In his book, “How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People,” Pete Greig says that “nothing could be wilder or more wonderful than the human capacity to hear God’s voice.” He goes on to say, “…your primary purpose – the reason for which you were born – is to enjoy a real conversational relationship with an infinitely loving divinity, which is why you almost certainly hear him already, more than you realize.” Think about it – the voice that spoke the world and all of creation into existence is a voice that we can hear and discern, personally. God whispers and speaks to US! How crazy is that? 

While all of this is surely true, it can still be difficult for us to hear God’s voice, especially when we’re living in Crazytown. You know the place. Crazytown is where the laundry is still piled up from two days ago, waiting to be folded. Crazytown is full of diapers and wipes and toys all over the floor. It’s also full of 50-hour work weeks and 18-hour credit semesters. Crazytown often has a lawn that needs mowing, a broken toilet, a dog that needs walking and multiple plates spinning at once. 

Crazytown can be a lot of fun, but sometimes it’s stressful and it’s always distracting. Maybe you’ve found yourself visiting Crazytown from time to time – or maybe you’ve taken up permanent residence there. Either way, it can be hard to hear God’s voice, especially His gentle whisper, when you’re hurrying just to get to the next thing on time... (of course, if you ARE in Crazytown right now, you’re probably not reading this blog post or you’re just skimming it, so I’ll be brief). 

Adam Weber wrote a great little book called, “Talking to God.” He says, “It’s crazy. We tend to separate prayer from the place where we need it the most – in the midst of Crazytown.” What if, instead of thinking of prayer as something separate from the rest of life, one more thing to cram into our day or week, we practiced talking to God in the midst of it – right there in Downtown Crazytown – all the time?  

Weber says, “Talk with God in the midst of it all.” Paul called it “praying without ceasing.” Brother Lawrance, in the 1600’s, called it “practicing the presence of God.” Whatever you are doing, vacuuming the floor, talking to a friend, driving to a baseball game – practice talking to God in it all. And once you get in the habit, you might be surprised at how much clearer His voice becomes.  

One last quote from Adam Weber – “Regardless of what a day holds, we can come to know and understand the heart of God on levels we’ve never known before, in the midst of the craziest of days, we can fall more in love with him. Simply by talking to him.” 

May it be so – wherever you live.