Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The first time I heard God talk to me, I ended a six-year relation-
ship with alcohol—instantly. I remember exactly where I was and
what day and year it was. I’m one of those people who is convinced
that once you hear God talk, you’ll never be the same.
In that first conversation, God proved to me that He talks
and listens not only to those who know Him well, but to even
the sickest soul.
Since that day, God most often talks to me through His Word,
followed by simple thoughts or ideas—requiring some action,
often very practical, but not necessarily easy to do. At first, what
He asks of me may seem unusual, or even impossible. However,
if I don’t argue or procrastinate and willingly follow His direc-
tions, His voice gets clearer and clearer. In fact, His voice almost
always stirs some emotion in me: my heart races, my cheeks flood
with redness, or my toes tap quickly and anxiously until I do or
say what I feel He is compelling me to do or say.
When God talks to me, I always feel motivated—physically,
emotionally, or spiritually. Whether gentle or bold, His words give
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God talks.
He does.
on behalf of this young girl and wait for God to respond. There
is no formula, just sincere pleading and often deep wailing.
Yet God talks. How? He gives noticeable courage to a severely
tested family. He strengthens the fatigued parents. He keeps the
daughter’s heart beating, the air moving in and out of her nose
and lungs. Her blood keeps flowing. A faint smile on her face
speaks volumes as it grows more vibrant with each passing week.
Her “thumbs up” in answer to questions, her closed eyes when
someone offers a prayer, suggest daily progress.
With each new day, with each new obstacle to overcome, the
family gathers the next-step options and discusses them with
God. Then they wait for God to talk to them by giving them
confidence to move in a specific direction. They don’t make a
move until they sense His peace in their hearts and minds. They
keep listening for God to speak.
These parents understand that no amount of money, educa-
tion, or medicine can stop an unknown bacterium, restore a
battered heart and brain, or replay a twenty-four-hour period
and magically edit out the bad parts. Only God can do some-
thing that impossible. Only God can carry them through every
valley and over every mountain. So they attentively listen for
God to give them His thoughts, His ideas, and His encouraging
words—especially when almost every other word they hear is
negative. They hold on to God’s words—written in their Bible,
emblazoned in their hearts, whispered in their minds.
Dependent and desperate, the parents continuously and cou-
rageously call out to God—waiting, expectant. They ask Him to
talk to them and to the doctors, to help their daughter, to do the
impossible. They are sustained by His powerful, strong voice.
People who are hopeless want God to talk to them. They
want to hear the good news that is able to lift them out of the
overwhelming despair in which they are drowning.
Truly desperate people don’t ignore or underestimate the
supernatural. They seek it. They don’t critically analyze what
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“I’m right here. I hear you calling me. I see your tears. It’s
time to stop running toward who or what will never satisfy
you or fill your emptiness. I am the one you are looking for.
I am all you need. Turn to me. I’m right here ready to catch
you, wanting to hold you. I love you very much, more than
you can even understand right now. And I forgive you for
everything. Yes, everything. I am yours, always and forever.
Put your hand in mine. Put your hope in me. Come to me
now. Don’t be afraid. Just come.”
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His name and His power and His Word. And God talks to those
who are running from Him.
Must you be desperate or humble or childlike to hear God
talk? Certainly this is not a prerequisite list, but a common list of
conditions through which the majority of us hear God talk whether
we are completely empty or completely full of ourselves.
Bottom line? God can and does talk to anyone. How He
chooses to get our attention will vary from person to person.
Of course, how you and I respond when God talks to us can
either complicate or clarify our lives, and it certainly deserves
continued discussion.
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