Would you like to hear God's voice? Have you some questions you would like to ask?

It is quite clear from Genesis 3 that it is possible to have a conversation with God. God started with Adam and asked "where are you?", "who told you?" and "did you?" He went on to Eve and asked "What is this that you have done?" In this first recorded conversation with God, it is not man asking God questions, but God asking them of man. Before that it was clear that God brought the animals before Adam for him to name – God was always interested in what we had to say!

Eyes Wide Open

What is clear is that once they had willingly and deliberately disobeyed the Lord God, Adam and Eve faced the consequences.

Their daily fellowship with God in the cool of the day ended and they were thrown out of the garden for their own good – to preserve them from eating of the tree of life.

Throughout the rest of scripture we see lives of people interspersed with periods of conversation with God. Jacob wrestled with God and had a similar conversation of questions:

But Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me."27 "What is your name?" the man asked."Jacob!" he replied.28 "Your name will no longer be Jacob," He said. "It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."29 Then Jacob asked Him, "Please tell me Your name."But He answered, "Why do you ask My name?" And He blessed him there.30 Jacob then named the place Peniel, "For," he said, "I have seen God face to face, and I have been delivered." Gen 32:26-30 HCSB

Moses seemed to have a very special relationship with God even though we know about his weaknesses.

The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend. Ex 33:11 HCSB

A very dodgy prophet was even spoken to by a donkey when he wouldn't listen to God.

By abandoning the straight path, they have gone astray and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 but received a rebuke for his transgression: a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 2 Peter 2:15-16 HCSB

New Testament

In the New Testament, Paul hears the voice of God, including a question:

As he travelled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5 "Who are You, Lord?" he said."I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied. 6 "But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Acts 9:3-6 HCSB

Philip heard a messenger for God, an angel:

An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: "Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to desert Gaza." 27 So he got up and went Acts 8:26-27 HCSB

Paul also taught that the scriptures spoke to people:

The Holy Spirit correctly spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your forefathers 26 when He said, Acts 28:25-26 HCSB

The apostles spoke to people and it was as if God was speaking:

Then they spoke the message of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. Acts 16:32 HCSB

The writer to the Hebrews begins by saying there are different ways in which God speaks to us: Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times

and in different ways. 2 In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. Heb 1:1-2 HCSB

Participation

It is clear that men speak from God when they prophesy, and the Old Testament is full of such messages from God. So also it is in the New – only that participation is wider:

no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, moved by the Holy Spirit, men spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:21 HCSB

For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 1 Cor 14:31 HCSB

Indeed, the Holy Spirit gives many gifts to the church, most of which involve God speaking to us by His Spirit.

A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial: to one is given a message of wisdom through the Spirit, to another, a message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9 to another, faith by the same Spirit, to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit,10 to another, the performing of miracles, to another, prophecy, to another, distinguishing between spirits, to another, different kinds of languages, to another, interpretation of languages.11 But one and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each one as He wills. 1 Cor 12:7-11 HCSB

If we test all prophecies we will hear the voice of God. The apostle John was simply ‘in the Spirit’ when he heard Jesus talking to him.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." Rev 1:10-11 HCSB

These diverse methods all demonstrate to us that God is still talking to us. As long as we submit what we hear and say to the wider church life, to those who test and approve what the Spirit says there are ample safeguards to protect us.

Quiet Times

A speaking donkey will tend to get your attention, but it is much easier to be quiet before God and listen. Primarily we hear from God by his written word. Grazing in it daily we find that God speaks to us simply – often with questions, but always in a way that challenges us or enriches our lives.

We must approach the Bible with faith, believing that God wants to speak to us, and He will. Therefore the person who has access to God's book and yet doesn't consult it will not hear from God. Secondly, God likes to converse and we should speaks to Him expecting an answer. Our personal "quiet times" should also involve times in which we confess, thank and worship Him, and times that we sit quietly waiting for His response.

This does require faith and patience. We need to listen beyond the noise of our environment to hear whispers from heaven. If we have a rhythm of self-discipline in our lives giving us regular prayer and Bible reading times we will hear from God – it might be a question, or a simple thought but the more time we commit, the more we will hear.

Danger

We also hear from the prophet. Lots of prophecies are around, but if we follow Paul's teaching in Corinthians we will not become unglued in our fellowship with God.

Prophecy is designed to encourage to admonish and to comfort – we receive all these things in the fellowship of the church. Danger comes when we do not allow others to test the words we give or receive. I remember talking to someone once who was always talking about the prophecies that they gave. I never heard this person prophesy in the church, nor did anyone I know ever test their words. Yet, they were repeated to me as though God had penned them Himself. If we won't prophecy as part of the body our words are unreliable and it is safe to discount them. These days there are people who set themselves up as 'seers' or prophets and claim great revelation. They set themselves up without accountability and claim a wandering ministry to the church. Beware such people. They are big in their own eyes, but operate outside of the body and have big claims but little fruit. Some of these are those spoken of by Jude:

They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots; 13 wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever! Jude 12-13 HCSB

Conversations

If you believe that man was made to walk with God and that conversations took place in Eden, then it is hard not to believe God wants those conversations with his church, and that includes individual members. Some people will always lay back and leave that privilege to others but I believe God wants it for us all. I believe that by faith we can work towards meaningful conversations with God. We can work at whispers from heaven – hearing the heart of God, and also sharing back to Him. He may just leave us with a question – if so it will be the best thing we have heard! Perhaps though as we work at our relationship with God we can also become quite conversational with our Lord.

Importantly Jesus talks about us as sheep, and says this:

My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27

Whatever you do today, make time to be quiet with God, and listen carefully for his voice.