How to Hear the Voice of God in a Noisy World

Rating:
Summary: Enabling us to hear God
Review: This is a book for our time. We need to be able to hear God. Many of us live in a noisy, busy world with overcrowded diaries and hectic schedules. This book is written by someone living in this world. Teresa Seputis is a software engineer in the Bay Area of Northern California. She works on software in an office in San Francisco. She lives across the Bay with her husband and two dogs. She does a lot of travelling by Bay Area metro and by car. She is a normal late 20th, early 21st century person.

But some years ago, she committed herself to God and to learning to hear His voice. She found that He was very willing to teach her and that He communicates very specifically. He communicates about the 'big stuff' - such as important decisions in our lives and to enable us to minister to others, sometimes at crucial life-saving moments - but He also communicates about everyday ordinary things. He chats. He enjoys sharing our life with us. He plays jokes and games with us.

Teresa is very open. She has learned to be open with God and she shares that openness to enable others to learn to come closer to Him. Her book is a very easy read, as Teresa shares and teaches in an almost conversational mode. But it is also a challenge. A common reaction is "I would love to be able to hear God like that. Why can't I?" The message of this book is that there is no reason why not. But there are some essential conditions and some things to learn.

Our relationship with Him has to be clear and open. We must have accepted Jesus as Lord. There must be no unconfessed sin blocking our relationship. We must be obedient.

Obedience plays an important part in the process of learning to hear God clearly. He will provide us with hearing exercises. These will generally only work if we are obedient - step out in faith according to what we have heard. Although it is not always so serious, Teresa recounts how one time at a football match, she invited God to sit beside her and enjoy the match with her. He accepted the invitation and she could sense His presence beside her. Then he started telling her what was going to happen next in each stage of the game. It had been an exciting game but became even more so as she watched to see if it would work out as God predicted. It always did!

In this book Teresa guides us through the various ways God speaks to us:
- through His Word
- through pictures and visions
- through His 'still small voice' in our mind
- through "just knowing".

She also deals with the question of discerning God's voice from other voices - our own thoughts and deceptions from the Enemy - "God is that really you?". All through the book, she gives vivid examples from her own experience, not only when things went right but also when they went wrong, with some analysis on why they went wrong.

I have been following Teresa's ministry for several years via the Prophetic School run via e-mail. She is a high-tech lady working in the modern world with modern tools. She has followed up her commitment to her Lord by getting theology training at Fuller Theological Seminary so she has the formal equipment for ministry. But she also has that innocent simplicity which comes from holiness and closeness to God.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: God's listening, are you?
Review: Through this wonderful book I have found the sense of humor, and other facets of God's personality much more clearly. Teresa dispels some of the myths that God is in the sky waiting for us to make a mistake so He can "correct" us.
She shares candidly both her mistakes and victories in finding His voice in the midst of everyday life or a "noisy world" whether watching a program, sitting alone at night or being with a friend.
Teresa offers simple steps we can personalize to develop a closer relationship and fine-tune our spiritual ears to hear the voice of God in our lives. She depicts a warm, humorous God Who desires to be a vital part of our lives every day and every minute, not just in the major decisions but also the little areas that we think may be insignificant to others or certainly to a big God.
I highly recommend this book if you are looking to develop a more intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. Her book also includes a three-week workshop to help solidify her simple suggestions in creating an atmosphere conducive to hearing His voice on a personal level.

Rating:
Summary: God's listening, are you?
Review: Through this wonderful book I have found the sense of humor, and other facets of God's personality much more clearly. Teresa dispels some of the myths that God is in the sky waiting for us to make a mistake so He can "correct" us.
She shares candidly both her mistakes and victories in finding His voice in the midst of everyday life or a "noisy world" whether watching a program, sitting alone at night or being with a friend.
Teresa offers simple steps we can personalize to develop a closer relationship and fine-tune our spiritual ears to hear the voice of God in our lives. She depicts a warm, humorous God Who desires to be a vital part of our lives every day and every minute, not just in the major decisions but also the little areas that we think may be insignificant to others or certainly to a big God.
I highly recommend this book if you are looking to develop a more intimate relationship with the heavenly Father. Her book also includes a three-week workshop to help solidify her simple suggestions in creating an atmosphere conducive to hearing His voice on a personal level.