Does God speak?... to me?... to you?

When I first "got saved" (surrendered to Jesus) I was rude and wanted my own way (not much of a surrender at first was it?).  I told Him that I wanted Him to speak to me and that I wanted to hear an audible voice.  None of this whisper in my spirit stuff, I wanted to literally hear His voice.  I remember having the thought: Wouldn't it be better to give you my thoughts?  I thought this wasn't dramatic enough, I wanted the "miraculous".  Well, God didn't give me an audible voice, but I "heard" a strong voice in my mind and I decided that would have to do.  God's voice told me what he wanted me to do and I obeyed Him.  But His voice got more and more demanding and confusing.  Then after a couple days of listening to Him, He told me that His voice was to be obeyed above the Bible.  I quickly thought about what was happening and I then knew it was satan that was behind "God's voice".  Even though I was a brand-new Christian I knew that the Holy Spirit would never contradict the Bible.

I was angry at being deceived.  But I learned.  If I don't accept what God says there is someone who will gladly tell me what I want to hear (satan).  I was grateful for God giving me that lesson.  My first lesson was 10 years before when God gave me an extra 5 years of mental illness.  He did that because I was disrespectful to Him about Him giving me the original 5 years of mental illness (to humble me).  This was the beginning of me piecing together over time that my greatest enemy was myself and doing what I wanted to do.  And my best friend was the Father, who often wanted me to do what I didn't want to do (but in His infinite wisdom knew was what I really needed to do).

God has graciously spoken to me since that day.  Not audibly, but in thoughts that I knew were too good to come from me.  He has also spoken to me through reading the Bible, from circumstances, listening to trusted friends and even at times through those who were against me.

  God is continuously speaking to us.  The question is: Will I make time for Him?  After all He is the King of the Universe, my Creator, the One who gave His life for me, the One who holds my future in His hands, the One who loves me the most.

And amazingly He desperately wants a two-way conversation with me... and you, through prayer and listening to God.

If you want to read a great book to learn how to listen to God I would suggest reading "How to Listen to God", by Dr. Charles F. Stanley www.intouch.org.