Trouble Hearing God

I have tried through multiple periods to have faith and follow God but no matter how hard I try and look and listen I can't seem to make a personal connection with Him . . . I constantly doubt and question who He/She is and what I can really do to please Him . . . How can I communicate with God? Hear Him? Know which voice in my head belongs to Him . . . ????

lostinthought said:

I have tried through multiple periods to have faith and follow God but no matter how hard I try and look and listen I can't seem to make a personal connection with Him . . . I constantly doubt and question who He/She is and what I can really do to please Him . . . How can I communicate with God? Hear Him? Know which voice in my head belongs to Him . . . ????

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Bless you for trying!

You're not looking for a voice at all! Try praying and talking to Him like He is really there, because, well, He is. I suggest a website: www.settingcaptivesfree.com that has a course that will help you get closer to Jesus Christ.

(quote from the website)
The Cross, Finding Life in Jesus' Death
This course is designed as a follow-up course to all the courses , or for unbelievers who do not know Christ. If you desire to see the power of God then look at the cross of Jesus Christ. This course will help focus your attention there.
(end quote)

Ill be praying for you and G-d bless,
sc

lostinthought said:

I have tried through multiple periods to have faith and follow God but no matter how hard I try and look and listen I can't seem to make a personal connection with Him . . . I constantly doubt and question who He/She is and what I can really do to please Him . . . How can I communicate with God? Hear Him? Know which voice in my head belongs to Him . . . ????

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I think you already have faith even if it is only small because if you didn't you wouldn't even want to follow God. You already have a personal connection with Him throught Jesus. We all doubt and question our faith it's human nature. What can you do to please him, read His word and act upon it, talk to Him tell him how you feel. I think you do believe in God, but you are not sure that He's really going to come through for you. In Hebrews chapter 6 vs 17-18 it says that the hope of Christ is right in front of you, you are holding a record of the promises God has made to you and me, So let me say to you be encourged to run to God because he will never let you down, but you've got to make up your mind to believe that and you've got to decide that you are going to believe His word. Until you have made that commitment, you'll constantly struggle with doubt.But the truth of His word will replace your doubt. John 8 vs 32 says "The truth will make you free." That truth is in the Bible, pick it up and read about the incredibly deep and powerful love he has for you. Read about his longing to know you and to be with you forever. once you get these words into your heart and into your mind, pretty soon, all your doubts will be replaced with the absolute certainty of God and of his truth.
God bless you.
Paul.

lost:-
M'r:7:32: And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
Mark 7:33: And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
:34: And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
:35: And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

So, get away from other people, forget other thoughts (finfers in the ears) and allow The Lord to minister to you - specifically just pray to receive the Holy Spirit:-

Ac:2:4: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

lostinthought said:

I have tried through multiple periods to have faith and follow God but no matter how hard I try and look and listen I can't seem to make a personal connection with Him . . . I constantly doubt and question who He/She is and what I can really do to please Him . . . How can I communicate with God? Hear Him? Know which voice in my head belongs to Him . . . ????

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Hi.

First of all, God does not hear the prayers of sinners.

Since you are posting under the "non-Christian" section, and your icons seem to indicate also that you do not claim to be a committed Christian, then by God's definition tou are a sinner. (Actually everyone sins, even Christians of course, but since the Bible assures us that God hears His children, then we can know by the word "sinners" that it is the non-Christian who He does not listen to.)

The one exception to the above Truth, is that the name of Jesus, being made far more powerful than any other name, MAY carry some weight with the non-Christian, at least in certain situations, such as when they are in the process of becoming born again.

Since the Bible says that no person truly seeks God, not the true God of the Bible and not from pure motive, anyhow, then there is something to be said for our need to have God initiate things. But since you have expressed some desire, we do not know if this is because He is drawing you, or because you have some less pure, personal motive.

Ther one suggestion I CAN make: since all of us who are Evangelical and/or chharismatic Christians, underwent a supernatural process whereby we were, among whatever else, made inwardly, accutely aware of our sinfulness, of just how displeasing to God we were, and/or how our sins were destroying us and/or those around us, why not start there.

The Bible says that God's Word and Commandments are, among other things, a schoolmaster intended to make us realize our sinfulness. Perhaps you should just begin reading the New Testament (not the Old Test.), and pay particular attention to what God commands and requires, and of how you fall short of this.

Another thought, though it only works in some cases, is to say to the Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, that you want Him to make Himself real to you so that you can have a relationship with Him, and for Him to do whatever that might require. But such a requirement might be harsh, you should know, because we as people are often very stubborn and rebellious and selfish, and even though we think we want to know God, usually we just want to know the God that blesses, not the God that judges and rebukes and chastens (most who say they love God, only really love their own personally concocted fantasy of Him, not the real God and Jesus of the Bible, I'm very sorrowed to say).

God bless you, in Jesus' name, jim


p.s. As far as the "voices," even for the Christian it takes years before they know God's Voice on a consistent and trustworthy basis, and most never do. Most have too many idols in their heart, and these crowd out God's Voice, for His is gentle and not loud, and all the others are usually screaming.

Hi there lostinthought

You can communicate with God mainly by reading the Bible. It is His love letter to us. But - do you believe the Bible is written by God and is without error? (If you do, skip Section I.)

I. If not, I suggest that you investigate Christian Evidences (and perhaps the whole field of apologetics, if you want to investigate cosmology, etc.)
Here's some helps:
www.bcbsr.com/topics/apol.html
www.probe.org
www.contenderministries.org
www.rbc.org/questions/ and www.rbc.org/ds/salvation and click on "Why we believe, evidences for Christian faith"

External Proofs: As Scripture says, "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart." I would like to give some book titles that might be of interest to you. Some of them are out of print, but could be ordered through a Christian bookstore or some place like Amazon. An excellent short overview of Evidences (external proofs such as archaeology for the inerrancy of the Scriptures) is the pamphlet "The Agnostic Who Dared to Search."
*The Late Great Planet Earth (past and future prophecy)
*Daktar (biography about a doctor in Bangladesh, from which the above pamphlet The Agnostic…. is taken)
*Josh McDowell's books - the New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict (that one is on canonicity)
*Many Infallible Proofs
*More than a carpenter (proofs about Jesus)
*Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Archer.
And I am sure there are many more good books that a clerk at a Christian bookstore could recommend in Evidences or Apologetics. I'll pray that God will bless you in your search. He definitely blessed me in my journey from an atheist to a believer. (If you want to know more, pm me or see my website)

II. If you do believe the Bible is the Word of God, then the next step in communicating with Him is to trust Christ alone as your sinbearer, so you will become a child of God. Here is the Gospel (how we can be saved):

"HOW CAN I TELL WHETHER OR NOT I AM GOING TO HEAVEN?"
Here are some things to consider in order to know for sure:

If you stood before God at the entrance gates to Heaven, and He asked you "Why should I let you into Heaven?" - what would you tell Him?

Please take a moment and think about that before reading on..........

The answer would be wrong if it included anything about your good works, or promising to be good.

The answer would be right if it showed nothing but a reliance on Jesus to save you, based on His death on the cross to pay for all your sins and to get you to Heaven one day.

Here's the Gospel:

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (NIV)
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

And eternal is exactly what it is - we cannot lose our salvation no matter what we do or don't do, or how we feel:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)
Rom 11:29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. (NIV)
John 10:28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. (NIV)

And here is God's guarantee:
I Jn 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (NIV)

So - we just make the decision to rely on Christ alone to be our sinbearer and to get us to Heaven one day, without any good works or promises of our own. In other words, "faith alone in Christ alone plus nothing". I pray that you will make that decision, lostinthought.

Then you will start getting your questions answered. And it will help to attend a good Bible believeing and teaching church, having Christian friends, regularly reading the Bible and praying, and telling others how they too can have this wonderful life now and in eternity.

I'll pray for you, friend. In by inch, everything's a cinch. God bless you.
Aloha in Jesus.

to the person who says that god doesnt hear the prayers of non christians....


that's ridiculous. if he doesnt hear non christian's prayers how would he save them? and what about kids? does he listen to kids?

where in the bible does it say that god only listens to non christians?

sethad said:

to the person who says that god doesnt hear the prayers of non christians....

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That's me, "brotherjim."

sethad said:

that's ridiculous. where in the bible does it say that god only listens to non christians?

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Well, I assume the above I quote of you is a grammatical error, and you meant to say Christians and not non Christian.

See John 9:31.

And it does not necessarily imply only "non-Christians" (quoting you). It says "sinners."

Might I suggest you purchase a concordence? They're fairly inexpensive, and one is also avail free on-line at www.crosswalk.com (beware of their forum over there, though, as it's micro-managed ane censorship is the rule). That way you can ref. these things for yourself before you speak/write/post.

sethad said:

if he doesnt hear non christian's prayers how would he save them?

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If you read my post again, you might see what you previously missed, how I addressed exceptions, e.g., those praying in Jesus' Name, for at least the New Birth.

jim

brotherjim said:

That's me, "brotherjim."



Well, I assume the above I quote of you is a grammatical error, and you meant to say Christians and not non Christian.

See John 9:31.

And it does not necessarily imply only "non-Christians" (quoting you). It says "sinners."

Might I suggest you purchase a concordence? They're fairly inexpensive, and one is also avail free on-line at www.crosswalk.com (beware of their forum over there, though, as it's micro-managed ane censorship is the rule). That way you can ref. these things for yourself before you speak/write/post.

If you read my post again, you might see what you previously missed, how I addressed exceptions, e.g., those praying in Jesus' Name, for at least the New Birth.

jim

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I know it was you who said it here, I was generally addressing anyone who thinks that way.

everyone is a sinner, even christians. no one is perfect. so if everyone is a sinner that verse would mean god listens to no one.

and yea, that was a typo on my part. I was in a rush.

We have had some in-depth discussions on the topic of God hearing from sinners, with lots of scriptural references, so I don't think that this is the time to discuss this matter. Lostinthought, you had an honest, deep question. Let me reassure you that people through the centuries have heard from God without a formal church-approved commitment. Some of our Biblical heroes heard from God before they knew much about Him.

Paulnoel mentioned that reading God's word was one step--I find that when I lose touch, it's usually because I've neglected hearing/reading His statements, and I start to warp His grace into judgment and my concept of who He is. Start with something like the Psalms.

Some of this just takes time, building trust back and forth. Any efforts will be worth it!

John 9:31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshipper of God and does His will, He hears him."

Those of us who are Evangelical and charismatic (i.e., "born again") Christians believe the Holy Bible to be true in what it says, that Jesus broke down the wall separating man from God because of man's sins, reconciling us to God the Father. Yes of course we who are Christians will still sin after being reborn, but if we are "walking in the Light as He is in the Light," if we are walking in Love (granted, rare), then "the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin," thereby allowing us to have God's ear, for this is "God's [New Covenant] will".

I'm not asking anyone here to believe this for themselves, it's just that this is a Christian forum so you have to expect Christians to answer according to their Bible.

jim

God spoke to Moses audibly through the burning bush, when he had been raised with Pharaoh as his god.

God walked in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and they never made any formal commitment.

Limiting this to Christianity, Jesus spoke to Saul/Paul on the road to Emmaus, while Saul was persecuting Christians.

The words were spoken not by God, but by a man whose blindness had been healed. Jesus' disciples asked what mode of sin caused his blindness, and Jesus said "neither he nor his parents sinned" and healed him on the spot. The man hadn't been a known follower, or a known believer, or baptised, and hadn't even asked to be healed. Evidently he knew some scriptures...Old Testament teachings, not New. In fact, the man said "Tell me who He [the Son of Man] is so that I may believe in him."

And yes, God conveys in the Old Testament that he shuns those who oppress others and blesses those who love him and follow his commands.

Even before Jesus' redemptive sacrifice, circumcision is superseded by a circumcised heart, and sacrifice is superseded by faith and love for God's commands. Similarly, baptism and speaking a sinner's prayer are simply outward signs of an inner desire to follow God.

It doesn't sound right to me that God would only hear certain people. Can't sinners pray for forgiveness?

lostinthought said:

It doesn't sound right to me that God would only hear certain people. Can't sinners pray for forgiveness?

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Yes and no.

As was said by me, the name of Jesus gets through in at least some cases, such as when a sinner is truly repenting and turning to Jesus.

Let us not get over into a Calvinism vs. Arminian thing. But God certainly knows who is experiencing true, godly sorrow and remorse (as compared to worldly sorrow), and God knows who is about to truly repent and turn to Him (the Calvinist, at least, would likely say that God granted the repentance in the first place), and who not, so--.

I have personally never dared to sit in judgment of God and what He does and does not do, knowing His Ways are higher and far more holy than I could even ever imagine them to be. God is perfect; I'm imperfect. God has it all worked out, and I don't have to work it out in my own head, so I can let God be God and me be me, trusting Him that He will hear those He should be hearing, and those that He does not hear, should not be heard.

My "only" responsibility in this life is to make myself available to hear from God, and then obey Him if and when I do.

"Today, if you will hear His Voice, harden not your heart."

Each one of us goes through a process of understanding God, and recognizing the way he works and communicates with us. It's different for everyone, because God we are individuals...God counts the hairs on our heads and knows when we slip.

So even if you're not hearing, He's there. I suppose that's part of the humility of standing before God--that we can't conjure Him up and make Him grant our every wish
(I know that's not your approach). Picture how immense He must be--to supervise the life cycles of the galaxies and the motion of the planets.

The prophet Elijah (known for hearing from God) escaped town, running for his life, hiding out in the desert, so discouraged that he asked God to end his life. After a month (with some angelic intervention in between)...


Even the most dedicated believers have gaps in communication. Sometimes at the peak of our spiritual successes, God reminds us where He is and where our help came from by nudging us to sit still.

We will pray for better results in your efforts, seeking after the founder of truth and life.

brotherjim,

the examples that heron gave ARE from the bible and are examples of when God listened to people who didnt necassarily believe in him.

have to use the whole bible to make a case against/for something, not just a verse or 2.

It seems to me that God forms a communication with us over time and I am just impatient. I notice the more I consciously pray and attempt communication with God throughout the day, the more I am aware of Him. Also, I have previously accepted Jesus, been baptised, regularly gone to Church, read the Bible daily, of my own free will and still not achieved the relationship with God that I desired. This is what led me astray. I still believe, I just doubt on a regular basis because I lack this relationship. However, I didn't give it much time. I cannot believe that God does not hear the prayers of sinners or non-believers - that is completely disheartening. Besides, I have felt Him in my times of sin and non-belief. Many others have, too. God has to hear our prayers in order for us to repent as well as to accept Jesus!

I don't mean to be negative but I found Setting Captives Free to be just dreadful. Not only did I find it pedantic I know of someone who became quite depressed after starting one of their "classes". They had to stop. I can't fathom what it's usefulness to be.

lostinthought, even though "the sheep know His voice," we sometimes get more voices than we need. If you find any of these harassing, condemning, or intimidating, then they are from your adversary. When they pop in, speak audibly "in Jesus' name, go." It can seem that God deserves to condemn, but His voice will sound much more like a tip, or a loving warning with a chance for improvement.

Well done Heron, some sense at last!
Why does God seem distant? Hmn, tricky.
The fact is that God is not distant. Even when we are at our most filthy, God will listen and guide when we recognise our mess!
Knowing God near is so subjectiv, no-one can really give u an easy answer.
DO NOT FEEL CONDEMNED, EVER. God will judge and convict, not condemn (it's the Christian's that do that! Noticed?)
I only recognise God when I'm secure in myself. Relaxed, confident. Maybe you need to work on that - it's tempting to ask God to do it all the time after all! - when you decide to love yourself and work on being naturally you, God will aid where appropriate.
This may be totally unhelpful, apologies if it is. I'm English and tend to see things oddly, kinda.

Flan out.