How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People

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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? 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 intelligence Pete Greig is the bewildered founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement which has spread into more than half the nations on earth. Christin Thieme: So you’ve divided the book into two parts, God’s Word and God’s Whisper. Why did you separate it in that way?

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. This is not just a book written in a charming style, but perhaps in the end a book that will help many change their lives and adjust themselves to hearing that still small voice of which the Bible speaks. * The Irish Catholic * So I find that reassuring because I don’t find listening to God particularly easy. And I just love the fact that they clearly struggled a bit too.But Pete Greig is out with a new book to help us do just that. It’s called “How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People.” The primary mark of true discipleship (especially perhaps in a bewilderingtime such as this) is a posture of attentiveness towards his word. The word translated as “listen” in the passage from John about sheep and shepherds comes from the Greek akouó, from which we get words like ‘acoustic’ today. We may feel as dumb and defenceless as mere sheep, but our Good Shepherd has promised to lead us through this dangerous terrain if we will listen carefully for the acoustics; the nuance and tone of his voice.

Many people struggle to hear God because they have been taught to listen for his voice in ways that are difficult or even impossible for them to process. An academic study in the United States discovered a correlation between certain psychological attributes and the way spiritual phenomena are experienced. Certain personality types, it seems, simply find it harder to hear God’s voice than others. This is not helped by the fact that a disproportionate amount of the material on listening to God has been written by introverts (representing approximately 35 per cent of the population), who understandably advocate their own preference for quietness, stillness and solitude. It only takes a minute to create your own Bible Gateway free personal account and you’ll immediately upgrade your Bible Gateway experience. Do it right now! Author Peter Greig is perhaps best known his work in forming the 24-7 Prayer Movement. As a movement, they have developed many resources for prayer and started a wave of people who are increasingly committed to intercessory prayer. Additionally, Pete Grieg serves as the Senior Pastor of Emmaus Road Church in Guildford England. As an author, Greig has written several bestselling books – including God on Mute - and he cowrites for the Lectio 365 Daily Devotional. This book, How to Hear God, is meant to follow How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People, but I will say that it also stands well unconnected and on its own.

Greig’s book really challenged me. It flipped the script and made me recognize how often God has and does speak into my everyday life through his Word, conscience, community, creation, prophetic words of others, and even my dreams. God wants to walk with us in daily conversation as he did with Adam and Eve, and with the same intimacy he had with Moses. Occasionally he will communicate through dreams, visions and audible voices as he did with Peter. But mostly he will speak in a quiet, gentle voice as he did with Elijah, sounding ordinary as he did with Samuel (Gen 3:8, Ex 33:11, Acts 10:9-19, 1 Kings 19:12, 1 Sam 3). Pete Greig: Normal people. Busy, normal, confused people who sometimes wonder if God even exists. Yes. The book comes in two parts: Part 1; vox eterna; Hearing God through God’s Word and Part 2: vox interna; Hearing God through God’s whisper. Part 1: God’s Word

I am so thankful that my church introduced me to Pete Greig and specifically to this book. God spoke to me through it time and time again. It is simple, yet profound. I will never read about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and see them the same way again. 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 culture I talk in the book about the ABC as a principle of how you know if it’s God or not. Is it Affirming? Is it Biblical? And is it Christlike? If it’s those three things, then it is probably God.

We have spent over twenty years teaching young people how to hear the voice of God. We wish we would have had this book the whole time—it would have made our jobs much easier! This is the most inspiring, empowering, and exhaustive book we have read on hearing God's voice. This book doesn't just fill your head with information but also will cause your heart to burn with inspiration. You could give this book to a brand-new believer, and they would be immediately empowered to hear God's voice. Or you could give it to a believer who has walked with God for many years, and they would be inspired and challenged to hear him in an even deeper way. The body of Christ has needed this book for very long time.' recording artists Jonathan and Melissa Helser When I graduated from what you guys would call seminary with a degree in theology, and another one in sociology, what I discovered was I suddenly knew a lot about the Bible, but I’d lost my ability to really hear God personally in it. Because I was just always analyzing what does this mean? What’s the Greek here, and how does it all fit together?