Keys for Hearing God

I strongly believe being able to hear the voice of God is vital to an intimate relationship with Him. I’ve shared about Hearing God’s Voice (which shares the basics on how to begin) and on How-to Increase the Flow (Hearing the Voice of God part 2). In this post I’m sharing some keys for further developing this ability.

Some keys to remember:

• Put in the time. Like any relationship, the time you have isn’t all excitement. The key is put in the time and effort. In the midst of quantity time (in other words, a lot of time), you will have quality moments (the wowza downloads and moments where you are deeply moved).
• Learn the language. It’s like learning a new language. If you think of a parent teaching a child their native language, it is done slowly over time with trial and error. God’s language with us develops the same way. We grow our pool of agreed upon ideas and words, and in doing so add depth and beautiful complexity to what we’re able to communicate.
• Heart motivations matter. Spend time with God for the sake of your relationship with Him, not to increase your gifting (though it will occur anyhow). 
• Don’t compare your relationship with God to anyone else. You can use other’s relationships as a “how it can look,” but be sure not to use it to measure your own by.
• Find your place of “quiet” where you hear best. Listening from a place of rest looks different for everyone. I sit still in a quiet room. My husband walks outside. For me if I tried to be quiet the way my husband does, I’d be in sensory overload. For him if he tried to be quiet how I do, he’d be a bundle of restless energy. We’re all different, so find your way to get “quiet” however that’s defined for you. 
• Be a good steward. If you’re faithful with a little He gives more. Think about if you ask a friend to hold some jewelry for you while you’re out of town. When you get home and ask for it, you expect them to remember and be able to find it – in essence to be a good steward. In the same way, we need to be good stewards with what we’re given.
• Scribe carefully and with an eye toward longevity. Document in such a way you can find something years later with decades worth of info acquired in that time. 
• Spend time in the Word. God reveals Himself and His nature in His Word, so it’s vital to spend time in it if you want to know Him better. This topic is important enough that it’s getting its own post shortly, so stay tuned! (Here’s you go: How-to Read the Word.)