cover image Hearing God in Conversation: How to Recognize His Voice Everywhere

Hearing God in Conversation: How to Recognize His Voice Everywhere

Samuel C. Williamson. Kregel, $14.99 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-82544-424-1

Williamson (Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids?), founder of Beliefs of the Heart, illuminates the various ways in which God's voice can be sensed. The first time he perceived God, he was a "ten-year-old atheist" reveling in profanity; "Sam, I am real, and you don't understand," he heard. Yet sometimes it's not nearly so clear-cut, he acknowledges, and so other means of God's communication might include mental pictures, dreams, or memories recalled for no obvious reason. Rather than taking the form of an audible voice, God's words have often manifested for Williamson as "a voice burning in my heart." He zeroes in on moments from his life when he followed God's guidance, such as leaving his software company with no new job lined up. Meditation, scripture passages, and confirmation from other people can all corroborate a direction from God, he has found, though%E2%80%94remembering prophets' fear and trembling%E2%80%94he cautions against the idea that a sense of peace is automatic proof of God speaking. This short book is slightly repetitive and overly indebted to quotations from other theologians. However, it is divided into digestible chunks and has plenty of practical ideas. It's equally suitable for Bible study groups and individual devotional use. (July)