How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People

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Hearing from God is primarily a discipline that we learn to distil through practice and obedience. The more we say ‘yes’ to Jesus, the more familiar and precious his voice becomes – and in time we will be able to say, like Cleopas, ‘ Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked?’ In largely focusing on Lectio as a means of "Hearing God" in scripture there was a tendency to dismiss other means of reading the Bible devotionally, particularly reading larger sections that give us a greater sense of the narrative, and which would have been, in the absence of personal Bibles and chapter and verse, to original way in which scripture would literally have been "heard" rather than the atomised, bite-sized approach that has been the norm of too many evangelical Bible notes, and into which Lectio can easily descend. The Bible is the language of God’s heart, and therefore if we wish to hear what he is saying, we have to be immersed in the Scriptures.

Desiring a deeper faith, we need God to say something, anything, to turn the monologue we call prayer into a genuine conversation. Find the 24-7 Prayer Lectio 365 app, a free daily devotional resource that helps you pray the Bible every day. Some people, and I’ve been doing interviews like this, if they’re really, really into the Bible, they sometimes get really nervous that I talk about God speaking in prophecy. But the Bible says God speaks in prophecy. And then others are really into all the prophetic stuff, and they’re like a bit disappointed I’m saying, “No, the main way God speaks is through the Bible.” And both are true. Following this week’s AI Global Summit, which is being hosted at Bletchley Park, Chris Goswami looks at how Christian leaders are responding to the threats and opportunities posed by artificial intelligencePete Greig explains in a simple but deep sense what it really is to hear the living God speak today. I'm amazed by how humble and down-to-earth he is. There's really no sense of him telling us how it's done, but an invite to explore it with him. You may remember Pete from Episode 71 of this podcast, when we talked with him about a simple guide for how to pray. Many people struggle to hear God because they have been taught to listen for his voice in ways that are difficult for them to process. Certain personality types may also find it more challenging. Introverts understandably advocate their own preference for stillness and solitude, but it is equally possible and no less spiritual to discern the voice of God through external interaction, or through visual formats. The Revd Mike Starkey is Head of Church Growth for Manchester diocese and author of the Stepping Stones for Growth course. Pete Greig has given us another masterpiece. Wise and winsome, profound yet playful, How to Hear God is the book we need. From the wild charismatics to the monkish contemplatives, there is a feast here for all. A hundred years from now, this book will remain a crucial resource on the journey of faith.' associate senior pastor of New Life Church and aut Daniel Grothe

Pete Greig is founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement. In 2019, he published How to Pray, on the whys and hows of our words to God ( Feature, 12 April 2019). His new book examines the other side of the conversation: how we hear God speaking to us. Greig has once again produced an engaging book on an important element of Christian discipleship, drawing on sources from across the denominational/theological/historical spectrum. The section on Lectio was particularly helpful, indeed I started to read this because of the parallel "Lectio Course" which we studied as a church group throughout Lent. Learning to hear God’s voice – his word and his whisper – is the single most important thing you will ever learn to do.” In Bible times, dreams were one of the most consistent and powerful ways in which God communicated. This is particularly worth noting because it’s perhaps one of the least respected and least practised ways of listening to God in the West today. The fact is that almost every major character in the Bible received highly significant dreams or visions from God. Some were symbolic, others were warnings, and many were a means of specific guidance. The primary mark of the outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh in these last days, according to Joel and cited by Peter, is not speaking in tongues, shaking or falling to the ground but an increase in dreams and visions. If you are filled with the Spirit, you should therefore expect God to speak to you in this way. 5. Community, creation and cultureAnd it’s the key to discipleship. Jesus says in John 10:27, he says, “My sheep know my voice. They listen to me. I know them and they follow me.” And so the key to Christianity is to listen to God. So it’s massively, this is probably the most important thing you’ll ever learn to do, to listen to God. Greig assumes that the reader will have heard lots of fellow-Christians say, “God told me this,” or “The Lord said that.” Well, maybe in the churches that Greig frequents. But he remains healthily sceptical about declarations of “What the Lord says” from pulpits and platforms. He notes that psychiatric wards are full of people hearing voices that they attribute to God. So too, he says, is the Christian conference circuit. Bio: Pete Greig cofounded and champions the 24-7 Prayer movement, which has reached more than half the nations on earth. He is a pastor at Emmaus Rd. in Guildford, England, and has written a number of bestselling books, including God on Mute, Red Moon Rising, Dirty Glory, and How to Pray. In the section on Lectio there was a tendency towards individualistic discipleship, which ironically was counterbalanced for me in doing the Lectio Course as a group exercise. He does return to the need to hear God in each other later, but there might be a tendency to see this as a separate thing altogether.

Christin Thieme: Yeah, exactly. We’re following up our last episode with you where we talked about how to pray, with now how to hear God. So just a small question to start for you: Why is hearing God’s voice so natural and so hard?Pete Greig: Yeah, it’s a masterclass because most, not all, but most of the ways that God tends to speak are modeled in this story. Like Jesus turns up in disguise. That’s probably familiar for many of us. One writer says God comes to us disguised as our own lives. You know, he speaks through the Bible. Actually he’s risen from the dead and he doesn’t just go, “Duh, it’s me.” It says beginning with Moses and the prophets, he explained how the whole of the story of the Scriptures pointed to himself. Trying to hear God can seem like a mysterious quest, and we can feel a bit lost and discouraged. At those times, we need some help, and Pete has given us some great guidance. Rooted in Scripture and filled with the experiences of many who have gone before us, this book shows that God really does speak to us and gives us some clear paths to hear him when he does.' psychologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Henry Cloud Nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern his authentic voice, and yet few things in life are more susceptible to delusion, deception, and downright abuse.