· When Where and How God Speaks To Us
When God speaks:
God is ever speaking to us. God reveals Himself to us all the time if we are willing to receive from Him all the time. Time is really not an issue. He pursues us in order to have relationship with us. Jeremiah 31:3 says that God loves us with an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness He draws us to Himself. He draws us into relationship with Him. There is no relationship without communication. To say you love your own children, yet never spend time talking to them, would be to lie. You speak to your children because they are yours and you love them. You want to impart to them everything they need for life and godliness. Can you talk to your children when they are preoccupied with something else? Not really. They don’t really hear you unless you ahve their attention. That is God’s desire for you as well. Yet, we are so often preoccupied with something else that we don’t listen. God is speaking to us every day, all the time, if we will but stop and listen.
What we can do is practice keeping our eyes, ears, hearts and minds open to God’s voice throughout the day. Just making a conscious effort to keep our minds fixed on Him for a length of time. Walking around the house, taking care of business, schooling, all the while keeping that heart converstaion going with the Lord. Keeping that relationship open and active every minute of the day, and not just before meals and bedtime. Meals and bedtime do not allow time for relationship. A continual relationship - knowing that you are truly together and like-minded all day – is the key to developing a strong relationship with the Lord.
Jesus speaks to God:
Do you realize that the Bible says that Jesus ever lives to interceed for you? What an awesome thought. That the Savior of my soul, the lover of my soul, the Advocate before the Mighty Judge, is standing before His Father’s throne praying for ME! Jesus told Peter that satan wanted to sift him like wheat, but that He would be praying for Him. Jesus is praying for you. If we are to be like Him, shouldn’t we be coming to our Father in prayer as well? Shouldn’t we be interceeding with Him for our husband and children? For those whom God put directly in our circle of life?
Just as He has always desired to speak to His people, God never changes. He still desires to speak. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice." He opens our hearts and minds through His Word to speak His will and purposes and direction.
Where God speaks:
God wants communion with us whenever and wherever possible. To know that God is with you wherever you are is an awesome thought in itself. To know He will speak to you wherever you are is just as great. To know that He is close in proximity to you is neat, but to know that you are actually in Him is even greater. To be in Him is much closer than to just have Him added to whatever you are doing. To live and move and have your being in Him is to be so close that you are doing what He is moving you to do. What you are saying is what He is moving you to speak. What you are is Who He is through you. That is the relationship He desires. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one. That’s pretty close – becoming one. Too many christians are defeated and depressed and unsure of how to live because God is just a part of their life and not their Life. He is added to whatever they do, not the Cause of whatever they do. They are just a speaking to an entity up in a temple in the sky somewhere, not realizing His close proximity - that they are in Him and that He dwells within their temple.
How God speaks:
It was in 6th or 7th grade I remember that I would pray and pray but not ‘hear’ anything back. I wanted God to speak to me audibly. As my heart was crying out to God about this, I was prompted to open my Bible. What I opened up to was this verse which was a direct answer and sounded loud and clear to my young ears: John 10:27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. He actually spoke right to me through His Word and told me what my heart was longing to know – I could hear God! From then on, I found the Word of God to be my comfort, my counsel and my companion.
Let’s look at two of the words from that verse in John in the greek (don’t be frightened of greek – it’s just like looking in a dictionary) 
:
Hear:
akouo ak-oo’-o
a primary verb; to hear (in various senses):–give (in the) audience
(of), come (to the ears), (shall) hear(-er, -ken), be noised, be
reported, understand.
Know:
ginosko ghin-oce’-ko
a prolonged form of a primary verb; to "know" (absolutely) in a great
variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with
others not thus clearly expressed):–allow, be aware (of), feel,
(have) know(-ledge), perceived, be resolved, can speak, be sure,
understand.
So from the greek meanings, when that verse says we "hear" Him, it says that we can hear in various senses and understand what He is saying. We can "hear" Him through His written word.
To "know" Him according to the greek means to be aware of Him and perceive Him and understand Him. That is exactly what we need in every area of our lives, isn’t it?
1 Peter tells us that "we have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him…" Is there something you feel you need for life or something you need for godliness? The answer lies in knowing Him! The verse in John, spoken by Jesus said we are His sheep and we can hear Him and know Him!
To know Him is to dig into His Word and find out Who He is. Who is this God you say you serve? Who is this God that dwells within you? Who is this God you are to be like? Who is this God you want others to know? Dig in and find out Who He is. From Genesis to Revelation, He is revealed. I guarantee that when you "get into the Word, the Word will get into you."
Let’s not forget the glimpse of God we see in prayer, and as we go through the day, let’s keep a picture of Him in our minds eye. When He speaks to you something (after you search for Him in His Word), meditate on it throughout the day. For example, if you read Proverbs where it says that He refines us like He refines silver, then go throughout the day asking God to refine you. Ask Him to show you areas you need refining. Ask Him to show you what is happening throughout the day that will allow you to be refined. Look at your children with the idea of finding areas they need refining. Look at the Refiner. Ask Him to show you all the junk that is falling off in order to make you brilliantly shiny for Him. Keep your heart always open to Him. Never cut Him off or turn from Him. Make it your goal to be, like Abraham, "a friend of God." Your life will change.
Keep the conversation going throughout the day, as He desires and we desire a continual relationship. That’s what prayer really is.
Deborah Wuehler