Hearing God for a New Year: Three Tough Questions

Since I started my ministry eight years ago I’ve heard plenty of God-conversation stories, some life-transforming and God-glorifying, and some to be honest, I’d much rather forget. During that time, I’ve also been asked lots of questions about hearing God’s voice, questions that tend to be repeated wherever I go. Most of them are identical to the questions I’ve asked myself over the years.So today’s podcast includes some answers to three most commonly asked questions. It’s some plain talking wisdom about hearing God for the personal issues of our lives in 2016 – much like a coffee and a chat at the start of the year! Perhaps they are questions you’ve asked too:1. What is God saying in this area?Whether it’s a question about a new job, or a place to live or wisdom for a new relationship, we don’t always get a clear answer from God. Why is that? It’s not that he doesn’t want to speak to us about these deeply personal areas – the Scriptures are full of instances where he speaks into the specifics of people’s lives. In this, it’s essential to remember that communication happens in the context of a relationship. In the podcast we talk about the necessity of first building our relationship with God in the everyday things and how the need for a strong bridge to carry a heavy truck across it helps us understand why.2. What do I do when God doesn’t speak?Have you ever been in this scenario? You’re praying and praying, but God’s not saying a thing! I’ve found that the dynamic of hearing God’s voice vs making our own decisions can be one of the most confusing in our spiritual journey. People often swing between two extremes – either not moving at all unless God speaks or relying entirely on human factors in their decision-making. In the podcast, we talk about a better way.3. Why does God seem so slow?Isn’t this a tough one? How we struggle with God’s apparent slowness! I confess, this has been the case for me – I had no idea it would take so long for his promises to come to pass! It’s good to have patience, but it’s even better to have patience with understanding, so here’s some wisdom from the heart of God on why it takes so long for his promises to come to pass.Next StepsJoin the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day ⁠⁠⁠God Conversations devotional ⁠⁠⁠today!Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! ⁠⁠⁠Become a partner today⁠⁠⁠.Equip your church to hear God’s voice. ⁠⁠⁠Join our community of ministry leaders⁠⁠⁠ for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource.We’d love to hear your wisdom on these three questions.