Session Three: Hearing God

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Have you ever heard God speaking to you? If you have been hearing voices, then the standard advice is to go to the doctor. When Christians talk about hearing God speaking to them, only in rare circumstances do they mean the hearing of audible voices. However, we do believe that God is constantly speaking to us through means of:

• The Church
• Circumstances
• Our Prayer

(1) This course is very much focussed on hearing God speak to us through our prayer. However, the key point of this session, is to understand that God speaks with one voice through all three of the mediums given above. We may worship one God in three Persons - but, this does not equal split personality disorder. If Jesus says 'no' to you, there is no point praying to the Spirit for a different answer!!

• God is Unity without Division
• He speaks with one voice through the Church, through Circumstances and  through our prayer.
• In prayer we are trying to speak to, and to hear the same God who preserves the Church from error in her teaching, and who made you and placed you in the time and situation in which you now find yourself. It is the same God.

(2) Where there appears to be contradiction in what God is saying through these means, then we need Discernment to understand and find the unity. What we should not do is start proclaiming division in God. God does not contradict Himself. Period.

Let's look at some examples of how this might work.

• The Church says we must go to Mass on Sunday. Timmy sets out faithfully on Sunday evening to go to the 6.30pm Mass. On the bypass his car gives out, and he is left on the roadside waiting for a tow. In the process he misses Mass.
• He knows that God wants him to go to Mass on Sunday, he knows this from Church teaching.
• However, he also knows that Almighty God could have kept the car going until after Mass.
• In this situation Timmy can with integrity say, 'well, Lord, I don't really understand it, but it seems you didn't want we to get there, this evening'. God, who is Lord of circumstances seems to have had other plans this evening.
• In her prayer, Jemima feels God calling her to become a priest. However, the Church has taught definitively that it is impossible to ordain women to the priesthood. As a consequence, it is not possible for Jemima to become a priest.
• Jemima knows that although she feels called to the priesthood, it is impossible for her to become a priest. Further, she knows that God does not contradict the Church.
• Jemima seeks advice of a trusted priest, to get another perspective on what she is experiencing in prayer. She explores before the Lord what is the meaning of this calling she finds in prayer, and tries to discern and understand the meaning.
• Mismatches between our prayer and the reality of things can be painful, and a struggle - but it is struggle to be faced. It is too easy to simply say "I'm right and the world is wrong - God says so." This road only leads to bitterness and cynicism, which is not what God wants for us.
• Marius is married with three young children. In his prayer he begins to feel a strong calling to leave everything and become a hermit in the Egyptian desert.
• This calling is completely contrary to the circumstances and responsibilities of Marius' life.
• Rather than take this calling seriously, he begins to explore what might be motivating these feelings. He discovers that he has begun to resent the lack of freedom in his life now. He recognises this, and renews his commitment to his family.
• At the same time, he talks to his wife, and they agree look for periodic chances to get a retreat, so that they can both find some space for their spiritual lives.

These are just some fictional examples, but hopefully they show the need to understand all the things God may seem to be saying to us have a context for us, right now, in this moment.

(3) The reason we sometimes experience contradiction in what God is saying to us, is sin. Sin speaks to the sinner in the depths of his heart (Psalm 36.1) and it causes us to confuse what we want with what God wants for us.

• We need to be ever on the watch for this, especially in personal prayer. Church teaching and circumstances are outside of ourselves, and its pretty hard to mistake what they are. In personal prayer, it is often trickier to distinguish what comes from me, and what comes from God.
• In order to discern the very subtle voice of God in prayer we need always to subject what we are hearing to the biblical witness.
• The Bible is essentially a history of God's communication with His people. Therefore, when I hear the Lord speaking to me in prayer, I can ask myself - is this the sort of thing He has said to others?
• We need to build a knowledge of Jesus as found in the Gospel, to learn to recognise His voice intuitively.
• In order to do this, we need to saturate our lives in Scripture.
• Further, if we think the Lord is asking something significant of us, we should not be afraid to consult someone else, someone who has a deep knowledge of Scripture.

(4) How do I hear God in my prayer?

• Sometimes in your meditation particular words or phrases will just grab you. If you don't know what they mean, ask Jesus to show you.
• You may wish to note in a journal particular things that grab you, and revisit them.
• Sometimes you may come to pray and find yourself drawn into focussed, silent prayer, during which you will perceive the Lord communicating something to you.
• Perhaps more often, you will arrive at prayer burdened by a particular circumstance, and during the prayer He will help you understand it.

My words necessarily fail really to describe all the ways in which an infinite God might wish to communicate with the enormous number of people in the world. Prayer is a very personal journey, during which we all must learn how God speaks to us personally. The key is to keep trying to pray, and in His own time God will show Himself to you.

(5) Just to circle back to the beginning, it needs to be emphasised that if we are not listening to God speaking through the Church and through circumstances we will always struggle to hear His authentic voice in prayer - if I were to spend the whole day ignoring you at work, it would be a bit rich to expect a nice, comfortable chat with you in the evening!

That is not in any way to belittle the struggle of people who are finding Church teachings, or the circumstances of their lives hard to accept. Many of these people suffer greatly. But if you struggle (don't ignore the struggle), then you will begin to find the help from God.


Key points

• God speaks to us through the means of the Church, the Circumstances of our lives and through our personal prayer.
• He speaks with one voice through these channels.
• Where there might appear to be a contradiction in what He is saying, we need discernment.
• When listening to God in prayer, we should not be surprised if He challenges us to move out of ourselves.

Next Step
1. Can I answer the questions on the Handout?
2. Listen to the short audio interview about the material in this session.
3.. Now spend 20 minutes (or more) in silence using the prayer exercise on 'Teresian' Prayer on the handout.