As Christians, we have the Paraclete Indwelling Spirit, John 14:
- The Paraclete speaks to our consciences (Romans 8:16). This is not a physical sound wave to be heard in your ears. It is not a voice in your head either. It is an intuitive discernment in your spirit. You can sense the rhema-word quietly. It is like a spiritual antenna. It is not an intuition in the usual sense of the word. You can only have this kind of intuition after the Holy Spirit has connected with your human spirit.
- We hear from the written word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Read the Bible every day. I employ A Disciplined Probabilistic Approach to Biblical Hermeneutics to interpret the Bible.
- We hear from mature spiritual Christian brothers and sisters, but we should not dismiss input from the less mature siblings, either.
- Most of the time, God does not have any particular rhema-word for us. Then, let the peace of Christ guide us. This is the practice of walking in the Spirit.
- Pray daily. Make your prayers your prayer life.
These are not theories. I practice them daily for my spiritual growth.
John 14:
In extremely rare cases, God actually speaks audible words to human ears, mostly to the prophets of the Old Testament.
What about dreams and visions today?
Yes, Joel 2:
God sometimes speaks in dreams. If the dream does not come true, then it isn't God speaking.
See also
How do you know whether a thought is from the Paraclete or not?.