Bible study has always come more naturally to me than prayer.  Partly, this is simply because I am a good reader and student.  Books are my element.  Prayer, on the other hand, is about conversation, and I am not good at striking up and maintaining a verbal interaction with someone else.  A number of years ago, when I recommitted myself to God, I began regularly studying my Bible.  From my study of the scriptures, I knew that I was falling down in the prayer department.  I read about how Jesus prayed all night.  Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t; then he prayed that it would rain, and it did.  The Spirit had informed Simeon that he would see the Messiah before he died.  Elisha prayed for his servant’s eyes to be opened, and the servant saw angels ready to stand against an army.  Paul repeatedly admonished the recipients of his letters to pray.  Over and over, I saw that prayer was not only important; it was a two-way dialogue between God and His people. 

I knew that I needed to work on my prayer life, but I had one problem.  I could increase the quantity of time that I spent in prayer, but I did not know how to increase the quality of my communication with God.  I began listening to sermons on prayer, but most of them focused on place, form, and getting what you ask for.  Sure, it was helpful to know that I should find a private place where I could speak freely.  It was good to know that I should establish regular prayer times.  Examining the Lord’s Prayer for principles of what I should say was worthwhile.  I did not think much of the sermons on getting God to give me stuff though.  At the end of the day, much of my research was useless for what I wanted to know.  I needed to know that God was listening to me, and even more importantly, I wanted to hear God answering.  I did not want to feel like I was talking to myself and that my prayers were bouncing off the ceiling.  I wanted dialogue, not monologue, so I did the right thing.  I prayed about it.  I recently read over one of those prayers that I had written down.

“I am wanting to know prayer as a connection to You.  The other stuff that everyone talks about is peripheral.  My problem is that I want and need to connect with You.  I do that as I am studying the Bible, but only rarely do that in prayer.  Prayer should be giving me strength, but somehow, I usually look at it as taking my own energy away or as boring or as a duty that I have to do simply because I was told to . . . I am not interested in asking for stuff.  I’m interested in communion.  No one is telling me (or I’m just deaf when they say it) about how to simply commune, simply be, with You.”  Guess what?  God answered my prayer.  Here are a few of the principles that I learned and began to incorporate into my prayer life.

Principles for Communication with God

• Principle 1:  Be regularly in God’s presence.  If you are not praying regularly, you cannot expect God to communicate with you.  In addition, spend time in His word attempting to understand the Person you are speaking with.  The more you know your conversation partner, the easier it will be to recognize and understand His answers.
• Principle 2:  Expect God to be listening and to answer.  If you and a friend are having a conversation, you expect that your friend can hear your words.  You also expect that your friend will respond.  God is closer than a friend, so expect communication.  God is also unique and creative, so do not expect Him to answer in only one manner.
• Principle 3:  Be still.  We all know that one person who talks so much that there is no chance to respond.  We treat God in that same manner too often.  There is a time to pour out your heart, but there is also a time to be still and listen. 

Those three principles were good to know, but I still was not sure about how to listen and hear God’s answers.  I needed a little more information, which God was happy to provide.  I have learned that God speaks to me in a thousand ways, but the most common are the following seven methods of communication.

God’s Methods of Communication

• The Bible: The most important form of communication from God is the Bible.  It is called God’s word for a reason.  Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  The Bible is more than simply words on a page.  Those words are messages from God Himself.  The Spirit will take your prayers and provide answers from the scriptures that are timely and meaningful.  For example, one night I was praying and praying for God’s support because the next day I was going to be dealing with a situation that was way beyond my capabilities.  God provided a verse, and the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that it was my verse.  “”You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17).  God communicated to me that I just needed to go stand where He told me to stand, but the results were up to Him, not me.  This is still my own special verse that God has given me so that I can step into new and strange situations that would intimidate most people in order to serve Him there.  The results are not up to me.  I just need to keep watching God work.
• Thoughts and Impressions: The second form of communication usually happens for me in conjunction with Bible study, but I have also experienced it in unexpected places and ways.  God communicates with us through thoughts and impressions.  This is that little voice inside your head that directs you towards righteousness.  Sometimes, I have heard actual words inside my head, but not often.  Most times, the Spirit speaks to me with wordless impressions that focus my attention on something important or open my mind to understanding.  This form of communication had never been explained to me as a young Christian, so I just thought of the little voice as my own internal dialogue and ignored it at will.  However, after God opened up my awareness of His voice in my life, I began investigating other Christians’ experiences and found that many other people were hearing God speak with them in forms of communication beyond a normal human internal dialogue with self.  For example, there are times when the Spirit can open your understanding of your own past, present, and future in a few seconds, and you are left shaking your head as to how to explain to another person what you have experienced.  Why was I never taught about the impressions of the Spirit as a young Christian?  Because this form of communication must be viewed with caution, and as a result, many Christians have rejected it entirely.  They have seen too many emotional Christians claim an impression from God when the “message” was the result of indigestion or normal human fear.  In addition, there are evil agencies in this world who are attempting to communicate and influence humans.  Paul tells us that we wrestle “against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  For this reason, impressions should be evaluated carefully.  Always test impressions with the word of God and your past experiences walking with Jesus.  Any impression that promotes self-righteousness and hardheartedness in yourself is not from heaven.
• Inspirational Reading Materials / Sermons: Another way that God communicates with us is through inspirational reading materials.  As an author expounds on spiritual matters, the answer to a prayer may jump out at you.  There are times when another person’s words on paper say the exact message that God wants us to have, so He will direct our attention to them. Similar results occur during sermons. I list sermons here rather than with the people category because the method of answering prayers through people is more about direct interactions rather than being part of an audience.
• People: A fourth method that God uses to speak to us is through actual people, as opposed to the written words of a person. There are countless ways that God talks to us through other people from the genuine smile of a stranger that lightens physical pain for a few seconds to a gift given at just the right time and place to words of wisdom from an old friend.  One of the most profound experiences that can happen to a follower of Jesus is for Him to use you to speak His words to another person.  In order for this to happen, we must have a desire to be obedient to God and a willingness to serve.
• Providential Circumstances: Method of communication number five is many times used in conjunction with people.  This is providential circumstances, sometimes simply referred to as providence.  Proverbs 3:6 says “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  In other words, when we are seeking God first, we can count on Him to open and close doors that will keep us within His care.  I have experienced a situation where God brought me into contact with another person through a series of coincidences that were impossible just to let me experience a miracle.  The caution with providence is that too many people want to make God into a “magic eight-ball” that they consult before making choices in their lives.  God is not interested in making your choices for you.  Instead, He listens to your worries and provides comfort, but all too often any choice you make will be equally good (or bad).  God wants you to use your own mind to evaluate a choice based on obedience to the scriptures and your knowledge of right and wrong.  Providence usually comes into play only when we are being directed to provide help for someone else or we have a need that cannot be dealt with in another manner.  I trust God’s wisdom to know when I need Him to communicate by providential means and when I need to simply go forward with the knowledge that I have in the present time.
• Music: A sixth method that God uses to communicate with His people is through music.  He provided a whole book of 150 songs in His word that communicate with us.  God created music, and it is somehow essential to the human psyche.  Quite often a song will get through to us when no other form of communication can.  Psalm 40:3 says “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.”  Whether you prefer modern or traditional songs of praise, the Spirit can communicate answers to your prayers through the lyrics and the sense of peace or joy that the melody brings to your heart.
• Nature: The final method that I want to discuss is nature.  There are verses like Psalm 19:1 that tell us that the night sky declares the glory of God and Psalm 93:4 that speaks of how much more powerful God is than the raging sea.  I have frequently found communion with God in the wind flowing over me.  It makes me feel as if God is giving me a gentle embrace.  There is nothing in the wind that should have given me that message.  Instead, it was God speaking to me through nature of His love for me.

God speaks with us in thousands of ways, but we do not always listen.  I am not referring to imagining that God is saying something in each circumstance.  I am speaking of supernatural communication that is subtle and often ignored because we are expecting big showy displays. God can speak in a raging storm, but more often He whispers to us in a still small voice.  For complex ideas, He most often uses the Bible to communicate with me, but for small little gifts of love, He has used subtle gestures that only He and I know about.  If you want to communicate with your heavenly Father, remember the first principles we started with.  Make regular time with God; expect the Spirit to communicate with you; and be still and listen.