“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jer 33:3
I believe God speaks. I dont think it’s for a select few who are super religious. I don’t know if it comes in an audible voice, at least that’s not my experience nor anyone else’s that I know of. How does God speaks? I don’t like putting God in a box, but I believe He speaks very clearly in His Word. I also believe God can speak outside His Word through people, circumstances, and impressions. I believe God will speak to each person in a specific way if that person is willing to listen.
Why does God speak? God speaks because He isnt hands-off with the world He created. I don’t believe He created the world and sat back to watch it. He speaks because as Creator of this world He longs to be known. He speaks because He cares. God is very involved. Chances are, you don’t doubt that God can speak; if you’re like me, you struggle with doubting that He will speak. But if we dont believe that He will speak then we will overlook, ignore, or explain away the times when He actually does. I’ve noticed that those who live with a profound awareness of God throughout their day are in a position where to hear from God the most.
Of course I don’t want to mislead you. I am well aware that not just anything can be the voice of God. It takes knowing someone to recognize their voice. And there are other voices competing for our attention: ourselves, our desires, other people, the Enemy, and the world. All these voices have things they want to say, a path they urge us to take, whether for it’s really for our benefit or their’s.
The Words out of the mouth of the Father are life. It wasn’t by His hands that He created this world, rather, He spoke it into being. He said, “Let there be light.” And light was created. In the same way, when He speaks to us His words are life-giving. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps 119:103). The words that come out of the mouth of God are life. “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.” (Jer 15:16). And, “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” We are to live off of the words that come out of the mouth of God, including His Word (The Bible). We are to devour them.
When I speak to God in prayer I don’t get life out of my words to Him. Rather, I get life when He speaks to me. Prayer is not just talking to God. It’s listening. I wander if it is best to pray by listening rather than talking. The result? When God speaks something always happens. We do not read or hear His word without something happening, no matter how inconsequential it may seem. “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void” (Isa 55:11).
The easiest way to keep the mind steady in prayer and to keep it from wandering is to make it a practice to keep the mind on God outside of prayer times. Many times I have tried to enter into a time of prayer and have trouble concentrating. Why? Because it is incredibly hard to quiet your soul and shift gears. I like to call this forcing yourself into “prayer mode.” We can have a tendency at times to forget God the rest of our day and become busy. Then we set aside special time with God where we focus on just Him. But the mind will not comply. The mind is restless and dwells on earthly things. Why? Because most of our day is spent focused on earthly things and then we try to focus on heavenly things.
This is a dramatic shift to induce. When the mind gets into the habit of being set on God and set on heavenly things it does not wander too far in times of prayer. Brother Lawrence puts it best, “One way to recollect the mind easily in prayer…is to not let it wander too far at other times…being accustomed to think of Him often you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in times of prayer.”
