Dear Church,
To pray is not only to talk to God, but also to hear God talk to you.
One question I address in seminary classes is, “How do I hear the voice of God?” This is important, since the Lord is our Shepherd, we are his sheep, and his sheep hear his voice.
To be led by the Holy Spirit surely requires some kind of communication, from the Spirit, to us. For me, this especially happens when I am praying. My praying life forms a necessary foundation for hearing God.
The heart of true prayer is this: talking with God about what God and I are thinking and doing together. In praying, I receive divine revelation and discover God’s plans and purposes for me. I hear God, speaking to me. I situate myself in position to discern the voice of God from other voices, by doing three things.
1) First, I saturate in the Scriptures.
2) Second, I spend much time meeting with God.
3) Third, I hang around people who do 1 and 2.
Over the decades, I have learned to hear God communicating with me. For me, this has been a slow-cooker, more than a microwave.
To hear from God, don’t focus on trying to hear from God. You don’t have to work hard at this. Hearing doesn't come by striving. Instead, focus on living an abiding-in-Christ life.
In a life of continual abiding, which includes having a praying life (i.e., you actually pray for extended periods of time), my expectation is that you will begin to hear God's voice, spoken to you.
My friends, remember: this is not about a task we have to do, but about a relationship we desire. It’s a love relationship, like daughter/Father, or son/Father.
Desire always leads to discipline.
Love,
PJ
EQUIP
Purchase this devotional book and use it for a year.
Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional, By Dallas Willard
From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.
