Greig has once again produced an engaging book on an important element of Christian discipleship, drawing on sources from across the denominational/theological/historical spectrum. The section on Lectio was particularly helpful, indeed I started to read this because of the parallel "Lectio Course" which we studied as a church group throughout Lent. But Pete Greig is out with a new book to help us do just that. It’s called “How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People.” Pete Greig: Oh, thanks so much. And I must just say, if they want to get the app, Christin, anyone can get it. Lectio365, that will really help you to put the book into practice. In his latest book, he offers insight and tools to help turn your ordinary, everyday prayers into a real, conversational relationship with the God who is speaking, more than you know.

The Bible says that hearing the voice of our Creator is both central and natural to our existence as humans. The follow up to Pete Greig’s How To Pray is a practical and encouraging guide to the other side of the prayer conversation: how to hear what God might be saying in response to the prayers we pray. If you or someone you know needs physical, emotional or spiritual care, we can help. Find help near you. Pete Greig: I use Bible Gateway every single day of my life. Often repeatedly. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this extraordinary resource. I recently undertook a 330-mile solitary pilgrimage from the Scottish island of Iona to the Northumbrian island of Lindisfarne. Both these islands were centers of Christian faith and evangelization in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. Lindisfarne is particularly famous for the Lindisfarne Gospels. These are breathtakingly beautiful hand-written transcriptions of the Gospels illustrated in bright colors with wonderful designs. They’re one of the most treasured ancient manuscripts in all antiquity. It’s worth remembering how precious and rare the Bible was for many centuries so that we can be truly grateful for Bible Gateway that makes it so easily accessible in so many different versions and languages. What a wonderful gift God has given us in his Word, and in this technology that enables us to read it (and pray it) so easily. Pete Greig: Nothing God says in any other way, in any other context, will ever override, undermine, or contradict what he has said in the Scriptures. Ultimately, the Bible is the language of God’s heart because it communicates with us its very nature. In reading the Bible we receive truth and sound doctrine, but we also encounter the love and life of God himself. It is a “ living book.”But if this is starting to sound a bit onerous, please don’t worry. As usual, Jesus keeps the whole thing refreshingly earthy, relational and simple: “My sheep listen to my voice”, he says. “I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Bio: Pete Greig cofounded and champions the 24-7 Prayer movement, which has reached more than half the nations on earth. He is a pastor at Emmaus Rd. in Guildford, England, and has written a number of bestselling books, including God on Mute, Red Moon Rising, Dirty Glory, and How to Pray. This is not just a book written in a charming style, but perhaps in the end a book that will help many change their lives and adjust themselves to hearing that still small voice of which the Bible speaks. * The Irish Catholic *

I’m also glad that I bought both the ebook and audio. I loved listening to the author’s British narration, but I needed the ebook because there was so much I wanted to highlight and return to and ponder. Highly recommended. Pete Greig: We live our best lives, and not our easiest lives, but our most joyous, living lives. I’m more and more convinced that the most dangerous thing you can do in life is say no to the God who knows you best, loves you most, and only wants the best for your life. And the safest place you can be in life, even though it may sometimes feel scary, is to say to the God who knows you best, wants the best for you, and loves you the most, “Yes. Whatever you want me to say, wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I will say it. I will do it. I will go there.” Christin Thieme: Yep. And your new book, “How to Hear God: a Simple Guide for Normal People,” is brilliant. Thank you for giving this gift to all of us. And we’re going to talk more about how God does speak, because you said it’s not always audibly. But one interesting thing about the book that is kind of a thread throughout the whole thing is Jesus’ encounter with a couple on the road to Emmaus, which you said in the book is a masterclass for anyone seeking to learn to hear his voice. Can you share a little bit more about that encounter? Nothing could possibly matter more than learning to discern the authentic voice of God, but few things in life are more susceptible to delusion and deception. When life falls apart and we need God's comfort; in moments of cultural turmoil when we need God's clarity; facing formidable decisions when we need God's guidance; desiring a deeper faith when we need God to say something, anything, to turn the monologue we call prayer into a genuine conversation.

We also hear his voice through the discipline of prayer, which is of course a two-way communication. Greig introduces the reader to the ancient approach known as lectio divina; harnessing the power of imagination and meditation. The four main steps of lectio divina, the author made highly popular in ‘ How to Pray’, by using the simple acronym, P.R.A.Y: Pause, Read ( lectio), Reflect (meditation), Ask ( oratio) and Yield (contemplation).

These are not gifts that have died out in the church. They have not been “replaced” by the Bible. We weigh prophecy against Scripture, but the Bible itself teaches us that prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit for all Christians essential for the building up of the church. In How to Hear God I give some important guidelines as to how we can hear God in this way and how we can handle this gift appropriately (because tragically it has often been abused). And Lectio is much more that approach. It’s less about exegesis and more what is God whispering to me through this? And there are four steps to doing it that I outline in the book. The Latin phrase is Lectio Meditatio. That’s just meditate on what you’ve read. Pete Greig explains in a simple but deep sense what it really is to hear the living God speak today. I'm amazed by how humble and down-to-earth he is. There's really no sense of him telling us how it's done, but an invite to explore it with him. One of my main takeaways is this: if I were stranded on a deserted island and all I had was a Bible, that really would be sufficient. However, there are so many other ways that God can speak to us, and I want to grow in my desire for those. I don’t want to miss out on all the creative ways God talks to me.Christin Thieme: Yeah. I love that analogy that you give of the window frame and the picture frame, moving beyond seeing Scripture just objectively, but how do you receive it personally and make it that conversation? So there’s lots of really practical tools in the book, and that is a great one to start with. Each session has been designed for small groups to watch together and discuss. Each session comes with a discussion guide and practical activities to help you go deeper in your own relationship with God. As Pete points out, for followers of Jesus, “hearing [God’s] voice is therefore the most natural thing in the world…but whenever God’s word is confused, abused, or ignored, it can become one of the most perplexing and painful things too.” For many, hearing God’s voice has become confused, abused, and at times even ignored. For this reason, far too often, we assume it is impossible for us to accomplish. This book reminds us that it is essential that we develop and commit to intentional practices and disciplines that help us to rediscover our connection to God the Father, the Creator and sustaining life-force of all of Creation. These practices and disciplines – as well as this book – are good reminders that God’s voice is often missed because it comes different than we want to expect; rather “when it comes, as it mostly does, [it is] in a voice hushed to a “gentle whisper.” Far too many followers of Jesus have never been discipled on or encouraged around how to discern the distinctive voice of God, and this book helps them commit intentionally to spiritual practices and disciplines to discern and respond to the voice of God. Sadly, as Pete points out, even those of us who these practices are not new for, can at times, too easily become “distracted psychologically, emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually” to hear “the voice of God.” For us, the realignment of our spiritual lives is essential, through committing intentionally to spiritual disciplines and practices. This book is certainly an encouragement towards realignment. And as a preacher, I’ll say it’s much more to do with how we listen than how God speaks. When we’re hungry, when we’re desperate, when we’re attuned to God’s voice, we receive with faith. I think that’s what it means to have ears to hear. Jesus is saying, “Hey, don’t just listen with your physical ears, but listen with your spiritual ears.” Learning to hear God’s voice – his word and his whisper – is the single most important thing you will ever learn to do.”

We have spent over twenty years teaching young people how to hear the voice of God. We wish we would have had this book the whole time—it would have made our jobs much easier! This is the most inspiring, empowering, and exhaustive book we have read on hearing God's voice. This book doesn't just fill your head with information but also will cause your heart to burn with inspiration. You could give this book to a brand-new believer, and they would be immediately empowered to hear God's voice. Or you could give it to a believer who has walked with God for many years, and they would be inspired and challenged to hear him in an even deeper way. The body of Christ has needed this book for very long time.' recording artists Jonathan and Melissa Helser So we have a God who communicates. So that would be a very short book. If the book was the fact that God speaks, it’s just, he does. The issue is psychology. The issue is each of us is wired differently. So how do we receive what God is saying? And sometimes our problem is either that we are expecting to hear God the way someone else does and we’re just wired differently. Or we are expecting to hear God the way he spoke to us in the past, but he’s speaking to us in a new way in our new context.So, yeah, it’s about reading slowly. It’s about reverence for the text. It’s about using your imagination. It’s about turning the Bible from being a picture frame to a window frame. Okay? So too often we look at the Bible like a picture that you study and analyze. It’s fixed. It’s there in the picture frame. But what if instead we treat the Bible like a window frame? So through the Bible, we kind of open the window and look out on the world. When it comes to hearing God, the Bible is the language of his heart. Nothing he says in any other way, or in any other context will ever override, undermine or contradict what he has said in the scriptures. 2. Prayer You even forget that it’s about studying the Bible. The Bible has connected you directly with God. That’s contemplation. And that might sound scary, and big, and for super-spiritual people, but it’s actually really, really simple. And in the book, I explain how to do it. From world peace to inner peace, we all know that peace is a good thing, and that we’d like more of it. But in the uncertainty and intensity of everyday life, how do we find it? As Liz Truss takes up the reins during a period predicted to be beset with crises and complaints, Christians should start as we mean to go on - by praying for our leaders - says Christians in Politics’ Andy Flannagan