Where is God Amidst All This Chaos?
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Hello? Is anyone home? Who will teach people how to listen to me? And to others?

Mark Holloway's picture

Hi God. It still seems so ridiculous that I can say ‘Hi God’ and you’ll respond.

I will respond. I do. I’m vulnerable to you. There you have it. Now you know. God, the Creator, is vulnerable to you.

That’s a huge truth. When you first heard that said years ago you were aghast. The one who spoke it was just a kid, yet he opened up such an enormous truth. That God, the Creator, is actually vulnerable to you. As the words left his mouth and hit your heart; before you had a chance to argue your religious arguments, it hit you. You knew he’d heard it direct from me. That’s how it is with me. I open up huge truths to whoever I feel like doing it for. In that case, just a kid.

In this morning’s case I’m talking to you. Neither you, nor that kid, are any more special than anyone else. So who are you that I should want to talk to you? Nobody special at all.

I WANT TO REVEAL EARTH-SHATTERING TRUTHS, IN CONVERSATION, TO EVERYONE, SPECIAL OR NOT.

But there are so few who teach them to listen. I want to open up truth, in detail, to unfold wisdom and meaning to every single human being on the face of the earth. Not just the pastors, and teachers, wise men and prophets. Everyone!

Can you see the pattern? The bible is filled with stories of me talking with every day humans. People who weren't very special - the woman at the well, the man born blind, the tax collector, the roman soldier. I shared enormous truths with them. Truths which are still, thousands of years later, the stuff of books, sermons, youtube clips, and facebook posts.

I did it then and I want to keep doing it, but no one’s really listening. Does that mean they’re not interested? No. It’s much worse than that. This is a people who have persuaded themselves that God doesn’t want to talk to them.

Why? Because no one teaches them the truth. That it’s easy to hear me speak to them in whole sentences and paragraphs. Easy!

Instead I have a world filled with millions of people who want to hear from me, but who have persuaded themselves that I don’t speak very often, and who feel that somehow, it’s their doing.

God when I write down things like that, and claim that you’ve said them, the religious people tell me I’m wrong. They tell me you don’t say things like that. They say you’re very happy with Christianity in general. They say that people everywhere in ‘the Church’ know that you speak. And many of them are listening to you.

Yes of course they do. And Mark they're right to a certain extent. People really do understand, in theory, that I speak. It’s just not for most people, part of their own experience. They are not constantly aware, day in, day out, of me speaking.

You have seen it even with the religious. They preach that everyone hears me all the time, and yet when thrown into crisis, they themselves are not able to hear me explain what’s going on. They don’t know how to do it.

Which is why they are not able to teach others to do it either. They do not have a back and forward conversation with me that they can teach others how to do.

I WANT THEM TO ADMIT THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO HEAR ME.

‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you [the priestly nation] have rejected knowledge.’ HOS 4:6 AMP

The people do not know how to listen to me. They know in theory that I’m loving and prepared to speak to them. If you ask them if God will speak all day long to a human, they know the correct answer is yes. But in their hearts they know it doesn’t happen for them. Certainly not every day. Now and then sure, but not every day.

As a result they live lives of disappointment. Shame. They assume that the reason God doesn’t speak to them regularly, or face to face like a friend, is that they are somehow unacceptable. They assume God must be speaking to others, but not so often to them.

They do not realize that so many who preach do not experience it either.

You see it in human relationships Mark. When a person feels rejected, they assume it is because of something unacceptable on their part. They assume they are less than acceptable. They assume they have in some way done wrong. It hurts them. They retrench into themselves.

That’s human nature. When the people you love stop sharing their hearts with you, then you feel rejected. The reason is simple. You are designed to enjoy a conversation, back and forward, hearts shared, with those you love. First with me and then with those around you. When it doesn’t happen your heart craves it and then the enemy steps in.

He steps into every single situation with every single human being. Not just you Christians. Everyone. When the ones you love stop sharing their hearts, you withdraw into yourself, or you strike out. Depending on the personality I gave you. You withdraw from the space they leave empty, or you try to fill it.

You move away from them in hurt, or hurting you attempt to fill the space they have left empty.

It’s the same with God. When a person thinks that I am not speaking to them, they withdraw in silence, or they attempt to fill the space they think I have left empty.

THEY TRY TO FILL THAT EMPTY SILENT SPACE BY SPEAKING AT ME.

Religion builds his entire strategy around this. In the absence of the clear evidence of God speaking volubly to his people, Religion sees his opportunity and encourages them to set up a huge amount of talking AT me.

He builds on the fear that humans have. People are terrified of listening to me because their experience tells them that I don’t speak very often. They are afraid that if they listen, really listen, all they will hear is silence. A silence that will threaten their faith. So instead of listening to me they do all the talking AT me.

It’s what happens in human relationships too Mark. When one person stops sharing their heart, the other often panics and moves into the space left silent and starts to talk, AT the other. Conversation breaks down. In the absence of a two way conversation, the partner left longing for words of companionship begins to speak AT the other. Conversation becomes increasingly rare, now it is the partner trapped in a silent prison talking AT the other.

It is the same with me and my people.

BUT I HAVE NOT STOPPED SPEAKING. MY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FED A LIE.

Although people have come to believe that I am not speaking words of companionship to them, it’s not the truth.

In the absence of those regular words spoken they have tried to fill the space. They have panicked and now they speak AT me. Everywhere you see organised systems for speaking, singing, dancing, praying, AT me. But there is not an even balance. You are all doing more of the speaking in our relationships than I am.

But it makes more sense for me to do as much of the talking as you do. At least as much. But that’s not happening.

This is a pretty dangerous conversation God. I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for this.

Mark forget what the naysayers say. I have a message I want spoken. And I have millions of people hungry for it who will not thank you for keeping it silent.

I want people prepared to put in the effort of listening to me. I want you all to listen and then tell others what you hear me say. Write it down, speak it out, whatever works. Listen to me, and tell others what I say. If you don’t, others will.

Ok. But you started this out by saying no one teaches us to listen to you or each other. What shall I tell people about that? What shall I tell them about how to listen.

Tell them to start with this. When life hurts and taunts them. When memories hurt them. When situations seem too big and cause pain and they are unsure of what to do. Listen to me.

Yes but how?

First let’s start with ‘why’. All negative is thought up by the King of Negative. All of the pain that strikes your heart, the pain that seems just ‘like life’. That’s all him. He wants to destroy you with negative.

So how can people listen to you in the midst of that?

Tell them to just listen. In the midst of the pain, concern, worry, hurt, bad memories, tell them to listen. Almost as though they were listening for a friend in the hall way of their home. Tell them to actually listen, just like that.

Some will just ‘feel’ my answer. Others will hear it in their mind. Many will find it easiest to write down what I say. They’ll find the writing draws the words out of the realm of the spirit and into the realm of the human.

I want them to work at it. I want them to understand what I say, to decipher it in human words. You are human. You hear humanly. That’s how I designed you.

As you listen with your ears, you’ll ‘hear’ it in your mind. You’ll feel my voice, and when you do, write it down. Tell people to try it, and keep trying, until it works. If they want to hear me bad enough, they’ll keep trying until they hear me. And I can promise you this. They will hear me.

Related Resources: 

How to Hear God's Voice!   

Related Blogs: 

How to Hear God’s Voice   
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Anonymous's picture

This is a wonderful entry. Thank you. It contains a lot of Truth to chew/meditate on. I pray that I will give it the time necessary to be more fluent in my communion with the LORD.

Mark Holloway's picture

It doesn't seem to take any special sort of attitude. Just writing down your questions to him, and writing back his  answers. He'll talk whenever you want, no matter how stirred up your heart is over whatever has happened. God always seems happy to talk. Thank you for your encouragement.
Mark.

Anonymous's picture

Hi Mark,
Can't find an email address for you so I am posting a comment here hoping you will have some advice. I have purchased some of Mark Virkler's material on hearing God and just recently your book "Freedom Diaries". I have followed the instructions and desire to hear God but have not been successful. I appreciated reading your book and found the sentence on page 147 helpful: "I may not give a thing until you are ready, but it is not conditional." So I may not be hearing, because I am not ready, but how is this not conditional? How do I become ready? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Mark Holloway's picture

I'm no whiz on doctrine or theology, but when I ask him why I can hear him when I'm so undeserving, he tells me it's not just me, anyone can. And that it has nothing to do with deserving. If he only spoke to those who deserve it, he'd speak to noone. The Bible teaches that we ALL have gone astray. Which seems to suggest that NONE of us deserve to hear him.

So he talks to us whether or not we deserve it. No conditions. He died for us when we didn't even exist, and yet he knew already every single thing we would do. (All of that is clearly scriptural).

Regards to how to hear God. Ask him a question. Then write down what you hear. It might sound like your own thoughts, but thoughts WILL come into your mind. Then if you're unsure about what you've written down (which I OFTEN am - I OFTEN am unsure) you ask him about that too. E.G. "What I just wrote down, was that really you God?" And if you hear yes, write that down, and if you hear no, write that down. It's a conversation.

Sometimes I edit those 'was that you?' bits out of my blogs, sometimes I leave them in. But hearing is not a simple exercise for me. I have to peel back layers to find what he's saying. I have to wrestle with doubt, often sentence by sentence. 'It is the glory of God to conceal a matter - it is the glory of kings to uncover a matter.' BE A KING. Work hard at uncovering what he is saying. I think you'll see when you read my book THE FREEDOM DIARIES that I find it incredibly frustrating and difficult, and it demands all my mental energy to hear him. This isn't normal religion, it's trying to develop a relationship with a living, speaking God, who doesn't play by our rules for him, and has a mind of his own, and yet is gentle, vulnerable to us.

Anonymous's picture

Thanks for the feedback Mark...
I have read through the Bible multiple times and lots of 2 way journaling from others. I have followed your advice previously in writing a question and then writing God's lead in to a response, but I don't hear anything at that point. That is the problem. I have lots of ideas of what He might say but not anything at that moment. So would you suggest to continue to write what I think He might say beyond a lead in response, perhaps as a way to practice a conversation that might eventually become a real 2 way one?

Mark Holloway's picture

I'll tell you what happens for me and then see if that's relevant to you. When I ask him a question, quite often a thought will go through my mind and it will clearly be what I would expect him to say, given what I know of the bible or have heard taught. However I will query God and say 'but that's just what i think you'd say God', and then with a fair amount of doubt i'll say 'was that really you, specifically, talking to me, right there in the moment.' And then the thought 'no', might go through my mind, so i have to ask God, was that thought really you. And so on, eventually, in the situation I am relating, the answer was 'yes', 'Yes it's me saying that original answer, albeit scriptural, specifically to you, right now.'  Other times his answer will seem completely unscriptural to me, possibly too loving, not judgemental enough, and that will give me difficulty, but for the opposite reason. So once again I will have to ask, then when the throught goes through my mind ask whether that was him, and then ask whether that clarification answer was him, and so on. 'It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. You're not going to hear him unless you're determined to peel back layers and uncover what he's saying. 'Seek and keep on seeking.' 'Ask and keep on asking.'  One way to read the greek for those scriptures suggests that it means 'Demand, and keep on demanding.'  Hope that helps. Mark.

Anonymous's picture

Thank you for the helpful clarification. Much appreciated.

Anonymous's picture

The most important thing is to realise you are going to have to listen to God as though your life and sanity depend on it. As though you cannot stay comfortable in Christian habits and customs but will die if you dont hear his voice. Jesus said he could do NOTHING unless he heard the voice (amplified Bible John 5:30).That attitude will drive you to listen until, no matter how frustrating, you become confident in your hearing. Religious habits so easily anaethitise all of us Christians against the gaping ache for his actual, real time voice. When I claim I am not religious I am in the most danger of becoming so.

Anonymous's picture

I am going to teach "How to Hear God's Voice" at my church just after the New Year. This good news, in this way, is all revolutionary compared to our usual ways. I know the LORD wants us to go deeper into the waters. I would like to read your "blogs" with the LORD throughout this coming 'training session.' My heart leaps and my own journaling with the LORD gets strengthened as well. Thank you for sharing your experiences and life in the LORD with us. God bless you as He already has.

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4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 305 Pages | Retail: $16.99

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond?


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This top seller for 30 years from Bridge Logos provides a narrative, right-brain presentation of the principles of how to hear God's voice. Especially enjoyable for personal use, it makes a great gift for introducing a loved one to the voice of God. This book teaches the four keys to hearing God's voice in readable style, and also devotes two entire chapters to moving samples of people's journaling (i.e. their two-way dialogue with God).

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Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

Hear God's Voice Guaranteed Package

9 Books | 10 CDs | 10 DVDs | Save Over 20%

Have you ever wished you could just sit down and have a long talk with the Lord? Wouldn't it be wonderful to move beyond having a theology that states that God loves you to actually hearing Him whisper words of love into your heart? When you're worried or confused, wouldn't you love to see the situation from His perspective and hear how He wants you to respond? When things don't seem to be going your way and your prayers aren't answered the way you had hoped, wouldn't it be great to hear Him tell you where He is in the midst of it, and what He is working out in your life? Are you ever just a little bit jealous of others who say with such confidence, "The Lord said...."?

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We recommend that you order the newest revision of this book titled 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice. It includes 95% of the content of How to Hear God's Voice but is reorganized so it fits perfectly with the 10 DVDs on this subject by Mark Virkler. In addition, it gets you started using the four keys earlier in the book and gives you more journaling samples and exercises. Since we have removed the large margins, it is a smaller and less expensive book.

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A group coaching experience with Mark Virkler

Because I could not find a Spirit-anointed teacher/coach, I spent ten extremely frustrating years seeking to hear God’s voice!!! Suggestions offered did not help me, things like: “You just know that you know. It is a still small voice. He speaks from your heart.” No one could give me the answer I needed which was: Hearing God’s voice is as simple as quieting yourself down, fixing your eyes on Jesus, recognizing His voice as spontaneous, flowing thoughts and writing down His flow as it is coming. Test what you have written after the flow is done, NOT while it is occurring.

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Learn How to Hear God’s Voice, Even When You Are Sleeping

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