“When last did you hear from God?” That was the question a guest speaker  asked a number of people in the audience.

There were various responses like;  ‘It has been a while’, ‘I used to hear from Him but I no longer do’. One person whose honesty I admired, responded, ‘I have never heard God speak’.

The topic for the fellowship seminar was ‘Intimacy With God’ so it was not out of line for the guest speaker to ask people if they heard God speak to them.



Does God still speak to men? I believe He does. God spoke to men in time past. When He told Abraham to leave his home and people, Abraham heard and obeyed (Gen 12:1) He also spoke to Abraham on many occasions after this time.

David was described as ‘the man after God’s heart’. The book of Psalms  is ample evidence that He had a close relationship with God such that He not only spoke with God but also heard and understood the God he served.

Joseph was another person who heard God speak  to him. He was considering quiet  dissolution of  his engagement with Mary as a result of her inexplicable pregnancy. God however told him not to put away his wife, explaining that the pregnancy was no ordinary one but divinely orchestrated  (Matt 1:18)

More and more examples abound in the Bible, of people who heard God speak to them. It was not just those who had a relationship with Him,  but sometimes even those who were His enemies, as in the case of  Abimelech, King of the Philistines, who attempted to take Abraham’s wife (Gen 20:3) and Balaam who was contracted to curse the children of Israel (Numbers 22:32)

So if God spoke to men severally in the Bible, how come very few people hear His voice today? I think the answer lies in our attitude towards fellowship with God as we live daily.

I have discovered that it is so easy these days to be out of  reach of God’s voice. We are so busy with life and have little or no time for the giver of life. We are so busy doing God’s work that we do not have time for God Himself.

Another reason why we do not hear God speak to us is because our ears are tuned  to other voices. Many of us will not act unless the government says something. We need to hear from our friends, our parents and colleagues. We prefer to hear the voice of these people than to hear the voice of God. While it is good to seek counsel from people we trust, our attention should be to hear from God and to do His will.

When we desire to hear God speak to us, He will surely speak because He desires more to speak to us than we desire to hear from Him.

God has always spoken to men and He still speaks to us today. We can hear Him only when we take time to listen as we draw near to Him in fellowship, through the reading of His word and prayer. As we do this, God begins to speak to us in ways we never knew before.