- Jan 13, 2021
- 3 min read

How I hear from God

Nine ways that lead the way to hear the voice of God - an insight into my personal prayer life.

Guess how many pages show up when you google "How to hear from God": an unbelievable 803 Million.

Wow, that is quite a number.

Every person that you ask is probably going to answer something different to this question.

When I started to write this article I almost stopped again.

I mean, who am I to give a guideline of how to listen to God?

I know many different believers and everyone hears from our Heavenly Father differently.

My personal experience is in no way a formula how YOU hear from God.

And this gets us to the first most important point:

1. Expect to hear from God personally

Do not follow what other people say. Ask God directly to speak to YOU and ask him to show you how YOU can listen to his "voice".

2. Adopt a humble attitude

Looking back to way before I heard the first time from Jesus four years ago, I remember that I started reflecting on the topic GRATITUDE. I reached a point in my life in which I decided for myself, to be grateful for the things that I have in life. I deeply believe that by taking on a humble attitude, I took the first steps drawing closer to God.

3. Stretch your heart out to God

Streching out my heart was the key moment!

I reached a point in my life in which I needed a miracle.

I knew that changing the circumstances that I was in, was impossible and out of my power.

Of course we can and have to take on responsibility in our life for our actions, however there exist cases in which it is out of our control. People who suffer incurable illnesses for example could tell you a thing or two about it.

4. Pray and hope

The first time the word "pray" shows up in the Bible is in Job 22:27

"You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you".

Job is the oldest book in the Bible. How beautiful to read in it, that God hears our prayers. The most precious way for me to see that God heard my prayer is when a prayer request gets fulfilled. Or when I ask for guidance, open up my bible and look at a verse that immediately answers my question.

5. Deal with the word of God

If I want to hear from God there is no way around scripture. Only by getting to know the bible was I able to get to know the essence of God. Only by getting to know what Jesus is like could I eventually distinguish God's "voice" from my own feelings and desires. To me, God's word is powerful in so many different ways. And what strikes me even more: it is alive and wants to come alive in you (Hebrew 4:12)!

6. Be patient and seek silence

Not always do I hear from God immediately. Sometimes it happens way later. That could be through a pastor who takes up the topic in the sermon or through another believer. What is evident is that we encounter God in stillness. I also have not heard him talking in a loud and audible voice (yet). To me God's voice is like Elijah experienced in 1. Kings 19:12:

And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

7. Worship God

I love music and worship. Music has the ability to carry emotions and messages that words can't transmit. When worshipping Jesus and praising him, I feel God's presence very strongly.

Often, worship is also a good introduction to hear from him.

8. Through Dreams and Visions

I have experienced that God warned me through a dream that something is going to happen in the future. It also came to pass later. Perhaps if I had spotted that it was a warning at that time, could I have prevented it.

Also have I experienced that I asked Jesus for an answer to a specific issue before going to bed. And I got a reply in a dream afterwards.

9. Through Nature