Ways God Speaks To Us

We have spent the past nine lessons looking at some of the ways God speaks to us even before we know how to hear His voice clearly. This is not an exhaustive list, but there are three more common ways that we need to discuss:

• repetition
• getting an inner witness
• through a book, teaching, movie or song

Repetition

Repetition is where we run into the same thing over and over again, until it finally dawns on us that God is trying to tell us something. Sometimes it is precisely the same thing over and over. Other times it is similar or related things. But we begin to hear or see or feel or experience something over and over again. It begins to dawn on us that this is more than mere coincidence, that God is communicating to us.

Perhaps one morning you wake up with a prayer burden. A bit later you read your Bible and a verse really jumps out at you, dealing with what you'd been praying about. Then you turn on the radio, and a song comes on that contains phrases as the section of Scripture. Then you chat with a friend who says, "God really showed me something the other day from ..." and they quote the Scripture that had grabbed you that morning. You get to church and find a friend's Bible open to that same verse. Every time you turn around, there is that verse again. You begin to wonder if God is trying to tell you something, and He probably is because the Lord loves to use repetition to get our attention.

One time God wanted me to spend a month fasting and praying for Israel. I was not particularly keen to do this, so I tried to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit within my heart. Every time I would open my Bible, I would happen on scriptures like Luke 2:37 about a woman "who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day" (NKJV) or Psalm 122:6: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (NKJV). So I put my Bible down and turned on the television. All the shows had something to do with Israel. One station had a documentary about the history of Israel. Another station was playing "Raid On Entebbe," where Israelite special forces rescue Jewish victims of a hijacking. So I turned to the health channel and they were doing a documentary on the medical benefits of fasting! Feeling frustrated, I turned off the television and went to a secular social event. Everyone I met there seemed to either be Jewish or had recently visited Israel! No matter where I turned, I just could not get away from it. Everything I ran into had to do with fasting or had to do with Israel. So I went home and called a friend. All she could talk about was how God was putting it on her heart to fast. It was very clear to me that God was trying to tell me something. I did not want to listen because I did not relish the idea of a 30-day fast. But God had a way of using repetition to make His wishes very clear. (I finally did give in and do the fast, and it was a very powerful experience for me.)

Hearing Someone Share Something And Getting An Inner Witness

Did you know that sometimes God speaks to us through other people? Sometimes someone will say something to you, and your spirit will really latch on to it. Something inside of you sparks and you just know that is right. This is called an inner witness. The Holy Spirit gives us an inner witness when He wants to confirm or underscore something.

Sometimes you need advice on a situation. You go to several people for advice and they all share something different. But something that one person shared just clicks with you, as if God Himself were speaking it to you.

You know, deep down in the depths of your being, that what you just heard is correct. Or perhaps you hear a sermon or a teaching and part of it seems to "nail you" or to speak to your heart.

Or maybe a friend shares with you what God has been putting on your heart. As you listen, your own heart quickens and you feel that this is strongly right. It is as if the Lord has spoken through that person directly to you. Sometimes He does use others to speak to you. He quickens what they say to your spirit, to get your attention and to let you know that this was He.

Through A Book Or Teaching Or Movie Or Song

God is not at all limited in the ways He can speak to us. He uses so many things. God tends to speak to me through old war movies. I never thought I would like that sort of movie. But a while ago, I watched one. To my surprise I liked it, and I began to watch others. When the movie portrayed the courage and dedication of the soldiers, God began to speak to my heart about those topics. One movie portrayed a soldier laying down his life to save his platoon by jumping on a grenade and covering it with his body. God began to speak to me about preferring one another and laying down our lives for each other, about love and caring in the Body of Christ.

My friend saw the Disney cartoon "Lion King." Personally, I did not get much out of that movie. But my friend said God seemed to speak to her through just about everything that happened in it.

God has spoken to me through songs many times. One time, I was going about my day-to-day business, sort of caught up in the routine. Then suddenly the words to an old song began running through my mind. Over and over again I heard the chorus, which talked about rejoicing and being glad in each day. It suddenly dawned on me that God wanted me to rejoice in my day-to-day walk with Him. He wanted my joy to be full. God had spoken to me through a song. Now He had my attention and I began to press into Him. As I did that, He began to fill me with His joy. I ended up bubbling over with His joy the entire day.

A friend was seeking God for understanding and direction regarding an important situation in her life. One day she happened to be in a part of town that had a lot of used-book stores. She never goes in places like that, but she decided to explore one. She just happened to notice an old book, one that was out of print. It had an interesting title, so she picked it up and read the back cover. The book happened to deal with the very topic she was praying about with. It was on sale for $3. So she bought it and later began to read it. The book contained insights and ways of looking at the situation that she had not thought of. This new orientation was a "breakthrough" for her. She had been asking God for understanding. This book gave her the understanding and insights of exactly what to do. She told me that God seemed to literally speak to her from the pages of this book.

God likes to do that. He is a very creative God, and He likes to be highly creative in the various things He uses to communicate with us.