God is Speaking............Are You Listening?

This morning my alarm clock awoke me from a dream.  The only dreams we remember are those we have right before waking.  So, since then, I have been putting the pieces together to understand exactly what the dream was about.  In my dream, I was  visiting with a family with several small children.  The mother was concerned about her son who was 4 or 5 years old.  He was misbehaving and seemed out of control.  And she was worried too because he was not eating. 

I went over picked up the boy, cuddling him in my arms and said, "Let's pray about this and find out what God would have us do.  Maybe he will give us insight into the problem and a solution to help the child." 

The little boy looked up at me and laughed.  "God doesn't talk to people," he said, "and everyone would think I was crazy if I said I talked to God." 

The alarm sounded at that moment and as I reached to shut it off, I wondered, "Do people really think I'm crazy whenever I say I talk to God?"

Some people may have a problem with the fact that God is real and that he is involved in our lives.  It may be absurd to them to believe that God hears prayers and speaks to us.  But for those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is a way of life.  They know because they have experienced it for themselves. 

Having a conversation with God starts with faith.  It happens only when you are in a relationship with him, meaning, you have trusted in his son, Jesus Christ for salvation.  You must believe that Jesus is God's son and that he lived a perfect life and that he gave that life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  You must rely completely on Jesus to save you  for you cannot save yourself.  Your faith in Jesus makes it possible for you to know God, the Father.  He accepts you into his family and you become his child.  As a child of God you can know that he hears your prayers and he will speak to you by his Holy Spirit who lives inside every believer. 

So how does God speak to us?  God speaks to us in many ways.  He speaks through his creation, through his Word, through his Son, and through his Holy Spirit.  He speaks through Christian media, through people,  through angels, and through dreams and visions.

I thought it would be good to explore some of the many ways that God speaks.  Over the next few weeks I will return to this topic to find out what the Bible has to say about it.  For me, it has been a never ending quest, to hear from God and at times, I have been desperate to hear from him.  And if we know the ways that God speaks to us, then we can learn to listen.