As I laid down with Presleah at bedtime, I hear her little voice ask if we prayed for great Grandma Puckett. She has Dementia, so she is often in our prayers as is Papa Train, who has to stay healthy to take care of her. I responded to her question with a simple "no" and expected her to roll back over and go to sleep. Instead, I hear her chime in, "can we?" I said, "sure, and since God spoke to you about it, why don't you lead us in prayer for her?" She looked at me with a crazy look on her face and said, "God, spoke to me? I didn't hear anything," and I chuckled. Then I began to explain to her that God talks to us, but not usually in an audible way.
So I guess my question for you is, how does God talk to you?
I started asking her about familiar ways that God has talked through the stories we read in her Bible. I would say the person's name and she would answer with the details from the story: Samuel - with an audible voice
David - through someone else (the prophet Samuel or Nathan)
Joseph - through a dream
Josiah - through Scripture
Paul - through the Holy Spirit (an internal knowing)
As she answered with the details, I could see her processing and turning those facts that she recalled into real information.
She then said, "but God has never talked to me." I quickly reminded her of how she was prompted to pray for grandma Puckett and also her prayer to ask Jesus into her heart. She still looked at me with a little hesitation.
I think most people struggle with this part of God and faith in general, because we have to interpret the voice of God in our own lives. Just as I reminded her in that moment, I also remind you. We all have moments that God is speaking and directing us, but we may not realize it is Him.
I know throughout my life, this is a "skill" that I have had to develop. I am thankful that I have incredible parents and have been surrounded by other incredible men and women of God who modeled this and helped me learn this skill. They were vulnerable and real as they talked about how they interpret if it was God or bad pizza from the night before.
Here are a few things I've learned along the way:
1. QUIT waiting for GOD to speak to you and pick up your Bible where He has already spoken directly to you and your situation.
I find more times than not, God speaks the loudest through the time I spend in scripture. If you don't have a good study Bible, get one. It will make all the difference in your ability to understand what is going on.
Tip: Get a translation that is easy to read. Personally, I enjoy reading out of the NLT and NIV, but actually like using the NASB (updated) to study.
2. That thought didn't come out of nowhere!
Another way that God speaks to me is through implanting ideas into my head. Some of you are automatically skeptical of this, but honestly, I can say I have moments where I am sitting in silence thinking (more on that in a later post), and God places an idea in my head without a thought root. You know what I am talking about, right? A thought root is a source that leads your mind down a path to end up at an idea. If my idea shows up without a root, a lot of the time, it is God trying to get my attention. I have had this happen in the smallest of things (like a random thought that I need to grab a differnet set of keys than I usually do) and in significant, lifechanging decisions.
3. You may be stuck for a reason?
Ever had a thought that won't go away? I've found that sometimes those moments are God keeping it at the forefront of my mind. It's His gentle reminder that this isn't my own idea, but something He wants me to continue thinking about.
Now when it comes to hearing God let me give you a few guidelines:
1. God will never contradict what He has already said. So if it doesn't line up with Scripture, it was bad pizza and not God!
2. Stop waiting for the giant God moment and act on the little things. We continually ask God to speak about significant decisions, but if you don't trust you are hearing His voice in the small, inconsequential moments, you will never translate that into trusting His voice in life-altering decisions.
3. If you hear it, it lines up with Scripture, and benefits you or others, why wouldn't you listen? I have had so many moments in my life I missed opportunities because I was asking for second and third confirmations. Don't wait. Act now.
4. Finally, let me take the pressure off: you are going to miss it sometimes!
Samuel missed it several times but it didn't stop God from continuing to speak. The more steps of obedience you take and guidings you follow, the more confirmations you are going to get. Each confirmation will build your confidence that it was, in fact, God speaking and not bad pizza. Eventually it becomes easier to determine his voice in your life, but you won't grow in this area unless you start acting.
Let me know in the comments: what was the last thing God spoke to you and how does He speak to you most often?
I dream/think often of someone & been awaken already praying.
“Out-of-the-blue” I was awaken once praying for a child I use to work with a dozen or so years back... God knows why,
I believe the heart’s concern/tenderness for others causes the mind -that is sat in God’s tone- to have that sensitive drawing to pray for that someone, even in sleep.
No doubt, no doubt in my mind that God’s speaking to each of His children...each just need a tuning in. (Where our eyes, our hears, our Mind-set is is what we’re hearing best.—— Talk to a man much & his conversations will turn to his focused interest.)
Great post & teachable moment.