How Can You Listen to God?

If you have accepted Jesus Christ, then God is ready to speak to you right now. Not words of condemnation or disappointment, but of love and forgiveness and peace.

The question is — will you listen?

And the natural next question — how do you listen? Because God is speaking, but we don’t always slow down enough to hear the still, small voice. How can you hear God?

• The Word. First and foremost he speaks to us through the Bible, his Word. Anytime we hear from him any other way — directly, through nature, in dreams and vision, through others — we must always put up those words against the Word. Through Bible study and meditative reading, the Holy Spirit reveals God’s love and plan for our lives.
• Imaging Prayer. Many Christians have somehow lost God’s gift of the creative imagination. When the Holy Spirit directs us, we can use our imagination to carry us into a compelling and intimate form of speaking with God: imaging prayer.
• Nature. “The firmament declares the glory of God.” Creator God thunders through the beauty of His creation and only the spiritually blind can’t see it. Learn to hear God in the roar of the ocean, the majesty of a mountain, the delicate veining of a leaf.
• Creativity. We are co-creators with God. When you create or enjoy someone else’s creation, you can see the Holy Spirit working powerfully through the act of bringing beauty and meaning into the world.
• Listen to Other Believers. Listening to other Christians includes talking to people, listening to talks and sermons, and reading books. God often speaks through His people — including you!