Earlier today a friend emailed me and copied in a story about Beth Moore at an airport in Tennessee.   The story is about listening to God and how Beth heard, misunderstood, questioned, listened, and then responded as Father moved her to do something unusual and difficult and then used it to speak great love and truth to her heart.  Here is a link to the story.

http://www.vineyardboise.org/educationclasses/verbarendse/BETH%20MOORE%20AT%20AIRPORT.pdf

At the end of the Beth Moore story my friend wrote this:  It seems to me that you experience what Beth Moore experienced here. That is, you hear God! While it is inspiring to learn stories of people who receive such personal communications from our Father, through His Spirit, it can also be somewhat discouraging. So many of us never or only rarely hear God in this way. (For me, I think it has only happened once in my life.)

My pastor preached last week about sitting at the kitchen table with God and just being with Him. What happens though when you sit at the kitchen table chatting with the Lord and the Lord does not chat back??

Do you have some belief on how we can learn to listen better? Or should we just be at peace that God speaks more to some than others, but know we have gifts of our own?

And I responded:  Funny thing is that I was deep in conversation with a dear friend talking about things that were a picture of hearing from Him when your email arrived.  Things I have thought about and prayed and seen in the past 24 hours were coming from my friend's mouth and the opposite, too.  It was as if we both knew exactly what the other had been doing, thinking and planning even though we haven't talked to or seen each other in weeks.  Even funnier is that when I hear and see and pray things I still really don't readily know or recognize or acknowledge that these things are from Him!  The key to hearing Him is to do something that is kind of odd to some extent and requires much double-checking on my part if I'm doing it:  Assume that everything you see and hear and pray and think is coming from Him and ask Him what you are supposed to do with it.  (Of course we can't assume that obvious sin/evil is from Him whether in thoughts or prayers or actions - but my friend is a spiritual person who loves God and would not misinterpret this... I pray you don't, either!)  He is a very personal God and truly is involved in and cares about every part of our lives.  So why wouldn't He be speaking all the time, singing all the time, showing us things all the time?  The double-checking that it requires is to consider Him, His word, His character, His ways so that what you 'hear' from Him and what you think you are supposed to do lines up with Him!

So, like Beth's story, hearing Him tell her to brush the man's hair went through her flesh receptors first - she didn't really hear what He was asking at first, then when she did, she didn't see how she could do it - because she didn't want to and because she didn't have the tools - but there was nothing about what she was hearing from him that wouldn't line up with Him.  It was bold, loving, giving, sacrificial, ministering, and a blessing for the man and for her!

Now to your question and your very false assumption about yourself - you DO hear from Him all the time, friend.  When you think of someone out of the blue you are hearing from Him.  Act on it and pray for that person and ask Him if He wants more.  You'll hear.  When you learn something from Him and share it to encourage and inspire others, you are hearing from Him and acting on it.  I have a feeling your heart is tuned in to Him most of the time.  You don't have to sit down at the table to chat in order to hear Him chat back.    I think you are someone learning to practice His presence and that you are in constant communication with Him, acting on what you hear even when you don't know you are hearing...

I am still learning every day about hearing from Him and how to recognize it and what to do when I hear.  Mostly I think all He wants from me is to know He's talking to me and for me to lean in, put my head on His chest, breathe deeply, and rest.  He just wants me to know He is near and He wants me to be near to Him.  Why else would He be so odd as to tell me at 10 in the morning where it is that I will eat dinner tonight when it hasn't been discussed or planned or even thought about?  Why else would a lady bug land on my window on the 39th floor every afternoon around 3 p.m. for weeks?  Why would butterflies fly by  when I'm feeling blue and talking to Him about it?  Why would the turkey buzzards soar around outside in circles and with such grace and beauty right when I am telling Him I feel captive?

Most of the time we don't think He is talking or that we aren't hearing because we just haven't learned to recognize His voice and His presence.  You are on the right track.  John 10 says that the sheep know the shepherd's voice - they know it because they spend time with Him, hear Him talking, singing, calling out, whistling for the sheep dog, commanding the predators to stand back, etc.  That is what He wants from us.  Spend lots of time with Him in prayer, in His word, worshiping, with His people.  These are all things you are doing.  Then listen.  And watch.  And know - like Ps. 29 says - He is sovereign and rules over all things and His voice is everywhere!

Bless you, friend.  I will be praying for you to recognize the Shepherd's voice more and more and be surprised by the wonder of all that He has to say to you.

I say and pray the same for you and for myself.  I don't want to miss a single thing that He is saying to me or around me!  And the wonder of it all is that I don't have to DO a single thing for it to happen - except listen.  He and His voice are all around all the time pursuing us with love - encouraging, blessing, directing, singing, teaching.  We are in the fold.  He is our Shepherd.  We have ears. 

Listen. You'll hear.

Amy