How to Hear the Voice of God When You Don’t Know Where to Start!

1.Learning to Be Still

The best way I’ve learned how to discern God’s voice is learning to be still. And I’m not just talking about my hands!

I’ve had to learn how to intentionally quiet my mind (more on that in a bit) as well as settle down a distracted heart.

This has been a transformation of both my mind and heart, that’s for sure! As a self-proclaimed A-type personality and master of the to-do list, “downtime” used to literally make me cringe…

I never once considered how that personality flaw of mine was keeping me away from God! At times, I need to still reground myself in the importance of allowing myself to be still on the days where I can feel my old ways creeping back in.

For those of us that struggle with being still, let me remind you of the story of 2 sisters, Martha and Mary! This story is so perfectly designed to give me just the snap back to reality that my easily distracted heart needs!

Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying.

But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.”

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. But there’s only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her.”- Luke 10:38-42

Learning to be a Mary in a world that rewards us for being a Martha takes some work. But we don’t want to be rewarded by the world… we want to be rewarded by our Father in heaven!

So, on the days when my inner-Martha is creeping back up and stillness is the farthest thing from my mind, here are 3 ways that I disrupt my old, over-busy behavior and reground my mind to the importance of stillness:

How to quiet your mind:

WORSHIP MUSIC

Whether it be singing from memory or blaring your favorite hymn in the background as you fold laundry, having worship music playing takes capture your thoughts. From the wandering thoughts to the rhythm of the music and the power in the words, you can allow yourself to get caught up in the music and after a few songs you’ll be surprised how much quieter your mind is! Use this time after (or during) listening to worship music to talk with God and lean into the stillness of your mind so that God may fill the space with whatever thoughts and feelings he desires…. You’ll be amazed at how often it is NOT a to-do list 

DISRUPT THE SPINNING THOUGHTS WITH A FALL TO THE KNEES KIND OF PRAYER

I’ve started doing this more and more recently and love it! When I feel myself starting to second guess or begin to let the fleeting thoughts take over… I can’t hear anything but my own worried self.

“Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. ” -Psalm 55:17

I fall back on a very simple prayer that usually sounds something like this:

“Lord, I hand over my time, energy and heart to you. I’m not sure why I feel so (whatever it is that you are feeling) right now but I know that only you can bring me the peace I need. Let me feel confident to step away from the distractions at my feet and sink into your presence today instead”

PRAYER JOURNALING

If you’ve ready any of my other posts than you probably already know how much I adore the art of Prayer Journaling! It has changed my relationship with God… literally has been the vehicle that has changed my life! If I had one wish, I would wish that every woman picks up an empty notebook and begins prayer journaling-seriously!

The enemy looooooves to keep us feeling busy and distracted.

In fact, he loves to keep us feeling like we can’t hear God. He is the biggest doubt-seed planter and we have to be careful to watch out for those little seeds of doubt! Stillness gives God center stage in our mind and is such a great way to grow your faith in God!

The other strategies listed below for learning how to hear God’s voice below build from the principle of stillness because it is only when we learn to be still, that the Lord can fight for us (paraphrased Exodus 14:14).