Hearing God

"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Psalm 143:10

"Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.'"
Isaiah 58:9a

"And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail."
Isaiah 58:11

A couple of weeks ago I read a book called Hearing God by Dallas Willard. It was a very illuminating read and only increased my desire to know my Lord more and learn how to listen to Him. I just want to share some of what I learned from the book.

There is a paradox when it comes to hearing God today. This paradox is that most followers of Christ believe that God speaks to them individually, yet there is a great uncertainty in hearing God speak. Not only that, but often our motives for wanting to hear God are wrong. If we are over concerned with ourselves or seeking personal advantage instead of God's glory, it will be impossible for us to find God's purpose for us.

There are some guidelines for hearing from God:

1. God doesn't desire us to be robots, but to be mature people in a loving relationship with Him.
2. God doesn't always enjoy having to explain His will, but enjoys it when we understand and act on His will
3. We need to be in communion with God (practicing His presence with us) to have the proper context in which to communicate with God.
4. Our humanity will not by itself prevent us from hearing God just like it didn't prevent Moses, Elijah, David, or Paul.
5. We must believe that God can speak to us just like He did Elijah or Paul.
6. We need the grace of humility. Ps. 25:9, "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way."

Willard gives 6 ways God addressed people in the Bible:

1. A phenomenon plus a voice
2. A supernatural messenger or angel
3. Dreams and visions
4. An audible voice
5. The human voice
6. The human spirit or "still, small voice"

Willard believes that the primary subjective way (the 6 options above) God addresses us is through the human spirit because it most engages the faculties of free, intelligent being involved in the work of God as His co-laborers and friends. He says that the still, small voice takes the form of our thought, but that these thoughts are not from us. He also points out that God usually addresses individually those who walk with Him in a mature, personal relationship by using the still, small voice. God comes to us in and through our thoughts, perceptions, and experiences.

The Word of God is His speaking and communicating. When God speaks, He expresses His mind, His character, and His purposes. Thus, He is always present with His Word. There is great power in God's Word. We will truly be at ease hearing God only if we are at home with the Word of God, with His speaking throughout creation and redemption. It is through the action of the Word of God upon us, throughout us, and with us that we come to have the mind of Christ and thus to live fully in the kingdom of God. We need to dwell and meditate on the Word of God because it is by doing this that our minds are transformed and renewed and we are able to discern what the will of God is (Rom. 12:2). For the mind that is transformed by the washing of the Word, it is a reliably clear and practical matter to hear God. It is through His Word that Christ removes the old routines of the heart and in their place He puts His thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and words. He washes our minds and brings clarity, truth , love, confidence, and hopefulness where there once was none. It is in understanding the Bible that we will come to share in His thoughts and attitudes and life through His Word.

Recognizing the voice of God:

We learn by experience to hear God. At first, we must often be helped to detect His voice and His speaking to us, and it is only later that we come, without assistance, to distinguish and recognize His voice. There are 3 points of reference (or 3 lights as they are often called) in helping to determine what God wants us to do:

1. Circumstances
2. Impressions of the Spirit
3. Passages from the Bible

When these 3 point in the same direction, it is usually the direction that God intends for us. The voice of God is not any or all of the 3 lights, but usually comes in conjunction with them. There are 3 factors in the voice of God:

1. Quality- the weight or impact an impression makes on our consciousness
2. Spirit- the attitude or characteristics of the voice
3. Content- what the message says (must be consistent with God's written Word)

If God wants us to know something, He will be both able and willing to communicate it to us plainly just as long as we are open and prepared by our experience to hear and obey. There is, however, no sure fire technique to squeezing out of God what we want to know. Instead, we should live a life surrendered to God, have a humble openness to His direction even when it is contrary to our wants and assumptions, and have experience with the way His word comes to us, and make fervent but patient requests for guidance. It is God's will that we ourselves should have a great part in determining our path through life. This doesn't mean He isn't with us. God both develops and tests our character by leaving us to decide.