Image Slider


The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus. I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to. You can find the entire series here. 


___________________________________

Hearing Him through His Word

Last fall, I found myself facing debilitating anxiety for the first time in my life. Sleepless nights, racing heart, impending sense of doom…these were all symptoms I carried with me for weeks. True to my nature, I didn’t share what was going on with anyone (not even my husband, although he could tell something was not right). I hid away from the world, only going out for work and church- until I began creating excuses to miss both.

There were certainly many factors leading to the state in which I found myself- a husband in his final year of law school, mounting debt due to said law school, a job I dreaded going to every day, and some delicate concerns with close family members. Every moment was filled with constant obsession of each issue. Short of requesting medication, I was lost for help.

I’ve never been the type who believed in God “speaking” to me.
Sure, I trusted He would lead me when I sought Him; I knew I would grow in my faith by the means of grace provided (prayer, faithful preaching of scripture, partaking of communion). However, I didn’t trust I could open the word, listen to a sermon, or read a devotion which would directly speak to me. In fact, I rejected any such experience, for fear of taking a piece of scripture out of context, molding it to fit what I wanted to hear.

And then, twice in one day, the Lord gave me a verse I had never heard:

“…fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)


I did not seek out this verse- it found me in two very different ways, on the same day. And this produced an understanding of how the Lord speaks to me - to all of us…through His word. When we are in doubt, when we are in fear, we need to flee to the comfort of the very voice of our God. We need to trust when we listen to a faithfully preached sermon with open ears, we will hear our God whisper directly to our own hearts.

I know it seems simple- look to scripture. And how silly I am only now grasping this, after being a believer for a great number of years!

Since the day of Isaiah 41, I have made a conscious effort before sermons and my own quiet time, to pray the Lord would keep my ears and heart open to what He would have me hear…keeping my mind clear of what I want to hear, and being open to what He has to say to me.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17


Daughter to a glorious King, wife to a remarkable man, and mama to a high-spirited puggle. She loves all things feminine and sparkly, and has a desire to master the fine art of being an elegant lady. Literature and music are the background décor of her life- and Phillipians Four is her refrain. She hopes to express the grace, beauty and faith she cherishes in her own world through her words. You can find her on facebook, instagram and bloglovin. 



The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus. I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to. You can find the entire series here. 

___________________________________

You would think that a girl like me would know all about listening to God. I grew up in a Christian home going to evangelical churches all my days. I was the good Christian girl who went to camp as a kid and rededicated her life every year around the campfire. As a teen and young adult I worked at camp, taught clubs and Sunday school, went to Bible college and everything. I was really good at all the Christian ‘things’, or so I thought. Then I got married to this guy who had something going on with God that I had never seen before.

It was like he had this ongoing conversation with someone happening in a constant fluid stream inside his head and no he wasn’t schizophrenic! He talked to God and apparently God was speaking back to him…all the time. He saw listening prayer modelled for him as a teenager when a new pastor came to his home church. He was hungry for what that pastor had and so he started searching, because, like me, he had the same sort of upbringing; conservative, evangelical doctrine which kind of left the Holy Spirit out for the most part.

Two books really challenged and changed his relationship with his heavenly Father, Hearing God by Peter Lord and The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and he started expecting that when he paid attention God would speak back to him, and he wasn’t disappointed. (Hearing God is no longer in print but I would recommend Brad Jersak’s books Can You Hear Me? And Children Can You Hear Me?)

When we got married I was fascinated by the relationship that my new husband had with God, I had never seen anything like it and I wanted it myself. We started going to Passion for Jesus conferences and anywhere where there was teaching on the Holy Spirit and a passionate relationship with Him. I realized that while God didn’t speak to me in the constant stream that my husband seemed to have, I ‘heard’ him more in other ways; through dreams, pictures, a word here or there of something that I needed to know, music and more. God was speaking to me, I just hadn’t chosen to listen or seek it out, He’d been talking to me all along the way and I wasn’t aware!

Since that time there have definitely been times when it seems God is silent. Sometimes this is because He has already said what needs to be said and I need to obey. Sometimes it is because I am not really willing to hear whatever it is he is trying to communicate or my heart is far from him due to sin or indifference.  As a children’s pastor (back in the day) I wanted the kids that I was influencing to hear God for themselves so I sought out a model that I could use to teach them, we still use the following model to teach our own kids to hear God.

One model for listening prayer that we have really appreciated and taught is a variation on a format from King’s Kids, a simple approach to help kids listen, discern and understand God speaking to them. We have usually done this in a group but it can be done by an individual as well.


  1. Welcome the Holy Spirit to be present, perhaps worship through music for a bit
  2. Repent for any known sins and leave your own agenda behind
  3. Invite the Holy Spirit to speak into a question or just wait in silence (God what do you need us to know about _____________?)
  4. Wait.
  5. Write down anything that crosses your consciousness – a word, a color, scripture, song lyrics, etc.
  6. Share these things all together with the group.
  7. Again, ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to know and start discerning how each piece of that puzzle fits with the question asked.
  8. Thank the Holy Spirit for the direction or light given, see if there is more.
  9. Write down whatever conclusions or directions you came to and then be obedient to what was shown.
  10. Don’t worry if you don’t ‘get’ anything.

This isn’t the only model for listening prayer but it is one that we have used over and over again to discern what we need to know about a situation, a direction we’re considering or some gray area. God’s direction will always line up with his word, it will not contradict it, nor will it lead us into sin. It doesn’t need to be a big, scary, mystical event. It does, however, involve our own humble spirit and the willingness to wait on him, trusting that he will, indeed, speak to us in a way that makes sense for us as an individual. We will each hear God differently.

My husband is very audio, I am very visual. The blog that I used to run, Fresh Flowers, was all about hearing God in the everyday. Every week I shared about how God was speaking to me in the everyday stuff of life. That period of time, where I was regularly seeking out God’s very practical voice was a rich spiritual time in my life. (if you want to go read the archives you can find them here) I was always seeking and he was always speaking. In the season of my life that I am in now I don’t hear him that particular way but every now and then I still find ‘flowers’!

Let me tell you one story about hearing God and seeing the fruit of that coming to light.

We felt like we needed to sell our house and move back into the city (because of a question that a dear friend felt prompted by the Lord to ask us). In my prayer time I felt like God was giving me some very direct instructions and a clear picture of what was going to happen with our house, the purpose of which was that we would know that this was His plan and not ours, for his glory and not ours. He sent me around the house praying for seven days (yes I felt somewhat foolish but decided obedience was a good idea). He said that the 11th person who looked at the house would be the one who would buy it. We kept track of the realtor cards and numbered them so that we couldn’t ‘cheat’. The 10th and 11th people came on the same day. The 10th were a sweet family and our house and huge yard seemed like a perfect fit. The 11th was a single lady, the house seemed so huge for just one person. We thought maybe we’d heard wrong. Surely it would be the sweet family that would buy our house.

A day or two later the offer came from the single lady, #11, cash deal, no conditions, full asking price…SOLD! Exactly the way the Lord said it would.

I go back to this rock of remembrance time and time again when I doubt that I can hear God’s voice, when I wonder if he’s real or if he is concerned about my well-being and the details of our lives. He didn’t have to show me any of that, but he did, because he loves us and longs to communicate with us. That example of his direct intervention in my life has shown me over and over again that he is a personal God, faithful and interested. Why wouldn’t I want to talk to him and hear what he has to say!


Trust him. Trust that he knows how to communicate with you and wait. Tune your ears and your heart to hear him, as Samuel said, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”





Lani is a blogger over at allthiscrazygrace.com. She is the mom of 6 kids and the wife of a farmer/musicianary. When she isn’t blogging or homeschooling or cooking or driving somewhere she goes to her happy place which is loaded up with fabric therapy materials!


The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus. I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to. You can find the entire series here. 
___________________________________

“I’m supposed to write a piece about hearing God’s voice for a lady I met at the Allume conference,” I mentioned to my mom as we walked up the hill near my grandfather’s house. The cool air chilled my ears and tingled my nose, a great cover for the tears that threatened as doubt clouded my mind.

“I used to think it was easy to hear God’s voice. But these past months He’s been so quiet,” I continued. “Life has moved so fast, the decisions have been so tough and I’ve struggled to clearly hear what He is saying.”

“I think that’s exactly what you write,” my mom answered, turning to look at me.

For a while it seemed I heard the Lord’s voice everywhere – on morning jogs, in the stream that followed my path, the yield sign, the sunrise, the morning dew on the grass, and even in the shower. I felt His whispers of truth spoken to my heart in the everyday parables of life.

He very clearly led my husband to Kenya for three years in a row before He spoke that it was my turn to join him. He called us to go there during the great Ebola scare on the West Africa coast. Everyone thought we were crazy, but we heard Him say, “Go.”

He spoke and provided funds for our family of five to travel back there in May of last year. Then He clearly called us home and to say Good-bye to our church friends as they packed up on the mission trip without us. His Words were so clear. But after that, things got quiet.

I would jog and look for His message to me in the sunrise or hidden on the road that I traveled. Yet I only heard the pounding of my feet mixed with the singing of the birds.

I took long showers, waiting for the gently whisper in heart, the sweet breath of my Savior.

I would sense a few things. Nothing stood out to me in bold letters as it used to. I would pray, “Lord, is that you? Or just my thoughts.” I was never really sure.

In my journal I expressed my hurts, confessed my inabilities and asked for Him to fill my voids and direct my steps, even in the quiet. In November, our family had to make two of the toughest and weightiest decisions I think we’ve ever made. Decisions that affected our whole family, either way we decided. There were no best case scenarios. It’s like we needed to make a prize winning book shelf out of scrap wood and make-shift hammers. We just decided to do what seemed best.

There was no booming voice of God telling us “walk this way.” The only “word” I got was to trust that He carries my burdens - daily. He promises to be with me wherever I go.

I prayed I would see His footprints guiding my path. I can’t say that His footprints were clearly visible in the decision making process. But as we’ve walked out those decisions, I now see the footprints. I see the bricks that He laid months before to allow me to walk easier down this road He quietly called me to.

God is so real. He is real when the water is clear and things make perfect sense, and He is real when the room is dark and lonely and I don’t know what to do.

He is real. And I am thankful for even the quiet times.






Julie loves preparing her family’s favorite foods in the kitchen, reading compelling stories in the living room and admiring God’s sunrises every morning over the fields. She and her husband live in East Texas and own their own business, Southwest Metal Systems where they get the privilege to construct people’s dream houses, business and horse barns. She finds joy in life’s simple illustrations and writes about them on her blog, juliesteck.com, guest posts at beyondthenook.com or for their business at http://www.ameristall.com/blog-intro/

The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus. I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to. You can find the entire series here. 

___________________________________

Hearing the God who Remembers
This past spring and summer I read two books that made me long for a closer connection with God. I wanted so badly to be more in tune with the Holy Spirit. I wanted to know Him, like really know Him. After reading those books, I began praying that I would hear Him more often and more clearly. I prayed that I would be open to and aware of the Holy Spirit so that God could work through me.

One of the biggest ways God speaks to me is through His scriptures. What I have found, especially this past year, is how when I lean into God and ask Him to speak to me, He does. There have been so many times that I have been struggling in a certain area or with a certain decision, and when I open my Bible the verses speak to that situation exactly.

One of those times was in June of this past year. I was feeling incredibly discouraged by the darkness that seemed to be taking over the world. Just watch the news for a couple days and it's easy to feel this way. It was making me feel sad, sick, and overwhelmed. One day I was feeling especially discouraged and happened to be reading Leviticus 18 as I was working through the Old Testament.

"Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. ... And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you." -- Leviticus 18: 24-25, 28

After reading this, I was reminded of all the natural disasters that had happened recently, especially earthquakes. I felt fearful of what could happen -- of the land vomiting us out and how possible and even probable it is. I began praying after reading that scripture. I told God how sorry I was for all the things us humans are doing, accepting, and even celebrating in this place He created for us.

I asked God that if the land vomits its inhabitants that He would remember those of us who are trying to obey Him, trying to stand up for what's right, trying to have eyes focused on Him and clean, pure hearts. I asked that He remember us -- no matter how few -- and protect us.

A few days later, it was time for me to read Leviticus 26. I love verses 3-6, 9, and 11. But what really stood out to me was verses 40-42.

"But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors -- their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, which made hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies -- then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land." -- Leviticus 26:40-42

"They will pay for their sins because they rejected my laws and abhorred my decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. But for their sake, I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord." -- Leviticus 26:43-45

I was amazed that I had asked God to remember me and those of us trying to please Him, and here just a few chapters later He told me He will remember. God reassured me. He told me He heard my prayer and He would remember.

I couldn't help but wonder if He knew back when He first said that in the Bible -- thousands of years before I even existed -- that He was saying it to me too. I think He did know that. Because He's big -- so big we could never even wrap our tiny minds around it all.

I began reading Leviticus thinking I would gain nothing, yet asking God to teach me. It just shows that when we really ask God to reveal Himself, ask His Holy Spirit to fill us -- well, that's one powerful prayer -- one He loves to answer!

I can't say I've ever heard an audible voice and known it was God. There's no booming, deep voice that speaks to me. That might be the case for some people, and that would make following God's guidance much easier. But I think God likes it when I take the time to truly listen, when I take the time to search for Him and dig deeper to see what He could be saying. I encourage you to ask Him to reveal Himself and see how He answers, because I guarantee He will.



Tiffany Stroud blogs at Seeing Sunshine about faith, family, military life, and homemaking. She is an Army wife, originally from Indiana, who just recently moved to Missouri. She works as a blogger, freelance writer, and virtual assistant. Tiffany loves Jesus, ice cream, and traveling, especially to places with a beach. Follow her on Facebook or Pinterest.

The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus. I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to. You can find the entire series here. 


___________________________________

The Jews gathered around Jesus and asked if he was the Christ, the Messiah and his response was:

“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,  but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:25-30

This is just after he says he is the good shepherd and explains that means. (A side note: if you have ever wondered about sheep, Ken Davis has a funny and great perspective about them on this episode of Focus on the Family.

In some translations, John 10:27 says listen instead of hear but in order to listen, we first must be able to hear. Hearing leads to listening, which results in an option of obedience on the part of the listener.

Hearing and listening changes everything. It is as though a parent asks her child to do chores but the child cannot hear due to all the noise around and therefore is not listening. The chores never get done and the child goes about his business playing. When the noise quiets down and the child is able to hear again, the parent can ask again and this time the child is listening, the parent has his attention. The results of the chores are up to the obedience of the child, since he has now heard the instruction.

In this verse, the Greek word for hear is akouō and defined by the Blue Letter Bible as: 
  • to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf
  • consider what is or has been said a thing comes to one's ears, 
  • to find out, learn, to give ear to a teaching or a teacher
  • to comprehend, to understand

Hearing is a considering of what is being said and an understanding of what is spoken. It is an opening of our ears, for we are no longer deaf but able to hear God and his teachings. 

In the Greek for this verse, the word know is ginōskō, which the Blue Letter Bible describes as:
  • to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
  • to become known
  • to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
  • to understand; know 
  • Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman to become acquainted with, to know
This definition of knowing is more than an acquaintance basis but a coming to be known and known intimately, like that of a husband and a wife, in regards to the sexual idiom used in the context. We may know someone and be on speaking terms with them but not know them fully or personally intimately. We do not know what their hearts are like or what things draws their attention or what is important to them or what keeps them up at night. God knows us like this and when we are his sheep, hearing his voice, the intimacy of  relationship leads us to knowing him in this context. 

We can know about God but until we reach the point of intimately knowing him and listening and allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us and lead us and transform, we will live a life far from God, despite our best efforts and religious practices. Or until God gets your attention in another way. 

Here's to listening and hearing and knowing. 

The topic of hearing God and following the Holy Spirit has been surfacing around me. I have spoken with friends who have been in church their whole life and are just now learning to tune in to God's voice because they were never taught how or knew that it was possible. When I heard this, my heart broke for their loss but rejoiced in the newly tuned ears and hearts and the transformation God has in store for them. It has made me question how many people have yet to experience the voice of God, especially those who are in the church now, as well as those yet to set their hope in Jesus.

I have been praying about what do to with this knowledge to bring about the awareness and beautiful intimacy that hearing God has on us and God lead me to some wonderful ladies I met through the Allume Conference, who are brave and bold and willing to share their story of how they have come to hear the voice of God through this series. It is not a list of "how tos" or of verses on hearing God or things of the sort. Just an honest, open discussion of the telling of their story. Of their journey to the place where God's voice is the one they listen to.

If you have ever wondered how God speaks, if he still speaks to us, the answer is YES.

Have you questioned:

What does God sound like?

How do you commune with the God of the universe?

How do you discern his voice and know that it is not just a thought of your own will?

How did you get to the place where you now hear God's voice leading you and guiding you on your journey?

How has that changed you and your relationship with God?

Is there anything you had to overcome?

What disciplines (i.e. prayer / fasting / solitude) do you do in order to stay in tune with God?

How do they fit in to your life style?

Was there a time God told to do something you thought was crazy but was just what was needed for you or someone else?

Each contributor will touch on various questions listed here and sharing whatever God has lead her to share. We are excited to dive in and see how God moves.

The heart of this series is for the ears of believers to be opened to the truth and intimacy that hearing God brings and the transformation that the Holy Spirit does in our lives as we quiet ourselves and listen.

In the Old Testament, God spoke to Abraham and Moses and through the prophets. In the New Testament, Jesus came and spoke himself and then left his Spirit for us and is still speaking.


So for the next few weeks, we will be diving in to the stories of these brave ladies in their journey to hearing God. Praying you will be blessed by them and that God will move in your life and continue to open your hearts and ears to his voice. 

Here's to going deeper and God adventures and listening.