nine ways God speaks
I’m supposed to be studying my sermon for tomorrow’s Mother’s Day service, but I can’t put down the book Nine Ways God Always Speaks, by my friend Jennifer Schuchmann and her friend Mark Herringshaw. Seriously, this book is a must read! I can’t seem to get off my couch and stop reading this book. Although I’m not ready to write my review on it yet, I can tell you that this book is tackling the questions and thought processes that I have always asked and wondered about God in how He converses with us.
I mean, at the heart of our faith we all want to understand God more fully, or at least understand how we can discern God’s voice, right? The problem seems to be for so many of us that we feel awkward because we don’t know if we’ve actually heard from God or what it would even sound like if God did speak to us, so we choose to keep all possible conversations with God on the hush hush! However, Scripture says that God’s children WILL KNOW His voice when they hear it. As a Christian I believe what the Scriptures tell me, but is it possible to hear from God in the meantime through friends, signs, nature, etc. while we wait on the more obvious audible word from God?
If you’ve been wanting to hear from God for the first, second, third, or hundredth time, this book is ridiculously entertaining and life altering as it points the reader to various directions for him/her to explore hearing from God. I can’t wait to finish the book and let you know my thoughts on the finished product. In the meantime, I want to hear from you… Does God speak to you? If so, then what does He say or has He said? If not do you want to hear from God?
Wednesday of next week (after church) I’ll randomly pick a winner from your responses and send you a free copy of the book! Make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch… Can’t wait to hear your God stories!!!
God speaks to me all the time…when God called me to ministry I head God through an inner impression an answer to prayer and a word of constructive criticism.
When God called us to leave Kansas City to plant a church in central Illinois God spoke through scripture, answered prayer, an inner impression, and a great need.
When God called our church to start another location we heard God speak through examining where God was at work in our church, looking at the needs of our community, and hearing God’s voice through the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek.
I can definitely agree that God speaks through many different ways.
God told me to move my fam to Nashville! I had moved here back in the mid ninties under similiar direction…but that was as a single guy who needed to grow up. I moved back to NJ in 97, and met my wife in 98. We got married 6 mos later and started a family. We both had felt called into ministry, but weren’t sure how to get to where He was calling us. We went from church to church volunteering in areas we felt called in. Then in Feb 2006 I was helping my Bro-In-law drive to Texas. I took over driving about 2am in Roanoke, VA. Within about 45 min my blood sugar(Im diabetic) shot through the roof and back went into major spasms. Determined to fulfill my role and let my BIL sleep, I pushed on, praying for healing and God’s intervention. Within 30 min(my highs usually take 3+ hours to really recover from) I was energized and pain free. I spent the next few hours driving and talking to God. As we approached Nashville, God finally jumped in the conversation. “I want you to move your family down here”. The ironic part about this was for the first 7 years of my marriage…whenever things were rough, I begged God to send us to Nashville. Then we got plugged in to the church that we were attending at this time, and that desire left. I went home and told my wife about it. Her response was that God would have to tell her himself if she was going to leave her family and everything she had known in her life for a strange land. She came back to me a few days later and summed up what God’s response was.She said He told her that “I don’t have to tell you anything. You need to trust your husband.” There’s some interesting facts involved in that response, but I wont go into them here. Needless to say that July we moved to La Vergne, TN. It has been an interesting trip so far. We have been close to homelessness, my wife has had 3 surgeries, and I have been in and out of jobs. Yet, we have met some incredible people. I am now a paid youth pastor at a church here in La Vergne, and my wife is finding her place as well. We’ve been here almost 3 years now and I cant wait to see where it goes from here! Sorry about the length, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
He has spoken to me…several times…
The first was a voice from inside, telling me to pray in a moment when I needed help…I can’t explain the voice, but I knew who it was and I knew my only option was to do as told and it would work out, which it did…
I’ve been “spoken” to in a feeling over overpowering love/hope/joy…the feeling was amazing and again, I knew it was Him…
Dreams have shown me hugging Jesus, apologizing him and crying in his arms, feeling love and awaking thinking I had actually been with him…
I’ve prayed for guidance, asking for a certain song to play on a certain day, and wouldn’t you know it, there it was….praying for odd things, “I wish God would put up a billboard telling me what to do!” There a billboard appears; I knew it was for me….Praying for a certain car to be in front of my home…said car, exactly as I thought it would look, appears….
Someone once said, “there is NO coincidence when it comes to God.” I have spoken with him, held hands with Jesus, and felt Their presence on more than one occasion…everyone should be so lucky…and blessed…
There is not a moment of my day that the Lord doesn’t speak to me..It was not always that way..In my childhood I suffered a trauma that was to effect me for the next thirty years..Then in 2002 after many years of struggling with self and many signs from God that i chose to ignore.. I sat one evening and listened to a song by Mercy Me called “Word Of God Speak” Within in my soul he told me use all I had been through to help those that could benefit from my healing.. At this time I was left alone raising 7 young children..I did all that was asked of me lifted myself and the children up into his loving care and promised to fullfill all he had asked (For the first time in my life there was a knowing it was God that spoke)…Our rewards have been tenfold,the greatest being my wonderful husband Clay, only God could have sent him from 4000 miles away to our family .. For every cross I have carried the Lord has lifted me on eagles wings..My latest cross was the sudden death of my 16 yr old neice Anna(She was like one of my own children) May 20th last year.. From Annas death to this day I have kept my promise and I created a memorial site in her memory which has now grown and spread so much healing throughout the world and brought together many suffering with the loss of a loved one… The beauty is thousands have met Anna through the word of God ..Our little girl did not die in vain…
this is an interesting conversation….
it is something that i have been thinking a lot about….
i had a ridiculous encounter with God this summer at the end of a mission trip to China. i heard God as clear as day….and he spoke to something i was not really thinking about at the time but something that had been on my heart for a while.
i struggled with what i :heard:
i kept praying that he would confirm it again if that is what he really spoke.
a few days later he spoke even more clearly through
His presence and through a prayer conversation. scripture says to test the spirits, so i kept asking God to clarify, to make His way, His heart known. when the encounter come to an end, i got up from my knees and began to worship. i had the most amazing worship encounter if have ever had. God was right there…. he was standing face to face with me.
even after all of that i still asked God for more confirmation. I did not want to walk away from the situation thinking something was not real…i wanted to know my God was real and what he spoke was real.
so i asked for some scripture.
he gave it…he confirmed everything that had happened through his word.
for me….when God speaks, he always makes it CLEAR and he always provides proof doe those who might be a little hard headed…..
he wants to speak to us. he wants to fellowship with us and commune with his children.
I’ve always struggled with this. Honestly, I don’t know if I have ever “heard” God speak to me. I think I must be totally deaf in this area. It seems my direction is more “forced” from the last available option – if that is speaking. I hear pastors say this all the time, but usually no one else. It must be nice to get this kind of promting.
Mark
Firstly, let me say that I am stubborn. Very much so. Furthermore, I am pretty skeptical as well, but I am a Christian and I do believe that He has a plan for my life and that submitting myself to His will is best.
I was dating a wonderful guy and I prayed my usual “this is what I want, Lord, so please make it happen” prayer instead of seeking true guidance from Him. I did have enough wisdom to ask for a sign to show me if I should pursue this direction.
That night, I got a call from the guy to come over and on the way, my car ran off the road on a sharp curve. As soon as it stopped, I literally heard this message in my head: “Ok, here’s your sign”. I KNEW that I wasn’t supposed to go on in this direction.
Unfortunately, I did go on–knowing the whole while that I was making a mistake and that I was going in a direction that I wasn’t supposed to go in.
How did the story end? Badly, but I recovered and knowing that I had deliberately followed my OWN plan makes me much more willing to listen now. . .MOST of the time.
Just about five years ago, right after our church had called me to be the pastor, my wife and I went away to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to visit her grandmother. Early one morning I was sitting on the porch, drinking coffee, listening to the birds, reading the Bible and praying about the huge task ahead.
Almost immediately after the church’s vote, all my friends began emailing and calling, recommending that we do this program or that program. Having been a Associate Pastor for Education/Discipleship up to this time, I was very comfortable with the “go buy a box of curriculum, add people, coffee, and stir” approach to ministry.
As I laid all these well-meaning suggestions before the Lord that morning, I said, “Lord, I don’t know what to do. I’ve always relied on programs. What should I do?”
It was as clear as if someone were standing behind me: NO PROGRAMS!“So what do I do, Lord?”
“Teach them to walk with me.”And that’s what we’ve been doing for the last five years. No out-of-the-box programs.
And He’s been faithful to show us where He’s working, and provide blessings beyond measure when we’ve been obedient to His leading.
At a time in my life when I felt completely lost and discouraged, I drove past a country hill in western Mass that was covered in such clean new white snow, it was like a sheet of paper staring at me. In my head the verse came to me, “Your sins will be whiter than snow.” It must have been God, because it struck me so fully, emotionally, I will never forget it.
God spoke to me after a bad motorcycle wreck. After 3 weeks in the hospital, I was at home recuperating and during a time of worship I asked the Lord if he was trying to teach me something through this accident. “Yes.”
God spoke. Clear. Strong. Powerful. I turned to see if someone was in the room with me. Was it an audible voice? No. It was louder than that.
God told me I had sin in my life. My heart melted. I told him I would repent if he would show me what was in my heart. He said I had committed the sin of making Him, number one in my life. I was confused and told Him I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. He asked me how I would feel if my wife told me I was number one in her life, while she continued to hold on to relationships with old boyfriends? He told me that His desire for me was like my desire for my wife… He said, “You have made me number one, but you have kept love number 2, 3, 7, 18, 29… etc., I DON’T WANT TO BE NUMBER ONE… I WANT TO BE THE ONLY ONE.”
That was in 1986, I remember it like it was an hour ago. It changed my life.
I’ve recently been studying on biblical decision making.
I’m still trying to figure out how to place those still small voices I hear which I believe are from God and being careful not to go around saying “God told me!”
I’m curious to see how this book touches on all of this scripturally!
I have rarely had a moment of “Talking donkey” kind of leadership from God. Though I experience God’s presence regularly, generally it is a way of being with God and being with others. I experience God in a worship service, beautiful nature, or great connection with another person. My experience of God’s leadership has always been more “progressive”. In daily seeking God and pursuing my passions, I explore opportunities that come my way. Sometimes they lead to greater things and other times they do not. When a greater opportunity opens I move into it (or try to.). My experience of finding my position in Pastoral Care and Counseling was totally a “trial and error” kind of process, but it yielded experiences that shaped me and molded me for all the work that I have done along the way. I just trust that God will be present and can use my experiences and constantly seek to follow the example of Christ.
Mr. Mark Watson is the winner! No worries everyone else, there will be more opportunities soon to win more awesome books! Thanks for playing, and may the Lord continue to keep you and bless you and shine is light upon you and SPEAK to you throughout your day!
Hallelujah!
Matthew
Great idea Matthew. I read books all the time. I am going to borrow your idea of sharing the book with someone who might like reading it. I’m teaching Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. He says that God speaks to us 3 ways. His Word (Bible), people, and our circumstances. Actually this week he spoke to me in using all 3. God is amazing when we actually are still enough to allow him to show us how he works. Mark hang in there. I can rest assure you, you will hear him. When you do you will be amazed at how clear his voice is.
I received the book via UPS yesterday. I read about 1/3 of it last night and should finish it this weekend. I will post again first of next week about my thoughts.
So far – so good. The thing I have learned so far is that for me to hear God speak I need to know him more and I need to continuously be listening. Not just with ears, but with my total being.
So far I would definitely recommend the book. I’m looking forward to hearing more of God in my life.
More next week.
Mark
Matthew,
I finished the book a couple of hours ago. I got to a point and couldn’t put it down. While I have read more entertaining books and books that had better flow, I have read few with better content. Now that I’ve read the book I have to admit I have heard God speak and many times ignored it or supressed it.
I don’t want to “air” all my feelings on your blog but it has impacted my life forever.
I would recommend this book to everyone. It will definitely improve your listening skills.
Mark