Introduction

Hearing from God, the creator of the universe, how wonderful is that! Yet, this experience can also confuse us a lot, as many of us are hurt by the misappropriation of God’s word. Furthermore, many of us simply lack the capacity to hear God, as we are easily disconnected, distracted, and distanced from God’s Word.

The Shema, the most important prayer in Judaism, begins with the word "Hear," emphasizing that before we can love God, we must learn to listen to Him.

The book, titled "How to Hear God, A Simple Guide for Normal People," by Pete Greig, the founder of 24-7 Prayer and Senior Pastor of Emmaus Rd Church, explores the various ways we can connect with God's voice.

The book draws inspiration from the Emmaus Road encounter in the Bible (Luke 24:13-35), where Jesus interacts with two disciples after his resurrection. This story illustrates the different ways God communicates with us.

Through Jesus

The ultimate way God communicates with us is through Jesus Christ, he is the pre-eminent and ultimate Word of God. Hearing God begins and ends with meeting Jesus, and we understand the Bible only in the light of Jesus Christ.

However, three fundamental challenges often hinder our ability to perceive God's voice.

Psychologically, we may struggle with feelings of unworthiness, believing ourselves undeserving of God's attention.
Theologically, misconceptions such as dispensationalism can lead us to believe that God no longer speaks or acts miraculously in the present day.
Experientially, we may simply be unfamiliar with the sound of God's voice, having never learned to recognize it.

While the fact that God speaks is a matter of theology, the way we hear Him is psychological. Many people struggle to hear God because they've been taught to listen in ways that are difficult or even impossible for them to process.

Hearing God requires patience and a willingness to slow down. God is rarely in a hurry, and testimonies of His intervention are often unhelpfully condensed into a highlight reel, neglecting the tedious months or even years of waiting and seeking that precede the dramatic moments of epiphany. As Frederick Faber wisely observed, "God is slow, we are swift and precipitate. We are but for a time, and He has been for eternity." We must resist the temptation to rush and instead heed God's call to "seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

Jesus frequently said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" This underscores the reality that we can listen to Jesus' words and still entirely miss their meaning. This highlights the need to cultivate familiarity with His voice.

We become familiar with Jesus' voice by spending time in His presence, primarily through worship. This doesn't just mean attending church services; it's about making space for worship in our everyday lives. Worship can take many forms beyond music, including silent contemplation, appreciating nature, or engaging with art and poetry.

By addressing these psychological, theological, and experiential barriers and actively seeking intimacy with Jesus, we can learn to recognize and respond to the voice of God in our lives.

In the Bible

The study of how we acquire knowledge is a philosophical field called epistemology. Some argue it is from scientific methods and rational thinking, but pure rationality is impossible, and empirical approaches have their own limitations and biases. Others suggest trusting intuition, yet emotions can be unreliable guides. Some rely on traditional knowledge, but this approach faces challenges in our ever-changing world.

As a Christian, the Bible serves as the foundation of our knowledge and understanding. Our epistemology is rooted in this vast and ancient record of God's revelation about the nature and purpose of reality.

When it comes to hearing God's voice, it's crucial to understand that His messages will never contradict or undermine Scripture. Jesus' explanation of the Scriptures on the road to Emmaus illustrates three key points:

The resurrected Jesus refers to the Bible as the ultimate authority, emphasizing its unparalleled authority.
On this journey, Jesus presents a revolutionary interpretation of the Scriptures, explaining the Old Testament in light of Himself.
The Bible’s interpretation is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Many factors point to the Bible's ultimate authority. In China, where it's illegal, people risk their freedom to smuggle this book, demonstrating it is more important than freedom to some.

Another factor is the fact that the Bible is the most successful literary creation, selling over 100 million copies annually. It has always been a source of comfort, correction, and direction for people.

“Encountering” God is a term used in books, conferences and organisations. It was usually associated with a dramatic experience. But if we look at Emmaus Road, the archetypical encounter with the resurrected Lord is signalled not by a dramatic experience, nor by an overpowering emotion, but rather merely by an extensive exposition of Scripture.

Today, people often measure truth experientially, seeking validation through good times of worship, prophetic words, or physical sensations such as tears, tingling or tumbling to the floor. While reconnecting our heads and hearts is valuable, the Bible remains the primary arbiter of truth for Christians. Extraordinary experiences and personal encounters, while meaningful, are insufficient without biblical explanation. The most important and consistent way God speaks is often the least dramatic.

Western society is forged, founded and framed by the Bible.

The Bible is the best-selling, yet least-read book, possibly because people aren't taught how to read it effectively, using both head and heart. The Bible is not easy or straightforward, given its length, age, and different cultural context. Reading with the head means understanding what's objectively being said while reading with the heart involves discerning the Holy Spirit's current message.

Two Greek terms are helpful in understanding Bible study, the first one is “exegesis”, which means to lead or guide out, it is the art of explaining, interpreting and applying Scripture.

Reading the Bible by letting it fall open randomly is discouraged, God is not a fortune cookie and God's word is the Bible itself, not individual words or verses. The wider context is crucial.

God has every right to break the rules of sound exegesis and hermeneutics.

A Christological hermeneutic involves reading the Bible in light of Jesus' existence and through the lens of the Gospel. This approach interprets the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, seeing connections like Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac pointing to God sacrificing Jesus. This can be challenging, especially when dealing with Old Testament violence. The ultimate goal is to make love the lens through which we read, interpret, and apply all Scripture.

Studies show that reading the Bible at least four times a week can increase mental health and spiritual growth. The Gospels are a good starting point. Different learning styles can be accommodated: auditory learners can listen to the Bible, visual learners can annotate or highlight the text, and active processors should put the words into practice. Obeying God's clear commands practically, rather than over-spiritualizing them, can lead to great joy.

In Prayer

How we listen is more important than what is said. Head knowledge does not necessarily transfer to the heart, Scribes and Pharisees know the Lord by knowledge more than anyone, but they do not know the Lord by heart. We should also read the Bible with the eye of the heart. The Bible can be approached as either a picture or a window. We can study the bible with admiration and fascination, but that would be worshipping the Bible. The Bible points us beyond the Bible.

Lectio Divina, a sacred reading practice, was established in the sixth century by Benedict of Nursia. It involves four steps: Lectio (reading), Meditatio (meditating), Oratio (praying), and Contemplatio (contemplating).

Pause:

Settle our hearts and draw near to God.
If we hurry into this, we would see things as we are, rather than as they are.
It is impossible to entirely silence our head noise.
Sit quietly or walk slowly
Take deep breaths, pay attention to any tension in your body, consciously relax in those areas
Repeat a short prayer phrase, such as Franciscan, ‘My God and my all’, Eastern Orthodox Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me’, or simply ‘Thank you, Jesus’
Some people pray in tongues
Memorise a set prayer for approach, such as Psalm 119:18, ‘Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law’
If we come to the Bible carrying distractions, it is futile to expect reading the Bible to magic your head noise away.
By pausing, we prime our hearts to hear from God
We also respect the text

Read and Reflect:

To start, the Gospels is a good idea. Read short passages of no more than twenty verses
First reading: gain an overview of the passage
Resist the temptation to overthink, this is not a Bible study. If something captures your attention, make a mental note and move on
We should approach the Scriptures fully focused and determined to find buried treasure that is infinitely precious. Imagine Jesus Christ is about to talk to you about the most important thing in the world, give him your complete attention.
Second reading: apply diligent attention and reflection
Some get worried about meditation, because it may be similar to New Age techniques. Here we do Biblical meditation, like in Psalm 1, ‘meditates on his law day and night’, and Psalm 19,:14, Psalm 119:97
The Hebrew root for meditation is Hagah, which means to moan, growl, muse, ponder or utter
We don’t approach Scripture seeking instant gratification, we should savour its sweetness slowly
We embrace interruption, it may be an invitation from the Holy Spirit, pay attention to unexpected trains of thought, pursue them a little further
We exercise intuition, meditation bypasses our deductive reasoning. We can pay attention to the words or phrases that stand out to us. We are not looking for an exegetical explanation.
We engage imaginations, imagination is powerful and impure, and we want to use it wisely and for God’s glory. It is a powerful faculties God has given us. We can read the text using all five senses.

Ask:

Prayerful conversation with the Lord
Scripture is God’s way of initiating a conversation, prayer is our response. The Bible is meant to be prayed through
It can be repentance, rejoicing, petition, intercession

Yield:

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, changed the world. At night he would go up on the roof, sit quietly, and look up for a long time at the sky.
Contemplation, expression of prayer beyond words, yielded to the loving presence of God.
Don’t rush off, enjoy the moment. Sit quietly for a few minutes, reflecting on what you read and what God said.

Practice Lectio Divina over weeks, months, and years. Train ourselves to hear God’s voice when it’s the easiest, in the Bible, and gradually learn to hear his voice everywhere else as well. When we root ourselves in Scripture, the whole of creation becomes God’s mouthpiece.

Four approaches to Lectio Divina

Inflective reading: changes the emphasis upon different words to meditate upon a text.
Reading with the senses: in the Gospel, ask ourselves what we are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling.
Reading in groups: take turns to read a short passage of Scripture aloud, reading a verse or two each. Go around having each person identify a word or phrase that struck them, without explaining why. Repeat this process. Then can easily turn this meditation into a rich time of open prayer.
Reading icons: Icons are an important aspect of prayer in Eastern Christianity. We can approach the icon prayerfully. It is more meaningful than staring at a candle, or a sunset. Pause to read and reflect upon its meaning, listen out to the whisper of God and turn our reflections into prayerful asking, before yielding ourselves to the Lord in worship. We need to understand the symbolism in icons. Some people are wary of icons and worried about idolatry, so no one should feel pressure to use icons in prayer,

In Prophecy

Prophecy has been used and abused. God’s voice has been claimed falsely in scandalous ways. But prophecy is an important and wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit, which we need now more than ever. We should return to biblical guidelines and common-sense protocols to use the gift of prophecy in the church today.

The New Testament uses two different Greek terms to describe the Word of God, Logos and Rhema. Logos is the written word of God found in the Bible, in Jesus. Rhema is the spoken word of God in prophecy. Matt 4:4, ‘Man should not live on bread alone, but on every Rhema that comes from the mouth of God.’ the ‘comes from’ is translated from Ekporeuomeno, which means ‘continually coming out from’

Apostle Paul says the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort, and edifies the church. It is not exposing, criticising or pulling people down. Paul in the first letter to the church of Corinth. In chapter 12 he lists the gifts of the Spirit. chapter 13 he talks about love, in chapter 14 he says to follow the way of love, and desire prophecy. He urges us to eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit because we love other people, and the gifts are useless unless they are administered with love. Greek ‘eagerly desire’ is Zeloo, which is zealot and jealous.

The clearer the revelation, the harder the tasks. God does not speak indiscriminately like a relentless radio station. God’s word is targeted and seasonal. His Logos words are always available, and His Rhema word is rare.

Samuel learned to recognise God’s voice through the counsel of Eli. We need someone to coach us in discerning God’s word. Certain people are contagious with the Holy Spirit. We should honour such people, but they won’t be perfect. You might need to look for many months before you find someone who can really help. In the meantime, you can get personal coaching from great heroes of the faith by reading about their lives.

God doesn’t give up on you when you fail to recognise his voice. We have to start somewhere, try to listen and act on God’s voice, a few well-intentioned mistakes are okay. It takes a while to recognise someone’s voice, but then it gets easy.

The gift of prophecy grows like muscle with exercise. Paul says to excel in spiritual gifts, 1 Cor 14:12. We do this by walking closely with Jesus, acquainting ourselves with the sound of his voice through prayerful attentiveness. Finding our own Eli. Welcoming feedback and learning from our mistakes. Diligently delivering the things God gives us to say with increasing level of confidence, competence and consistency.

Attempting prophecy is scary, we don’t know if what we say truly comes from God at first, so we can use the ABC filter.

Affirming, is it strengthening, encouraging, comforting, edifying and upbuilding?
Biblical, is it consistent with the broad teaching and witness of Scripture? (not just a verse taken out of context)
Christlike, is it consistent with the character, mission, and message of Jesus?

The ABC filter is not perfect, it is just for starters. It is also good to ask, ‘What’s the worst that could happen if I get this wrong?’

If we receive a disturbing dream, like of someone committing adultery, we need to think very carefully before sharing it publicly, we don’t want to falsely accuse and deeply hurt the couple involved. Prayer for it privately for those involved. If concerns persist, quietly and humbly flag them with a pastoral leader just in case. Because we might get it wrong. The writer over years of pastoral ministry, has seen several marital affairs exposed by prophetic dreams, but more often had to protect innocent people from the trauma of false accusations that might otherwise have been made ‘in the name of God’.

Samuel mistook God’s audible voice for the man next door. Most of the time we miss the voice of God not because it’s too strange, but because it’s too familiar. It is possible that God already speaks to you more than you realise. That’s why you need ears to hear and the Spirit’s help.

How to handle the prophetic, we must filter prophecies with discernment and discretion, as they are invariably only partially right, or at least limited in their insight. So we should weigh it, wait on it, and walk in it.

Weight it: Don’t accept them indiscriminately, weight them up against the witness of Scripture and the character of Christ. Also weight the prophets, Jesus said, “By their fruits, you will recognise them”.

Wait on it: Prophecy can be the right word at the wrong time. The Bible is full of examples of prophecies that took years of generations to be fulfilled. Adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach when you receive a word that doesn’t have an obvious or immediate outworking.

Walk on it: From the prophecy, is there anything practical I need to do? There is a dance between God’s word and our response. The more we obey, the more he speaks. Sometimes God pauses from speaking because he is waiting for us to act upon the things he has already revealed to us.

It is good to take a few more 10 per cent risks, to share a prophecy you received that isn’t sure is from God or not, because it will be 1000 per cent worth it if it is from God.

Prophetic exercises:

Journaling prophetic words: carefully record things we sense God is telling us. Sometimes a prophecy half-forgotten, suddenly comes alive and speaks directly. When you look back on words that seemed to have missed the mark, becomes more accurate than you could ever have originally anticipated.
Groups prophetic workshop: hand out photographs from newspapers and magazines. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak, pray, and hand out pictures for each to study, asking the Lord to reveal his heart. Then invite each person to share what they sense God saying.

God’s Whisper

Turning from God’s word, his voice external, to God’s whisper, his voice internal. They are easy to mistake, as it is a gentle whisper. The Creator of the universe whispers.

When Jesus walked on the water, he was about to pass by the disciples. Jesus does similar things on several occasions. on Emmaus Road.

The Creator of the cosmos is meek and not pushy, humble and not presumptuous, unassuming and not intrusive. Angels tend not to turn up in medical research labs to announce the cure for cancer, but God quietly calls, equips and inspires medical researchers. Evil people get away with murder, for the most God does not intervene dramatically, but gradually, justice prevails.

God’s abbreviated word, Verbum abbreviatum. The divine word trimmed itself to our capacities and does not appear in overwhelming power but in an accessible human form.

In Emmaus Road, something was keeping the disciples from seeing the very thing in front of their eyes, why?

Physiological distraction, Jesus may have looked significantly different after his resurrection and the couple did not recognise him. Sometimes we miss God because he no longer appears to us, or speaks to us, in the familiar ways of yesterday. Are we locked in the past by tradition, nostalgia, or stale imagination?
Psychological distraction, they did not expect to meet a dead man, intentional blindness.
Spiritual distraction, God curtained their ability to recognise Jesus, Why? We need the help of the Holy Spirit, we need to ask God to give us eyes to perceive, ears to receive and a heart to believe.

As we grow up, we accumulate layers of doubt, self-deception, disillusionment and disappointment.

Exercise silence and solitude: silence can amplify a whisper. We can make use of little solitudes, like the early morning or late at night, driving in the car or sitting alone on a bus or train. We want to be more centred and less scattered, more peaceful and present, less reactionary and more attentive to the whisper of God.

Then we can expand those micro-moments, drive the long way home, take a bath, get up a few minutes earlier, etc. The cumulative effect of relishing these minutes will be a greater inner stillness.

Silent retreat: This requires planning so you can be undisturbed. You can exercise, sleep, meals, reading, journaling and prayer. Go easy on yourself, don’t place unrealistic expectations on the retreat.

Practising Sabbath: It is an important spiritual discipline for cultivating the silence necessary for hearing God on a weekly basis. If you are struggling to hear God, it may be because you are neglecting the sabbath. May the Sabbath be a joyful, slow, analogue and non-negotiable day.

In Dreams and the Unconscious

In Bible times, dreams were one of the most consistent and powerful ways God communicated. But this is the least respected and least practised way today. The Church, increasingly institutionalised, devalued and denied the reality of the individual soul and its dreams in favour of collectivised creed, rituals and traditions. People of faith should be open to mysterious ways of processing reality.

Visions are waking dreams, and dreams are visions of the night. Almost every major character in the Bible received highly significant dreams or visions from God. some symbolic, some warnings, some guidance.

Joel 2:28-29, the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. is not speaking in tongues, shaking or falling to the ground, but an increase in dreams and visions.

In the New Testament, Joseph received a dream to marry Mary, to name the baby Jesus. Wise men have the dream to avoid King Herod. In a dream Joseph was urged to flee to Egypt, and when to return. In Acts 9, Saul got a vision that converted him to Paul.

In biblical dreams, angels frequently appear and speak, they are emissaries or messengers. Jesus taught that angels would continue to have a prominent role (Matt 13:39-43, 24:31, 25:31).

Practical keys for dreamers: take dreams more seriously. If you rarely remember dreams, or dreams seem to be meaningless, these are some tips. Ask for dreams, dreams are not a gift you can conjure up or force, you have no right to insist God give you dreams. Some are prolific dreamers, some are not. Don’t feel pressured to dream, it is an exciting possibility rather than an onerous necessity.

Before sleeping, can make a simple prayer, ‘Fill my dreams and speak as I sleep’, trust that God answered your prayer in whatever way he saw fit, and keep your posture towards him open.

Honour your dreams, keep a notepad near your pillow, and if a dream seems significant, write it down. Beware of dismissing dreams too quickly.

Interpreting dreams: it involves making sense of imagery. Dreams are in symbolic language. Some have lexicons of dream interpretation, but the problem is dreams are not a fixed universal language, and they bypass spiritual discernment. Daniel said that the interpretation of dreams was not a skill they had learned, but a gift they had received from God. A prophet is a person, not a microphone, he speaks from the perspective of God, and from the perspective of his own situation.

To uncover the symbolism of a dream is for the dreamer to talk about it. The dreamer might hold the clues of the meaning.

To make sense of a dream, the most basic question is, ‘Is this just me or is it God?’ Sometimes it is a mixture of both.

If a man has a dream about marrying his girlfriend, it is most likely his own natural desire than God’s guidance. Even if an angel had appeared, questions should be asked. Like the ABC filter. And also corroboration of other authoritative sources, such as wise counsel, personal conscience, and simple common sense.

Sometimes even after all the tests, the meaning of a dream is still unclear, simply file the dream away for the future, and return to it from time to time.

Our conscience is given to us by God, but also shaped by our environment. Can be nurtured, refined and strengthened within godly homes and healthy societies. But can also be seared, corrupted, weak and defiled. Our conscience can be re-sensitised, can recover a life of freedom, through prayerful self-examination and regular repentance.

Our conscience is influenced by social and moral context, it is not entirely reliable. Occasionally we may get a crippling sense of sharing regarding past sins, we should resist false feelings, and stand upon God’s promise that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Value of soul-making. We have been exploring the inner realm of the unconscious as a place in which God dwells. The human soul is often neglected, rejected and despised. But the great heroes of our faith attended to the inner world of their own souls. They nurture and adorn the secret place within themselves. Eph 3:16-17, Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.

Practice the examen. Examination of consciousness, from Jesuits in the sixteenth century.

Reflect on the details of the day, replaying it like a film, noticing the moments that provoked strong emotions or unexpected behaviours.
Rejoice in the evidence of God’s presence, not just in obvious blessings, but in subtler signs of his kindness
Repent of ways where you’ve sinned in thought, word and deed, heed to the subtler, insidious attitudes you have otherwise brushed under the carpet.
Res(e)t, ask the Lord to grant you rest and a reset for a fresh start tomorrow.

In Community, Creation and Culture

In the incarnation, the Word became flesh and dwells among us. The Creator became part of his own creation to speak to us in ways we could perceive and receive more easily.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it (1 Cor 10:26)

We can encounter Christ Jesus ourselves not just in sacred environments, but also in supposedly secular ones as well. Not just in supernatural ways, but in natural ways too.

C. S. Lewis thought he could get close to God on his own, by staying in his room and reading theology. But then after he started attending church, his conceit began peeling off, he realised that hymns being sung with devotion, and he is not fit to clean those boots, gets him out of solitary conceit. Many people prefer to hear God on their own personal terms.

in the example of Naaman, he got the word he needed, not the one he wanted. he was offended culturally because he wasn’t treated as he deserved, intellectually because Elisha’s order was nonsense, and personally because he travelled for many days but the prophet isn’t even willing to walk to the door. Ultimately, Naaman humbled himself and was healed. What does River Jordan represent for us? God is waiting for us to humble ourselves, to seek his voice merely through another person.

The loneliness and relational dysfunction within the church are shocking, especially among men, among Christian leaders who have hundreds of acquaintances but no real friends. Ancient Celts considered spiritual friendship important, they had a term, Anam Cara, which means soul friend. It was unthinkable that followers of Jesus would go it alone.

Anam Cara can take many forms, a prayer partnership, spiritual direction, or simply the kind of Christian friendship in which iron sharpens iron, speaking the truth in love, spurring one another towards love and good deeds.

it should be a friendship, not duty but delight, where you enjoy one another’s company, and be relaxed together
It should be safe, your Anam Cara requires radical honesty, you should be prepared to pay in personal vulnerability, and the person must be trustworthy and discreet.
It should be framed, be clear about expectations, how regularly do you connect? is this peer-to-peer or parental? how long will you relate in this way before pausing to review?

True soul friendship is a rare gift, it doesn’t just land in your lap, it takes years of trial and error.

Quit waiting for your Anam Cara to emerge out of the mist, you have to lead by instigating soul-level friendships. bring a little more intentionality and vulnerability into existing friendships, and see how the other person copes. You can suggest prayer together. Sadly, some Christians are too broken to move beyond a fairly superficial level of friendship. As you begin to pray more, share more, and trust more, your relationship will steadily deepen into a true soul friendship.

Anam Cara are rarely Christian leaders, the best soul friends are ordinary lovers of Jesus with enough time in their schedules, enough equity in their hearts and enough miles on the road to encourage, comfort, and challenge you consistently in the most important friendship of your life.

In culture: The maker of all things has not abandoned his great project.

Paul on the day he addressed the people of Athens at the Areopagus, quoted their poets saying ‘We are his offspring’.

Paul felt distress because of the idolatry. Some of us feel very differently, we are so comfortable within our context that we are in danger of assimilation. We no longer find any aspect of its idolatry ‘greatly’, or mildly distressing. We confuse the spirit of the age with the Spirit of God.

Paul, although greatly distressed, takes an Athenian poem, and identifies a single phrase that points beyond itself towards the one, true God. His years of studying the Scriptures and learning to hear the voice of God let him trace the whisper of God in a pagan text.

We should learn to turn towards the culture. Some of us are living in a parallel religious universe, having been taught that the outside world is inherently dangerous. Only attending Christian concerts, and reading Christian books. Many more of us fail to pay attention to the things God is saying in the culture because we are simply too busy. If we are serious about hearing God, we will make time and devote energy to become students of the world.

We should learn to discern the culture, the culture is a mixed bag. The enemy disguises itself as an angel of light. The enemy is a liar, an accuser, a thief and a prowling lion. We need to separate God’s word in the culture from the devil’s lies. We should ask for this gift regularly, and seek to exercise it diligently each day. Reflective prayer disciplines, such as journaling, seeing your Anam Cara and prayer the Examen will help to differentiate the good, the bad, and the ugly in our lives.

We need to learn to return to the bedrock of God’s word in Scripture, in fellowship with other Christians, and in our personal encounter with Christ. This is how we remain sharp in our discernment of the culture and remain open to the Holy Spirit.

Having heard God’s word, experienced his word, and personally encountered God’s word in Christ, let us become carriers of the word to the world.

Prayer walk, take it in creation and ask the Lord to speak to you through what you see.

Culture vulture exercise: introduces the theme by reminding the group how God speaks through all of creation. Ask the group to share a time when God spoke to them or met with them through a person who’s not a Christian, or in a surprising context.

Explain the basic principle of Christian engagement with the world:

remove our shoes to recognise that we are walking on holy ground. God speaks and acts even in environments that deny his existence.
learn the language, most part of a different culture is not bad, just different. We should respect them, this is a fundamental principle of cross-cultural mission
pick a fight, there are things in every culture that are sinful, fallen, and broken. don’t just accept the culture wholesale, approach it with discernment, rejecting its sinfulness. We have no right to pick a fight with culture until we have learned its language and found God within its gates.

The way

Listen and follow Jesus. This is not a one-off thing. We learn to say ‘yes’ to Jesus again and again in great big, terrifying, life-defining ways, but also especially in tiny, imperceptible ways.

We first say yes to His Word in the Bible. He says ‘Come follow me’, ‘Repent and be baptised’, Pick up your cross, ‘Love your enemies’, ‘Go into all the world’

Also say yes to his whisper day by day, discern that still, small voice.

Little by little, learn to live in this way. Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi, which means Listen, Believe, and Obey.

If every single Christian today, spends tomorrow saying an unconditional yes to Jesus, we would write the headlines. This is mere conjecture, many of us are full of ‘yes, but…’. Many people who call themselves Christians don’t really know what it means to have a living listening relationship with Jesus. If we truly make Jesus the undisputed Lord of our lives, Jesus will eventually be recognised as the Lord of schools, streets, and even cities.

For this to happen, we don’t need non-Christians to become Christians, we need Christians to become Christians.

These all sound intimidating. But heroes of the faith had no particular desire for fame when they began saying ‘yes’ to Jesus, saying yes can look like failure or success, fame or anonymity.

‘My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me’, Jesus Christ knows us.

How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People - Notes

by Pete Greig 2022

Table of contents