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Did you know that you can hear the voice of the Lord? Truth of the Spirit’s Listening to the Voice of the Lord with host Patti Brunner shares that when the Lord speaks directly to your heart there is a different level of understanding; the Holy Spirit gives gifts of wisdom and understanding that come alive when the Lord speaks his word personally to you. The communication between God and Man is made possible first by the connection of the Holy Spirit, speaking within the heart, and secondly, through the heart that desires to hear.
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I have asked the Lord to help me to help others to hear his voice. The Lord recently told me: I fill your heart with My love, I shall fill your mind with My Words; it is not a burden to speak the truth; it is a joy. When the Spirit resides within you and Jesus whispers His Words into your heart and mind, joy also takes place among the angels who stand near his Presence in your heart.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit, I am your host Patti Brunner with today’s episode Listening to the Voice of the Lord.
Have you ever noticed that the Patriarchs Abraham and Jacob heard the voice of the Lord? Often the Prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah report “Thus says the Lord.” The prophetic gift is given to the servants of God who set aside their own inclinations to allow the thoughts and desires of God to be set before the people. Did you know that you can also hear the voice of the Lord? I did not know that, the first 30 years of my life. Then I had a brief encounter with the Living God. It was very much like the episode the prophet Samuel had when he was a young boy and the Lord called his name during the night. I didn’t tell anyone about it until 10 years later when I was in a bible study and that story of Samuel was read. 10 years later, I had another encounter with the Living God, where He seemed to call me by name and speak to my heart. Several months later, I was around someone who frequently said, “The Lord told me this.” I thought, If the Lord would speak to him on a regular basis, the Lord might speak to me more often, too. So I started asking the Lord to speak.
Scripture says that Jesus said in Luke 11:9-13 “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapter 10, ‘My sheep know my voice’. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 that the Gift of Prophecy is more important than the Gift of Tongues.
I prayed for the Lord to speak to me. Nothing happened. Nothing. About a year later the Lord spoke to me briefly and said: “Do not give up. So says the Lord: listen and be fed, listen and be forgiven, listen and receive my love and peace”. After hearing that I didn’t give up, but I still heard nothing. I attended prayer meetings where others had words of Prophecy from the Holy Spirit, and I talked to people who could regularly hear from God, I longed to hear his voice every day. But nothing was happening.
I went on a retreat and I was sure I would hear the Lord’s voice. Nothing. After the retreat, one day I was at home and I heard a voice in my heart say: “Sit down and listen.” So I sat down. I then heard, “Patti, I have been watching you. You want to do my work but you won’t listen to me for instruction. I want you to set aside an hour day to listen. It can be anywhere you choose but should be free of distraction. Quiet your heart, it’s OK.”
Right then and there I made the commitment to get serious about listening for the voice of the Lord and made a commitment to the Lord to listen for an hour a day for 30 days. Thirty days became two years, and without a break I set aside an hour, usually in church, usually at the one hour of adoration on weekdays that my parish had just started. If I was travelling I waited until my family was asleep for my hour of listening. I struggled at first with inner distraction. Once I was able to set the worries of the day aside and truly listen, I was surprised how quickly I could hear. At first I kept two notebooks, one for all the busy thoughts that entered my head and one I kept to write down any words the Lord might say. Over the weeks and months, I learned to set aside all my own plans and distractions so that I could hear what the Lord wanted me to hear.
Now, almost every time I enter the adoration chapel, which is now open 24 hours a day in my parish, thank you Jesus, it’s like entering the “Tent of Meeting” as Moses did. He speaks to me and I speak to him.
The Catechism tells us that charisms such as the charism of prophecy must be discerned by the Church. Through study, I have found that one proof that the voice we hear is truly the Lord’s is to make sure it doesn’t contradict the teachings of the Church including scripture. All gifts of charisms are given to build up the Church and the first member of the Church that was improved was me. Later on when the Lord started giving me help to teach others I always verified everything with Church documents. Research helped educate me even more in the ways of the Lord and his great love for his Church. You might say, why not read the documents in the first place? Surely you can see that the Lord’s timing of information is perfect for me. Also, when the Lord speaks directly to your heart there is a different level of understanding; the Holy Spirit gives gifts of wisdom and understanding that come alive when the Lord speaks his word personally to you. A lot of what the Lord has said to me over the years has been to help me in my personal journey as a wife, a mother and a child of the Living God. In 2004, when the Lord told me to gather his words to me during the past advent season from my journals, I realized He was telling me over and over how much he loved me during those Advent seasons. When He told me to publish it for my daughters first and then for others, I realized that He wants everyone to know how much He loves them, too.
About 15 years ago the Lord told me to tell your brothers and sisters in Christ this message: “I have called each of you by name. I call you at different times of your lives from various walks of life but know this: You are One in Me. Unity of the Body, unity in the Body can only be brought forth by love. “See how they love one another” shall be the people’s response when they see you together at ministry and at play. The enemy will try to bring discord—this is his age old trick—but it will fall flat because your love for each other brings kindness, mercy, and patience. You will each have moments to lead and moments to be the follower and it will be “easy” because you follow the order of love.”
Have you ever tried to listen for the voice of the Lord and failed? You are in good company. One of the greatest prophets of all time Elijah was having trouble hearing the voice of the Lord in 1 King 19: 11c Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. 13 When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah?” Elijah realized the whisper was the Lord. This experience of Elijah’s teaches us that one of the difficulties in hearing the voice of God is figuring out what it should sound like. After all, Moses got a burning bush and a strong voice. And Elijah got the tiniest of a silent whispers.
The Lord recently told me I fill your heart with My love, I shall fill your mind with My Words, My Child, it is not a burden to speak the truth; it is a joy. When the Spirit resides within you and Jesus whispers His Words into your heart and mind, joy also takes place among the angels who stand near his Presence in your heart.
I have asked the Lord in the past to help me to help others to hear his voice. I know through scripture that God doesn’t show favoritism to his children; even though we are unique to him, what he has done for one he will do for another. His first advice was quite simple: “pray more. For it is in prayer that we are connected in a personal way. Prayer increases your awareness of the kingdom, and in prayer words can set in motion the will of the Father by accepting it with your voice.
A few years later I was invited to share at a conference, so I asked the question again. “How do I help others to hear your voice?” This time the Lord spoke this to me: “The barriers in the hearts of men are slow to dissolve at times. Other times it is my discernment that causes them to wait. Yet know this, dear daughter, I desire that all my children might seek my face, hear my voice, come into my presence, and be one with Me.” I asked for more. How? I heard the Lord say to me, “Commitment is a key. Those who hear my voice should set a part of each day to listen to me. Ask for patience and determination. The pure hearts will be tempted with other activities, but the faithful who quiet themselves before me will hear my voice.” He then told me that “Recognizing his Voice” was a topic to explain. He said, “My voice does not ramble, it does not criticize or chastise the sinner but draws the sinner to me so that my grace will aid the repentant heart. If your own child was cut and bleeding to death would you not try to rescue them? Know my Voice—it does not contradict Truth—Truth has been revealed to my Church.” He continued, “My voice is gentle and strong, listen for love in it. My voice brings peace. Tell the people that rarely do I use a burning bush, Chariots of fire or a Thundering Voice to speak to them. In Jesus and through the Holy Spirit, I Am resides within your heart. You are the tabernacle of the Living God. Understand this. As you would hear your own thoughts you would hear me. As you would sense your conscience—you would sense Me. Sometimes you will sense Me very physically with ‘chills’ or ‘heat’, with a shaking or with total relaxation of your whole body. Sometimes you will see Me or the pictures I send in your ‘’mind’s eye’. You can see with your eyes closed or open.” The voice of the Lord continued with this advice, “Allow the children to try. If they cannot discern if it is my voice or their own have them to journal consistently what they hear after prayer and asking to hear Me and a time of listening. If all they hear is silence, tell them to yearn for my Voice. ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening!’ Over & over seek my face. Persistence is rewarded.
Then the Lord instructed me to share my own commitment of an hour a day for 30 days that continued for two years! I have already shared that with you.
As I wrote in my journal a few days later, the Lord gave me a way to spark others’ imagination to allow them to picture a conversation with the Lord. “Where would they be to talk to Me – it could be my Throne but it could also be an easy chair or a rocking chair, or in the pew” After a time of listening, if they do not hear, speak against fear. The Lord said, “ I am not going to command them to sell everything and follow ME. I am going to “encounter” them and I want to tell them how much I love them. The hard questions may come later. I will ask them to lay down their life before Me. They then will pick it up in my Kingdom. “Smells and bells” open up the imagination – the spiritual heart to picture my image within them. I am there, just as surely as I am with thee. My Spirit dwells within the heart of each man who has accepted my salvation and is reconciled with God, the Father. Know this: I have loved you with an everlasting love and you are mine! Psalm 131. I will never forget you
“Know that practice of this gift is necessary and the “inkling” of my voice must be explored and thus magnified. They MUST understand my desire to speak to each heart. Yet the desire of their heart seeking mine is required for 2-way reception and acceptance. As I speak into their hearts have them write down their impression. I will place pictures and thoughts. Lead them by using the seeking scriptures and the song, “If you seek me with all you heart.”
The people who truly long to hear His voice do not have a long journey to find Him. The Lord is as near as the nearest quiet place—or noisy place if you can be single focused! The communication between God and Man is made possible first by the connection of the Holy Spirit, speaking within the heart, and secondly, through the heart that desires to hear. Each moment of the day God’s grace is poured forth. Most moments of the day, people are ‘busy’ with many things and do not turn their ear nor their heart toward heaven.
The church, indeed the whole world benefits by the inspired Word of the Lord set down for all to see, read and hear through the sacred Scriptures. The Lord’s voice has been discerned through the ages as the Way to follow. When He speaks into the hearts of his people, it is to form an intimate relationship, a friendship, a fatherhood, a connection even beyond words, a joining of hearts, and minds in the Holy Spirit. Certainly people can attain this through Sacred Scriptures when they open their heart and mind to God. It is a living Word. As the Church professes the Word of God, and as the Gospel is proclaimed, lives can be changed.
Remember, inspired Word as established by the Church is part of the Revelation of Christ Jesus, the revelation that is complete. When you hear the voice of the Lord in your heart it is not new to the world, but it awakens in you the truth that always was and always will be.
When the sacred scriptures were composed the Holy Spirit inspired the fullness of the revelation of God to be contained within them. Yet, even those who cannot read can lift their hearts and minds to the Lord. The Great I Am is with them, too. Think how many times especially during the Mass the following is spoken: “May the Lord be with you…and with your spirit.” Of course these words can be meaningless to some but surely many hope to actually welcome the presence of God.
Do you really think God is mute? You don’t believe God is “deaf”. Witness the many prayers and petitions that are offered up to the Lord with hope of answers that match up with the prayer request. God is not mute. He speaks to us constantly and in various ways.
Know that the Lord is there for you one-on-one. The celebration of the mass is a community celebration and it pleases Him. But, adoration is a special time for intimacy between Father & child, Bride & Bridegroom, between two friends. He is your God and you belong to Him. Come to Him with all your concerns and worries. Come to Him with all your joys and accomplishments. Come to Him for quiet and rest. He will give you rest. Listen with your heart as you gaze upon Him in adoration and He will speak to you. He will whisper to you-in the silence-how much He loves you. He will shout to you and only you will hear in the silence of your heart bathed in His grace.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit and some of the things the Lord has shared with me. I’m Patti Brunner and I invite you to subscribe, it’s free, and to check out some of our previous podcasts and the playlists of the various series we offer to you. And then come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there is always more!
