The top google search yesterday was 2024 astrology predictions… people want to know, what’s in store for 2024. They want hope and they want a future . . . and so many aren’t sure what that is right now. More, now than ever, we need to be able to hear from God. Sometimes it can be tricky to understand or be sure of what God is saying to us.  For some of us we can’t make out what the ‘voice’ in our head is saying, but I’ve come to realise it hearing from God is not just about a voice.   I was especially reminded of this as I was reading my toddler a bedtime story about the different ways God speaks to us. God can speak to us through nature, a friend, provision, His Word, dreams and many other ways. If you’d like to begin teaching your children about this, be sure to check out Rainbow Moments by Nikki Rogers.     I’ve also interviewed her.  Oftentimes God will show us to do something or not to by an inner peace.  If we are unsettled in our gut, this can be a sign not to do something.   For example, when my husband and I moved from NSW to QLD, we loaded up our old vintage caravan full of books and other belongings.  Stephen felt very uneasy about towing it, although he had put truck tyres on it for the trip.  Just 20 minutes into our 8 hour trip, the entire wheel on one side flew off into a paddock, leaving our axel dragging along the highway.  We spent nearly a whole day by the side of the road. We now abide by the saying “no peace, no go”.  If we are unsettled about something we sit down and go pray until we feel we have an answer about our situation even if that means changing our plans. The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful.  Col 3:15  GNT God also speaks to us through dreams and de ja vu.  I’ve had many dreams of God warning me not to go somewhere OR giving insight into strategies for breakthrough, new seasons, new assignments, etc.   De Ja Vu can be quite similar, a little instance of feeling as though we’ve been in situation before.  My husband calls them prophetic fast forwards and God used it to help him save someone’s life.  God can give us a little idea to do something, an idea that won’t go away, a prompt to speak to someone, or even pull over on the side of the road and have a sleep.  He prompted my Dad to do this and it saved Dad from being crushed by  boat that had fallen off the back of a truck. “If we live by the spirit, let us then walk in the Spirit” Galatians 5:25 Ultimately we must base our ‘hearing from God’ on His Word.

God doesn’t hide things from us, He hides things for us.

I’ve heard this before but it hasn’t made a lot of sense till a speaker I heard shared how as parents we will set up treasure hunts for our kids with clues or Easter Egg hunts where we hide them in semi obvious places, and half the time we tell our kids where they are if we can remember ourselves. Side note, God always remembers where He has hidden these gems for us. My husband writes technical drawings for stove plans and he tells me that sometimes engineers will leave something fun or funny in the small print for people that are reading all the details, which are literally called Easter eggs. God has amazing revelations hidden in the Word of God for us, if we will turn aside to find them, just as Moses turned aside to observe the burning bush and it changed his life.

So often I’ve been going through a situation and feel prompted to look at a particular Scripture or look up a word in the original Hebrew or Greek and it’s just what I’ve needed to join dots together in my mind.   It’s like God saying, “Oooh, oooh, look over here, there might be an Easter Egg!” What if there’s something in the seeking that enables you to become the kind of person that can carry the answer – Jim Baker  (a young completely different Jim Baker) It’s the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. Is this referring to us in our identity in Christ as Kings and Priests? God can speak to us anyway He wants and I’m in the process of writing a list of the many ways I’ve heard Him speak, but I’m seeing this pattern of the more you write down what you’re hearing, dreaming, noticing, the more He speaks. I love James Goll’s book The Scribe – Receiving and Retaining revelation through journalling. Retaining information is so important.  How often do we give our children an instruction so that they can master a new skill but it goes in one ear and out the other, where if they had actually retained it, they could have totally levelled up. Write down your revelation and more will be given to you. The shortest pencil is better than the longest memory. Writing down revelation was a very specific skill to the Israelites that other cultures often didn’t do, and in this way they preserved so much… And the more books I read the more often I hear of authors having similar experiences,  like Joseph Prince, John Bevere and many others.   They are studying something God has put on their hearts and then they get this nudge, look in the Hebrew, look over here, cross reference this verse with that . . . wow whole new meaning. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. Psalm 92:5 Sometimes we are asking for an answer to prayer, and God is prompting us to go to His Word and look up what He’s actually already written about that topic.  We may think we need a very specific answer, like a breakthrough right now, and He’s saying actually you need to rebuild this foundation in your life about how I see you and then you will have complete confidence that I’m going to come through for you. A few of the rabbit trails I have been on this year have been on Yes Scriptures, Power Scriptures, Satisfy Scriptures, All Scriptures, Ask Scriptures, all of which are available as printables as you scroll through my blog. Here are a few thoughts from a friend, Roslyn Hartwig on hearing from God:

“One of the most recognised ways to do this is to hear what God says and then to obey and do it.  To hear in this way implies words, but is hearing of words (either in your spirit, through the Bible or audibly) the only the way?

I have often wondered why I don’t ‘hear’ God very often.  It has only been recently that I have realised that being led by the Spirit is not always about words heard in your head.   Sometimes, it is action with conscious thought.

An article I read recently explains it quite well, in that talking is sometimes too slow, the better we get at something, the less the need for talking, we don’t change gears driving while talking ourselves through it.

The saying ‘actions speak louder than words’ is, I think, just as true in this context.  When we allow the Spirit to flow through our minds and bodies without explanation or reasoning it with our minds first, God can use us to do His will without hindrance.   So often when we think it over, we allow fear to come to the fore and then we hesitate to do what we know to do.

Allow God to touch your spirit first, body second.  Do not try to explain and reason these actions away with your mind.  This is not necessary and can be counter productive to the way of God and the Holy Spirit.  Listen with your spirit only and answer Him with actions; not explanations.

Do you have any stories of a way God has spoken to you?  I would love to hear from you in the comments!