How to Hear God: a simple guide for normal people, by Pete Greig (Zondervan Reflective, 2022)
Can humans today hear from the God of the Bible? Not necessarily audibly, but can we know what He’s saying to us? If you’re curious, I highly recommend this book as an excellent, inspiring resource.
You can tell from the subtitle that it’s not a dry theological work. Instead, it’s a refreshing, accessible, and practical look at various ways Christians can “hear” God (and how to discern A: is it God, and B: am I hearing clearly?).
The key Scriptural passage acting as a framework for the book is the two travellers on the Emmaus Road from Luke 24, where the risen Christ walks with them and teaches them. And the emphasis is on hearing as a natural part of a conversational relationship with God.
While acknowledging Jesus as the Living Word, the book also addresses hearing God’s external word through the Bible, prayer, and prophecy, and His internal word in our spirits, in dreams, and in community, creation, and culture.
Chapters include examples from the Bible, personal experience, quotations from other works on the subject, and mini bio features of Christians both contemporary and historical.
Pete Greig is an excellent speaker, and by narrating his own book in audio form he makes it feel like hearers are listening to him on a podcast or at a conference. Now I want to buy a print copy to study in more depth. The questions for individual and group discussion will be helpful, as will the recommendations for further reading.
The author is also one of the founders of the 24/7 Prayer movement, which brings us, among other resources, the Lectio365 app and the Inner Room prayer app. You can read his bio at dirtyglory.org or at 24-7prayer.com/team/pete-greig.
[Review copy from the public library—but it’s on my to-buy list!]