God Whispers

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Prodding

Prompting

Still small voice

Strong firm voice

Nudges

Urgings

Moments of inspiration

Epiphanies

These can all refer to the “whispers of God.” John 10:27 tells us, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” We learn several key things in this verse: Jesus says that we hear his voice and that he knows us. Then he says that we follow him. As his sheep we want to be obedient to his voice and then we want to follow him. But how do we know when God is speaking to us? Often we take a passive approach to hearing from God. We wait for signs and signals. Perhaps we need to practice active waiting by actively seeking out God’s wisdom and direction through prayer, meditation, reading scripture and talking with Christian mentors.

In his book The Power of a Whisper, Bill Hybels shares five filters he uses to discern whether the voice he is hearing is God’s.

 “God, is this prompting truly from you?”

 “Is the whisper scriptural?”

 “Is it wise?”

 “Is it in tune with my own character or wiring?”

 “What do the people I most trust think about it?”

Hybels says, “God is looking for ‘just say the word’ Christ-followers, women and men who will do whatever it takes to follow the promptings they receive.”

Whether you’ve never really considered that God speaks to you or you listen every day for his promptings, we can all feel reassured by the words in Isaiah 58:11, “I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places – firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.”

Let’s invite God to “whisper” to us this week and then let’s listen – actively!

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”
C.S. Lewis