Have you ever heard the audible voice of God? If not, don’t feel alone. In my nearly 81 years of life and my nearly 69 years as a Christian, I have never heard God speak audibly and I have only met three people who have. In the first chapter of John, Jesus is called “the Word” before He took on human form and the name Yeshua (Jesus). God does speak to us through Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection as described in the Gospel accounts and those words in red found in Matthew, Mark, Luke , John and Revelation carry the weight of God’s direct communication with us through His Son.
Another way God communicates with us and the one I’m most familiar with, is the prompting of the Holy Spirit that He has placed in us. It is often called God’s still small voice or whisper, but most of the time it is more of a feeling that urges our action. When a Christian says, “Something told me to…” that “something” is usually the Holy Spirit prompting action.
I very recently lost a good friend and sister in Christ Jesus, Cheryl Jones. My loss is heaven’s gain. She is one of the three people I mentioned above who heard God’s voice and a few years ago she also shared with me an experience that she had that illustrates how the Holy Spirit guides us. Late one Sunday morning, she was on her way to a bird fair. She said it was like her car had a mind of its own and turned off at the expressway exit nearest my church, which she often attended. She arrived just as the noon service started. After the service, she was almost to the exit in the back of the church when “something told her” to turn around. She saw a young woman kneeling alone in prayer in front of her seat. My friend walked back to where she was kneeling and asked if there was something she could pray with her about. With a surprised look on her face, the young woman told her, “I was just praying that God would send an older woman to explain this problem I’m facing and pray with me about it.” They talked and prayed together and my friend told me they left the church together walking on air and had exchanged phone numbers.
Obey God’s message and you just might be the answer to someone’s prayer.