How we hear God speak is about how our neural pathways have learned to receive and process data, and this varies from person to person 2. THEOLOGICAL And here it is! After Pete’s fantastic introduction to some of the core aspects of his teaching on prayer, this new book explores the flip-side of how to pray: How to Hear God. It’s a pressing and perplexing question. When life falls apart and we need God’s comfort; in moments of cultural turmoil when we need God’s clarity; facing formidable decisions when we need God’s guidance – nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern God’s authentic voice. What’s more, nothing could be more susceptible to delusion, deception and downright abuse, so finding someone who can point us in the right direction with wisdom, honesty and compassion, is crucial. And this is why, if you’ve been around Christians for any length of time, you’ll have heard someone say, quite matter-of-factly: “Oh, God told me this,” or “The Lord said that,” as if it’s the most normal thing in the world (which, in a way, it is). But just try using that line with your GP: “Doctor, I’m hearing the voice of Jesus”; or in a court of law: “God told me to do it, your Honour.” They’ll medicate or detain you before you can shout: “Hallelujah!”

Bible Gateway interviewed Pete Greig ( @PeteGreig) about his book, How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People (Zondervan, 2022). I talk in the book about the ABC as a principle of how you know if it’s God or not. Is it Affirming? Is it Biblical? And is it Christlike? If it’s those three things, then it is probably God. Pete Greig: Yes. But I don’t think I’ve always recognized the voice of God. Right? This is less about theology than psychology. See, the theology is open and shut. God speaks. Like Genesis 1: He speaks, boom, creation happens. John 1: God comes as Jesus, the Living Word. The Revd Mike Starkey is Head of Church Growth for Manchester diocese and author of the Stepping Stones for Growth course.

So you’ve got, as it were, the external, objective ways God speaks, and then the more internal subjective ways. I talk about that lovely story of Elijah on the mountain, and God is not in the fire. He’s not in the earthquake. And then God speaks in a still small voice. And so we learn to discern the whisper of God in our lives. Nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern his authentic voice, and yet few things in life are more susceptible to delusion, deception, and downright abuse. So I find that reassuring because I don’t find listening to God particularly easy. And I just love the fact that they clearly struggled a bit too. And Lectio is much more that approach. It’s less about exegesis and more what is God whispering to me through this? And there are four steps to doing it that I outline in the book. The Latin phrase is Lectio Meditatio. That’s just meditate on what you’ve read. Learning to recognise the voice of God is one of the most astounding yet confusing things a human being can learn to do

In many ways, this is the aim of this whole book: that we become so familiar with the word of God in its most obvious forms—in Scripture, in prophecy, in dreams, and in soul friendships—that we are enabled to hear God speak in all the earth through people and things that are not in any way consciously Christian.” Exploring the story of Christ's playful, poignant conversation on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, Pete draws deeply from the insights of a wide range of Christian traditions; weaving together the evangelical emphasis on hearing God in the Bible, and the charismatic commitment to hearing God in the prophetic, with the contemplative understanding of God's "still, small voice" within. Christin Thieme: Yeah. I love the phrase you write that Jesus wears his charisma lightly. I think that’s a cool way to put it.Pete Greig: We live our best lives, and not our easiest lives, but our most joyous, living lives. I’m more and more convinced that the most dangerous thing you can do in life is say no to the God who knows you best, loves you most, and only wants the best for your life. And the safest place you can be in life, even though it may sometimes feel scary, is to say to the God who knows you best, wants the best for you, and loves you the most, “Yes. Whatever you want me to say, wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I will say it. I will do it. I will go there.”