Does God actually talk to YOU?

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cazayoux

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Hello !!

A couple of months ago I went through a CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish) retreat. AWESOME!!!

Sorry … want to give a little background:
I was raised lukewarm Catholic. My older brother left the faith for his girlfriend’s (now wife of 13 years) very anti-Catholic Word of Faith denomination.
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Years later I was ‘attacked’ by a few of her family (and her and my brother) about Catholicism. I had, in only the previous 2 weeks, read parts of “Why do Catholics do that?” Amazingly they only pegged me on the items I had actually read somthing about. (Talk about signal graces!)
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Since then (about 8 years ago) I’ve been on fire to learn and learn. (Thanks Karl!)
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This CRHP retreat was me finally trying to fulfill my need for community in my parish.

My wife attended a women’s CRHP retreat a couple of weeks ago.

Two of the ladies there (out of about 60) claimed that God speaks to them… as in … they actually hear God’s voice in their ears.

Now, I believe that God gives people the gifts of healing, tongues, interpretation, and the like, but I raised an eyebrow of doubt when I heard these women’s claim.

I’m excited to see so many people SO inthralled with their faith. The men’s retreat was great and saw evidence of HOW a strong faith has helped and strengthened so many.

In retrospect, I know God has directed my actions my whole life. Things that I *thought * were my decisions weren’t … it was His direction. I believe in signal graces … those little hints of devine presence in so many aspects of my life … you know … those moments when you go "ahh … that’s why I’m at this place at this time. I’m here now to see, witness, or be a part of this particular event. Nothing direct mind you. Just paying attention.

But I don’t think God has ever physically spoken to me… nor would I expect him, too. I don’t need him to. I mean that I don’t need the proof. I have TOTAL faith - even if I still lack in action sometimes (I’m human 😉 ) I hear His voice in the Church constantly through other’s words and actions and through scripture and teachings.

I mean, God didn’t even speak to Mary directly… He sent an angel.

What kind of discussion do I have with my wife about these ladies. I don’t want to be dismissive of their faith. It’s their claims I don’t quite believe.

… is it okay that I doubt this?

I do more reading on these forums than responding.
I’ve gained SO much from all of you.
Thank you for any further assistance in this matter.

michel
 
I guess I would be a little skeptical too (but not altogether dismissive) of such claims. Personally I would want to know exactly what they mean when they say God speaks to them. If the claim is that it is an audible voice then I have extreme doubt. If we’re talking about the ‘still, small voice’ of which Elijiah experienced, that would be different. I do believe that God speaks to His people, but through a variety of ways.
It is not even clear in the writings of the prophets that they heard the audible voice of God, but often as you correctly pointed out through the intermediary of angels. The extraordinary occurence was with moses who spoke with God face to face, and as a result his face shone brightly like the sun. I’m sure the ladies of which you spoke need not cover their faces.
Even if we were to consider the mystical experiences of some of the saints who heard the Lord speak to them, it is just that, a ‘mystical’ experience so the communication is most likely that of spirit to spirit.
I’m inclined to believe that perhaps they do ‘hear’ God speaking to them, but how they percieve the interaction is what I would question.
There have been many times in my christian walk when, during meditating on one scripture verse or another that I’ve come to a realization that seems to come in the form of the ‘still, small voice’, where I know that I’m not smart enough to have realized such truths by my own faculties. If that is what they mean by God speaking to them, then praise the Lord, God speaks to me too!😉
 
a good rule of thumb when it comes to God is that He can do whatever He wants. 🙂

God, according to many saints, has spoken audibly to people many times throughout history. and i know people today, very personally, who say the same. God has never spoken to me audibly. but i certainly believe He can, and has, and most probably will (speak to others this way).

now, as far as your lady friends go - who knows? maybe He did, maybe it’s just their imagination. if a ‘little voice’ tells you to love your neighbor, even if it wasn’t God Himself speaking, it was His representative. if a ‘little voice’ tells you to kill someone, that wasn’t God (most likely. abraham and isaac are the reason i give a caveat here.)

so maybe it was God speaking to these ladies. He can. He has. He does. maybe it wasn’t. i think cs lewis’s advice might be helpful in this case. ‘mind your own business.’ 🙂

may God richly bless you as you continue to seek His face (and perhaps, His voice?) in your life.

jeff
 
Something to keep in mind is that even if God does speak to these women audibly–or in any way, really–their experiences can be classified as private revelation and no Catholic other than the recipient is bound by what is communicated. It is possible and right to examine the claims of these women. God speaking audibly to someone is a BIG deal! This doesn’t happen often. Being skeptical of these claimed phenomena should not be equated with skepticism about God. It’s true that God can do anything. If I had a wife and told me she knew people who claimed they literally hear God and were not demonstrably unstable or psychotic, I would want to at least have coffee with them to talk with them about this. I don’t mean to grill them and try to disprove what they are claiming, but just to ask them about it; what God says, whether or not He answers questions, etc. Again, it’s true that God can do anything. It’s also true that we grasp very little of our psychological natures and that the minds of well-intentioned people can play tricks on them that they are unaware of.

If you do explore this let us know what comes of it!
  • JP
 
jeffreedy789 said:
‘mind your own business.’
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Well … I wasn’t planning on ‘calling them out’ on this issue.
I was just looking for counsel on approach to further discussion with my wife about it. We’ve had some discussion, but I was hoping for other perspectives. (Why isn’t E.T. on the top ten? 🙂 )

I do like j_arden’s suggestion of coffee and conversation about it though.

I may not have the gumption to bring the subject up with them, but if I find an opening, maybe I’ll take advantage of it and further the conversation.

michel
 
Hmm. Does He sound more like James Earl Jones or, say, Richard Burton?
 
The best time to talk to God is when first awakening. This is actually a technique used by military intelligence in their research on alternate information gathering. We have less than seven seconds on awakening to “tune in.” This is when those pre-bedtime questions will be answered, or one’s daily consecration to God given a specificity as to His desired agenda.

Turning one’s heart towards God during the day will give added guidance. This is that still, small voice. If the channel isn’t clear consider hopping into the nearest confessional. That’s the greatest impediment to getting prompt and clear direction.

There is another voice that is emphatic which I believe is the voice of one’s guardian angel. My teacher heard a loud and emphatic voice when driving, telling him to change lanes. He did, and a semi barreled through his former lane with no brakes. Good thing he listened as he was driving a Volkswagon Beetle.

I have only heard this loud, emphatic voice in a remarkable way on two occasions. I heard this powerful voice telling me to go tell an acquaintance to take Lecithin, a Choline-rich derivative from Soybean oil. I did this even though it was a bit akward. She took the Lecithin and horrible warts on her hand, which had plagued her all her life, disappeared. I think this was a means of clearing the decks for a later, more universal message I got in the late nineties.

I heard the loud, powerful voice say, “Blight! Blight! Poverty and blight across the land! Insure! Insure!” In a less emphatic way I heard, “Interest rates will dwindle to nothing.” And I told people, urging them to get or keep insurance up. Only a short time later interest rates started to tumble. 2004 is the first time interest rates bumped upwards slightly for years. I hope this means a soft landing for the economy.

I think the best training for tuning in on God is noting and sensing when thoughts came from within or without. That’s the trick: discernment. Get a fix on those times when other people verify that they were thinking of you first, and you had thoughts of them from out of the blue. This happened to me today with a friend I haven’t seen for months. There are some people I can tune in on well, especially if they are Irish. Must be hard-wired in from the Irish granny…

Talk about signal graces! The movie guy just related the story of actor William Powell, in mourning over fiance Jean Harlow’s sudden death, was in Italy when he heard a kid excitedly talking to his friend in Italian. Powell asked his friend to translate. Seems the kid had gotten enough money to go to the movies and was going to see William Powell because he made him laugh. That got Powell out of the doldrums and back to work.
 
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cazayoux:
I have TOTAL faith - even if I still lack in action sometimes (I’m human 😉 ) I hear His voice in the Church constantly through other’s words and actions and through scripture and teachings.

I mean, God didn’t even speak to Mary directly… He sent an angel.

What kind of discussion do I have with my wife about these ladies. I don’t want to be dismissive of their faith. It’s their claims I don’t quite believe.

… is it okay that I doubt this?
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Well, of course it is okay to doubt it… whether you believe someone has heard from God depends a great deal on what they report that they have heard. On the other hand, you don’t pray without listening, right? And when you listen, don’t you expect to actually hear something?

As far as God not speaking to Mary directly, I actually think that children and people young in the faith may be more likely to get communications from God that seem very direct. It is a matter of speaking to our level. Did Jesus not speak directly to Paul (then Saul) on the road? Many saints who had travelled far on their contemplative journey, on the other hand, had extreme spells of dryness in their prayer lives. Month after month, it was if they were talking to the walls. They suffered intensely on account of it. How could they have suffered a loss unless it was of something they had experienced (and enjoyed) in the past?

You don’t have to have an opinion one way or another. It is okay to say, “That’s out of my experience. I don’t know what to make of it, except that they seem to be reporting something that is within the ability of God to do… they aren’t reporting that God wants us to blow up the city, or anything like that.” But you don’t need to feel that by believing it or not believing it that you are commenting one way or another on their holiness, or that the fact that God hasn’t given you anything like that is any reflection on yours (not that that was your reason for writing… I say this in way of addressing a general audience).
 
i hope you didn’t take any offense at my remark. i think you understood my intent in what i said. i didn’t mean ‘stop asking questions’. i was just saying that whether these ladies ‘heard from God’ is their business, and perhaps we should focus on OUR relationship with God, and not put theirs to a test.

no offense intended.
 
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jeffreedy789:
i hope you didn’t take any offense at my remark. i think you understood my intent in what i said. i didn’t mean ‘stop asking questions’. i was just saying that whether these ladies ‘heard from God’ is their business, and perhaps we should focus on OUR relationship with God, and not put theirs to a test.

no offense intended.
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None taken, bud.

😉

michel
 
Well I believe that God does actually talk to His children. Plus I read in a catholic book on prayer that God does not usually talk to us unless we talk to him. Sounds very logical. Another thing, we know he talked to the saints, remember when Jesus appeared to St. Theresa the little flower and he asked her her name, she replied," Im Theresa of Jesus", to which our Lord replied then “Im Jesus of Theresa” Of corse He doesnt appear to us like that, but talk to us, I think he does, at least he does when we read the scriptures. I think we just don’t listen enough and that God talks to us–that is if we have an on going prayer life and talk to him. May God grant us the gift of prayer!!
 
Yes, every time I hear scripture proclaimed, the priest preaching on that scripture, every time I read scripture. I hear and understand better when I am in prayer mode and consciously ask the Holy Spirit to guide me, rather than when I read on “automatic” as a duty. Also through those in authority over me. Just the usual ways, I don’t hear booming voices, He also activates and revs up my conscience from time to time when I need it. Before Him in the Blessed Sacrament is more of a knowing and loving than a hearing.
 
Here is the some of best material on this topic I have ever seen on the internet. To view all the material, please be sure to click on the picture of Fr. Veltri at the bottom of the first web page:

sentex.net/~jveltri/interior-a.htm

Hope you will find this helpful, peace and blessings to all.
 
Two years ago I befriended a homeless man of 38 years. I took him in my house, gave him clothes, food, a shower evey day,a little money and latter a bus ticket to Atlanta Georgia ( from Texas). He stayed with me about 8 days.

I asked him to do work with me out in the grove. About once an hour he’d stop, stare out in to space , way off, like that 1000 yard stare. After 4 to 5 minutes he was O.K. again. About the third day I asked him what he heard, he said he heard Mexican music ( he was very Black - I am White) . Then one night at supper I asked him if he ever took any medicine to stop hearing music. He said YES. I got it out of him that in Saint Louis, MO at about aghe 21, he started to see and hear “Spooks” ( demons and ghosts.). He had medication and would be alright until he stopped the meds. He was chased away from his family. For 7 or 8 year he has wondered doing odd jobs and begging.
The next day I asked if the spooks ever come around any more. he said they stay far away, but he hears them about every 3 days. But the Mexican music was there almost all the time. I asked him if he was schizzophrenic, he Yessir. He smiled a lot with me and we did pray, he liked to read the news paper. His name was “Tommy”…he is still wandering…hope the Holy Spirit protectis him.:yup:
When someone tells me that God speaks to him- I back off, the man is either a Saint or he is mentally ill. There are a number of proven fakes who picked the pockets of the uninformed. Some of the faked being Preachers and got away with it for a time. Benny Hinn is famous for saying, “You know what, it was just this mrning that God told me …this or that”. Beware!:rolleyes:
 
Crazy -

Like Jeff(reedy), I would advise against dismissing the women’s claims entirely. Though I have not ‘heard’ the voice of God in my ears, I KNOW I have heard an inner voice that was from Him. Words came from someplace outside of me, sometimes in immediate response to my question, sometimes not. In each case, however, I am certain the words I ‘heard’ did not come from me. I believe that with God all things are possible. While it is certainly reasonable to question claims of literally hearing the voice of God, I believe such ‘hearing’ is also a real possibility.
 
I do not hear a real voice in my ears - BUT I absolutely hear that still, small voice in my heart. That sometimes is very clear - and usually only a word or two. Not descriptive but very clear and it usually comes during my time at Adoration. Like “Not now but soon”, “stop praying for yourself, pray for others”, “fast”, “cast your worry”.

I know the source because when I do obey these commands from the Holy Spirit, I see concrete blessing follow soon after.

God will also speak through nature, scripture, music, and people. I think God will use whatever he can to grab your attention. I just pray that I never need a donkey to speak to me!
 
In my experience there have been a couple of times when God has spoken to me so clearly that it was audible. In reality I know I wasn’t hearing with my ears, but it really did seem that way.

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
God speaks in many different ways.

See “Listening to God.”

Instead of words, I get concepts (I am not surprised as my brain works on whole concepts) placed in my head when He chooses.
 
It does happen. Once when I was facing something very tough, I was on a plane, physically and emotionally broken up inside, I actually heard these words: I AM with you! It gave me a jolt, it shook me up and I was in total awe with God’s majesty. I never told a soul about it.

But I would be very careful with nice old ladies running around and claiming to everybody God is talking to them.😃
 
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cazayoux:
…In retrospect, I know God has directed my actions my whole life. Things that I *thought *were my decisions weren’t … it was His direction. I believe in signal graces…
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:amen: I feel exactly as you do in this regard. It’s amazing how everything falls into place when we allow God to do His wonders!
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cazayoux:
What kind of discussion do I have with my wife about these ladies? I don’t want to be dismissive of their faith. It’s their claims I don’t quite believe.

… is it okay that I doubt this?
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It’s certainly ok to doubt it. As far as how to discuss it, that all depends on your wife’s personality. You should certainly tell her how you feel about it. It’s the approach that all depends.

You know your wife better than anyone. How has your approach on other matters worked and not worked in the past?

I know I haven’t really given you a straight answer, but I don’t know your wife like you do and I don’t want to give you an approach that would work with my wife given the circumstances that would not work with yours.

:blessyou:
 
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