In the Old Testament, the prophets were the hearers of God’s voice and the sole custodians of God’s spoken word and intentions. (Heb 1:1)
Now, because of what Jesus has done on the cross, sin no longer separates us from God.
Through faith in Christ, we become God’s children—able to live and walk in relationship with God and to hear His voice.
How can you hear God’s voice on a personal basis? Here are some examples of different ways that God communicates, taken from my prophetic training:
1. Jesus
‘In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…’ (Heb 1:1-2a)
Take a long look. And look again.
In Jesus Christ, you will find the context for every word God speaks. And that context is grace, forgiveness, mercy, and outrageous sacrificial love. Who Jesus is, and what He has done, can speak to you every day of your life.
Your Father’s motives and intentions are revealed in Jesus for all to see.
2. The Bible
‘Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.’ (Ps 119:105)
The Bible is not only the primary source in which you hear God’s voice speaking to you personally; it is also how you weigh up every other communication you believe is from God.
God can speak to you through the Bible when you are directly engaging with it (such as reading or listening), or through recalling something to your mind. A Bible story, Scripture verse, a passage, a theme, a promise, a warning, or exhortation—the variety of ways God speaks through His Word is endless.
3. Prophecy
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17-18)
One of the ways God speaks to us today is through the giving and receiving of prophecy. Prophecy is simply the sharing of a message from God, of the Father’s intended purpose, from one person to another individual or group of people. There are many different ways that a prophecy can be conveyed.
4. Impressions
An impression is the effect of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts and minds. (John 14:26)
The Holy Spirit often speaks through light, fleeting, and spontaneous impressions, such as an urge or a prompt to take an action. It may come through a check or warning. An impression can also be physical, such as a word of knowledge for healing.
5. A Picture or Vision
God sometimes speaks through visions. These occur mostly as a simple picture coming to mind—the Holy Spirit’s fleeting imprint upon our imagination.
In addition to this, the New Testament (NT) also records a ‘trance’ vision. (Acts 10:9-17) During these types of vision, awareness of physical surroundings remains, but the vision also appears real to the senses. A third type of vision is an ‘open vision’, where a person experiences the vision as a physical reality. (Acts 10:3-4)
6. Divine Appointments and Circumstances
God can communicate to us through Divine appointments. These are meetings that He has set up for a purpose. (Acts 8:27) A Divine appointment is often unplanned on our part. It may also be pursued intentionally, but it is not until during or afterward that we recognise our Father intended the meeting for a significant purpose.
God can also speak to us through circumstances, such as open and closed doors.
7. Leaders
In the New Testament, we see that God speaks to and through His leaders—His gift of oversight to us in the church and in ministry. (Acts 13:2, Acts 15:13, 28, Acts 16:10) Whilst leaders are not the only way God speaks to us, we are called to honour them and highly value God’s word of instruction through them.
God also gives us oversight to help weigh up prophecies and spiritual guidance as a safety net in church life and our personal lives today. (Acts 14:29, Heb 13:17)
8. Prophetic Dreams
There are many instances of prophetic dreams throughout the Bible. God continues to speak to us on occasion through prophetic dreams in our sleep. (Matt 2:12, Acts 2:17)
9. Something Spoken
Beyond prophecy, there are other spiritual gifts through which God can speak to us through each other, including words of wisdom, exhortation, and knowledge.
These can take place in a time and place set aside for that purpose. However, the Holy Spirit is not limited in the way He can communicate to us, for example, we can hear the voice of God speaking to us personally in moments of ordinary conversation.
10. Unusual Ways You Can Hear God’s Voice
In addition to the above, there are many ways, situations, and times that God can speak to us personally. We use human terms, such as ‘speak’ and ‘voice’, to describe a spiritual reality. However, the Holy Spirit has endless creative ways to speak to us. God spoke to Philip through an angel (Acts 8:26) and to John through an audible voice. (Rev 4:1) He spoke to Paul through a symbolic vision. (Acts 16:9) The OT records many more unusual ways that God communicated to His people.
There is no hierarchy of ways that you can hear God’s voice. Any way that God speaks is significant when sourced in the Holy Spirit. And very importantly, all need to be weighed up and tested. During the next posts, we will look at the question, ‘How Can I Tell If God Is Really Speaking To Me?’
Leave a Comment:
In which of these ways have you heard God speaking to you personally?
More recently (I wrote this original post in 2015), we can relate to hearing God’s voice in unusual ways, and I believe “Prophetic Signs” can be added to this list. Here’s one of my more recent posts on this topic: Prophetic Signs: How to Make the Most of Them
Related Posts:
How to Recover the Wonder of Hearing God’s Voice
3 Simple Keys to Hearing God’s Voice
4 Barriers to Hearing God’s Voice
© Helen Calder
Enliven Ministries: Prophetic Ministry for a Revival Generation
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
What a wonderful piece! I was greatly blessed.
He speaks through music, children, people, pamphlets, television, phones, tablets, you name it. You are able to have full conversations with god without a word being uttered. Questions are answered with no words. This is depending on how close you are to him. God is awesome, he is with us and he is real. He directs your steps if you allow him to. He said there are other ways to do things but his way has more blessings. When we look to him as our provider our jobs get less stressful, because we realize that whether we work at this place or not, god is still our provider. He is a god of impossible situations. We need to build our faith and depend on him and stop relying on self.
I actually heard God speak to me…. There used to be a guy at the store where I would go from time to time just sitting there in his car… We would speak; talk casually ànd that’s it… This went on for nine years. One Day as I was on my way into the store, I heard a voice saying, “That’s gonna be your husband”…. I looked around but no one was there except this guy sitting in his car as usual…. I said, “Him Lord”?
When I came out the store he was standing next to my car… He introduced himself, and I did the same. It was confirmation for me; his name was the same as my deceased husband Charles…. He said he had no memory of even getting out of his car….. Long story short; we were married two years later; his first, my second.
There’s more to this story, but I’ll stop here… Thank You