Hearing God’s Whisper Through the Noise

This may not come as a surprise to you, but we live in an incredibly noisy and distracting world. 

Studies show the average person hears between 20,000 and 30,000 words over the course of a 24-hour period. Of course, the source of each message can vary. You hear a couple hundred words during a 30-second advertisement. You may read a paragraph or two in a post on social media. You’ll exchange a few thousand words over the course of meetings, conversations with friends and coworkers, or pleasantries as you order lunch or check out at the grocery store. 

The fact remains that the messages we hear day in and day out quickly become the soundtracks to our lives. You may still remember sayings you heard often from your parents as you were growing up. The encouraging words of a teacher or coach may still ring in your ears during times of challenge or adversity. Unfortunately, the opposite can also be true - we may carry negative messages with us for months or years after we initially hear them.

As followers of Jesus, one of the most beneficial things we can do for our long-term growth and development is to ensure that we are regularly hearing - and acting upon - the voice of God. If you’re familiar with the story of Scripture, you’re well-acquainted with how often God intentionally comes near to His people to share words of encouragement or challenge with them. From the Garden of Eden to the exodus journey to Jesus’ life on Earth, we can think of countless examples of times when God speaks, moves, or lives near His people. Although we may not physically see or hear from God in the same way that we read about in the Bible, this doesn’t change the fact that God is still living and active in our world today. 

Soon, you’ll be able to dive deeper into the concept of hearing from God in our new workbook. This resource is designed to enhance the quality of our mentorship programs while making these essential and life-giving teachings from Scripture more widely accessible. In this workbook, we have entire sections dedicated to training yourself to hear God’s voice, responding when God calls, staying close to God, and seeing God’s presence in your everyday life.

Here’s one of our favorite excerpts from these sections:

“Throughout Scripture, we see God communicate in powerful and grandiose ways (think about the flood in Genesis, the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus, or the destruction of Jericho in Joshua). However, (1 Kings 19:11-13) teaches us that God can communicate in the still and quiet just as effectively. In many ways, this brings us to admire the power of God’s communication and presence in an even greater way than before. God is the one who brings authority and majesty to the table - and not the external elements that may quickly garner our attention.”

Our goal in writing the above passage was to help readers see that they don’t need to have special privilege or authority to hear God’s voice. God chooses to communicate in a way that brings glory and honor to His name, and not to the name of the person who is hearing God’s voice. To believe otherwise is to have an overly inflated view of ourselves in the process, rather than developing a deeper appreciation for God’s mighty power in the way that He chooses to reveal Himself to us.

We can’t wait for you to have this workbook in your hands (or on your screen) so that you can participate in these reflective exercises and practical challenges. In the meantime, we challenge you to look for opportunities to hear God’s voice in your everyday life. It’s going to take some extra time and attention, especially as you consider the thousands of messages you hear each day. However, we think this is time and energy well spent, and we fully expect that you will experience meaningful transformation by seeking more of God’s presence in your daily life. 

As always, if you want to pursue a more intentional and tailored approach to spiritual growth, we encourage you to work through this content with one of our trained mentors. If you’re not currently meeting with a mentor but would like more information, use this link to schedule a free discovery call.