To hear from God

[mikeda]

I’ve recently started exploring the Catholic faith. I’ve been going to Mass and RCIA classes for the past few weeks, and though faith seems like a foreign language, I think I’m making progress.

My sister had asked me about my experience with Mass and RCIA, as she is just like I am (or maybe I was) when it comes to religion. She asked me if I had “seen Jesus yet” or “heard God yet”…something along those lines. It got me thinking though. I have no idea what that would look like. Or sound like. Or feel like.

So I ask this community, what are your thoughts? How do you know God is speaking to you? What does that even look like?

 

[MiserableSinner]

I signed up just to answer this question. I don’t want you to get tricked. Trust the Holy Spirit. He will help you. Talk to Him in Jesus name.

1. Don’t expect to hear from God unless you are pursuing holiness and favor in His sight with your whole heart. Even then, don’t be disappointed if you do not. He has your best interests in mind and He loves you. God does not necessarily favor one who He speaks to more than one who He does not. He might choose not to speak to someone in order to increase their merit and therefore their glory in Heaven (how close to Him they are). Sometimes He will have mercy on someone who has little merit in His sight, and He will speak to that person while not speaking to someone with great merit in His sight. He always has our eternity in mind.
2. His reason for talking to you or not talking to you is based on who He is, Infinite Love.
3. If you are pursuing holiness and God with your whole heart and you don’t hear from Heaven, you will still get inspirations from Heaven. We ALL are assisted by angels. Hebrews 1:14

…13But to which of the angels has He ever said, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET "? 14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

If you hear from anyone in Heaven, it is as if it came from God. That means if an angel gives you an inspiration, it is because it is God’s will.

Angels use images of people and places we have already seen and inspire us with good thoughts. They can help you in your imagination, thoughts, and your feelings. Fallen angels can manipulate all of those things too. That is why it is important to be careful what you see. Angels work with what is already in our brain and rarely add new things. Angels and Saints will give you inspirations and INSIGHT into what is really happening spiritually. Ask them for help, and do this often. It might be an hour or a day before they help you, but if they help someone who has sinned as much as I have - they will help you too.

You have a guardian angel. Ask them to help you. In fact, do that now, because they know what I am talking about in this post. Please help them, Guardian Angel, and I love you! (Yes your guardian angel is always with you and they do have the Beatific Vision right now)

So, how do you know a message or a voice is from Heaven?

St. Ignatius Loyola goes more in depth on this in his “spiritual exercises on discernment.” Here are the basics:

The enemy will try to get you EXCITED. They want you to feel a thrill. Then they drop you down.

God and His Angels will give you peace and joy, but not normally excitement.

The enemy will always try to confuse you.

God will give you peace.

The enemy will feel like a sharpness in your flesh. God or someone from Heaven will feel like peace in your spirit (or peace in your flesh sometimes).

If you hear a voice, BE AWARE - it could be a fallen angel. Ask the Holy Spirit to grant it to you to know who is speaking to you. It could be God, an angel, our Mother, a Saint, or a fallen angel. All you need to know is if it is from Heaven or not. If it is, take it as if God said it to you

Talk to our Mother (God’s Mother, Mary), your Guardian Angel, and God. Trust the Holy Spirit. The more you trust God, the more He will help you. Our trust compels Him to act (He told St. Faustina that). Have faith. Even if you don’t hear His voice, He is CONSTANTLY involved in your life RIGHT NOW. The more you believe without seeing, the more blessed you will be. He wants you to merit eternal life and He will give you the grace to get to Heaven. Cooperate.

Remember - God is Love. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Way. Love is the Way.

Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, all of your mind, and all of your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

All merit is in the will. Love is not always a feeling. Often it is an act of the will. Constantly apply your WILL to make acts of Love for the Lord your God and your neighbor, ESPECIALLY when you don’t feel like it. God will give you the grace and your merit will increase.

And make sure to take confession seriously, but also make sure you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Don’t try to get by on your own wisdom. YOU NEED HIM. Pray without ceasing. He hears you. Ask our God, our Mother, the Angels, and the Saints to help you EVERY time you are about to confess (once a week is good, even if no mortal sins). You NEED God to make a good confession. The fallen angels will try to stop you from making a good confession because they know that if you make a good confession, you will be washed clean in God’s Blood and be the light of the world. If they can get you to make no confession, they win a victory for Hell, and if they can get you to make a bad confession - they get you to commit one of the worst sins (sacrilege). Learn everything there is to know about confession. Remember - demons can manipulate your THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND IMAGINATION.

If you die in a state of grace, you are promised eternal life. It is not a divine trick. It is real. Trust in God. Say these words “Jesus I trust in you” every day when you wake up. If you don’t feel it, APPLY YOUR WILL TO IT. Remember that good and bad angels alike can affect how you feel. Ask your Guardian Angel to help you.

You are officially at war with Hell by being Catholic. They WILL wage war against you. You belong to Jesus, the world belongs to Satan. Ask for help ALL THE TIME! You need it! Ask your Guardian Angel to help you, ask our Mother to help you, and ask God to help you, and do it all the time!

I love you. Hope!

I love you also, Guardian Angel, please help them and ask our Mother to help them!

Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of Life, please guide them to Heaven. I love you and I trust you. Please save us. In Jesus Name I pray.

 

[TimothyH]

So I ask this community, what are your thoughts? How do you know God is speaking to you? What does that even look like?

Stillness, silence and peace are prerequisites. And you have to pray. Learn to pray.

You need to cultivate an atmosphere of peace in your life, avoiding strife, arguments and anger to the extent that it is possible.

You need to learn to be still and become a lover of silence - not just exterior silence but inner silence/stillness. Inner silence means that images and movies don’t play before your mind and you don’t relive past event or rehearse for future events over and over.

God can always get his message across, one way or another, but the Holy Spirit never competes with noise and anger and rushing around and always being busy.

Prayer is conversation. You have to be a person of prayer. When you are silent and still, then you can pray “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening” and God will speak. You have to be very patient because He doesn’t always answer right away. But you will know when He does.

-Tim-

 

[guanophore]

I’ve recently started exploring the Catholic faith. I’ve been going to Mass and RCIA classes for the past few weeks, and though faith seems like a foreign language, I think I’m making progress.

My sister had asked me about my experience with Mass and RCIA, as she is just like I am (or maybe I was) when it comes to religion. She asked me if I had “seen Jesus yet” or “heard God yet”…something along those lines. It got me thinking though. I have no idea what that would look like. Or sound like. Or feel like.

So I ask this community, what are your thoughts? How do you know God is speaking to you? What does that even look like?

I think using Lectio Divina is very helpful in learning how to hear God speaking.

 

[SAVINGRACE]

Hello Mikeda,

Welcome to learning about the faith. I will share with you three occasions where I was left in no doubt that God was communicating with me.

1. I attended an Anglican boarding school. During confirmation classes we were not allowed to receive holy communion. I remember the first service, all of the confirmation class went to the altar at the end of communion, knelt down and Fr Bullock put his hands over everyone’s head and prayed over them. When he put his hands over my head, I got this very strange sensation, he wasn’t touching my head but there was some kind of “power” which seemed to be emanating from his hands to my head. Then he moved on. I remember being amazed by the experience.
2. First year at university I was a wild child, partying and drinking. Four months in I was in the city with my classmate who is Catholic. She said she would be going to the Catholic store under the Cathedral and then meet me at the bustop. I said I’ll join you. When we arrived at the store, I headed towards the dvd section when I passed all the statues of Our Lady. I stopped and looked and immediately I was transfixed, I couldn’t move, I then felt a surge of (wind/closest word to describe it) envelope me and I was swaying in what can only be described as a whirlwind of pure love, I felt compelled to fall to my knees but my consciousness snapped back, I was so affected that I ran out of that store bewildered. My friend came out and asked me where I disappeared to. I related to her what happened and she said “oh that’s just Our Lady communicating with you. She was sent by God to give you a message or a sign”. I asked “what sign?”. She replied “it will become clear and reveal itself in time”. I soon forgot about it and continued focussing on my studies and partying lifestyle.
3. Second year university, the same Catholic friend mentioned that she is going to Sydney during the Semester break for World Youth Day (2 week Seminar for young Catholics). I said “oh yeah, is it like a prayer marathon?” She said “why don’t you come along and see for yourself”. Our Baptist and atheist friend were also attending so I accepted and registered.

Upon arriving we attended exhibitions of some books/artifacts and artwork from the Vatican. We also attended numerous lectures/debates/interfaith panels and Q&A’s on the Catholic faith and topics such as Abortion, Social Justice etc… these included very well known Australian identities/lawyers/politicians/celebrities etc who I never knew were practicing Catholics. For some reason Hillsong Choir was banging out the music almost every night on various entertainment stages along with some evangelicals and other Prot groups, it was being inclusive but mainly Catholic. My curiosity was stirred.

Beginning of second week, the Holy Father arrived in the country. We attended a huge outdoor Mass held by the Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Pell. There were so many Cardinals, Bishops and Priests from the Vatican, the world and Australia on that stage. I stood listening to the entire Mass noting how similar it is to the Anglican service, while my friend and the 50,000 participated.

It came to the Blessing of the Eucharist, everyone kneeled on the concrete including the Baptist who had bought the Koolaid and was already halfway across the Tiber. The atheist and I remained standing. Five seconds later I am immersed in that same whirlwind from that Catholic bookstore and I am compelled to kneel, transfixed on the wine and bread. My Catholic friend noticed and indicated that I should cross my arms on my chest which I did. 20 minutes later a Priest comes by with the wine, puts his hands over my head and says a blessing and I feel the same as I did when I was 12.

A few days later we attended the Papal Mass with 400000 people, by then I had already decided I am going to be a Catholic. When we returned to our state, I enrolled in RCIA and was accepted the following Easter along with the Baptist. The atheist is now an agnostic, he is a work in progress.

 

[Louman127]

I’ve recently started exploring the Catholic faith. I’ve been going to Mass and RCIA classes for the past few weeks, and though faith seems like a foreign language, I think I’m making progress.

My sister had asked me about my experience with Mass and RCIA, as she is just like I am (or maybe I was) when it comes to religion. She asked me if I had “seen Jesus yet” or “heard God yet”…something along those lines. It got me thinking though. I have no idea what that would look like. Or sound like. Or feel like.

So I ask this community, what are your thoughts? How do you know God is speaking to you? What does that even look like?

Here’s the thing it is difficult to discern sometimes whether you have an inspiration from God or a deceptive inspiration from a demonic spirit. Many times through the coarse of your life you may get certain revelations. An idea or an inspiration may just pop in your head. But how do we discern whether it is the Holy Spirit or a demonic spirit? The simple answer to that is learn the Catholic faith through and through. Conform all opinions to the faith. And pray daily, especially the Rosary everyday. Then when you get a revelation or even maybe a locution or more rarely a vision you will know whether it is from God or not. Because if it is contradictory to the faith at all then you know it is of a demonic origin.

And as far as feelings. They can come and go. Initially you may get lots of warm fuzzy feelings when you are getting into the faith and you can really “feel” God’s presence and peace. If that happens know that it is a gift and a grace to help you on your journey. But don’t expect that grace to stay there forever. Eventually it will be taken away. Sort of like taking off the training wheels. But every now then and sometimes especially after a good deed you may get that feeling again. Sort like a good job hug.

Also the devil has acquired a certain dominion over our flesh due to original sin. So don’t always trust your feelings. He can often use your feelings against you. The devil will try all sorts of tactics especially now that you are exploring the true faith.

Just be patient and learn the faith and accept all Catholic doctrine and dogma. And most importantly submit to the faith.

So in brief:
Learn the faith through and through. Pray a lot especially the Rosary everyday. And don’t always trust your feelings. The devil will often have an “unrestful” feeling sometimes you can barely feel the unrest attribute but there will be some trace of it there (in my experiences). But God will have you feel peace even if He asks something hard of you.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I’ve recently started exploring the Catholic faith. I’ve been going to Mass and RCIA classes for the past few weeks, and though faith seems like a foreign language, I think I’m making progress.

My sister had asked me about my experience with Mass and RCIA, as she is just like I am (or maybe I was) when it comes to religion. She asked me if I had “seen Jesus yet” or “heard God yet”…something along those lines. It got me thinking though. I have no idea what that would look like. Or sound like. Or feel like.

So I ask this community, what are your thoughts? How do you know God is speaking to you? What does that even look like?

Oh geez I wish I could explain this a little bit better maybe someone else can. It is definitely a feeling but it is a feeling that I had to make an assent intellectually to. I had to weigh the pros and cons and see what I thought was right and wrong and see where I kind of fit in now that being said I always kinda figured that if I was going to be Christian I should probably be Catholic since they are the original. But that’s another story to be honest with you when I first started feeling God in my life was after a couple of near death experiences. I didn’t turn my life around immediately either it did take some time. For me I guess I just felt kind of like something was missing