Listening to God, Hearing His Voice
Yes, you can hear Him
God speaks all the time, but most are not listening and most would reject what He says even if they recognized it. God can speak to anyone at anytime as He wills, but He will seldom speak to anyone not seeking Him. If you are such a seeker of truth, and if you are willing to change when you find you are wrong, then you can definitely learn to hear Him in a very personal way. God wants to have a relationship with you. However, this is difficult if you cannot converse. It may take effort and practice, but you can learn to hear God.
Basic Communication
God speaks in many ways, but the most basic and surest is His written word. This resource is widely available, inexpensive or free, and unfortunately little used; being neither read, studied, or taught in supposedly Christian homes or churches. God’s words (1Timothy 3:16) as recorded in scripture and preserved in the Bible are the essential foundation upon which we build everything else. You must know what it says – and this means all of it – not just a passage or verse here and there. Before you can advance to greater understanding, and greater works, and greater listening, you must have a familiarity with what He has already said. God has clearly said that it is not our (Church of the Reformation’s) responsibility to teach you what the scripture says – it is yours. We will offer a few guidelines and aids to help you, but it remains your job to teach yourself and your family.
Basic Bible study
1) In the broad sense, remember that the context of any scripture is the entirety of scripture. No verse should be taken by itself to prove anything, establish any doctrine, or correct any perceived error. Scripture is a unified whole, not a collection of sound bites to be taken out of context and misused.
2) Remember that scripture means what it says. Even though you may not understand it, it still means what it says. Elaborate explanations, interpretations, or reasoning will often cause more problems than they solve. The simpler meaning is usually best without trying to conform the meaning to some belief or teaching.
3) One way to solve many questions is simply to read the passage in another translation. If that does not work, there are many resources available to assist you – the greatest by far is the Holy Spirit. He always gets it right whereas scholars frequently disagree, which means that at least some of them are wrong. Just let the scripture (God) say what it says without trying to force it into preconceptions.
4) It takes a lifetime to plumb the depths of meaning in scripture. Every time you read you can learn something new. But you must know what it says to prevent being deceived by those who will tell you what it means, using excerpts, extreme interpretations, or outright invention – thus deceiving many who have no defense, not knowing what scripture really says. The better you know scripture the less likely you will be misled.
More communication methods
God speaks in other ways besides the basic foundation of the written word. Prayer is another basic communication method. We might think of this as one way communication, but it need not be. A major impediment is our tendency toward the “give-mes”, that is asking for ourselves and not considering God’s desires. Acknowledging His place and purpose helps to keep things in perspective and avoid a monologue in pursuit of your own desires without consideration and appreciation of His desires. The model prayer (Matthew 6, Luke 11) i.e. “Lord’s” prayer, demonstrates this balance.
Meditation, which means thinking about God’s words and actions in your life and the lives of others is an additional aid to help you to understand God – how He acts, why He acts, and how He chooses when to act. God’s ways may not be our ways (Isaiah 55:8), but we learn from how He has acted in the past, and should continue to learn by observing and thinking about what He is doing now.
God can also communicate through circumstances, the way things work out in surprising ways when we ask, and sometimes when we don’t ask. He can speak through others, either in formal teaching or through individual conversation. There is no end to the means God will use to get your attention or send a message.