I tend to receive quite a few phone calls in the average day. Usually when the person on the other end of the line begins to speak, they give their name. There are some occasions, however, when the person concerned launches into a conversation without first giving their identity. They might say, "Hello, how are you?" or simply "It's me". Of course when that happens, and you don't immediately recognise the voice, a dilemma arises. They obviously think that you should be able to recognise their voice, so do you risk offending them by asking them to identify themselves? Or do you continue with the conversation, hoping to pick up clues which will enable you to recognise the person to whom you are speaking?
Over the past few weeks I have been running a Prayer Course in one of my churches. The course looks at different elements of prayer, using The Lord's Prayer as a basis. The theme for last week's session was 'Listening to God', recognising that prayer is supposed to be two-way (a dialogue, not a monologue). I must confess that hearing God's voice is an area where I have sometimes struggled. Of course God rarely seems to speak through an audible voice; usually the voice of God can come to us through many different ways (e.g. through the Bible, through everyday incidents, through friends, through an impression or thought in the mind etc.)
Having said that, one big question is how do we recognise God speaking to us when we may also be hearing many other 'voices'. It seems that one key Bible verse comes in Psalm 46:10, when God says, 'Be still and know that I am God.' Sometimes we live such busy, hectic, 'noisy' lives that we fail to hear God's voice. We need to create times when we can simply be still in God's presence. I have always found first thing in the morning, before the day's busyness kicks in, to be a good time to 'be still' with God, though I acknowledge that time will not suit everyone. We all need to work out what's best for us.
Another important pointer which came through the Prayer Course was that the more we learn to focus on hearing God's voice, the more we will be able to recognise when he speaks. If a member of my family, or a close friend rings me and says, "Hi, it's me" the chances are that I will recognise their voice, because I have spent much time with them, have established a close relationship, and have come to know what their voice sounds like. The more time we spend in conversation (prayer) with God, the better we will become at recognising his voice. What could be more special than hearing the voice of God?
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