How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People

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The primary mark of true discipleship (especially perhaps in a bewilderingtime such as this) is a posture of attentiveness towards his word. The word translated as “listen” in the passage from John about sheep and shepherds comes from the Greek akouó, from which we get words like ‘acoustic’ today. We may feel as dumb and defenceless as mere sheep, but our Good Shepherd has promised to lead us through this dangerous terrain if we will listen carefully for the acoustics; the nuance and tone of his voice. This is one of the reasons I am grateful for One Voice in Prayer. A bit like Google Translate, it makes praying for global issues a little less intimidating by supplying me with conversation-starters to talk with God about things that really matter. When I graduated from what you guys would call seminary with a degree in theology, and another one in sociology, what I discovered was I suddenly knew a lot about the Bible, but I’d lost my ability to really hear God personally in it. Because I was just always analyzing what does this mean? What’s the Greek here, and how does it all fit together? And this is why, if you’ve been around Christians for any length of time, you’ll have heard someone say, quite matter-of-factly: “Oh, God told me this,” or “The Lord said that,” as if it’s the most normal thing in the world (which, in a way, it is). But just try using that line with your GP: “Doctor, I’m hearing the voice of Jesus”; or in a court of law: “God told me to do it, your Honour.” They’ll medicate or detain you before you can shout: “Hallelujah!” Many people struggle to hear God because they have been taught to listen for his voice in ways that are difficult for them to process. Certain personality types may also find it more challenging. Introverts understandably advocate their own preference for stillness and solitude, but it is equally possible and no less spiritual to discern the voice of God through external interaction, or through visual formats.

I love the subtitle of this book: a simple guide for normal people. That's what Pete Greig is always good at—taking a deeply profound and mysterious subject like prayer and inviting us into it in such a beautifully ordinary way. His teaching here is a wonderful mix of the everyday and the eternal—and therefore such a powerful and helpful read. So good!' worship leader and songwriter Matt Redman So I find that reassuring because I don’t find listening to God particularly easy. And I just love the fact that they clearly struggled a bit too. Secondly, when I fail to listen I get guilty and exhausted because it’s utterly impossible to keep up with all the world’s problems in prayer. One of the most astounding yet possibly confusing acts we can do is enjoy a real, conversational relationship with God, the very creator and sustainer of life itself. How should we be hearing his voice? How can we listen to God more clearly amid the clatter and clamor of daily living? What does the Bible mean when it describes God as having a “still, small voice”?

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I talk in the book about the ABC as a principle of how you know if it’s God or not. Is it Affirming? Is it Biblical? And is it Christlike? If it’s those three things, then it is probably God.

God wants to walk with us in daily conversation as he did with Adam and Eve, and with the same intimacy he had with Moses. Occasionally he will communicate through dreams, visions and audible voices as he did with Peter. But mostly he will speak in a quiet, gentle voice as he did with Elijah, sounding ordinary as he did with Samuel (Gen 3:8, Ex 33:11, Acts 10:9-19, 1 Kings 19:12, 1 Sam 3). Eventually, he drew a deep breath and cleared his throat. ‘ Zee Anglais,’ he said, ‘are zee worst speakers of ma language in zee world…’. He paused to let his words sink in. ‘And you, mon ami, are zee worst Englishman I ‘av ever heard speaking ma language.’How to Hear God is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway. Hearing his voice is not so much a skill we must master, as a master we must meet. Jesus is what God sounds like

So we have a God who communicates. So that would be a very short book. If the book was the fact that God speaks, it’s just, he does. The issue is psychology. The issue is each of us is wired differently. So how do we receive what God is saying? And sometimes our problem is either that we are expecting to hear God the way someone else does and we’re just wired differently. Or we are expecting to hear God the way he spoke to us in the past, but he’s speaking to us in a new way in our new context. Christin Thieme: Yep. And your new book, “How to Hear God: a Simple Guide for Normal People,” is brilliant. Thank you for giving this gift to all of us. And we’re going to talk more about how God does speak, because you said it’s not always audibly. But one interesting thing about the book that is kind of a thread throughout the whole thing is Jesus’ encounter with a couple on the road to Emmaus, which you said in the book is a masterclass for anyone seeking to learn to hear his voice. Can you share a little bit more about that encounter? Thirdly, when I talk without listening my prayers become my own personal, subjective perspective (which may not be the same as God’s!).Hearing from God is primarily a discipline that we learn to distil through practice and obedience. The more we say ‘yes’ to Jesus, the more familiar and precious his voice becomes – and in time we will be able to say, like Cleopas, ‘ Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked?’

One individual may indeed be flooded with feelings of peace when they propose to their girlfriend, whileanother may be utterly terrified. This probably says more about the way that person is wired than it does about the will of God for their lives. But if this is starting to sound a bit onerous, please don’t worry. As usual, Jesus keeps the whole thing refreshingly earthy, relational and simple: “My sheep listen to my voice”, he says. “I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul lists various expressions of prophecy including words of knowledge (in which God shows us things about other people that we had no other way of knowing), words of wisdom (in which God gives us great insight), etc. Elsewhere in Scripture we see God speaking very regularly through dreams and visions. The British education system had, it turned out, prepared me with commendable zeal and focus over three long years for quite extensive discussions about stationery and affordable dairy products, but had somehow left me woefully deficient in the realms of alternative medicine, tectonic plates and, well, actually almost anything else.And here it is! After Pete’s fantastic introduction to some of the core aspects of his teaching on prayer, this new book explores the flip-side of how to pray: How to Hear God. It’s a pressing and perplexing question. When life falls apart and we need God’s comfort; in moments of cultural turmoil when we need God’s clarity; facing formidable decisions when we need God’s guidance – nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern God’s authentic voice. What’s more, nothing could be more susceptible to delusion, deception and downright abuse, so finding someone who can point us in the right direction with wisdom, honesty and compassion, is crucial. Pete Greig: Nothing God says in any other way, in any other context, will ever override, undermine, or contradict what he has said in the Scriptures. Ultimately, the Bible is the language of God’s heart because it communicates with us its very nature. In reading the Bible we receive truth and sound doctrine, but we also encounter the love and life of God himself. It is a “ living book.” Pete Greig: And yet that’s what we love about Jesus. Right? He was ordinary and yet extraordinary. He was humble. He didn’t force himself on people. So if we’re going to learn to hear him, we need to begin to think that his voice might sound a lot like our thoughts. It might sound like a Bible verse. It might be one of those pictures that comes into your head and you think, “Is that just me, or could it be God?” Christin Thieme: So you’ve divided the book into two parts, God’s Word and God’s Whisper. Why did you separate it in that way?