How to Hear the Voice of God

There is an old joke about a man who asked his pastor how he could “hear the voice of God.”

The pastor wisely advised him to read his Bible out loud.

There is great truth in that. What exactly do we mean when we say we want to “hear from God” or “discern the will of God”? 

Is it true, as I have heard it put more than once, that 90% of the will of God is revealed in the Bible? Are we sometimes looking outside Scripture to find what God has already said in His Word?

How God has spoken truth to us

Theologians like to divide God’s revelation of truth to man into broad categories: general and special.

God has spoken generally in nature, where, as the psalmist put it, “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).

The glorious images we have been able to capture by the Hubble telescope were not accessible until the last few decades, yet those glories have existed as long as the universe has existed. What purpose did all that beauty serve for all those millennia before man could appreciate it? The beauty of the heavens has, from the beginning, declared the glory of God.

God has also spoken generally through our conscience, that inner sense of right and wrong that warns us when we are about to do wrong and sounds the alarm when we have actually done wrong.

So, yes, God has spoken generally, to all people, through means outside Scripture. But if all we knew from God is what He has communicated in general revelation, we would be utterly lost: we would know from nature that there is a Creator and from our conscience that we have no business being around Him.

Which is why we need special revelation, the Scripture, the written Word of God. We need details about, for instance, why the world is so broken and how it will someday be made right and how we ourselves can be made right. These are details we cannot access through general revelation; words must be used to inform us, so God has given us His Word.

So how do we “hear” from God in the Bible?

Everyone who can read knows what it is to “read” a page while the mind has wandered elsewhere, so that at the end of the page, the reader comes out of the trance and realizes that he hasn’t the faintest idea what he just read. The mind wasn’t involved.

And everyone who has tried to read the Bible consistently knows that sometimes nothing is really happening except accomplishing a task: I have known, intimately, what it is to engage in fruitless “checklist spirituality,” where my heart isn’t involved.

So, yes, we must acknowledge that we can “read” the Bible without hearing from God, without engaging either mind or heart.

How can I read Scripture intentionally, not just with my eyes but with my mind, and not just with my mind but with my heart?

Six suggestions

There are many methods to engage the mind and heart in reading Scripture, and there is no formula that will work for everyone everywhere. But here are some methods I’ve used and some others I’ve heard of:

1    1. Reading expectantly and prayerfully by taking a few moments to prepare my heart and mind before I begin reading. “Open my eyes, Lord,” I echo the psalmist, “that I may see wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).

2    2. Choosing a short text, a verse or two, to write down and keep with me throughout the day. I am a compulsive list-maker. I keep a list of tasks on an index card with me to keep track of tasks. I sometimes will use the reverse side of my index card to write down a verse from the morning’s reading, to keep that text in front of me.

3    3. Lectio divina is an ancient method of reading the Scripture in which the reader reads the text aloud, slowly and prayerfully, to give space (in time, in the mind) for God to speak through His Word to the reader. This method engages several physical actions simultaneously: the eyes, the ears, and the voice.

4    4. Reading the same text every day for a week. Lately, I’ve been feasting on the psalms, going back to the same psalm day after day to re-read the text, looking for something I haven’t yet seen.

5    5. Memorizing a text, maybe that short text I wrote on the index card, so that I have God’s Word with me, in my mind, where God’s Spirit can use His Word to speak to my heart. It's hard to hide God's Word in my heart without first giving it a place in my memory.

6    6. Journaling. CS Lewis said, “How can I know what I think unless I write?” By writing down my what I’m seeing in Scripture, I force myself to reflect carefully on what God has said and what it means to me.

The point is not that you do all of these; I offer suggestions only to prime the pump. Each of us must find our own methods of engaging with the Scripture. 

Find what works for you, with your learning style and temperament. Use it, make it a habit not only to read Scripture every day but also to engage with it, reflect on it, and ask God to speak to you through His Word.

This is one prayer God will always answer, “Yes! I thought you’d never ask!”