Hearing God’s Voice in Everyday Conversations

Does God really talk to us? We live in a world that encourages us to be busy. The busier we are, the more important we appear. Even on our days off, we are steadily on the go. Many times, I hear people say, ” I don’t know if I’m coming or going.” This was my world not too long ago—until God showed me a better way. If we want to hear God’s voice in our conversations, we need to slow down and give Him our attention.

Are You Actively Listening For God?

According to an article from practical psychology, active listening is the process of, well, actively listening. There are many times in our lives that we say we can’t hear God talking to us, or we don’t know the next step we are supposed to take because God hasn’t told us yet.

Sometimes, this is true; God isn’t giving us an answer because we don’t need to know it at that time. Other times, he may be waiting for you to slow down so he can talk to you. How often do you typically hear God talk to you? What does it mean to listen to God actively?

Our conversations with God, often, tend to be one-sided. I tell Him everything that is going on with me, including my frustrations, needs, and desires, but I don’t always let Him talk to me.

God wants to have a relationship with us, and the only way we can have a genuine, deep relationship with Him is to allow Him to speak to us. Since we can’t see God, actively listening can be a challenge. How can we actively listen to God?

3 steps to help you be an active listener:

1. Abide in God

As believers, we tend to work to bear the fruit of the Spirit, but God didn’t call us to bear fruit. He called us to abide in Him. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4, ESV).

2. Remain Silent

When we spend time with God daily and allow ourselves to slow down, we open the door for God to communicate with us through His Word. As we put this into practice, remember to add the time to sit quietly and listen to God. When we do this, we will not only be able to hear God at that moment, but we will be able to recognize his nudges throughout the day. “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33a, ESV).

3. Listen to Other Believers

There are times when God speaks to us through fellow believers. We must be willing to ask for advice and listen to what they say. In doing this, we are trusting that God is working through not only us but the Church as a whole. It is essential that we take their advice and compare it to what the Bible says because they should not contradict each other. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27, ESV).

God, is That You?

Discerning the voice of God can be a challenge if we are not actively listening to His voice. It’s okay when we aren’t sure if we really heard God to ask Him if that was Him talking to us. An excellent example of this was in 1 Samuel when God woke Samuel up three times, calling his name. Samuel thought it was his mentor, Eli, calling him, but Eli told him he did not call him. When Eli realized what was happening, he told Samuel to lie down and if the Lord called him again to answer God by saying, “speak Lord, for Your servant hears”(1 Samuel 3:9).

If we are unsure, it’s okay to ask a mentor to help us discern God’s voice. Being able to discern the voice of God will help us navigate our lives and guide us in our everyday conversations. We are called to be peacekeepers. If we are to be peacekeepers, then who better to listen to than the Prince of Peace himself?

Follow these steps to help discern the voice of God:

• Look for the message of the Spirit.
• Live in the mode of prayer.
• Search out the model of scripture.
• Expect the mercy of confirmation.

When we study God’s Word and know it well, we will be able to discern God’s voice and the fake voices that can easily distract us. We will be able to hear the message given to us in conversations with others.

“Then Pilate said to Him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice’” (John 18:37, ESV).

Can You Hear Me Now?

Sitting in a local seafood restaurant, my family and I were discussing the sermon that our Pastor had given that morning. It was my son’s turn to share his thoughts. His sparkling blue eyes captured my gaze as he spoke the truth and confirmed what God had been telling me to do. Picking my jaw up off the floor, I broke eye contact with my son and gave my husband a quick side glance. Our eyes connected, and I knew the decision I needed to make. I felt a peace wash over me as my 10-year-old shared what was in his heart.

There are times when God will use the people in our lives to talk to us. He can use anyone, but more often than not, it will be someone with whom you have a close relationship. God wants to speak to us. He could talk to us through a family member or a stranger. It may be someone from the grocery store, at the gas pump or a neighbor we run into while we are out for a stroll.

It will take time before we are confident that the voice, we heard was indeed God’s. Even when we get really good at discerning his voice, there will be some uncertainty because we are human, and we live in a chaotic world that keeps us distracted. The more we incorporate active listening into our daily lives, the more we will be able to hear God’s voice in our everyday conversations.