4 Effective Ways to Listen to God
Learning to listen to God is a skill few know and seldom master. While He doesn’t take to social media like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, God speaks to us in a number of other ways.
Listen to God in a number of ways
There are a number of ways you can listen to God. I will focus on 4 of these methods below:
1
Public scripture reading
Hearing the voice of God can be a very hard thing to discern. One of the more common ways to listen to God is by reading His Word, the Bible.
This is the likely the best method we have today to hear God’s voice. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is breathed out by God”. In fact, as Jesus Christ was being tempted by Satan, he said,
“It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4 (CSB)
2
Praying
Photo by Ric Rodrigues from Pexels
How does praying equate to listening to God? I believe Jesus is part of the Trinity, that is 3 beings who are each a part of God. These three beings are not separate, and yet they can be manifested individually.
When we pray, we reveal a part of who we are to ourselves. We reveal what is most important to us, and God moves us through the Holy Spirit. When we take the time to be still, God reveals His nature and His will for our lives. In time, listening to God will allow us to understand scripture, the words of God, by prayer through the Holy Spirit.
When we pray, we practice listening by we allowing ourselves to stay in the posture of praying even though we have no words to speak. Sometimes what we don’t say in prayer can help us more by training us to always listen for God’s voice.
3
Paying attention to opportunities
Learning to hear God takes more than time. It takes practice. To truly practice listening, you must apply God’s Word to all opportunities, both positive and negative.
For example, we should seize any chance we may encounter someone looking to learn more about God. We should share the Gospel and tell the story of Jesus in every possible situation we find ourselves in, even praising God in negative situations.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Acts 16:25 (CSB)
Paul and Silas were praising God IN PRISON! I can’t think of a more negative situation than being imprisoned, and there Paul and Silas were praising God in the midst of their dilemma. They ended up being a witness for Christ by doing so, and the other prisoners got to hear about the God of all creation.
4
Heeding the advice of mature Christians
When we listen to mature Christians, we also listen to God. In life, God sends certain people in our lives that we know are mature in Christ and we can tell these people are experienced at listening to God.
In my life especially, I found true growth in my walk with God by spending time with mature Christian men. I love to listen to their stories of triumph and mistakes to learn how I can experience God in my own life. In the days before social media like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, listening to someone with more experience was how you learned life lessons. Over time, I have learned that listening to these lessons improves my life.
Listen to God all the time
One of the best life skills you can develop is to hear what it is God has to say about your life. Listening for God’s voice can be difficult, and it does take some practice and patience. Learn to listen to God, and you will find yourself greatly and richly blessed!