Does God talk to people?

[shoewindow3000]

In the Catholic Church, there are Saints who have received messages from and talked with God, angels, etc.

 

[Sam_777]

What if God wants to talk to someone to set them back on the right path - give them a “wake-up” call so to speak?

Maybe talking to them indirectly through Angels.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Hello

My name is Joe and this is my first post to the forums so wish me luck
Im only 17 years old but have become deeply interested in my Faith recently and I’m here because I have a question that I want feedback from all religions… but specifically Catholic and Baptist…

Story:

My girlfriend is Baptist. One day she approaches me and says that God had told her something. I almost let out a laugh. She continued to say that she had prayed about our relationship and God had told her something so shocking that she couldn’t believe it. So she went to her parish and asked her youth pastor’s wife (without mentioning why) to pray for our relationship, and she miraculously came to the same conclusion.

God had told them both that her and I are going to get married. He said that somehow he would work it out.

When God talked to her she had been praying and she says she “heard a voice and then there was peace”. And then when her youth pastor made the same claim her conviction was complete.

I proceeded to ask others if God talked to them and it seems to be a common belief, particullarly among the baptists I have spoken to. In fact, some insist that God speaks to them on a regular basis.

So here’s my question: Am I missing something here? I’ve never heard of this before. Is this really God or is it all in their heads? Or is it maybe even some other spirit of a less “holy” nature?

To me this almost seems an infringement on our free will. I can’t imagine why God would tell someone who they were going to marry. Don’t we need to make choices without knowing the outcome so that we can learn and grow? I feel that if God just gave us road signs then… I don’t know what we’re living for…

Their defense is that even though God reveals to them His WIll that they don’t “have” to follow it. But if it’s all part of the Big Plan then how can you deny what God TELLS you is going to happen?

So uh, thanks for listening to my girl problems and you’re responses are greatly appreciated.

God does talk to people, and so does the devil. I’m particularly wary when its something the person wants to hear.

I’ll give you three instances in my own experience. At one stage I had a crush on a girl in my (then Protestant) church. The pastor was trying to talk me out of it, and she wasn’t even interested anyway. But anyway I was on my way home from work one day, grumbling in my mind about this, when a voice just cut straight across my thoughts, and said “Bob, is (she) SUITED to you?” The obvious inference was “Stop wasting your time”.

One of the long standing bugbears in my life has been what might be called a lack of career or vocation. Likewise I was grumbling about this in my mind, when again a voice cut clear across my mind and said, “Bob, what’s WRONG with being a writer??” I’ve been dragging my feet on this one, but it is backed up by another peculiar experience I had years ago. My catholic psychiatrist says I’ve been “nobbled” as far as careers go, in order that I might put my experiences down in words. So far I’ve been resisting, as I think God’s been pretty unfair. But I suppose I’ll have to toe the line sometime.

Even the psychiatrist has had his own experiences. One day he was in his office, when a voice just said to him “Go to Maclean”. That’s a small town in northern New South Wales in Australia. And that was all it said. A couple of months later he was helping with a “Family Healing” mass at a town called Lismore when an aboriginal woman came up to him and said, “I don’t want to interfere, or sound silly, or do the wrong thing, but I seem to be getting told you should go to Maclean”. So he went. There’s a bit of a story from that, but I won’t go into it.

So God does talk to people, either directly or through angels. However you’l notice in all the above, not one of the episodes involved something that I or the psychiatrist particuarly wanted to hear. Your girlfriend probably wants to get married, and when a woman has decided a bloke is the man for her, she can be very difficult to persuade otherwise.

She might be right, but you have the right to also make your own decisions, and God’s given you a brain and expects you to use it.

So I’d pray about it, and then let it sit on the backburner. Under NO circumstances let this incident pressure you into a hasty engagement and marriage, or you could be setting yourself up for a lot of heartbreak. And so could she.

 

[4EverHis]

Hi,

I do believe that God speaks to people, like in our hearts… (also some Saints and others have seen Jesus, Mary, Angels, etc, but that is very rare and not something we should seek - out of humility).

However, we should be very careful when we discern.

Just because someone thinks that God told them something, doesn’t mean He really did.

So don’t put much pressure on yourself with this marriage thing it might be true, but it might not be.

there’s a lot of deception out there…sometimes people treat it so casually, like God talks to us all the time. But sometimes it’s also our minds, or even demons. Sometimes when it’s God, you just know it’s Him. (I’ve had this happen a couple times when I was on my journey to the Catholic Church, and He was pointing me in the right direction.)

You would find a lot of Baptists and Protestants in general who casually say things like “God told me…”

God speaks to Catholics too but we put more stock in the Church teachings and public revelation than private revelation and we don’t always share such things so openly.

If this is sort of new to you… honestly, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean you don’t know God or anything like that some people ask God questions and then analyze their feelings to see what the answer is… and I don’t think that’s entirely correct. If God wants to tell us something, He will, and if He doesnt, He won’t. Often, He leads us without us even knowing. I suggest, instead of focusing on this, just try to develop your prayer life (regardless of what stage you’re at! it’s always a journey ) and talk to God as much as you can… just tell Him whatever’s on your mind. Maybe find a devotion you like, pray the Rosary, etc. Maybe try Eucharistic Adoration just be honest with God in prayer, try to love Him, and that will be enough, and He will be pleased. Don’t seek private revelations.

God bless you

 

[4EverHis]

Thats what im wondering… Am I supposed to just be able to pray and hear God speaking back with me? Because thats never hapened for me…

that is rare… try not to seek it, but just develop your prayer life and pray as best you can. pray from your heart. If God wants to, He will communicate with you too… but if He doesn’t, that doesn’t mean He loves you any less, nor does it mean that He’s not listening, or that He’s not there. It just means that perhaps it’s not the right time, or that He wants you to develop your faith it would so easy to believe if we could hear and see God all the time, but not very meritorious!

God bless