter will always remain free, but you can show your support through a paid subscription here:
Another way of support is sharing this or any post with a friend who could benefit.
There is an Old Testament story of God speaking through a donkey to a prophet. Crazy story. You can find it in Numbers 22:21-29.
In case you never learned from GI Joe, here is a sample lesson:
Thanks for the great words