As I sit and pray with people in spiritual direction, one of the primary desires people have is to hear God’s voice. Unfortunately, most people experience a host of challenges when they try to listen to God. The difficulty of listening and knowing what God is saying to us can emerge early in our conversation. It might go something like this.
Directee says: “I want to know whether or not I should switch jobs. I want to get guidance from God about this.”
I say: “Have you prayed about it? Do you have a sense for how God responds to that question?”
This simple question brings to light the broader issue of whether or not the directee is experiencing God’s leading voice in their life. My assumption isn’t that God always speaks in clearly formed sentences. “Hearing God’s voice” is representative language that we use to describe our mysterious and multi-faceted interaction with the Spirit. But throughout the Old and New Testaments, God clearly “speaks” to his people. We are all invited to listen for God’s voice.
So, when I ask my question about how the directee is hearing from God, I don’t expect them to give me a verbatim response, but rather to talk about how they are experiencing God in their prayer. And yet, this can feel challenging. It can evoke a range of responses. Here are a few of the ways people voice concerns about hearing God’s voice:
When I try to listen, I hear nothing. It’s just silent.
I think I know what God is saying, but his voice sounds a lot like my own voice. I don’t know if that’s God or it’s me.
I just feel distracted.
This is what I think God might be saying, but it’s exactly what I want to be true. That makes me skeptical. It seems too good to be true that God would say that.
Or, simply, I have no idea what God’s voice sounds like.
Along with these statements there is usually a request for some help or guidance about how to hear God’s voice. In the context of spiritual direction, I don’t want to do much teaching. However, I may make a few comments about how we can “listen” for God’s voice. There is no simple formula to follow, but there are a few principles that can be helpful to keep in mind. Here are a few things I might offer in some form or another.
Abiding
In John 15, Jesus talks about the importance of abiding in him. Listening to God’s voice can feel like abiding. There needn’t be a direct word from God. In this instance, God “speaks” to us in a mysterious way by making us aware of his presence. This can evoke feelings of peace, comfort, embrace, contentment, and even joy. So, when people bring a question to God in spiritual direction, sometimes God’s presence is the answer. God doesn’t “tell” them what to do, but he answers their question with his presence. By drawing near to the directee, God takes away the anxiety of the decision. Then, they feel a freedom to make a choice and move forward. In this scenario, hearing God’s voice comes down to an experience of abiding in his presence.
Desire
In the gospels, Jesus often discerns the Father’s work by paying attention to desire in the hearts of others. He does this by asking questions like, “what do you want me to do for you?” This speaks to the way our internal desires can be born of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, there are some desires and cravings that come from the flesh and so we need wisdom here. However, most people are much too reticent to listen to their holy desires. They struggle to believe that God could be speaking to them through their heart’s desire, but that’s just what he does. The heart that is in a love relationship with the Father will give birth to desires that are expressions of God’s will.
Fruit
A great way to discern whether or not our desires are born of intimacy with God is to pay attention to the fruit they produce. As we sit and pray with our desires and even imaginatively envision ourselves living them out, we typically experience spiritual fruit. If our desire is born of the Spirit we may notice fruit like love, joy, peace, etc. If it’s of the flesh, we may feel insecure, anxious, angry, resentful, etc. It’s also helpful to notice emotions, sensations, or any other physical manifestations that might occur as we prayerfully reflect on a decision past or future. These can all point to the way we are relating to God’s indwelling Spirit. Paying attention to the fruit we experience is a great check for testing how we are listening to God’s voice.
Humility
Lastly, the experience of hearing God’s voice typically results in humility. You might think that someone who hears God’s voice would be prone to a grandiose view of oneself, but this isn’t the effect that God’s voice produces. I think this is because listening and hearing require a posture of dependency and even surrender. We hear God as our hearts consent to doing his will.
I also believe humility is a fruit because the process of hearing God requires faith. I’ve noticed that spiritually mature people hold a sort of agnosticism about hearing God’s voice. It’s not rooted in doubt or unbelief. It’s a form of unknowing that is rooted in faith-filled humility. They know that they could misunderstand the way God is speaking, so they hold it all loosely. All our listening is grounded in our deep trust that God will guide our lives. In this context, hearing God “rightly” is less important than doing our best to listen and then trusting God as we make the best decision we can.
This is a very simple, rough sketch of some of the basic guidelines that I use to help discern God’s voice in my own life and also when I pray with people in spiritual direction. If you’re trying to listen for God’s voice, I hope these are helpful for you. You might also consider meeting with a spiritual director who can companion you in your work of listening.