A Short Summary on "The Art Of Hearing God" (Part 1)

Yesterday I attended a crash course organised by my church on "The Art Of Hearing God" by Greg Abel. A little Googling told me Greg Abel is the current CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, one of the two most likely successor of Berkhire Hathaway, the next Oracle of Omaha after Warren Buffett. But no, not that Greg Abel. This Greg Abel is a man of God with a big vision and mission to spread what he has learnt over the years, on the Art of Hearing God (I will get to it shortly why is it an Art, not Science). So here is a short summary of my findings through the first part:

God wants us to speak to Him, even if He already knew everything in us (our mind and thoughts, our desires, our circumstances). 

God demands our attention and the same intimacy that you will give to your spouse. He is also very talkative. He speaks all the time. If there is one major hindrance that stops us from solving every world problem, it is language. We communicate through the fast growing Internet and social networks, but still the majority of the world population have no access to the Internet. So what language does God speak?

He doesn't use any language. He just need to THINK! 

God thinks of things and they manifest themselves. God speaks and is thinking into your heart and mind. Wow. This is a powerful word and I've never thought of it. A perfectly logical explanation. He doesn't need to use language at all because then it will be a hindrance. Not everyone will understand English or Chinese language. But God just thinks into minds of the people He wants to speak to.

Does God speak only through the Bible? This is a real question, because sometimes Christians tend to refer only to Scriptures in the Bible to hear from God. Not that it's wrong, but if you have been a Christian long enough, you know God can speak through various ways. By saying God can only speak through the Bible verses is like putting a limitation on God's omnipotent nature. Of course Bible is one way of hearing from God, but not the only way.

God's Word in my mouth is God's voice through my mouth, and when God speaks, everything must change. So if we speak what He says, it must change everything around us. Because in the beginning, God said "Let there be light" and there was light. What happened here? The light just came forth. Because God's voice contains power! But sometimes you may think if God speaks in an audible fashion. I myself always imagine God speaks to me audibly.

In the Bible, there has been a fair share of records on God speaking audibly to people He has chosen to speak to. But He doesn't need to speak in audible fashion. Imagine if He does speak audibly to everyone. You will no longer need faith. But here's the thing: Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So you may hear God loud and clear, but you will not please Him.

But when was the first time God spoke? Did He speak before the light moment? My answer was yes and indeed it is. He spoke even before creating the Earth and human. He created Celestial space and angels first, and He spoke to them. But again God doesn't speak in language, God speaks in THOUGHTS. So God can put a picture into someone's mind and speak a thousand words just from that one image. A picture worths a thousand words, and it's true for God too. That's why Instagram is gaining more and more popularity.

Ensure that You do not disregard God who IS speaking. 

Eternality 

God dwells in eternity (past, present and future). He was there, He is here and will always be in future. But God sees the best of you now. When God speaks, He speaks once. He already had the conversation that you will only going to hear it in future. So whatever is going to happen in future, He has already done it with you (He has already been there), and now you are going to get there. 

So why does God speak? 

To Create (Genesis 1:3), Command (Genesis 1:28), Relate (Revelation 3:20), Chastize (Genesis 3:16-17), Rebuke (Acts 3:21), Covenant (Numbers 23:19). 

What happen when God speak? 

When God speaks, certain things begin to transpire. Things in the spirit world begin to move, and things at the outside world begin to manifest. Spirit world causes things to change naturally. When God speaks, everything connected to the hearer or recipient changes! But sadly, our generation wants instantaneous gratification.

Who can hear God speak? 

Anyone. It's all about where your antenna is tuned to, not who you are. If I am God's sheep, I can hear Him. In order to hear God, it is the ability to receive, not the ability to speak.

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Then Greg mentioned about the silent voice of God. Here are his takes:

The silent voice of God is not the distinction of volume but an issue of clarity. 

So it is not how loud God can speak to you, but how clearly. If you somehow think God has spoken to you regarding an issue, try speaking to another person (preferably pastor), to confirm it. Out of the mouth of two is Confirming, out of the mouth of three is Established (and witness). God can speak into your soul a little. If we dwell in His Word, He will give us more.

The silent voice is as loud as most of us might ever hear God speak!

Here is a very cool thing I have learnt about breathing. I actually read this a few days ago from a blog I'm following, on breathing. What?! What is there on breathing that I need to learn? I know how to breathe, and I have been breathing all this while! I should know the proper technique of breathing. But listen! Most of us don't realise this, there are pauses in between every inhale and exhale. God speaks through these pauses. 

This is the Hebrew tradition of breathing meditation: Breathe. Pause. Connect. 

Through the story of Elijah in the Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8-13), Elijah heard a still small voice when he was meditating and producing subtle breath sound. It is when you meditate on the pauses between each breath, you will hear a sound of sheer silence.  

Maybe we can try focusing more on the pauses in between inhaling and exchaling breaths during meditation.