Jesus promised that his voice would lead us. In John 10:27, Jesus states, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” It is a passage that is common to many of us, and it made for good Sunday school lessons when we were growing up. However, discerning the voice of our shepherding God is a lot harder than those early Sunday School lessons made it.
In a noisy world, it can be hard to believe that God is still speaking. There are seasons in life, more often than not, we might describe God as being on mute. However, God is still speaking and wants to talk to each of us. I believe sometimes God speaks in gentle whispers. Sometimes, God speaks and guides through unexpected interruptions. There are other times, in moments of silence, when it somehow feels as if God is shouting louder than words. Over the past several weeks at River Corner Church and Water Street Mission, we have been wrestling with five distinct ways, that I believe are biblical ways, in which God is still speaking and guiding the people of God.
A Quiet Life With God’s Voice
I sign each email with “In pursuit of a quiet life,” and that phrase is more than a prophetic reminder to others. It is first and foremost a reminder to me, and it also captures the heart behind this Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos (which is a journey I am on). A few years ago, 1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 left a deep impression on me, and it’s been on the front of my journals ever since. I reflect on it daily, and in this season, I’ve come to consider it my life verse.
“To lead a quiet life” speaks to a stillness before God—a posture of recognizing that we are sustained not by striving, but by His presence. The Greek word hēsychazō (Strong’s G2270) means to keep still, to cease from labor, to stop running frantically here and there. It invites us into a peace that comes from minding our own business and tending to the life God has given us. It reminds me of the timeless truth in Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Paul calls us into an ancient way of walking with God—a way marked by stillness, attentiveness, and trust. To live with God in this kind of quiet stillness, we must learn to recognize God’s voice. That’s why I’ve been exploring five key ways God speaks. Learning to hear God—through Scripture, People, Experiences, Awareness, and Kairos moments—is not just a spiritual practice, but a form of wisdom that can shape our journey with Jesus over time. In stillness, we begin to discern God’s presence, guidance, and gentle leading.
5 Ways God is still SPEAKing
In both of the contexts where I serve, I have been using the simple acronym—S.P.E.A.K.—to help us remember that God is still speaking. It might not be the most sophisticated or comprehensive framework, but I think this season it has proven helpful for me and for those I walk alongside. I humbly offer it as a practical and memorable tool for discerning how God’s voice is often heard and how God’s guidance can be recognized in our daily lives. As a parent, I hope this tool helps these ideas stick deep not only with those I am serving, but with my children first and foremost.
The acronym S.P.E.A.K. stands for Scripture, People, Experiences with the Holy Spirit, Awareness or Common Sense, and Kairos Moments. I will explore what I mean by each as we move through this blog post, but let me preface this conversation with a humble awareness of the limitations of an acronym. We could debate the order or the way I arranged the words, but I believe the abbreviation does one thing right. This acronym captures at the front the two most essential ways God speaks: Scripture and People. Our lives must be rooted in the authority of Scripture and shaped by the accountability of community. These two disciplines of hearing God’s voice act as guardrails—anchoring, affirming, and sometimes challenging what we sense through the other ways of hearing God’s voice: spiritual experiences, intuitive awareness, and karios signs. Without them, it’s too easy to misinterpret or misapply what we think we hear.
SPEAK as a Filter
As a side note, I’ve found that when something seems to come up again and again across multiple areas, for example, through the scriptures, through the wisdom and Spirit-led counsel of others, it is something you might want to pay attention to; it is usually confirmation. On their own, each way can be subjective. However, if more than one of these ways seems to align with what God is saying, then these five become a filter to help us discern God’s voice with greater confidence. Again, if I am hearing the same thing in the Scriptures, through others, and the signs, the rest of me had better pay attention. As the scriptures show, often God says things in “stereo,” meaning God’s leading is rarely isolated to one channel. This is also why it is essential to learn how to hear God’s voice in all five areas, not just one or two.
The Waltons Give a Prophetic Image
In the beloved family television show The Waltons, there are a few scenes, notably when John-Boy is off at war, and the family gathers around the radio to hear the latest news or a radio program. They carefully adjust the volume and turn the frequency knob, fine-tuning the antenna with attentive care. The radio was always broadcasting, but it took intentional effort to tune in and hear it clearly.
The same is true for us as we seek to hear God’s voice. God is always speaking, but we often need to adjust our volume, frequency, and antenna to listen well. Even more, like the Waltons huddled around the radio in a sense of family and community, we hear God’s voice best in family and community. Others can help us listen to what we might otherwise miss.
God is speaking. And by learning to listen through these five ways—Scripture, People, Experiences, Awareness, and Kairos Moments—we become more attuned to God’s presence, God’s truth, and God’s gentle leading in the quiet and not-so-quiet moments of our lives.
We have to learn how to tune in.
God speaks and leads through Scripture.
The most straightforward, most reliable way we hear God speak is through Scripture.
God’s Scripture isn’t just ink on a page—it’s alive and active. It teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains us (2 Timothy 3:16). When we approach Scripture with a listening posture, we discover God’s character, promises, and wisdom for living.
How to listen: Open your Bible expecting God to meet you. Read slowly. Ask, What are you saying, Lord? Trust that God speaks through God’s Scripture, even when it doesn’t feel flashy.
Listen to This Message at River Corner Church (on Scripture)
God often speaks through people—friends, mentors, community.
Sometimes it’s a timely word of encouragement. Other times, it’s a confrontation or an insight we never saw coming. As followers of Jesus, we are the body of Christ, and that means God often uses our voices to guide and build up one another.
How to listen: Be open to feedback, wisdom, and the gentle nudges that come through others. Listen humbly. Seek wise counsel. Be willing to test what you hear with Scripture.
Listen to This Message at River Corner Church (People)
God speaks through Experiences with the Holy Spirit
From burning bushes to road-to-Damascus moments, Scripture is filled with people encountering God in everyday life. And God still meets us in our experiences today—dreams, coincidences that don’t feel random, divine appointments, or inner promptings that can only be explained by the Spirit.
How to listen: Pay attention to what stirs you. Reflect on significant moments and ask, God, were You in that? Not every experience is from God, but many are invitations to deeper trust or action.
Listen to This Message at River Corner Church (Holy Spirit)
God Speaks Through Awareness and Common Sense
God gave us minds for a reason. For this reason, God doesn’t bypass our brains. Often, God’s direction is found not through signs in the sky but through sanctified wisdom—thoughts renewed by the Holy Spirit and rooted in God’s Scripture.
How to listen: Ask God for wisdom (James 1:5), then think carefully and prayerfully. Don’t dismiss common sense—it might be the Spirit working in you through discernment and clarity.
Listen to This Message at River Corner Church (Awareness)
God speaks through Kairos Moments (or Signs)
These are the moments when time seems to pause. A Kairos moment isn’t just any moment—it’s God breaking in with a specific opportunity or challenge. It might be conviction. It might be a door opening. It might be a sense that now is the time to act, speak, repent, or move forward.
How to listen: Learn to pause. Pay attention to the inner stirrings, the holy disruptions, the Spirit’s tug. Journal. Pray. Ask others to help you process what God might be doing.
Listen to This Message at River Corner Church (Kairos Moments)
Resources That Help Us Listen
Throughout this series at River Corner Church, I’ve found great encouragement and practical insight in several books that I’d recommend to anyone seeking to hear God’s voice more clearly:
- How to Pray by Pete Greig – With pastoral honesty and poetic simplicity, Greig reminds us that prayer is mostly “showing up” to the God who is already present. He encourages a rhythm of simplicity, authenticity, and persistence in prayer.
- Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer – This book explores how we can grow in spiritual discernment, learning to distinguish God’s voice from our own thoughts or outside influences.
- The Bible – Yes, I know that sounds obvious, but we highlighted that Scripture remains the most trustworthy and consistent way God speaks. Pair it with resources like Bible Gateway Plus or Logos Bible Software if you want to dig deeper.
These resources don’t replace God’s voice, but they help tune our ears.
So, Does God Still Speak?
Absolutely. The problem isn’t that God has gone silent—it’s often that we’re not listening, or we’re expecting God’s voice to come a certain way. But when we slow down, embrace a quieter life, and pay attention, we discover God is still SPEAKing.
The invitation isn’t just to hear God’s voice. It’s to respond to it.
So let me ask:
What’s God been saying to you lately?
And are you listening?
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