Can you hear Him?

One of the questions I am asked most as a pastor is "How can I hear God speaking to me?" It seems that a lot of people have the desire to listen to God but don't know how to go about it. God speaks to different people in different ways.

For some, God speaks clearly through His word, the Bible. For others, it can be through dreams or visions; for others, it is through an impression on the heart - a sort of knowing; for others, it is through the counsel of other Christians; and for some it can be a combination of some or all of these and perhaps more ways! God usually speaks to us in a way that is clear to us, the only thing I have noticed is that it is usually in a 'still, small voice' meaning that we have to empty our minds of all those things that would distract us from Him, and focus on Him.

So for the Lord to speak to us through His word, we need to read the Bible regularly and pray so we build up more knowledge of Him. For those of us who have dreams/visions/impressions, we need to focus on God through prayer and worship to ensure that we are on the right track. For those of us who listen to the counsel of Christians, we need to be in fellowship with them, in other words we need to build brotherly relationships with them.

All this to say that the Lord will speak to us if we only listen, but don't expect Him to shout over the noise of our social or work lives. As I have mentioned before in my blogs, God is a gentlemen and will not 'butt in' where He is not wanted. But if you find a quiet time and place to pray to Him, He will talk to you.

Try it out and see!

Pastor Pete.