How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People

by Pete Greig

From the origins of time, God has been the Great Explanation of nature’s many mysteries, the ultimate power that changes seasons, hurling thunderbolts and rumbling from the heavens in rolling thunder. Elijah knew very well, and so do we, that Yahweh is absolutely able to speak in dramatic ways; through miracles, calamities, and natural phenomena; through shaking rooms (Acts 4:31), blinding lights (Acts 9:3), and astounding prophetic revelations (Rev. 1:10). But perhaps the problem with such displays of power, and the reason God patently refrains from speaking in such ways most of the time, is that they belie the fundamental gentleness and intimacy of his heart. Dramatic revelations impress, for sure, but they can also intimidate, dominate, and alienate those on the receiving end. And so the “Potentate of time, Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime”3 chooses to whisper in our ear way more often than he shouts from the skies.