5 Ways God Speaks to His People

If you've positioned your heart to hear from God and you still aren't hearing—and you are walking in obedience—it's possible that you just don't recognize His mode of communication. There are many, many ways God communicates with His people. 

1. The Holy Spirit speaks through supernatural wisdom.
In Ephesians Paul prayed that the Father of glory would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus (see Eph. 1:17). Jesus is our wisdom (see 1 Cor. 1:24, 30). I believe sometimes God speaks prophetic wisdom to our hearts, but we reason ourselves out of it. We block the supernatural wisdom of God by letting our mind rule over our heart. That's why I take a hint from Solomon and pray for wisdom.
I believe that if we pray more for spiritual wisdom—even if it means praying less for natural needs—we'll receive more wisdom and our natural needs will be more than met. I also believe that as we pray in faith for wisdom, we'll have the faith to receive it however it comes, whether through a flash of inspiration; a still, small voice; a dream or vision; or some other mode of heavenly communication.

2. The Holy Spirit speaks to dreams by night and visions by day.
Dreams and visions weren't just an Old Testament phenomenon. We know that Peter fell into a trance (see Acts 10:10). Paul had supernatural encounters—whether in the body or out of the body, he did not know (see 2 Cor. 12:13). And John wrote the entire book of Revelation based on a supernatural vision. God is still speaking through dreams and visions today. I am a dreamer myself and have had a number of visions that I discuss in my YouTube series on the topic.
Of course, we can't assume every dream we get is a godly dream. The enemy can invade your dream life with troubling dreams or even full-blown nightmares. Our subconscious mind processes life events while we are asleep and can offer some vivid scenarios. There are also what I call "pizza dreams." If you eat a heavy meal or something spicy before bedtime, it can give you some pretty strange dreams. (I speak from experience!)
How do you know if a dream is from God? Briefly stated, there are three general guidelines: (1) It won't contradict the Word; (2) God will give you an immediate interpretation; (3) You just can't shake it. It stays with you to the point that you are compelled to pray it out, seek God for an interpretation or submit it to elders for review.

3. The Holy Spirit speaks through practical surroundings.
Although you have to be careful not to tie a prophetic implication to anything and everything, God can and does speak to us through nature, through practical situations and through our every day surroundings. I always point to Proverbs 24:30-34 as an example:
"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles covered its surface, and the stone wall was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it; I looked on it and received instruction: Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so your poverty will come like a stalker, and your need as an armed man."
God spoke to Solomon through this practical experience. It wasn't a still, small voice or a supernatural encounter. He was just passing by the field of a lazy man and he prophetically received a powerful bit if wisdom from God. If you keep a listening ear, you'll discover that God will speak to you through and about many things just as you go about your everyday life.

4. The Holy Spirit speaks through peace.
The Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us into all truth (see John 16:13). One of the ways He leads us into that truth—or prophetically speaks to our heart about a decision we have to make—is through peace. Your soul may still be wrestling with a situation, but you'll have peace in your spirit. This takes some maturity to discern, but as you continue walking with Him you'll recognize His peace.
The Amplified translation of Col. 3:15 says, "Let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] ... ."
Also, when we are facing a difficult situation or need to make an important decision, we can put Philippians 4:6-7 into play and receive peace of mind that positions our hearts to receive His wisdom: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (MEV).

5. The Holy Spirit speaks through the Bible.
And this might be the best place for you to start. God is always speaking through His Word. Apply what you read to your life and you'll position yourself for additional truth and wisdom—no matter how God communicates it to you. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Amen.

4 Things to Do if You Can’t Hear God’s Voice

1. Believe That God Wants to Speak to You

If you don't believe God wants to speak to you, it's likely that you won't hear His still, small voice. The key here is that you expect Him to speak. David said, "O Lord, in the morning You will hear my voice; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will watch expectantly" (Ps. 5:3). The Holy Spirit lives inside you and may be speaking to you more than you realize. Jesus said, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you" (John 14:26).

2. Position Your Heart to Hear His Still, Small Voice

Jesus Himself said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27). Our part is to position our hearts to hear His still, small voice, or to recognize the other ways in which He communicates with us. (God can speak to us in many ways, which we'll discuss in later articles in this series.) Practice the presence of God. Cultivate an awareness that the Holy Spirit dwells in you and He longs to fellowship with you daily. Pray that He would make you sensitive to His Spirit and His voice.

3. Learn the Fine Art of Listening

Many people talk to God but they don't stop to listen—or they don't develop listening skills. Listening truly is a skill that you can learn, whether in your natural relationships or your spiritual relationship with God. You need to "have an ear" to hear the Holy Spirit and that may mean training your spiritual ears to recognize the ways He is speaking.

Jesus said, "He who has ears [to hear], let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing" (Matt. 13:9, AMP). Solomon prayed that God would give him a hearing heart (1 Kings 3:9). Many translations say "understanding heart" in that verse but the Hebrew word translated "understanding" in that verse is shama, which translates to hear, understand, listen or obey. Pray that God will give you a hearing heart, then listen and obey.

4. Fellowship More With the Holy Spirit

This is fundamental. If you want to hear from God more clearly, spend more time with Him and His Word. Paul told his spiritual son Timothy, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17, MEV).

Knowing the Word guards us from deception—and from falling into the trap of listening to other voices or even following vain imaginations. If you seek God, you will hear His voice. You don't have to be in a quiet room to hear from God. Your soul just needs to be quiet and focused on Him. Let your spirit dominate. Listen with spiritual ears. You can hear Him!

5 More Ways God Speaks to His People

1. Holy Spirit Speaks Through Our Conscience

God can speak to us through our conscience. Our conscience sounds a lot like God because He speaks to our spirit and our spirit speaks to our conscience. How do you know if it's your conscience, your imaginations or God talking to you?

Consider this example: Have you ever met a set of identical twins? At first, you can't tell them apart—but as you get to know them you discover they have their own distinctive personalities. As you get to to know them, you can tell the difference. That's important because your conscience is not God. You can reason yourself out of God's will by following your conscience apart from God's wisdom.

When God speaks to us through our conscience, it can almost be like dripping water from a faucet. You just keep coming back to that same truth. When you layer this with other ways God speaks, such as through His word and through peace, you can be confident when it's God and when it's just you.

2. Holy Spirit Speaks Through a Sudden Flash of Inspiration

Some people just get a sudden flash of inspiration. They just have a knowing in their spirit. You may have heard it said, "It strikes me ... ." or "It came to me ... ." You can't really explain it, but you just know that you know that you know it's God. Again, you should temper this with other tests—does it line up with biblical principles, does your spouse, church family bear witness, etc.—especially if you are making an important decision.

But not everything is an important decision and Holy Spirit is interested in helping you with even the small things in life. I've had sudden inspirations to get money out of an ATM and ignored it, only to discover an hour later that I was in a place that didn't accept credit cards and there were no ATMs anywhere in sight. When you get these flashes of inspiration, pay attention.

3. Holy Spirit Speaks Through Impressions

An impression is a faint feeling in your spirit that you are supposed to say or do something. Intercessors sometimes say, "You were on my heart." That can be an impression or an urge to pray. When it comes to impressions, you don't hear the actual voice of God, but you feel a strong urge in your spirit and have a knowing that you need to follow through. You may never see the fruit of obedience to instructions through this mode of communications—or you may see plainly how God worked in the situation. That doesn't matter as much as following Holy Spirit's promptings.

4. God Sometimes Speaks in an Audible Voice

Hearing the audible voice of God is rare indeed. It happened to me once in the midst of a particularly terrible trial. I was down on my knees praying late into the night. I feel asleep. Suddenly, I heard a voice that woke me—startled me—and offered me a promise that I continue to hold on to today. It shook me. I actually thought someone was in the room with me. I could not sleep after that. I could only meditate on the words that were spoken. Holy Spirit reminds me of those words at strategic times in my life to show me how God is bringing them to pass.

5. Holy Spirit Speaks in a Still, Small Voice

Last but not least is the still, small voice we read about in 1 Kings 19:2. God actually speaks to you—but not audibly from the outside. He speaks to your heart. It can be so quiet that you will miss it if you are not paying attention. At times, it can be so subtle that many people don't even believe it's God. This is how He usually speaks to me. I just hear that still, small voice, and I've learned to know it's Him.

God speaks in many different ways. We need to pay close attention and establish a pattern of how He speaks to us most often. Monitor the track record with success in this with these different ways. If you are consistently on target with one of these, then you can be confident in that area. If you are consistently off target with one of these areas, then you don't need to be prophesying to people or making decisions on those ways.

The Bible is the bottom line authority on all things, but some situations are not covered by the Bible in specific ways, like job choices or ministry turning points. We need to hear from the Lord for ourselves and for others. I pray that God will open your spiritual ears to hear His voice clearly.