Guest Post by Pastor George McVey — Hearing God Speak

Pastor George McVey recently started a new blog, “Ask Pastor George,” which you can see here:

http://askpastorgeorge.wordpress.com/

Here is a sample of what we can expect from Pastor George, who will soon be releasing what sounds like a classic Western with more than a touch of romance.

As a pastor and revivalist one of the most often asked questions I get is: How do I know it is God speaking to me? Or: How can I hear God like you do? To be quite honest this question surprises me every time I hear it. It says more about the leadership of churches than about the individual asking the question. How can people be attending a Bible believing, Bible teaching church and not have been taught how to hear the voice of God?

The answer to how is that for some reason we don’t teach that prayer is a conversation. We teach people to make requests to God and tell God how we love him. But we never teach them that God wants to talk to us as well. Psalms 37:7-9 tells us God is looking for those who will wait on him if you wait for someone you have to listen for them and look for them. These verses tell us not to fret which is when most people pray when they are worrying and fretting about things.

That still brings us back to the original question How can I hear from God like you seem to? My usual answer to the question is this question: How do you know your spouse or parents’ voice when they talk to you on the phone, without seeing them?  How come you can place thirty moms with sixty kids in a room, and have one child call mommy and the right mommy turn around?   The answer is easy, because there is communication between them regularly.

This is the answer to how to hear God speak to you. You have to communicate with him. I know every Christian prays, but we are taught to pray by giving thanks, asking for request, giving praise. This isn’t communication it’s talking at someone, not with them.

How long would your other relationships last if all you ever did was talk at them, and not listen to them talk?  Not long, that’s for sure.  So the reason we don’t hear God speak, or aren’t sure it is God speaking, is we don’t take the time to listen and have a real relationship.

I don’t just mean by reading our Bibles, don’t get me wrong that is one way God speaks. He is a living God, he wants to talk with us one on one. I want to challenge you today to start listening to God. Take some time and just listen. Start a conversation with HIM ask HIM to talk to you, then shut up and listen. If you are sincere about the request and willing to listen HE will answer you. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us he will.

Then after he has said something answer him. Keep the conversation going, that’s communication.