How To Hear God

I was talking recently to the teacher who has a classroom next to mine.  She is a neat lady who has been teaching for many years.  The truth is, I greatly respect her.

"Your kids are so quiet in your classroom that I never hear noise through the wall," I told her.

She smiled and responded, "Well, I never hear your kids making noise either.  But there is one thing I do hear through the wall:  your sneezes."

I had to laugh!  The truth is, I am a loud sneezer.  So that did not surprise me at all.  :)

That's how it goes with her and me.  I never hear her.  She occasionally hears me.

Have you noticed that's how most people are when it comes to their relationship with God?  Some people claim to never hear God.  Others say they hear Him every now and then, though I'm pretty sure the sound is not a sneeze from Heaven.

The good news is, we all can hear God.

Now I've never heard God speak in an audible voice.  Some people claim they have.  And that's great!  I know God is capable of speaking like that if He wants to.  But personally, I've never heard God talk out loud.

But I have heard God speak before in these three ways:

1)  Through His Word.  Plenty of times, while reading the Bible, I have felt that God was communicating with me through the sacred words on the page I was studying.

2)  Through Prayer.  On more than one occasion, I have been praying over a matter and felt God gently nudging or tugging my heart in a certain direction.

3)  Through Mature Christians.  Often times, I have had a wise, mature Christian begin talking to me about something, and I could tell that God was speaking to me through that person.

I want to hear more and more of God speaking.  Silence is not what I desire at all!  His voice is the main voice I long to hear.

And if I were a betting man, I'd bet you want to hear God communicating with you.

Let's all do this:  Spend time reading the Bible, engaging in prayer, and listening to mature Christians.  When we do these three things, the chances are pretty good that eventually we will hear God speaking directly to us as individuals.  And what a thrill it will be to hear Him!