Hearing God's Voice

How do you know it’s God’s voice?

We received this awesome question last week and got really excited to talk about it.  Of course, we are Christians and are seeking to grow in our faith every single day.  That journey has led to daily wanting to be led by the Lord in our thoughts, decisions and way we live our lives.

For us, with so much responsibility as spouses, parents and leaders we do not want to do it on our own.  Everyone is looking to someone or something for guidance and direction in this life to lead us to the type of success we are looking for.  Unfortunately, many voices and directions don’t work.  For us, it has to be the Lord.

In this episode Griffin and Heather discuss what it even means to hear from the Lord.  They talk about how God speaks to them differently and how they practically approach trying to hear from God daily.

Thank you for taking this journey with us!  We hope to strengthen your marriage one conversation at a time.  And don't forget to check out more resources at RealMarriagePodcast.com.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the real marriage podcast with Griffin and Heather Gill strap. It is good to be back with you as we are in may running right into the summer heat. My goodness. I'm not going to miss the humidity. What did you call it? Other called it something. What about a blanket today? What did you say? It was like six 30 in the morning. I was like, this is awful. And I came back inside and Griffin's like laying in bed, all cozy Griffin. That was horrible. Felt like a warm blanket. That's right when it's funny, 80 degrees. It's so funny. Now that we're leaving Florida, we can be super honest and outspoken about it. Always been like, yeah, I know. But like, isn't it funny? Like we're moving on now. It can just like, be real about how we feel about certain things. And Heather's talked about the weather for me. The only thing good about the summer is my birthday. So that's it. Huh? You, you took the kids to the pool the other day. It's nice pool weather already, which is good. Now there's a lot of beautiful things about Florida, but I'm excited. I'm excited that the summer won't last more than it is supposed to 17 months. Jesus. That's what it is, babe. Absolutely. There's a lot to look forward to. The mountains are calling. It is humid up in North Carolina, but not nearly for as long and as intense for sure. So we got a really cool, uh, request, which we all we want to invite you all. If you have a topic that you'd like to share, we have an email address. We have, you can DMS on Instagram and reach out and on the website, you can request the topics. What do you want to hear? What is something you're going through personally with your marriage, with your relationship? What do you want to hear about if you're going to be married, those kinds of things. We've covered a lot of topics over 60. We've done over 60 episodes, which is crazy. Wow. Anyways, this a woman to reach out to us and wanted us to talk about how do you hear God's voice? And of course, Heather is so funny. I'm a pastor and I'm like, let's talk more practical marriage stuff. Heather's like, can we talk about Jesus and the Holy spirit and how God's working? So you, you perked up with this and I'm like, let's, let's do that. Let's go into a kind of a spiritual thing. It totally applies to marriage because can you imagine our marriage without like our relationship with Christ, with where it's at? Like how different you think it would be without where we've gone with the Lord, it would be messy. And we would be way too dependent on each other and ways we are never supposed to be looking for answers from one another. When we literally have no clue what's going on two broken people worrying. So it's like, when you're looking to somebody else, who's just as broken to do things for you that they're just not meant to fail. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I can't imagine. Yeah, it is kind of interesting with that. So we are going to dive into that massive topic. How do you hear the voice of God before I do that, I want to touch on, we have listeners that aren't even believers. And so I hope you tune into this and hear where we're coming from. A kind of a testimony. I think how we're going to share this, how each of us have discovered what that looks like, but why are we talking about this? And I guess my question would be, how, how does it feel to try to navigate this life on your own strength and you and I have both had the season where maybe we believed in God, but we certainly didn't pursue God have a relationship with, with Christ personally. And I don't know about you, but when I look back 15 years ago, when I was just trying to go through life myself, make my own decisions, my own path, my future, my job, who I'm going to marry all of these decisions I felt lost. And if I was to describe it now, it was very confusing. Would you agree like way back?

Speaker 2: 4:03

Yeah. Confusing. And I was just relying on myself and my abilities of what I could do, because that was what, like I knew, I, you know, I knew there was God and that he loved me, but I was not really pursuing a deep relationship with him. So I was focused on what can Heather do and accomplish on our own. And then what could these really unhealthy toxic relationships? How could they complete me or what can I get out of that? Right. Friendships and boyfriends and that sort of thing. So

Speaker 1: 4:35

It w it's almost, we're all searching for purpose and meaning and direction, peace and peace. Am I doing the right things? Am I in the right place? Do I go this direction or that direction? Or why do I feel an emptiness when I have a lot of good things in front of me? I mean, it's very complicated in life. No matter what you believe in is extremely difficult. And it seems like it's getting increasingly difficult in the culture and the climate we live in. But that's, I guess the question I would ask on the other side is how does it feel to try to navigate it on your own strength and in your own wisdom? And then what voices are you turning to? Who can you really trust to really help guide you to figure things out as you go forward? And I think that's where you and I kind of landed is we started to realize the life we want to live in the direction. We want to go, we're all in with the Lord, but we need to be led by him. And that I think as we got married and had 12,000 children has led us to almost more and more dependence in need of the Lord's strength and truly not wanting to live a life where I rely on Heather's strength or my strength, we need him to be very much involved.

Speaker 2: 5:47

Yeah. And, and touching on the, what voice are you listening to? You know, there are, there are voices you're listening to, whether you're aware of it or not. Right. And I, no matter where you are in the scale of your faith to not having really any relationship with God, or you, maybe you are living with a different religion, or maybe you're just starting out as a Christian, whatever that looks like for you today, as you're listening to this, there are voices you listen to. And either you are trying to hear God's voice and you are, and I think we have some, our testimony could help strengthen that. And if you are, then that's amazing. Some of us are also so focused on hearing our own voice or the voices of others. So other created human broken people, like those are the strongest voices, all the voices on social media, all, everyone has an opinion right now, everyone, whatever side you're on. It's fear-based, I mean, it's just full. Everyone is so full of their thoughts and their views. It's just, it's noisy. And then there's also the voice of the enemy where you, if, whether you believe it or not, there's an enemy who wants you to not believe in God. And his voice is very sneaky and his voice is very crafty. And again, wherever you are, I know that that voice has played into your life, whether you're aware of it or not. So this is a conversation where we want to, we want to equip you when no matter where you are, we want to get you thinking. We want to get you realizing, like, and maybe there's something that I'm not aware of. Maybe you grew up in church, and this wasn't really talked about. There's so much to having a relationship with Jesus. I mean, he hasn't seen speaking since the beginning of creation and has never stopped. And it's up to us to, are we tuning in to his voice and turning his frequency up the loudest and the other ones down?

Speaker 1: 7:47

Yeah, man, there's so much you touched, I think you're the preacher in this marriage. Actually, you just went right into it, uh, telling people the truth, whether you believe it or not, this is how it is. No, I love it because you touched on something. That's really interesting. We're all clinging to certain voices. That's, you know, we have like, you'd like to say on Instagram, we're followers, you know, how many followers do you have? And so it's almost this built in mindset. We're looking for leadership. We're looking for people who have it together and who are doing life the right way. And we almost start chasing their presented beautiful things online without any connection or relationship to them, trying to go that direction when they're making money off of us as we follow them. But anyways, but there's, this, that mindset is looking for something to tell us, how do we do this? Right? How do we succeed? How do I not fail and screw up everything that I have? And there are so many places to look. And I think if a lot of us were honest, so many of those areas in the world are, leave us more or create this gap of like, I'm never going to get there. I can't produce that. And you're even left more going, okay. Even what's in front of me, I can't achieve. So what do I really do?

Speaker 2: 9:07

Yeah. And what you just made me think of like, Oh, I think most of the things that we are searching and seeking are internal joy, love, all these things are an internal. They're not, we think these outward things are going to fulfill that. We think that was actually going to bring us the peace, you know? And so then when we see these beautiful women on social media who have these perfect families and they have photo shoots all the time and their teeth are really white and whatever, they have the perfect wardrobe when we're like, Oh, look how happy she is in these pictures. This, I must follow her and not miss a perfect square post because like, I want happiness and I want joy and I want a family. So I'm yeah. So I'm going to just follow this and not miss a thing and be locked in because however she's doing it, it's gotta be how it's gonna work. And I just, I love that you said that because that's the lie. And, and, you know, I think I've said it on here before a pastor said at once, like it's a feed, you know, and it's feeding you and I've, I've now I'll never forget that because it's so true. It's just so true. So I'm excited to talk about this.

Speaker 1: 10:13

Well, all that to say it it's led you and I in our own lives to one source and a desire. If we believe in God, if we believe Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. And we have been invited through that death, burial and resurrection of Christ into a relationship with God, for me, where I got to is I believe in God, but what does it mean to follow him and hear from him and be led by him? And, um, I want to hear, maybe you can start about, I know you wrote some notes here about how that kind of started with you, but for me, I guess I was so uncomfortable with that idea. Even like, as I'm drawn into becoming a pastor, which is so funny, so we knew the need. Um, but how did you get even comfortable wanting to pursue that in a relationship with Jesus at the very beginning, this, even this idea that God wants to speak to us, which we can touch on, it's not an audible voice. There's so many different ways. God is directing and leading and prompting us. But how did that, how did that, how did that pursuit even begin for you?

Speaker 2: 11:18

I think I was watching how other people would like in church culture, hear from the Lord. And, and I, there was a few people that I just was like, ah, I just, how do they have that? Like, whatever they have, I want that. And you know, Griffin, his personality is like logical fact. Like he could just read the word and get something out of it. And I'm like this. I was just, I was having a hard time. I was having a hard time understanding the Bible being filled up by the Bible. And then this was like at the beginning of her marriage. And then I felt bad about that. And I was like, what's wrong with me? Like,

Speaker 1: 11:58

You were like intimidated by my seminary.

Speaker 2: 12:01

He was in seminary. He was just so full of knowledge. I was like, this is amazing. I have nothing to offer those conversations

Speaker 1: 12:08

In the Bible together. And Heather would be sheepishly not wanting to share. It was really interesting navigating getting to the place where you and I even got comfortable talking about our faith and pursuing it together.

Speaker 2: 12:20

I think I just realized, man, the way that God, if I, when I started to look at the Bible and be like, he talked to people through dreams, visions, other people, burning bushes, like, and I just was listing out all the ways. It's like, you can talk to me however you want. It's not one size fits all. And it's not a step. There's not a step to this. If there was three step process, we would have told you, we've got three ways. Don't

Speaker 1: 12:46

What, you're what you're saying is it's not like we're going to lay out if you do this, this and this then it'll happen.

Speaker 2: 12:52

No, cause that's religion and this is a relationship,

Speaker 1: 12:55

But there is kind of a process over time where it gets easier and more familiar in the comfort of your own specific relationships

Speaker 2: 13:05

Of the relationship. Because it's, I started pursuing the presence of Jesus. Not necessarily like, what can I get out of this? How can I get something from you? How can I hear from you about what I should do with my, how can I, it was more of like, I just want to be with you because if this is just about a relationship with Jesus, I want to know who you are, heavenly father. I want to know your nature and your character. And when I think about that in a marriage, that's when you're dating and when you're with like, it's like, I want to know you, like, I want to know your favorite color. I want to be able to know from across the room, what that facial expression meant. Like, I want to know when you're stressed, I want to know what you're thinking. Like, I want to know you and that's what it's like with Jesus and it's possible. And it takes time and it takes sacrifice and it takes delighting in just being with him and we can talk about, well, what does that look like? Um, but I started to pursue that over, Oh, I got to hear your voice. Oh, what am I missing out on? Uh, why can't I have knowledge at Griffin

Speaker 1: 14:09

Like this measurement of what it feels and looks like. And I love what you said about the motive. What's the motive with wanting to hear from God. And if you put it in a, I can speak from a father's perspective. I don't want my children just to come to me because they want something. Right. And we go through seasons more so with you where they're just demanding because you're so giving and you're providing, and you're the source of everything for the kids in a lot of ways throughout the day, if you don't feel valued or that they, they care about, you love, you appreciate, you just want to be around you and want more from you, just for you rather than what you can give to them. It's the same exact dynamic when it comes to God, when people talk about how God's not a vending machine and you plug in for prayers and out spits, what you've asked for and what he desires is you, he desires your trust, your time, your love, your affection. It is truly the most unique dynamic of a relationship that you can have. But I think a lot of us struggle to hear from God at times, because all we're looking for is to hear from him for our own motives for our own life and God desires way more than that.

Speaker 2: 15:24

Right. And so I think I just begin to allow myself to just be like, okay, let me think of how you wired me. I'm a creative, like I'm emotional. I'm very emotionally driven person. I'm aware of creation. Like I literally think in rhyme and rhythm, like, um, I'm like,

Speaker 1: 15:45

We're inspired by visuals and like in nature and books and words and so on.

Speaker 2: 15:53

And yes. And so I began to think like, if that's how you created me, then that's probably how you're going to speak to me. So it was, again, it was an, and then I, then when I read the Bible, I saw that I saw art in the creation story. And I saw even in the parables, like, wow, that was just really poetic Jesus. Like I began to in, in the Psalms, I was like, Oh, this is the, I actually think this way. And I would read the ESV. And then I would also supplement that with the message. And then sometimes I'd read the passion and I would read and I fee and I would, and I'd read even the new King, James just, I would just read different ways. The same verse was written and it would just inspire me in different ways. And then I began to just give him room to speak. I would have quiet worship on, or I would go on a walk or I would just, I would ask him a question. And I, and now I do this in my journal. And if we were filming it, I would show you. But I write in one color, my thoughts, my heart, my praise to him, what I love about him. And then I asked him a question. I literally ask Jesus a question. And then I sit there and then I often in a different color pen. I write down what I think I hear. And some of you were like, are you crazy?

Speaker 1: 17:09

We've now skipped 10 years. Sorry,

Speaker 3: 17:11

I'm sorry. That's where I'm at. Now.

Speaker 1: 17:14

That's the transformation of now you're having fun, wanting anything and everything that he will offer.

Speaker 2: 17:21

And there are times when I write stuff and I'm like, Oh, that was probably just me like being poetic. But then there's other times where I write things and it is confirmed almost immediate with, through the children, through something they say to me through the scripture. I mean, one thing I do want to say that with God will never con contradict the word of God and he'll never condemn you. So when you're thinking of, when you think you hear something and again, we're all, we're all practicing, hearing his voice. We're all wanting to build that relationship. And so I just encourage you to start wherever that looks like, think of how you're wired, think of how he made you and then allow yourself to think like, Oh, you could talk to me in the sunset. Like you could actually remind me of your goodness and the bird singing. Like, and if you think in art and in poetry and in music, it's like, then play it then color and then go there and let that be,

Speaker 1: 18:19

Bring him in to that space. And that way you will,

Speaker 2: 18:22

That's the, I don't want to say medium because that sounds weird. That's the Avenue. Thank you. That's the spot where he can meet you and then speak to you through that. Um, or you're just going to enjoy him and just delight in him. So, but there have been times when things I've written down that I'm literally, I read a scripture and it's like verbatim. And then I T Griffin comes downstairs like this, you know, or, or later I hear, I felt, and I always say like, I think I felt this isn't that cool, but I don't know. And then later I'll tell them, like, the girls brought up the exact same word today, like 10 times or, or one of them colored me a picture of this and just walked up and handed.

Speaker 1: 19:04

Well, that's, what's been so cool with your watching you from, from me. And you've had the same vantage point with me, but the more you can say that the bars of your voice are so long. I love it. No, it's good because it's been so real and it's been a learning process and it's still evolving. We're still learning how to I've. I think we need to talk about some of the barriers that kept us from hearing it and just a minute, but, uh, what, seeing, the more you invested in that and put yourself out there with the Lord, he started to just make it more and more clear. And I think part of this aspect with God is continuing consistently showing him I desire this. Yes, I, to me, that's step one. I don't necessarily know how to do this. I need one to figure it out. It feels like a really big idea. That's a little scary, a little odd, a little awkward, even for people that have believed in God for a very long time, there's a sense of showing up and saying, God, I'm going to do this until it gets comfortable. And I want you to know, I want to hear from you. I don't want to go through this life alone. There's a humility about it. That removes pride and says, I don't want to go through the day without hearing from you. I want to invite you into the morning to say, God, have your way today. Speak to me, give me, prompt me with opportunity. Convict me by the Holy spirit. When I start veering off, or when I get tested at work, don't let me give into those temptations or say those words or jump into that conversation with people. There's this, it's kind of showing God. Yeah, I want it. I want it. And to me, that's the first step. The first step is just, I don't know what it looks like, but I just need you to know this is truly a desire of my heart.

Speaker 2: 20:56

Is that what you felt like you did? Or what would it look like? For me it was uncomfortable.

Speaker 1: 21:02

Talk to something I don't see to someone I don't see. And how do I listen? Is it an audible voice? Is it through the television? Is it through people? And the answer is sure.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 21:18

You know, what you were saying is we've figured out, he'll speak. However, the heck you want. That's not the problem. The problem isn't this is what I've learned. It's not that God isn't speaking. It's do you hear them? Do you see it? And what you touched on earlier? So for me being comfortable, conversing with God, which I can touch on a little bit more, but a lot of it is turning down a lot of other noise to not be influenced or distracted by media news, politics, sports, et cetera, et cetera. None of that's bad, but it is if it's over consuming and way louder than the influence of God in your life. And however, that looks to make sure there's a consistent pursuit to say, God, I need the volume of your voice, your voice and your word and your wisdom to seep into my life, lessen the noise of all the other stuff. To me, that's a huge step as well.

Speaker 2: 22:18

Yeah. And reading the Bible, along with that, like having spirit and truth, like they have to be together. You have to be in the word. You have to allow that to be your source of living water in daily bread. Like it says, give us this day, our daily bread, because it has to be fresh every day. Because yesterday what you read yesterday is not going to sustain you for today. Like it's supposed to have you coming back and wanting more and having that. And when you start there, what, whatever that looks like, you know, and I've, I've had like women come and say, I literally don't know how to read the Bible. And I'm like, I understand that. But then I, I was like, you know, it's a lie from the pit of hell. If you believe you're not capable of reading the word of God, because it was given to you by God so that you could read it to get me on a go.

Speaker 1: 23:11

No, I get that. Cause people don't have a lot of time. I think they would say, and it's confusing. But that, that is a lie for sure. Here's the other issue with people reading the Bible is your, a lot of people read it to gain for themselves. And of course you want it to be practical and you want it to, to help your life and your mindset or your how to move forward. The Bible is a layout of the heart of God, right? I tell people all the time, the first motive of reading the Bible is to learn about God, not about yourself. So start by taking yourself out of it and just learn the heart of God. How does he speak to people? Why did Jesus do that? Jesus is the living active personhood of God. We see his heart on full display in the, in the flesh. And so if you can approach the Bible with wanting to fall in love with the heart of God, you will want more and more of it. And through that, there will be application that you find from that. But you'll, you actually leave wanting to worship him more for who he is and for what he's done.

Speaker 2: 24:17

There's a, there's an acronym that people say, you know, the Bible is basic instructions before leaving earth. And I get why people say that, but I also can't stand it because it's not fully about like, like you're saying, it's not about you. And it's not about like what you can get. And it is an instruction. Like I understand the phrase, but I love what you're saying. And I love that you say that because it is about like, you're reading it. Like, God just show me who you are, show me who you are in creation. Show me what you did with Abraham. Like, and I'm not Abraham. Like, I just want to read it to see Jesus and see the heavenly father and like in what did Abraham do and what did he not do well. And like, okay, I'll learn that. Like, I'm not gonna lie. There's not my sister like, like read that. It's a good story. Um, but I, I was just, that was just, just, I love when you say that, because it is, and you taught me that like our second or third year of marriage and I was like, Oh, so I can find Jesus and every single thing. And you're like, yeah, everything points to Jesus. I'm like, okay, I can do that.

Speaker 1: 25:23

It's unbelievable. It's Bibles. Absolutely incredible. And that's also, all of the spiritual disciplines are snowball effects. So hearing the voice of God, you start at a, what the heck does that mean? And then you just put yourself out there and then you're like, Oh, I think that was, and then you follow through with it. And you're like, Oh, God told me to do that. And I did it. And then you want more of it.

Speaker 2: 25:43

And it's like, that was insane. Hungry,

Speaker 1: 25:46

Diverse tastes and see that the Lord is good is so good. Because once you taste that conviction of the Holy spirit, like, Oh man, I want to live like that. That was amazing. That was God. Like in my life

Speaker 2: 25:57

Told me to give them money and I gave him money and it was the exact amount they need. Right. But that's, that's the Holy spirit. Like that's hearing the voice of God. You can live your whole entire life that way like that. And people are like, that's crazy. It's like, it is because it's not earthly. It's heavenly.

Speaker 1: 26:14

And that's the other point I was going to make. We're so enamored by what we see in the world right now, we need to be so inspired by, by God. I was thinking about God speaks through the creation every day. Just, just look up facts about the world and galaxies and the, how much, how big and how vast. And so for us to approach God solely about ourselves and our little life and our little world and to read the Bible like, Oh, what can I get for me? That was boring. I don't get it. It's like, hold on, get yourself out of it for a moment. The fact that you even can talk about having a conversation with the creator of heaven and earth. Oh my gosh. Put your face on the ground. Be quiet. I'm talking to myself now. It's like, why are we even making it all about ourselves? Right. So this is getting real, right? Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:02

Well, what do you think are some boundaries that stop people from, from even, I dunno, like it seems so complicated.

Speaker 1: 27:11

People are it's I know the question was how do you know it's the voice of God? And what we're saying is the more you dive into it and the more you're open to it and make it a priority, the more that will become evident the boundaries. I think I don't have time. I tried and then I quit. Cause I don't, I was confused. I think some people are scared to go that deep with God and they are scared about what God's going to tell them to do because it's uncomfortable. I think people stop it. I don't know how to. And so they give up on it kind of thing. And I would say the timing, the time thing, am I going to make it a priority to make sure I'm seeking it, praying for it, asking for it, desiring it on a consistent basis to make sure it is a priority.

Speaker 2: 28:01

Yeah. I think people think it's crazy too, but so is the Virgin birth and so is a resurrection. Like I think we're pretty crazy. So let's just go all in.

Speaker 1: 28:14

I guess I would, I would ask then, then what is this relationship with, with Christ supposed to be, why do we have the Holy spirit living within us? Is it just to tell us not to do bad things? You know, keep us from sinning and punish us and all that. It's like, Oh, the depth of what this could look like walking daily with the Lord is unbelievable. So I think we have like three minutes left. Maybe you have something final to say, but I, who, for the person that asked that question, how do you do it? It really points back to the Holy spirit. It really points back to a learning and figuring out what that relationship with God looks like through the Holy spirit living inside of you. And so I would encourage you to pursue what that idea. That's like a little, like

Speaker 2: 29:08

I know,

Speaker 1: 29:09

I know we don't have, I have to go get a haircut. We don't have any time for this. Uh, but it really comes back to learning how you sense the presence of God, how he convicts you, how he works within you. And a lot of that comes through time through prayer, through getting comfortable, being vulnerable, being open to God. And over time it starts to become more familiar than any of the other feelings or the stuff that you may question, what it could be. The Holy spirit becomes more vivid and you love that.

Speaker 2: 29:42

I that's really good. And just like any relationship, the more time and dedication you put into it, the more and more you fall in love with that person, the more and more you fall in love with your spouse. The more you take the time to sacrifice yourself and get to know them. And if I could encourage you or inspire you, if you're still like, Ugh, it's like, there's so much power and realizing you have one shot on earth as a human to walk in this incredible relationship with Jesus. Because when you go to heaven, it's going to be different. There's not going to be pain and there's not going to be crying. You're not going to be confused. You're not going to help. You're going to just spend your time, where should be him. So in my heart is you have this one opportunity to be so enamored and just go all in. He's just waiting for you to go all in with him. He created you to go all in with them. So start today. What does that look like? You pursue him and how you know how and let him take you deeper through worship, through reading the word through journaling or we're going on. Walks with him, praying out loud, praying in your head. You have the mind of Christ. What does that look like? Every single day? He will show you. We're praying for you. I just pray and believe that this will inspire you to go deeper. That there's so much more that he has for you in the relationship you have with him. We love you guys. Thank you for giving us your time. Have an awesome week. And we'll talk to you next time.

Speaker 4: 31:11

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