Prayer - Has God ever talked back to you?

[LuvChess]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever had God respond back to them while they were praying. I recently watched a Charles Stanley sermon on TV where he suggested that God will converse back with you but we are t o interested in doing all the talking. I have tried this more than once, I pray and then I say to God "Ok, is there anything you would like to say to me" but I never get a response. I am not expecting the room to be filled with his voice though that would be great. I guess I am expecting him pressing his thoughts on my mind so that I know it's him talking to me.

Seems to me unless there is a conversation going both ways a relationship can't grow at all.

[crowwoman]

Actually, yeah, I usually do get a sense of the presence of God when I pray ... often with some direction or whatever.

[mybigGod]

God does exactly what He has proclaimed to us in His word. He never changes. We on the other hand have a thousand reasons to experience the rise and fall of these paradigms of assumptions that challenge the complexity in the mechanism of our thought patterns as our view of reality. I do believe that we have a spirit of the mind. How then... does God communicate from the written page to these areas of our souls in order to produce in us the proper inner world so that we begin to have the healthy soil that is a result from this multiple communication in the implantation? How does the seed of His word spring forth in our hearts to make us like a tree that will flourish?

This illuminated searching is the secret work of God ... the communication to uproot the hidden corruption of our hearts. Our natural exposure to the corruption of this world... our sin.. and the heaviness that is the sorrowful weight of holding us down in some other frame of mind is the adversity that keeps us from flourishing in experiencing all the eternal varieties.There is a sense in which this implanted communication begins to move in us to experience a profound spiritual awareness so that we are familiar with a peace that passes all understanding... a rejoicing with joy unspeakable in this  strengthening of the inner man as His method of impressing on our spiritual senses that He has communicated and irradiated this implanted life flow that we experience as a stream of living water that flows out of our hearts. I believe this is a process called weening.

This is why His communication is more than something that we receive in a single message. It is more of a mysterious searching. If you can think of all of the reasons why a person would react to circumstances in all of the multiple ways as the rational process of coming to some kind of acceptance in the circumstance... God sees the real facts of all that transpire in this world from the most minute detail in looking rite into the hearts of all mankind from the beginning of time to the end. This communication to us is beyond what we could fathom.       

[Callisti]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever had God respond back to them while they were praying. I recently watched a Charles Stanley sermon on TV where he suggested that God will converse back with you but we are t o interested in doing all the talking. I have tried this more than once, I pray and then I say to God "Ok, is there anything you would like to say to me" but I never get a response. I am not expecting the room to be filled with his voice though that would be great. I guess I am expecting him pressing his thoughts on my mind so that I know it's him talking to me.

Seems to me unless there is a conversation going both ways a relationship can't grow at all.

Sometimes, His silence is His response.
It doesn't come easy. We have to actively pursue Him and He'll take care of the rest. I need to constantly remind myself of that

Remember what Dr. Stanley said? "When necessary, He'll move heaven and earth to show us His will".

I grew up on Dr. Stanley's radio program and I've also have many downloads of his sermon.
God showed me truths through Dr. Stanley.
I really want to be part of the church congregation, but I'm waiting on God

[crowwoman]

Michael Card: "Could it be You make Your presence known so often by Your absence? Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever do? Could it be that You would really rather die than live without us? Could it be the only answer that means anything is You? "

[daveed]

Michael Card: "Could it be You make Your presence known so often by Your absence? Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever do? Could it be that You would really rather die than live without us? Could it be the only answer that means anything is You? "

well placed.

[Priscilla JOY]

Seems to me unless there is a conversation going both ways a relationship can't grow at all.

Yes, that is sooo true. I've been reading books written by John Eldredge about this very subject for 2 years now. "The Sacred Romance", "Walking with God" are two great ones. These books completely changed my view of God and changed my relationship with Him.

Yes He speaks to us. Yes, yes yes I've heard His voice. He speaks to my heart. He puts thoughts in my mind that I KNOW could only come from Him. He's my best friend, my perfect Lover, my comforter. How could that be possible if I never heard from Him? If He never told me how much He loves me, how happy He is that I finally heard Him. Most of my life I missed all the things that He was trying to show me because I didn't recognize His voice. He longs for us to hear Him and converse together. That's what friends do. That's what it means to be in a relationship. Sharing your heart and Him sharing His heart back.

I used to think that the only way God spoke to us was through the bible. But that's just not true. Yes, He DOES speak to us through His written word. I will never dispute that. But He is the LIVING word. He, Jesus, is the LIVING WORD. And He will use whatever it takes to get us to SEE Him, to HEAR Him. He pursues us. He wants us to notice Him.  Sometimes I picture Him in a crowd, waving above every body else and saying, do you see me, Priscilla, do you see me? Yes, I see you Lord. I long to see you every day, every minute. I will keep my eyes on You.

If I may quote John Eldredge from his newest book "Love & War, Finding the Marriage You've Dreamed of"

"God wants an intimate relationship with us. He is not a God who is far away; he is the God who has made us his dwelling place. We are the temple of the Lord. When by faith, we confess that Jesus is Lord, he comes and makes his home in us. He could not be any closer. To talk to God, we don't have to shout. For the Creator of the Universe to hear us, we do not have to yell. Rather, to speak with him, we quiet ourselves. He is our breath. He is in every heartbeat. He tells us, "be still and know that I am God" (Psalms 46:10).

In the same way, for us to hear him,we need to settle down, to quiet ourselves, and to listen.....

God speaks to his people. It is normal. The Bible makes that abundantly clear. In the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as a good shepherd, and we his sheep:
 
The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice....(John 10:3,4,16)

How do the sheep follow their shepherd? Because they hear his voice..

...Prayer is meant to be a conversation: God wants to speak to us. To live an intimate, conversational relationship with God is the normal Christian life...He never tires of speaking with us, to us. He wants to. What a great gift that we get to walk with Christ every moment of our lives; talk with him, ask for his guidance, listen to his love."

[daveed]

talk with him, ask for his guidance, listen to his love."

guidance=G.U.I. Dance= God you and I dance.

He leads.

[Priscilla JOY]

guidance=G.U.I. Dance= God you and I dance.

He leads.

Awesome!!!! That takes my breath away.

[daveed]

guidance=G.U.I. Dance= God you and I dance.

He leads.

Awesome!!!! That takes my breath away.

It's from an old email that is probably still circulating... believe me when I say that is not original to me. But the truth is the truth.

[crowwoman]

And you brought it to our attention!

[daveed]

And you brought it to our attention!

you never fail to be encouraging to me CW.

[crowwoman]

Thanks Daveed. Glad you're back!

[THOR]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever had God respond back to them while they were praying. I recently watched a Charles Stanley sermon on TV where he suggested that God will converse back with you but we are t o interested in doing all the talking. I have tried this more than once, I pray and then I say to God "Ok, is there anything you would like to say to me" but I never get a response. I am not expecting the room to be filled with his voice though that would be great. I guess I am expecting him pressing his thoughts on my mind so that I know it's him talking to me.

Seems to me unless there is a conversation going both ways a relationship can't grow at all.

When I was saved God appeared to me as a Great light and then also the next day at Church. His Presence happens from time to time but not reciently. I have never heard God speak but He would just put thoughts into my head as I prayed and did so in such a way that I knew it was not me but from God. I look forward to seeing God once again in the future. It was and awsome and fearful thing to experience.

Thor

[Obed]

I know it sounds cliche or simplistic, but usually, the way God talks back to me is through the Scriptures.  If we're praying to God but not reading His Word, we're not likely going to hear from Him. 

I also hear his voice through my Prayer Book and hymnals. For us more evangelical folk that may seem counter-intuitive (what with our "denominational" bias against liturgy and our cultural bias toward CCM worship), but it works for me.  Sometimes, prayerfully reciting the liturgy's prayers helps remind me of things I need to talk to God about (people to pray for, issues I need his help with, praise I've been withholding, etc.).  Sometimes it says things better than I am.  Sometimes it talks to me even as I'm using it to talk to God.  Also, there are places in the liturgy I use that recommends "a time of silence" before moving on.  Sometimes I hear God in that silence.

God also speaks to me through other Christians.  Sometimes folks will say things to me that I know were from God, even if His messenger didn't know it.  The same thing happens at times when I'm reading books or listening to music (and not always "Christian" books or music).

Welcome to the wide, wide world of Spiritual Formation