Do you desire to hear God’s voice? God is always speaking to us, though we don’t always perceive it. In this article, I teach you how to hear God’s voice through a method called two-way journaling. Two-way journaling is where you write down a question and then record God’s answer…seriously…it’s sorta like texting the creator of the universe.
Hear God’s Voice through Two-Way Journaling
The two-way journaling method I use is from Mark and Patti Virkler’s book, “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice.” Even though I’m going to give a summary of the 4 keys I cannot emphasize enough the treasures found in that book. The four keys to hearing God’s voice are:
- Quiet Yourself.
- Fix Your Eyes on Jesus.
- Tune into Spontaneity.
- Write it down.
We find these keys in Habakkuk 2: 1-2.
“I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved. Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.’” (Habakkuk 2: 1-2).
Key 1: Quiet Yourself
The first key to hearing God’s voice is: quiet yourself. Clear your mind of inward distractions and position yourself to hear. In Habakkuk 2, Habakkuk says He will look to see what God is saying.
“I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me.” So here are two things that help you hear God’s voice. Your position and your focus.
We have to be still and position ourselves to hear from God. Position our hearts to receive from the King. It’s easier for me to hear God’s voice when I’m journaling or soaking than it is when I’m shopping. Unless I am asking, “God, should I buy more coffee.” In which the answer is usually “yes.”
The amount of coffee you drink directly corresponds to the amount of anointing you carry. This may not be true but I do love coffee.
The Father is saying, “Concentrate on my voice son.” Just like Superman, we must be able to quite ourselves. This includes quieting the external and internal noises.
Elijah Quiets Distractions to Hear God’s Voice
A good example of this is found when we look at the Superman in the Bible…Elijah. Well, the real Superman in the Bible is Jesus but the passage I’m referring to is 1 Kings, which is Elijah. We can see in 1 Kings 19 Elijah had to quiet himself and remove distractions so he may hear from God.
“A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, “So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19: 11-13 The Message)
Elijah was fleeing for his life. As the only prophet left, he was very afraid and sought the Lord for instruction. His internal distractions were off the charts as he stood at the mouth of a cave.
While battling his internal noise, Elijah now had to face external distractions. His external distractions were a freaking hurricane, earthquake, and to my best guess…a volcano.
After quieting himself and beating external distractions, Elijah heard the whisper of God. He was focused. Sometimes we look for blaring manifestations when God simply wants us close enough to whisper. Learn to quiet yourself.
Be Still and Know
Sometimes I feel like God is saying, “Chris, if you would just shut up for one-second I’ll show you my heart.” I know it’s not His heart to tell me to shut up. It’s more like my Father to say, “Chris, my son, please be quiet and I’ll revel myself to you.”
God did say in His word, “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10 ESV) I see this as a challenge. It’s like God said, “If you dare to be still then you will know that I am God.” Being still is not that easy because of distractions.
External and Internal Distractions
We all deal with external and internal distractions when it comes to hearing from God.
External noise are distractions that occur outside ourselves. External noises are not usually under our control but we can control our location and the distractions we allow to affect us. For example, a coffee shop filled with clamoring costumers. I have three solutions for situations like this.
- Go somewhere quiet.
- Tune everyone out.
- Use your Bose Quiet Comfort 15 Acoustic Noise Canceling Headphones.
Five Problem Areas When Dealing with Internal Noise
Internal distractions are a little harder to deal with because they happen in our minds. Things keep popping in there that distract us from what we are trying to do; connect with God. There are five problem areas Alyn Jones taught me when dealing with internal noise.
Our To-Do List
Problem area one is when we think of things to do. I’m sure this has happened to you. You start to pray and then like magic, your todo list for the day writes itself. I know it happens to me. What I do is keep paper and a pen with me when I go to pray.
That way if a task I need to accomplish pops in my head, I can write it down and then dismiss the thought. Writing it down allows my mind to forget the thought and focus back on Jesus.
Remembering Sin
The second area we encounter problems when trying to be quiet is remembering our sin. We remember all the junk in our lives and it causes us to lose sight of Christ. Here is my trump card. Confess your sin and Jesus will forgive you. Then continue with your God time.
Day Dreaming
The third area that causes problems is our mind jumping around. I’m sure you’ve experienced this before. We call it day dreaming. First, make sure it is not the Father speaking to you. If it’s your mind wandering then focus on a vision of you with Jesus. This will reposition your mind to be quiet.
Disconnect with Your Heart
The forth area is feeling like you can’t connect with your heart. When you feel stressed or sad this becomes a huge problem area. Solution: put on worship music that is contrary to what you’re feeling.
If you’re stressed…put on soaking music and if you’re sad…put on joyful worship music.
Allow the music to minister to you. This really works. After watching “The Notebook,” I played some Nickleback and it made me feel like a man again.
Time Constraints
The fifth and final problem area when dealing with internal noises is not having enough time. When you begin your God time you’re reminded you don’t have enough time.
This is me. I have to purposely set aside time each day just for God. To everyone besides God, I’m busy during that time.
If you’re not able to set aside time like this each day I recommend waking up earlier or finding other ideal times to spend with God. Some ideal times are when driving, exercising, or showering. If you’re in school and the teacher is boring this could also be an ideal time.
Quite yourself. After you’re quiet…move on to the next key. The next key directs our focus as we watch to see what God is saying. It’s hard to look at what we do not see.
Key 2: Fix Your Eyes on Jesus
The second key is: fix your eyes on Jesus. I love how Habakkuk said he was going to watch so he might listen. He knew sometimes God speaks one way and then yet another way. Habakkuk stood watch to see what God was saying.
We are to look and see what God is saying because sometimes He speaks through dreams, visions, an audible voice, thoughts, bill board signs, and other awesome ways.
We need to pay attention to how He is speaking to us because He never stops, when I don’t hear His voice it’s not because He stopped speaking. It’s either because He changed methods or I stopped listening.
Focusing on Jesus removes outside distractions and positions us to hear. When doing the two-way journaling it is important that we keep our eyes on Jesus. If you were talking to me you would focus on me; it is the same principle.
Dreams and Visions
I’m sure you know about visions but there are some people who don’t. Therefore, I’m going to give a quick over view.
“It shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
Dreams and visions are ways that God speaks with us. A vision is where God shows us something on the “screen of our mind.” It’s like when you imagine something except you’re not the one projecting the image.
Here’s a quick example: Ask the Father to show you a picture displaying how much He loves you. Did you get one? Now for dreams. A dream is…well…a dream. You see it while sleeping.
The Bible is full of instances where God spoke to people through dreams or visions. When you have a dream or vision you can test it to make sure it’s from God by asking three questions.
3 Questions to Test a Dream or Vision
- Is it consistent with the Word of God?
- Is it consistent with the character of God?
- What is the fruit? (What did the dream or vision produce…joy, love, fear?)
I expect Holy Spirit to show me what He desires as I offer the eyes of my heart to God. I reject anything from Satan. To fix your eyes on Jesus just close your eyes and ask, “Jesus, where are you in the room?”
This works the same as when you asked God to show you a picture displaying how much He loves you. When you see Jesus, focus on Him. This is the second step. When you set down and are ready to journal the things God wants to speak; quiet yourself and find Jesus in the room.
Key 3: Tune into Spontaneity
The third key is: tune into spontaneity. What I mean is pay attention to the random flow of thoughts that go through your mind. This is often where God is speaking.
To me God’s voice often sounds like my voice and to you God’s voice will often sound like your voice. God loves to hide blessings behind offense; therefore, don’t get discourage and think that you’re making it up.
If your mind tells you you’re not hearing God I encourage to press through the offense and you’ll find you probably are hearing the voice of our Father. God will more than likely sound like you and use words you would use so don’t dismiss random thoughts.
The Rhema speaks to the heart and the heart experiences spontaneous thoughts. Don’t analyze it. One quick way to make sure it’s God…He says nicer things about you than you would.
Key 4: Write it Down
The final and forth key is: write it down. In the next verse God replies to Habakkuk with, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run.”
Write down what God is telling you. Grab a piece of paper and start writing the thoughts filling your mind. Don’t worry about grammar or whether it’s from God. Just write. When you finish writing then go back and judge whether it came God.
Two-Way Journaling
This is two-way journaling. You write a question and God speaks the answer. Ask anything. I suggest starting with questions like, “God, how much do you love me?” or “Dad, what are your thoughts concerning this season in my life.”
I’d stay away from questions weighing on your mind. Questions like, “God, should I marry this girl?” are not the best questions for journaling because your mind will tell you want you want to hear. With questions concerning dating and such, it becomes harder to judge whether it’s from God.
I asked God who I should marry onetime and He responded with, “It’s your choice, pick someone.” That was not very helpful.
Conclusion
You can hear God’s voice. Grab a piece of paper and give it a go.
Quiet yourself and find Jesus in the room. Scribble down the question, “God how much do you love me?” Tune into the spontaneous thoughts flooding your mind. Begin to write. Just write. Write down everything that hits your heart.
Phrases such as, “I love you more than you know.” Write it down. Try not to analyze or judge it until you finish writing all you hear.
Quiet Time Challenge
One of the best ways to practice hearing God’s voice is through having a consistent quiet time with Him. In fact, two-way journaling is one of the five things when having a quiet time. If you long for a consistent and life-giving quiet time…join me for a free 5-Day Quiet Time Challenge.
In addition to receiving my free quiet time guide, detailing the five things I do when having a quiet time, you’ll also receive one email a day during the challenge to help kick start your quiet time. Join the challenge and get my free guide.
Take the Quiet Time Challenge
Question: What has God told you lately? Let me know in comments below.
