How Does God Speak To You?

I think God has personalized ways of speaking to each of us. By praying and talking to Him everyday and then allowing time to LISTEN, I think we begin to learn when God is talking to us. This is one of the most important things we can learn so that we can be assured that we are listening to His direction and acting according to His will.

Sometimes God puts multiple "coincidences" in our lives, synchronistic events, and if we begin to take notice of the theme in these events, then we can begin to receive His instruction and guidance. Sometimes we "randomly" find ourselves reading a particular passage in the Bible that speaks to our specific situation in a personal way. Sometimes words or images may come into our minds with a special kind of force or emphasis that separates them from the millions of other words and images in our minds. Sometimes God's very words are spoken through the mouths of our children, our spouse, or close friend.

However it happens, I think it is universal that there is an underlying feeling that goes with the communication. This feeling is hard to describe and would probably be described differently by each person, but I think we all know that what we are feeling is the presence of the Truth. We are built to recognize the Truth when we see it, hear it, or feel it. This is what some people call a gut feeling or intuition. Of course, our minds can intellectualize ourselves out of acting on our intuition and so we have to learn to recognize when we are in the presence of Truth and not let ourselves be swayed from it. Acting on the Truth is not always pleasurable, but ultimately it feels right and we are at peace when we are following it.

When should we ask for God's direction and guidance? Every minute of every day. There is no decision so mundane that God is not willing to give you direction if you are willing to surrender to His will in all things. After all, our lives are not made up of a few major events, but an endless series of "small" events that color and shape all that we do and become.