Selwyn Hughes, 15 Ways to a More Effective Prayer Life: "I am astonished at the number of books that are written on the subject of prayer that make no mention of cultivating the art of active listening. Prayer is not just talking to God: it involves listening as well. Prayer has been defined as 'conversation with God'. All polite conversation is a two-way thing. It is the same with prayer. We talk to God and He talks to us. After you have talked to God, then before you rise from your knees spend a minute or two (more if possible) letting God talk to you.
"But how does one cultivate the art of listening to God? And how do we learn to recognise the voice of God when He speaks to us?
"... the Christian who waits and listens for the voice of God must learn to disentangle His voice from the other voices that clamour for his attention ... It doesn't come easy but the more we practice it the more we will be able to detect the voice of God when He speaks to us.
"... God's voice will filter through our personalities and will come to us in the language or the idiom with which we are most familiar. But it is still God's voice for all that. God's voice is like the voice of conscience, only richer and more positive. Conscience merely approves or disapproves, but God's voice does much more. It informs, instructs, encourages and guides. It never argues but is quietly insistent and authoritative. Not every day will the God be equally clear. The closeness of our walk with God will determine that, and of course, the divine awareness of our need. Jesus said in one passage in the New Testament that His sheep know His voice (John 10:27). They do. You may be saying at this moment 'I have been praying for years but I have never once heard the voice of God.' Ah, but did you pray believing that God would speak to you? It is possible to pray, and pray often, without such a sense of expectation. Expect God to talk to you. Incline your ear unto Him and in time you will not be disappointed."
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