Listening to God.

[TheNameIsDickDarlington]

I was trying to figure out an entire preamble for this but I can't really articulate what I want to, so I will try and jump straight in.

The church I attend talk a lot about "talking to God" which I kind of understand from my years attending a Roman Catholic school. The part I'm finding more difficult is that the church (not RC but a branch of Christian) also talks a lot about "listening to God" and "hearing what God is telling us" they talk about God guiding you etc.

I just don't know how you know that God is talking to you, how do you see a sign as one from God? How does anyone actually listen to God?

I think this can be done in lots of ways. For example, just making some time to be quiet and not rushing around and see where your thoughts take you if you ask God to be there. Read from the Bible regularly and before you do, ask God to speak to you through it and be prepared to hear what the verses may mean for you. The same verse can speak different things into your situation at different times. Sometimes a friend may share something or you may listen to the Sunday sermon and it will contain something you need to hear.
All these things are God speaking onto your situation

Thank you for answering.

I'm really not trying to be stupid about this, but... how do I know that's God and not just my own brian? Or is it all just open to interpretation?

Even when I'm quiet my brian is talking at me and throwing up pictures, I could be in the quietest most relaxing place and my mind is just not quiet at all, there's so many layers of noise.

I'll try and make my mind quiet tomorrow during church.

Sadly I don't read the bible, a lot of this is quite new to me (despite going to a religious school and certainly having belief in God etc.) So I think I'm just trying to make sense of it all and how this fits in my life.

Your logic is telling you the answer to your question OP.

Indeed, how do you see a sign that is from god?….. it’s really useful to society and yourself to critically evaluate this topic.

How could it be possible? I hope you come to your answer OP

It is hard to describe and I totally get what you are saying. My experience has been that he has given me what I needed to hear on the days I needed it. So on days when I was very anxious about something, there may have been a reassuring Bible reading. When work was difficult, something about trusting God. When difficulty in friendships, something about telling the truth.
Often in Church, there is something in the sermon that will really help me manage an ongoing situation in a way that is more honouring to God.
If it is straight out of God's word then you know it is true. If someone is saying something to you, it has to be supported by Scripture. So if someone said to you, for example, " I see you are so in love with that married man, God wants to give you his blessing" you will know that it's not correct as God teaches faithfulness and not affairs.
I do have a very distracting brain which like you is very busy, so the quiet moments are hard to find, but he can speak through busyness too. x

Sadly I don't read the bible, a lot of this is quite new to me (despite going to a religious school and certainly having belief in God etc.) So I think I'm just trying to make sense of it all and how this fits in my life.

@TheNameIsDickDarlington, this sprung out at me and I think it is what might be the crux of your issues. God communicates to us through His word, through Christ and as is written about in the Bible.

I would recommend this site:

www.biblegateway.com/

You can look up lots of different translations. The Voice, The Message and The Living Translation are in very modern English and so easy to understand but I find it good too to look at more traditional /widely accepted translations such as King James and New International Translation as I find the more modern translations lose some of the nuance and poetry of these.

You can start by reading daily devotionals, that site has some but if you Google there are plenty of others which can give you food for thought and you can think how what is being talked about affects you/ your life.

But also in praying you can put your questions to God and then just see how your day pans out. There are lots of ways answers can come. Sometimes you read something, sometimes you hear something, sometimes someone tells you something, sometimes you see symbolism in natural occurrences/events which relates very much to something in scripture.

I am on a journey with my faith at the moment and this is a similar question I have to you.

at the moment I’m seeing it through things that happen.

for example I am using the bible app to do daily scripture and prayer. Some of the prayers/scripture that have come up have been so relevant - eg forming good habits, how to deal with anxiety - could be coincidence, could be god communicating to me.

i went to a church service recently with a friend and the sermon could have been written for me - could be coincidence, could be god communicating with me.

you get the idea. I went to a Catholic mass today which I enjoyed. I still have a lot to figure out eg how to pray, what to pray for etc. so I know where you’re coming from.

could be coincidence, could be god communicating to me.

@crystal1983, I think the thing to remember is that if what is spoken to you is of Christ, from The Bible, it is God communicating with you. Simply because Christ/The Bible shows us God (according to Christian believe). Christ is His word (communication) to us. 🙂

"...The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. " (John 6:63 NIV)

I'm glad someone else is in the same position as me, I feel like everyone around me either is very
... knowledgeable about these things and talk in a way I'm not sure I understand (kind of just rehashing the "listen to God" message from church) or is not religious at all and therefore probably won't want to discus it.

So thank you, you've made me feel a bit less lost and stupid. Xxx

Sounds like I need to be better at looking at the world.

I feel like my head is such a crowded and noisey place that nothing just happens, everything is planned, orchestrated, thought through. I don't think I've ever had a day that's just "panned out" it's meticulously controlled by me.

I'll get that bible app someone mentioned and try to take a step back and just... see.

@TheNameIsDickDarlington

Taking a 'step back' is a good idea. With your planning everything 'meticulously' it sounds like you are a very goal oriented person which can be difficult to apply to the Christian Faith. We are talking about learning to know and perceive God here...a task which, needless to say, is difficult to design a tick list for. 😉

Hi, I am a Catholic but also believe there are many paths to God and I describe myself more as a spiritual person rather than religious. Being a catholic is just my way via when and where I was born, an accident of birth. It is helpful for me to see it like this as there are some Catholic teachings I do not agree with and on the other hand, for example, there are some Buddhist teachings which do resonate with me. So, when listening to God, it may not be the Bible which works for you but other methods might. God is everywhere and we are all part of God so coincidences or certain things which resonate with you might also be God communicating with you. Prayer/meditation definitely helps give space to notice and hear messages too. Good luck!

No, no and no again.

https://www.gotquestions.org/do-all-roads-lead-to-God.html

And I suppose responses like that are why I cannot fully embrace Christianity or any religion that obliges their followers to say that their path is the only path to God.

I can recommend a book called 'Learning to Pray' by Fr James Martin - a jesuit priest.
It's a very practical guide, and goes into things like 'what are we doing when we pray', 'what responses might we feel when we pray' and so on, and talks about some of the emotions or thoughts you might get when you sit and pray and try to listen to God, and how you can tell whether those are 'just you' or might be God communicating to you.

I find that when God talks to me, I often get a physical sensation of some sort - a sort of 'knowing' in my stomach, or sometimes like a warm feeling, and once like a finger up my spine which gave me shiver. I'm normally a very 'head' sort of person and think about things more than 'feel' things, so for me, it's generally a sign that it's not me if it's more physical sensation. But that's just me - and I'm aware that all sounds a bit 'woo' - and it will be different for everyone.

It's also worth testing things against scripture, as someone further up the thread has said, to see how they fit and align with who God is and what God wants for people.

Listening to God. Hmmm. Difficult. I think you have to devote time to it. Try Lectio divina and Daily Examen prayer. See the Hallow app or Lectio 365 app.

The examen is particularly good. It involve running over your day and looking for where you saw God at work in your life.

Lectio involves meditating on a passage of the bible and hearing God's word in it.

I think if you have a lot if thoughts it could be hard to hear God above the hubbub. im like that. And you need to filter what may actually be the opposite of God at work in your thoughts.

My own experiences of "hearing" God have been quite mixed. I have less "connection" since I gave up lectio and examen prayer. I have spent time sitting with the Holy spirit as a real presence in my life. A mumsnetter told about sitting in contemplation. It's a really valuable practice!

One of the things it can be like is per the words of the hymn "oh lord and father of mankind forgive our foolish ways": talks about "the still small voice of calm". God can be the still, small voice of calm.

God's voice comes in a variety of ways. My priest sees signs of the resurrection in the world in a child's laugh, new flowers in the spring, people helping those less fortunate, human connection.

Sometimes you feel His support. He lifted me when I was desperate and praying at the start of covid.

DONT do what I did and play bible roulette! 😱

He has spoken to me by signs and what other people say to me. Today I saw a rainbow at a particularly low point of the day. I see God in the beauty around me.

I struggle more now to hear. I think there are seasons where God's guidance is stronger. Maybe what you are doing is enough. Keep going. Put one foot in front of the other and take small steps on your journey of faith.

@TheNameIsDickDarlington re the last paragraph of your opening post - it's only by speaking with God (prayer) and by studying His word (reading the Bible) that you will start to learn how to 'listen' and 'hear' from Him. It's like any relationship, it takes a little work on your part. By study and prayer and 'being still and knowing He is God', anything you think is from Him will be 'cross referenced' and confirmed by Scripture. It's good to have trusted prayer group, or Christian mentor to whom you are accountable, to help the journey.

Not many Christians think like that though. Most are happy for people to find their own way. If you read the Narnia books CS Lewis explains that although different cultures have different ways of worshipping, it’s actually all the same God.
The good thing about Christianity is that it’s okay to have different views and opinions on lots of things. At the end of the day it’s all about your own personal relationship with God and looks very different for everyone. I’m not a big Bible reader but I like to go to a modern C of E church every few weeks. I like The Bible app, I feel closest to God when sat out in nature in a rural churchyard.

https://www.bible.com/app

That is not what C.S. Lewis was getting at, at all and if you are a Christian I would urge you to become familiar with the Bible.