Tuning into the Frequency of God
KEys to hearing God
In the corner of my childhood home sat a huge antique Philco tube radio with ornate wood inlays, unused and more of a monument to the past than a fixture in our present. In the past, it was the gathering point of the family and the primary source of news, culture, and the music of day for all who would pause in the busyness of their day to listen. Now it was a silent reminder of what had been. For years, as children, we walked by paying little attention to it, as it served little functional purpose other than to look nice. My brother and I would turn the dials, pretending to tune into imaginary broadcasts that we thought could have been on that radio. We imagined getting messages from far off lands in other languages. It never crossed our minds that perhaps this radio could still work and that we could actually tune it in and find authentic radio stations broadcasting actual stories.
One day, we chose to look around the back side of the radio and noticed a power cord that had been wrapped up and tucked inside the body of this monument to the past. As we plugged in the radio, lights turned on, and sound emanated from the old speakers hauntingly calling out between the white noise of the frequency that was not properly tuned in. We positioned ourselves in front of that radio and took hold of the tuning dials on the front of the radio, trying to tune in to some station from somewhere, hoping to hear something that might of interest or value to us. We had no idea what we were listening for... we just wanted to hear something.
Many of us are like this with God. We spend much of our time walking around knowing that He is there, but not taking the time to posture and position ourselves in such a way that we could could plug in, tune in and listen to a God who actually speaks and has things to say to us. God is always speaking. He is always “broadcasting”, so to speak, and He wants to speak to each and every one of us if we are willing to listen. Like that radio in the basement, hearing God has to do with a few key things as we seek to tune to the frequency of heaven.
First, we have to believe that God is both able to speak and that He is wanting to speak to you personally. Sometimes we think that God has spoken in the past, and He may speak today, but why would He want to speak to me personally? The simple, yet ridiculously profound reason is because He made you, He loves you and He wants to have a real vital life-giving relationship with you. He is not at far off, aloof and disengaged from our lives. He is intimate and real, closer than you know, and 100% invested in relationship with you. He is speaking, has stuff to say to you, about you, about Him and what is happening around you. So the first thing is choosing to believe that He is able and wanting to speak to you.
Second, is that we have to choose to engage with God and posture and position ourselves before and with Him. This begins with choosing to believe in Jesus and inviting Him into your life as your Lord and Saviour. That is step one. Step two is asking God to fill you with His Holy Spirit. When we come to Christ, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit of God comes and dwells in you. When we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us we are giving Him full access to our heart and soul, and in so doing welcoming His presence. When we are in and with Christ, we are in a great place to hear His voice. Hearing God always has more to do with the posture of you heart than the posture of your body.
Third, is giving God the space to speak to you. For many of us that means stopping, to actively pause in His presence, giving Him the opportunity to speak to us. In 1 Samuel 3, we read about Samuel as a child, who is in the tabernacle of the Lord when he first hears God speak. He doesn’t know God, or even that he could reply back to Him. Prompted by his master, Eli, Samuel responds to God that he is available and ready to hear from God: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” When God calls again, Samuel is postured and positioned and now tuned into the fact that God speaks. Samuel listens as God speaks to him in a profound and trajectory-altering manner. From that day forward, Samuel hears and recognizes God’s voice. God speaks about Samuel’s life and future, but also entrusts Samuel with His thoughts and words for the nation of Israel and for specific people.
Hearing God requires that we are willing to come to Him without our pride, expectations, issues, and previous experience. We must become like children, as a son or daughter who longs to hear from their dad. God elevates the humble and childlike. (Matthew 18:4-5) Not the childish and prideful. As we are learning to hear God’s voice, there is always value to coming humbly before Him as God gives grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5b-6). We all need a measure of grace when we are learning to hear God’s voice.
Those who are hungry for more of Him, humble of heart and teachable are in a great place to hear God’s voice. If you are arrogant and proud, you will have trouble because you will be afraid to make a mistake and look bad. Learning means you will get it wrong at times and miss the frequency or way that He is speaking to you. God speaks in so many different ways: through His word, in prayer, in pictures, in dreams, in visions, though Godly community, and other ways as well. As you are learning to hear, you may get it wrong or miss it at times. But, if you make the effort, if you posture and position your heart and spiritual ears to hear, you will also learn to listen for the ways He speaks with you. As you grow and learn to trust God and hear His voice, learning how He speaks to you specifically, you will hear Him speak more and more.
The goal is not just to hear God as a skill, but to hear God increasingly so that you can grow in your intimacy and relationship with God. Hearing His voice is a game-changer for us as His followers. We need to invite Him to speak to us, taking time to not just speak to God, but also to wait and listen, and then be willing to act on what we hear Him saying to us. He will speak to you, in fact, He is already.
The hope is to position yourself and your heart in such a way that you can have the best chance of hearing God. In a room full of people, the closer that you are to the person speaking will greatly affect your ability to accurately and consistently hear them speak. Conversely, the more that is in between you and the speaker, the more voices that you have to listen through, the harder it will be to clearly hear and respond to them.
We all have a number of voices that we are listening to at any given time, in culture, media, family and others. My encouragement to you is that God has so much to say about our current realities, struggles, circumstances and challenges. He is wanting to speak to you about who He is, the difference that He can make in your life and also the worth, value, love and identity that He has for you. Often, we will only hear these things if we are willing to pause intentionally in His presence and hear Him speak.
How are you actively plugging into, or connecting with God in an effort to hear Him speak?
How are you posturing and positioning yourself in His presence available to hear what He has to say to you?
Who are you allowing to speak into your life, your circumstances and journey right now?
What are the challenges or limiting factors that you know about in your life that hold you back from tuning in and taking the time to hear His voice?
Today, I want to encourage you to stop in God’s presence, and invite Him to speak to you sometime in your day. Commit yourself to being available as Samuel was, to living tuned into “God’s frequency”, and listening for what He may be wanting to say to you. Write down things that you hear, and at the end of the day review them. Look for themes that jump out at you. Take note of things that line up with what you know to be right and true about God and how He has spoken in the past. Does it line up with His heart and His character? Is it in line with Scripture? Does it come with a measure of peace? Things that don’t line up, cross them out and disregard them. But the things that do line up, the things that sound like Him and how He would speak, that line up with His Word and His heart for you, receive them and thank God for speaking. If there is an action item, something that He is calling you to do or a step of faith or risk that He is calling you to take, make a plan, invite Him to join you in it and do it!
In time you will find that you, like the young boy Samuel, will begin to readily recognize the voice of God and how He speaks to you. If you find yourself walking by the old radio in your life today, stop, plug it in, tune it to God’s frequency and listen closely, He is wanting to speak with you!
