A Peek into God Still Speaks

God Still Speaks.

This is a statement that has revolutionized my life. 

Asking the brave question, if God still speaks can I hear him, and will God really speak to me? changed my life, but truly changed me. 

I’m not sure if you’ve ever been there before, wondering if God hears you, wondering if your prayers really matter, wondering what prayer really is anyways. Well welcome… I’ve been on this journey for the last 8 years (well probably more like 38 years), and here we continue on together, with God. 

God still speaks, yes, he can speak to you, too. 

What is prayer? Very simply put, prayer is communicating with God, and guess what? Communication has two modes: receptive communication and expressive communication. We communicate on many levels nowadays: listening, viewing, reading, and observing. These are all receptive (we are taking in information or input). Then there is expressive communication, where we are the communicators: speaking, writing, drawing, and really creating anything--(this is output, where we pour out the communication or a message). 

Most of us spend a lot of our prayer time in the “output” or expressive space…we view prayer as a monologue where we come to God with our requests, wishes, burdens, and gratitude. This is an important part of prayer, it truly is, God wants to know what’s on your heart and hear from you. He is a loving God who cares for you, of course. He cares about what you care about. Yet, I want you to see there is more to prayer, more than the monologue where most of us get stuck. Prayer is communication, and God wants to communicate with you as well. Prayer wasn’t meant to be a one-sided conversation; it was meant to be a dialogue, and the One you are communicating with is the all-knowing Creator of the universe. 

God communicates with us in many ways. He is not limited to the text of the Bible, although that is one place where we can see God’s will and His ways. He also communicates to us through movies, images, art, music, other people…and guess what…God still speaks to our spirits directly.

Prayer is a conversation, a way to have a relationship with God. Through Jesus, we have the privilege of communicating with the God of the universe. We get the right, through Jesus, to talk with the Creator. 

I’m finding that prayer isn’t restricted to something you do only in church, at meals, and at bedtime. God is inviting me into experiencing talking with him at any time of the day. 

I came to a point in my life that I wanted more from prayer than I had been taught, and maybe you are there too. I was at rock bottom, and I was unsure what to do in my life. I was overwhelmed with the decision I had to make and I was overwhelmed with all the trauma I had walked through. I wanted more from God; I wanted to hear His voice. I wanted to know what He wanted me to do. I wanted direction, clarity, and to hear the truth from God for my situation. I was desperate. 

In that desperate place, I cried out to God. I remember sitting in my car at the beach in town and journaling. I kept writing:

God tell me what to do. God tell me what You want.

God, are You really there?

That was the first moment I heard that very specific, small voice say: Will you trust me?

 “God---" I responded. “Did you hear me? I want to know what You want. I want to know the whole plan.

Tell me exactly what to do.”

I wanted God to answer my question and tell me what to do about my broken marriage. I wanted answers to the pain and the issues in my life. God didn’t answer the question I had, He asked me a different question. Will you trust me? It’s often in this place of seeking God that we feel as though He isn’t answering us. God is always answering, but sometimes it’s just not the answer we are looking for. If God had answered my question outright, I would have missed out on the gift that He was offering me…Himself as a guide and friend. 

It was as if I knew…God was speaking to me that I had a choice in this whole thing. He wanted me to choose: to walk forward with Him, and know He would lead me step by step, or to stay locked in fear and indecision. I had to choose how I was going to proceed, and so do you, for whatever that thing is in your life. We get the choice: will we stay locked in fear or indecision, or will we take God’s hand and say… “you lead me”? 

Was it scary? Yes, but it was time to lay down my five-year plan (which was ultimately me trying to control and feel safe), and it was time to let God lead, to let God speak, and to begin to trust that He would. 

I hope this encourages you to take the brave step of inviting God in and to speak into your life. If you are curious about hearing God and deepening your relationship with him, check out my new book: God Still Speaks. 

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27 ESV

Questions to Ponder with God: 

God, do you still speak? Will you speak to me? 

God, please open my awareness to where you are already talking to me.