Listening Prayer Tool
Written by Brayden Brookshier
Read Psalm 29 & John 10
The voice of the Lord resounds throughout creation with breathtaking power and beauty. As Psalm 29 describes, His voice splits mighty cedars, shakes the wilderness, and calls forth new life. In response, all of heaven and earth cannot help but cry out, “Glory!” This is not a distant or impersonal force—the same powerful voice that moves mountains also draws near to us.
Jesus gently reveals the heart behind that voice in John 10. He calls Himself our Good Shepherd, whose sheep know and trust His voice. To us, God’s voice is more than thunder or majesty; it is a voice of love, guidance, and protection. He calls us by name, leading us through all seasons, inviting us to walk in step with Him.
John 10:4b (CSB) The sheep follow him because they know his voice.
John 10:27 (CSB) My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.
In a world crowded with noise—opinions, anxieties, distractions—learning to recognize the Shepherd’s voice is not a luxury, but a necessity. The regularity of listening is not about striving for mystical experiences, but about cultivating a daily posture of openness. We tune our ears to Him through Scripture, prayer, and moments of stillness. Over time, His voice becomes familiar, like the shepherd whose sheep respond only to him.
God’s voice may not always be audible, but it is deeply personal. Some have heard Him speak out loud, but for most of us, His voice comes softly—sometimes in gentle nudges, quiet impressions, or even thoughts that echo so closely to our own that we might miss their divine origin. That familiarity is intentional; God knows us so intimately that He communicates in ways we truly understand.
Most of our dialogues with God start with thinking thoughts in the direction of God. What if this is the vision Paul had when he wrote “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17)? Our Creator and Lord is always available for conversational intimacy with us. How good is that? And yet, since the offer is always available, does it feel like we never prioritize it? Do we lose our urgency to converse with God because it always feels like it can be pushed aside for something also seemingly “more urgent”? How foolish of us, though, to think anything could be more important than conversing with the Creator who created trillions of galaxies and knows the deepest mysteries of the universe! Yet, does God also seem so big that he is therefore seemingly unapproachable? Enter Christ into the chat: proving that God does not settle for a long-distance relationship with humanity.
Consider the following thought from John Eldredge:
“I assume that an intimate, conversational walk with God is available, and is meant to be normal. I’ll push that a step further. I assume that if you don’t find that kind of relationship with God, your spiritual life will be stunted. And that will handicap the rest of your life.”
Be encouraged: all of God’s people are invited to become his friends. And listening to the voice of the Lord is one of the most prominent ways we experience friendship with God. Through prayer, we can have conversational intimacy with God, not just monologues and vent sessions to an empty audience. But like any relationship, it takes time and energy to invest in and even to learn to discern his voice amongst the many competing voices in our lives. However, the practice and result are worth the patience and resilience needed to learn to listen and hear God’s voice for yourself.
Hearing God’s voice isn’t about mastering a technique—it’s about cultivating trust and nearness to the shepherd who wants to lead us. His voice is the voice that calls you by name, that leads you guides you, corrects you, comforts you, commissions you, and empowers you.
Here is where we become practitioners of our claim that prayer is a “dialogue” and not just a monologue. Listening prayer is vital, and yet, it is largely absent from many people’s prayer lives. This tool–perhaps more than others–will take lots of discipline and practice for the fruit of it to come forth. Don’t give up! Believe that the Lord still speaks. He did not go silent on his people. In fact, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit solidifies that we are now in the era where God’s people get to hear his voice in a variety of ways, like through visions, dreams, prophetic words from others, and–as we will talk about here–through prayer. Listening for God is not reserved for spiritual elites; it is the birthright of every believer. Expect him to speak, and posture your heart with faith and anticipation.
Here are some practical steps to listen for God’s voice.
Step 1: Cultivate a quiet space around you and within you.
“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6, NLT).
It will be virtually impossible to hear the Lord’s voice when we fill our external and internal spaces (the room and our soul) with noise. Both can be distracting. If your house is loud and chaotic, headphones with gentle music (like anything by William Augusto) can really help focus! Remember: Listening Prayer is where we surrender our words but not our attention. There is a time to listen, even if it is to just hear him say one word!
Try This
Allocate at least 12 minutes of time for Listening Prayer. (If this isn’t new to you, consider allocating more time.) A minimum of 12 minutes has been proven to allow us to enter a sweet spot of our mind in terms of being present and engaged. Try to include this in normal rhythms of your week! Listening Prayer should be an indispensable part of your arsenal of prayer and connecting with God.
Try This
For those who feel there is no time to practice listening prayer, then this idea is for you. Embrace silence during one of your commutes to or from somewhere you regularly drive (work, school, gym, or grocery store). That stretch of time, let’s call it twenty minutes, will be full of times where you will sense your own thoughts trying to take over. That’s okay! Don’t beat yourself up over it. Listening for God’s voice often includes listening to the deep-seated things in our heart as they rise to the surface when we embrace a quiet environment.
But what about all that internal noise? That’s even harder to silence! That leads us to step 2…
Step 2: Release everyone and everything to the Lord.
Renowned Christian author John Eldredge has developed a helpful app called the “One Minute Pause App.” Here, he has a variety of resources, but the flagship resource within it is the pause, where it instructs you to “give everyone and everything” over to Jesus. This isn’t to say to give up on those people or situations. Resolutions matter when it comes to our problems! Rather, it is to say that there are times when we are so disconnected from God’s voice because we cannot seem to stop ruminating on everyone and everything else going on. We all need a cathartic release from time to time. This step helps you settle in and give God your full attention—not just fragments or scraps.
Try This
Download the One Minute Pause app. Use it to help teach you how to temporarily release everything to God so that you can be present to him in listening prayer. Note: It is possible that the Lord wants to speak to you about something that you are trying to release to him. That’s great! If the Lord wants to speak into it, then heed his voice. That might even be the impetus of your time to implement listening prayer! Lean into that. But there are many times when all the things that are plaguing our attention are actually distractions to whatever God wants to say to us. Be open to both options, but allow the pause and release time to settle you into his voice.
Step 3: Listen for intervals of time.
Be gracious with yourself. Listening is like a muscle that grows with exercise and reps. For many, giving attention to listen for God’s voice for more than 10-second intervals could be virtually impossible! That’s okay. Give it whatever timed intervals you can. Have a premeditated word, phrase, or Scripture verse to help you resettle when distractions come. Repeat the intervals of listening until a word, phrase, impression, picture, or vision comes to you. It might be more sensible to your mind’s analysis, or it might be more perceptive to your heart. Simply acknowledge it. Receive it for a moment. Step 4 is where you will hold it for closer examination.
*Caveat: When it feels like God isn’t speaking or you can’t sense His presence, don’t give up. Even the most passionate followers of Christ experience moments when God seems silent. But remember: His silence is not absence. In these times, God may be urging you to persistence, challenging you to stand firm on His last instruction and move forward with confidence. Stay focused on what He has already revealed—let His last word propel you forward. Trust that He is working in the silence, strengthening you, guiding you, and cheering you on, even when no new direction appears. Keep pressing in, knowing that God is with you and fully invested in your journey.
Step 4: Discern the voice.
Here are some ways to help you discern God’s voice. Evaluate the following…
- The integrity of the voice. Does it align with Scripture or contradict it? God’s contemporary voice won’t contradict his canonized word.
- The character of the voice. Does it match the heart of Jesus—even when it involves correction? The voice of the Lord will have the intent to give life, restore it, or lead you to repentance. As you become more familiar with the Christ of the gospels, you’ll be able to evaluate the heart of the voice that is speaking.
- The fruit of the voice. What are the results of the voice being heeded? Would it produce godly outcomes? The result will tell you a lot about the voice!
The integrity, character, and fruit of the voice will tell you everything you need to know!
Step 5: Journal some or all of the conversation.
Have you ever noticed how quickly we forget the prayers we’ve prayed? In the moment, they feel so urgent—our hearts poured out before God—but weeks or months later, we can barely recall them. That’s why journaling our prayers can be such a powerful spiritual practice. Writing down our prayers slows us down, helps us be intentional with what we’re saying to God, and gives us a record of His faithfulness. Later, when you flip back through old entries, you’ll see prayers answered, hearts changed, and moments where God carried you through. It’s both a reminder and a witness to His goodness in your life.
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Listening prayer is another tool we want you to add or enhance in your prayer tool belt. As you work through the practical steps above, make them your own and experiment with them. As we prioritize more time for listening in your prayer life, you might be surprised by what you hear—and even more surprised by the friendship with God you discover along the way. There is always more to say, but let’s not forget to take time to listen.
Discuss
- What is your experience in hearing the voice of the Lord?
- How does John 10 help us normalize the voice of Jesus in our lives?
- What are some healthy cautions we should have in discerning His voice versus our own or the voice of the Enemy?
- After trying some sessions of listening prayer, share a bit about how your experience was. Did you “hear” anything? What was challenging? What was encouraging? What surprised you about the experience?