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I once had a friend who was born totally deaf. He grew up in a silent world, communicating through his hands and American Sign Language. One day we were having a \u201cdiscussion\u201d about how one hears God. He was adamant that it was impossible for him to hear God since he was deaf! I was a bit taken aback, and finally said, \u201cYou hear God the same way hearing people do. We hear Him in our hearts, not with our ears.\u201d<\/p>\n
That got me thinking about how we actually know that we hear God. It\u2019s always a dangerous thing when I start thinking and asking questions that no one has ever heard of before! So, during this process of analysis, another friend asked me, \u201cWhere do you hear God?\u201d I responded, \u201cWhat do you mean? Like in the kitchen or the office?\u201d He laughed and said, \u201cNo, where do you hear God in your body?\u201d Believe it or not, this question that seems a little silly has helped me many times to identify if I\u2019m hearing God or if a thought is coming from another source! I personally hear God in the very center of my being. If it feels like it\u2019s in my head, then I stop and re-examine what I think I\u2019m hearing.<\/p>\n
So, how do YOU know if you\u2019re hearing God? I facilitated several Refocusing Widows groups this past year, and sometimes when I started talking about hearing God\u2019s voice, I got blank looks coming back at me! Do you know that there are churches that never teach their people that they can hear God?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been said that God has never stopped speaking; we\u2019ve just stopped listening! One of the first steps towards hearing God is to set aside some quiet time where you ask questions and listen for answers. We\u2019re generally very good at asking questions \u2013 it\u2019s the listening that we find difficult.<\/p>\n
Psalms 37:7 says, \u201cBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.\u201d <\/em>In one of our group sessions for Refocusing Widows we talk about solitude and what that means as a spiritual discipline. This waiting patiently before the Lord is what we mean by solitude. Quiet your body, mind, and spirit, and wait for the Lord to speak.<\/p>\n Job 33:14 tells us, \u201cFor God speaks in one way, and in two, though people do not perceive it.\u201d <\/em>Apparently, God anticipated this problem of our hearing, so He uses many ways to communicate with us.<\/p>\n Here are some ways that God speaks:<\/p>\n You may still be one of those people who don\u2019t think you\u2019ve ever heard God speak to you. Let me put it this way. Has there ever been a time that you felt strongly you should do something? If you acted on that, what was the result? What was the result if you ignored that urge? Has there ever been a time when you felt you SHOULDN\u2019T do something, and you did it anyway? What was the result? Chances are very good that this was God speaking to you, but you didn\u2019t recognize His Voice.<\/p>\n Let me encourage you! As you grow in your relationship with the Lord, you will become more and more confident that you are hearing Him clearly in the decisions you need to make. This is especially important for widows who are already dealing with loss of self-confidence and widow fog!! Be intentional about setting aside that solitude time, and you\u2019ll find that He is waiting to speak to you. If you have a relationship with the Lord, then you\u2019ve already heard Him at least once! The Bible teaches us that no one comes to the Father except that the Holy Spirit draws him. So, quite simply if you have any relationship with Jesus, you\u2019re hearing Him. Be intentional about listening and you\u2019ll hear him!!<\/p>\n HEARING GOD’S VOICE I once had a friend who was born totally deaf. He grew up in a silent world, communicating through his hands and…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25,42,9,48,31,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-grief","category-hope","category-inspirational","category-moving-ahead","category-peer-to-peer-support","category-personal-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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