Customer Reviews

Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God

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I first read In Search of Guidance because of the great experience I had with Willard's other book, The Spirit of the Disciplines. In Guidance we are presented with non-trivial explanations on how to align our lives in such a way as to be open to the direction of God. I was particularly impressed with the depth of the book. Before even stating how we are to hear God, Willard discusses the role our beliefs have in the matter. This seems so obvious, but it is so often overlooked. It is obvious because if we do not believe that God speaks through events and other happenings we will always be waiting for the quintissential lighting bolt of inspiration. Willard also discusses the role our very lives have in communion with God. He states that if we are not living lives in alignment with God's will it will be pretty hard to hear God, since in essence we are ignoring Him in our very being. Thus Willard elaborates on two themes that I have not found in other books. Only after this discussion does Willard launch into how we come to recognize God's voice - not normally in a thunderous clang but in the small whisper leading us to right action. This was especially important to me because I have had much contact with Christians who seem paralyzed if they get no momentous sign from God after a few prayers. But Willard tells us that sometimes - believe it or not - a person may not hear that big bang and make a decision and still be following the will of God since whatever choice they make will be in accordance with God's will, granted that they are living a life in close communion and alignment with God. I commend Willard for this penetrating book. At least for an engineering mind like mine it made great sense and certainly explained the totality of my interaction with God in asking for guidance.

This is easily the best book on finding God's will I have ever read. It succeeds because Willard recognizes there are no formulas. The way to find God's will is to find God and learn how to converse with him. Willard argues that in seeking God's will, we generally are asking the wrong questions: "What job should I take?" "Whom should I marry?" Those questions are legitimate but should be secondary to desires to have a deep relationship with God. It is in that relationship with God that the questions of our lives get answered. Willard then explores what the Bible teaches regarding ways in which God communicates with us. Excellent.

Dallas Willard's consistency over many years of writing becomes incredibly clear as you read this re-release. Contrasting this earliest book to The Divine Conspiracy (1998) and The Spirit of the Disciplines (1988), one sees how well Dr Willard's work holds together. Each book emphasizes a theme and each stands strongly on its own (you'll note he is not your "book a year" kind of author--lot's of quality here). I am on my 3rd read of this in about a year and continue to chew it thoroughly. Hats off to IVP for re-releasing it (though I like the original title better). I commend it to readers tired and frustrated with much of what is taught about prayer and where they are and God is in all of it. Dr Willard has been given a great gift and he shares it freely here.

In "Hearing God," Dallas Willard runs through the prison stuffing keys in all the cell doors, inviting us to turn the key and be set free from our preconceived notions of when and how God speaks to us. Make no mistake, this is no light summer reading, and it will require a lot of time to digest everything he has to say. I recently finished reading this book, and I feel as if scales have fallen from my eyes. Willard is pointing us toward what life can be like if you would only have confidence in the fact that God wants to speak to you, if only you would know what frequency to tune your ears to (I know, that's a horrible analogy, but it's the best I can come up with while staring at a computer monitor).

Trust me, please, read this book prayerfully and with the full expectancy that God will open your eyes to all that is truly going on around you. It will forever change you...

This is not a book on figuring out the will of God, though knowing and doing what God requires is discussed as an essential aspect of having a relationship with Him. This is not a book on prayer, though prayer is discussed as the essential medium for a personal relationship with God. It is about living with God as a shaping force in our lives. The genius of this book is found in that it describes a relationship with God. It tells us what life in relation with God looks like. Willard suggests that it is our difficulty in hearing the voice of God (the word of God) that hinders our relationship with Him. The book answers the question of whether or not we actually can hear the voice of God, how God speaks to us, how we can know it is really God, and how we are to respond when God speaks.

Having a conversational relationship with God is grounded first and foremost in faith. We must trust in the One who holds the future, who reveals His will, and who wants to take up residence in our hearts. We must believe that God wants all of this for us. A conversational relationship with God means that we cultivate a heart that is able to hear God speak. We are able to know and sense God's presence with us. We are aware of God's presence in our circumstances, we are able to hear the Still Small Voice of the Spirit, and we are able to read the Bible in such a way that it shapes the manner in which we live. Like any relationship or any form of communication, this takes time, maturity, practice, and skills. Willard provides insight into all these areas.

There are no quick roads to blessing in this book. Willard provides no shortcuts because God offers none. He merely asks us, "Do you trust God enough to care about what He says, listen for what He says, and then live according to what He tells you?" May it be so.

I wish someone had given me this book ten years ago. I've asked many times how I might be able to hear God speaking directly to me, and I never thought there could be a practical approach to the issue.

Willard begins by dispelling images of the God-human relationship that make humans to be nothing but marionettes or drones in God's service, not unlike the Stepford Wives. Instead, he invites us to believe the Bible stories in which God directly addresses individuals. We can believe confidently that God would speak to us that way, God does, God can, and God should.

There are many ways through which God speaks, but the preferred method is the still, small inner voice (p. 89). We should not subscribe to "Bible Deism" (p. 107) and assume the Bible alone is the only way that God speaks. God also speaks in phenomena, angels, dreams, audible voices, and other human voices (p. 91).

When the word of God is planted in us, it washes through us and replaces all of the false ideas and confusions with truth (p. 152). Christ then lives in us and we are able to pray the Scriptures in order to meet him. As we read, we should follow this pattern: reading for information, longing for it to be son, affirming that it must be so, invoking God to make it so, and appropriating that it is so (p. 164).

As we begin to discern the still, small voice within us, there are three things that will confirm the message: circumstances, impressions of the Spirit, and passages of Scriptures. Usually the three will confirm the message simultaneously. The voice will be calm and confident. It will not contradict Scripture. The more we listen, the more familiar it will become. Willard recommends spending an hour after praying for God's word doing something that requires attention but allows one's mind to wander, like gardening (p. 199). A general attitude of listening makes him open to what God wants to say.

Finally, there are summary steps to follow in hearing God (p. 213-5). 1. We are born again and seek to know how life should be morally lived. 2. We seek to live in service. 3. We meditate on the Scriptures. 4. We are alert to the events of our own lives. 5. We address the issues of our lives directly to God. 6. We listen to God. 7. If we do not hear from God, seek to clear obstructions from our lives, ask the counsel of two other wise Christians, and then act on what seems most reliable.

Willard's book is a practicum in mysticism. It is the question that every theist longs to ask and usually does not feel entitled to or doesn't feel capable of answering. This is an open door to contact with the divine, and yet it is simple and accessible. This should be standard seminary reading.

I stopped recommending a platitude of books for people to read who are trying to get a common-sense grasp of one of the most conjectured topics in Christendom- hearing God. Now I recommend they read this book first. It has such breadth and practicality to it, it really leaves no stone unturned on this topic. Well organized and well thought, the book is not simple, but is simply read. Some books on this topic easily burp with sectarian or thoelogical bias, but Willard doesn't fall into that trap. Instead, he retains clear convictions while being spectacularily Biblical. In the end, he gives excellent fore-thought for the person who might want to actually take his book to task through action. Like "Divine Conspiracy", this book has many generations in shelf live. No serious investigation into this topic should pass over this book.

Renowned author Dallas Willard explains in nine chapters and an epilogue how it is possible for us to hear God, or, more specfically, how to develop a "conversational relationship with God." An essential element in developing that relationship is to "live in the will of God." In other words, we WON'T hear God if we approach his guidance just to make sure we are right or to make sure we will gain personal favor.

Willard also explains in his book that one of the primary reasons he wrote it was to help us distinguish between those who truly hear God's word versus those who may claim they are being guided by God, but who may be led by their own ambition. Even our so-called religious leaders are subject to such misdirection, and particularly valuable aspects of this book show readers how we might recognize the voice of God actually "talking" to us in contrast to our simply wishing we were conversing with God or imagining the same.

The key criteria for figuring out what God might be telling us are the "three lights." Willard explains that in determining what God's will for us might be, we need to compare what we think we hear from God to see if that message fits the circumstances of our lives, fits the promptings of the inner spirit, and is consistent with holy scripture. Willard provides readers a clear exposition of these lights and then goes on to describe, equally as clearly, the qualities of God's voice. One of those qualities is that God will not converse with us in ambiguous or vague language. Instead, he will tell us clearly what he intends. We won't need to guess at his intent or his message.

One of the most common ways God communicates with us is through an inner voice. It is a "voice" that we don't necessarily need ears with which to hear it, yet we need to remain still, to pay attention, to be patient, to be humble, and above all, we need to live a life of faith in God and committed to living in relationship with him.

Dallas Willard points the direction to a life of loving God in his book, HEARING GOD. The path is there to all those who believe in Christ, it is not hidden. This is not a book about doing what we are told to do, but rather entering into a loving relationship with the Lord and the direction he provides in making us who He wants us to be. As Mr. Willard writes, "Hearing God is but one dimension of a richly interactive relationship, and obtaining guidance is but one facet of hearing God." This book points to a life long relationship with Christ, and will lead the reader into being the kind of person He calls each of us to be.

Dallas Willard's book, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, has the most practical, wise and biblically sound reading I have ever done on the subject of divine guidance. It's a book worth reading over and again for those who wrestle with the problems of how God communicates with us personally: Is it presumptuous to think that God would want to communicate with us directly? Isn't the Bible an entirely sufficient revelation of God's will for any and all Christians? What is the relationship between the Bible and more personal forms of communication from God? How do we reliably distinguish the voice of God from our own thoughts and desires? What if something which I believe God is telling me later proves to be mistaken? Willard deals with these issues in very perceptive and insightful ways, not with pat answers and formulas. (Though he does provide one formula at the end of the book, it's for "living with God's voice", not for getting God to speak with us on matters that may concern us.)

It seems reasonable to assume that God's speaking with us must be a matter which is entirely up to him and is independent of our own condition. If God wants to tell us something he should have no trouble in getting our attention and getting his point across to us, like he did with Saul of Tarsus (who later became Paul the Apostle) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). This is certainly true in principle, but I think Willard would argue that these are exceptional means which would be out of God's character and intent for normal use. Rather, God wants to speak to those who honestly and earnestly desire to hear his voice. He speaks mainly to those who are humble in character, receptive and responsive in spirit. That God speaks to us isn't a matter of reward or privilege for being righteous or devout. It doesn't put what God says to us personally on the same level of authority with Scripture or give us license to neglect careful and rigorous study of the Bible. God's speaking to us doesn't make us infallible hearers of what is said any more than we are infallible in our understanding of what anyone else says to us. Nor can we rely on God to speak to us about any matter that we wish him to in order to escape all responsibility for what he wants to be our own decisions or because we are "obsessed with being right as a strategy for being safe." Hearing from God is not a means toward risk free living. Certain risks are necessary to produce character in us. Though there is certainly some benefit to living wisely in God's counsel, what God says to us may take us out of our comfort zone. It's important to understand that, "God doesn't speak to us to amuse or entertain us but to make some real difference in our lives." Hearing God has as much to do with who God wants us to be as it does with what he wants us to do.

Willard puts divine guidance in it's proper context. It is not an end in itself but a vital part of living a "life greater than our own-that of the kingdom of God." This life is not only for "super spiritual" people but is accessible to anyone who would enter it. For all the correctives that Willard gives on matters of divine guidance for Christians, the book's main purpose is to show that God strongly desires to communicate with us on a personal, conversational level. Willard shows us how this desire can be met with our own desires as part of a whole life lived in the will of God. This is not without its challenges in the modern world. "Nearly all areas of life in which we could become spiritually competent (hearing God and receiving divine guidance among them) confront us with the same type of challenge. The all require of us a choice to be a spiritual person, to live a spiritual life. We are required to "bet our life" that the visible world, while real, is not reality itself" (p. 219).

"Spiritual people," Willard says, "are not those who engage in certain spiritual practices; they are those who draw their life from a conversational relationship with God. They do not live their lives merely in terms of the human order in the visible world; they have "a life beyond" (p. 222). This book offers tremendous encouragement that not only is such a life possible, it is available to any who desire it. Indeed, if "God has created us for intimate friendship with himself-both now and forever", our desire to hear God has its source in him and trying to live our lives without hearing God would be more presumptuous and dangerous than otherwise (p. 9-10).