Category: Listening

“Asking for God’s guidance, compared to living by our own ideas, is the difference between the squeak of a mouse and the roar of a lion.” Where should we go on our first vacation? My wife, Joyce, and I were in our mid-twenties. One day she said to me, “Where should we go for our first…

In the Gospels we see on more than one occasion that as soon as Jesus showed up, demonic forces would panic. His presence was enough to cause them to begin to lose their grip on people’s minds and bodies. Recently, during a weekend workshop on the topic of the person and gifts of the Holy…

We visited Shelly Olson, a busy mother of four, during a trip across Canada this summer. Shelly is one of the few people who has not forgotten the art of letter writing. My wife told me that she can write a letter while simultaneously singing to her children. Since my brain runs on exactly one…

While Anna was still very young, her parents took her with them as they ministered to the sick and demonically oppressed. For Anna, praying for healing and deliverance was a normal part of Christian life. However, in this story she shares an experience that ended in a disappointment. Anna says… From the ages of 12…

People sometimes ask about teaching kids how to hear God’s voice. Grace K, a participant in one of the Listening to God cohorts, shared the following story. Benji hears from God One of my main goals in taking the Listening to God class was to be better equipped to teach my three sons. Even though…

Our washing machine went on the blink right before a nine-day local holiday. The machine was showing a “door close” error and refused to wash our clothes. I called a technician in who tested the door close switch and, finding it not to be the problem, told me that the main circuit board needed replacing.…

My friend Jonathan writes… I was visiting a house church in Michigan with some friends. We had just received news that we did not get the five-year visa for South Asia that we were hoping for. Instead, we only got a one-year visa. This was difficult news, but we were trusting God that he would…

My friend Aaron shared a couple of stories for this post. By way of background, Aaron used to work in a developing nation. Approaching Burnout It had been a tough few months. I was on the verge of burnout and desperately needed a break to recharge. My family was looking forward to some vacation time.…

A couple of months ago, one of my readers shared a post by the musician Dominic Balli with me. I tracked Dominic down and asked permission to share his post with my readers. He kindly agreed. But first, a little about Dominic, abbreviated from his church’s website. Dominic grew up in church knowing about Jesus but…

A reader shared this touching story.  Infertility The Lord began to speak to me about children even before I accepted his call to serve him. After we got married, however, we faced the problem of infertility. Many wounds formed in our hearts because of this, but the Lord was speaking to me to remain faithful…

When people speak of God’s voice through circumstances, they normally mean open and closed doors. If a door is open, they assume God is leading them to take a step through that door. If the door is closed, they assume God is telling them to do something else. This is NOT what I’m talking about…

Grace, a participant in one of our cohorts, shared the following story:  Recently, when my sister was visiting me, we had an argument. She said, “I’m the only one working on this relationship and you keep throwing bricks at me!” I cannot remember what we had argued about. I also cannot remember what Liz meant…

I am on the board of a small church. One day, the chair of the board called me to discuss an issue. A member had made a request to the church. It would be awkward and potentially unwise for the church to grant the request. But not granting the request might leave the requester feeling…

In a recent post I talked about asking the Lord a question as I started my day. A reader named Charlie responded as follows: The other day God caught my attention with a similar thought. I was praying John Stott’s “morning prayer” which begins with the words, “Good morning, heavenly Father. Good morning, Lord Jesus.…

This story is from my friend Jonathan. He writes… As we were leaving very early in the morning for our flight to Pennsylvania, I had an odd hunch that my glasses would break and that I should throw a back-up pair of glasses in my bag. I did and forgot about it. A week later…

Stephanie, a participant in Cohort 1 of the Listening to God Course writes: I recently led my daughter through a listening exercise. Afterwards she said, “Well that was different” and needed time to think about its implications. She has a cognitive kind of approach to life, so this was a new way for her to…

You can learn how to hear God’s voice! God wants to speak to you and he didn’t make it difficult. If you want to hear God’s voice, start with a desire to hear, then deal with your fears. Next quiet your heart from all the distractions. Then identify the question that you want to ask.