Sanford anthropologist, Tanya Luhrmann, author of When God Talks Back, explained in a recent Christianity Today article “Why Women Hear from God more than Men Do.”
Why?
First, women pray more. According to the 2008 Pew and Religious Landscape surgery 2/3 of women pray daily compared to less than 1/2 of men.
Combing frequency this frequency with one major skill: women are more comfortable using their imaginations. Imagination is a vital soul muscle for connecting with any immaterial substance be it Harry Potter, your desire for a long-term marriage, your love of good ideas, the number seven (you cannot touch the number seven, only it’s symbol in perhaps a sponge letter in your son’s bathtub set) and, of course, God.
I can already hear the atheist’s response. So women are better at making things up and pretending their real? Great, just great.
At patheos blog “Love, Joy, Feminism” atheist Libby Anne writes about “The Psychology of God” and suggests that “hearing from God” is something Christians train themselves to do. And since you can also train yourself to hear a unicorn speak to you, why would this be evidence for God?
Wishful thinking, enough scripture, enough imagination and you will “hear” from God, too. Would you like some Kool-aid with that?
Interestingly enough, Libby Anne’s post was based on Tanya Luhrmann’s research, the same author of the Christianity Today post quoted above.
Same data, differential conclusions. Time to go to the source.
At Stanford’s University site, Luhrmann’s works is featured in an article titled, “How Does God Become Real to People?” where I found “Luhrmann said her research does not intend to prove or disprove the existence of God.”
Luhrmann believes listening to Scripture and training your spirit to detect God’s voice is a form of cultivation. It reminds me of the cultivated skill of listening for my husband’s quieter voice in a large group.
The training doesn’t prove I’m making him up. It does mean, however, that not everyone can hear his voice.
Since ninety-five percent of Americans believe in God, I want to leave the argument that hearing from God is make-believe (since it’s a minority view–ask me more in comments if you’re interested) and turn to the issue of experiencing God.
In Rachel Held Evan’s interview with Ask a Pagan, I found Jason Mankey‘s response indicative of many Americans.
As a spiritual person, I’m looking to connect with deity. I very rarely felt connected to deity sitting in a pew listening to someone talk about God. I wanted to experience God. I practice Wicca (one of several Modern Paganisms), and Wicca’s ritual framework allows me to have that experience with deity that I often felt was missing as a Christian. There’s not a series of complicated rules separating me from the divine; it’s right there waiting for me anytime I want to experience it. I felt complete and whole the first time I prayed to The Goddess.
I can see how The Goddess felt more intimate (more in Ruby Slippers’ chapter “Finding the Feminine in the Sacred”).
I can also understand how connection with God is vital to a spiritual life.
Luhrmann explains, “I actually think there’s good evidence that having this kind of intimate relationship with God is good for you.”
I’m inclined to agree.
God talked with his people throughout Scripture (Gen. 12:1-3, Gen. 16:8, Act 9:10-16), I believe he can do the same even now.
How to Have Conversations With God
I haven’t always conversed with God. I used to just give God my laundry list.
Heal, help, save, restore, and I praise you for x,y,z. Amen.
A few years ago I began taking walks, Frank Laubach style, with God.
Laubach, a missionary to the Philippines learned to practice talking to God and then using his own voice to repeat what he thought God was saying in response. He explains,
I have just returned from a walk alone, a walk so wonderful that I feel like reducing it to a universal rule, that all people ought to take a walk every evening all alone where they can talk aloud without being heard by anyone, and that during this entire walk they all ought to talk with God, allowing Him to use their tongue to talk back–and letting God do most of the talking (Letters by a Modern Mystic, 41).
Laubach let God do the talking with his tongue. Does it sound freaky?
It’s not possession.
It’s not losing consciousness.
It’s simply trying to hear God as best we can.
You listen by talking.
The things you might hear are not prophecy on par with the inspired Word of God, rather what you get is an experience of
- asking God into your life, to contact you where you are and
- hearing something tangible to analyze and compare with Scripture.
But isn’t this mysticism and sort of weird? you might ask.
Yes, it is weird, I’ll admit, if by weird you mean uncommon.
And yes, it is mysticism if you mean . . .
read the rest at Positively Human where I blog with other Soulation writers on apologetics and spiritual formation.
p.s. It’s worth clicking over, if just for the comments.
“Heal, help, save, restore, and I praise you for x,y,z. Amen.” Hmmm, has someone put a wiretap on my prayers? Because that’s just how I sound sometimes, Jonalyn.
One comforting thing I read in the Bible is that, except for Jesus, no one prays perfectly. The same passage (Romans 8:26) says that God the Holy Spirit jumps in and prays for us.
So I no longer get wigged out about my prayer life. I do get excited about it though, even when I see it getting kind of bogged down, because I know that it’s really an awesome prayer life through the work of the Spirit. And also because of the work of the Spirit, it’s awesome every single time and eternally whether I feel it or not.
Tim
P.S. Rachel Stone just posted a guest piece I did on judge stuff and God. I hope you get a chance to take a look because I’d love your insights and feedback, Jonalyn. http://rachelmariestone.com/2012/05/16/a-judge-on-rushing-to-judgment/
Tim,
That’s an interesting response… that no one prays perfectly, but the Holy Spirit make it awesome. It made me smile, but also wonder.
What do you think the primary purpose of prayer is?
What role is prayer playing right now in your life? Feel free to not answer this publicly if you’d prefer
I think prayer was much more burdensome and un-awesome before I asked God to respond to me. I wonder if you’d consider Frank Laubach’s book, or have you read it already?
p.s. just read your piece at Stone’s blog. My feedback is that 1- loved you explaining the process a bit more, that’s good education 2- I think the context in Matt 7 about Jesus’ words would help iron out exactly what Jesus meant… he can’t meant “don’t judge” because he goes on to judge himself “you hypocrites” just a few verses later. So what is he getting at? I think it’s judging with hypocrisy, judging as evil while you’re doing the thing you’re condemning.
Thanks Jonalyn. I haven’t read Laubach’s book, and it’s not really a prayer style that I’m drawn to from the description here either. I’m also not a kinetic prayer person, but I know that works for a lot of people too.
I think the primary purpose of prayer is as a part of our relationship with God. He desires we be with him and know him, and he said prayer is one of the means he has given us to do those things. That’s essentially the role it plays in my life.
On the judging front, you’re right. The Bible says lots about discerning the spirits and being wise in our decision-making, so there’s no way we are to forgo judging. It’s the undo judging that Jesus prohibits, I think.
Tim
P.S. Yet another guest post, this one at Nick McDonald’s place. It’s about killing people (or not): http://theradicaljourney.com/2012/05/18/only-kill-the-bad-man/
Umm, you know I meant “undue” and not “undo”, right? Two completely different words, yikes!
What would you say is a undo judgment? How would you determine that?
Well, I undo a judgement when I reverse my ruling.
But for an undue judgment, I’d say for Christians it’s whenever judgment is exercised in a way that does not honor God.
Tim
I loved this analogy, Jonalyn:
“Luhrmann believes listening to Scripture and training your spirit to detect God’s voice is a form of cultivation. It reminds me of the cultivated skill of listening for my husband’s quieter voice in a large group.
“The training doesn’t prove I’m making him up. It does mean, however, that not everyone can hear his voice.”
I also like your approach to distinguishing listening to God from listening to a unicorn:
“Since ninety-five percent of Americans believe in God, I want to leave the argument that hearing from God is make-believe.”
Presumably, most of those same 95% are more skeptical about the existence of unicorns or their capacity to speak.
Hi Jim,
Thank you!
If someone were to ask you how you know it’s God speaking to you, what would you say?
Hi Jonalyn,
I thought about asking you a question along the same line in my earlier comments
.
How is that my poodle, Phoebe, recognizes the sound of my voice? Sometimes we know more than we can tell. Her recognition has grown over time to not only the sound, but specific tones and words.
Along the same line, John 10 always comes to mind here. “His sheep listen to his voice. He call his own sheep by name.” We all perk up to the sound of our name. Maybe the story of the boy Samuel captured my imagination at an early age (1 Samuel 3), but I knew quite young to say, “Here am I,” and I did. I knew it would be a gracious, welcoming and yet firm voice.
Things you say about not heeding shame or anxiety, about testing the voice against scripture continue to be helpful when confusion sets in. Most often the voice just reassures me of loving relationship and presence, like on my long walk yesterday, or just soaks me in in some simple directive or promise that I’m reading or have recently read or heard. “I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8).
Again I’ll take refuge in Polanyi: I know more than I can tell. How would you put words to it?
Jim,
Well, I’m glad I bet ya to it.
Your answers soar.
I also would take Polanyi’s line about tacit knowledge. I think we learn to use the tool of prayer. The more we use it, like the surgeon with his blade, the more it becomes an extension of our spirit to search the spirit of God. Or is that stretching 1 Cor 2:10 too far?
I know God’s voice like I know the ones I love, it is more honest and steady than my own. He is also quicker to give pardon and to suggest wild ways of living than I. Scripture does help in setting a precedent, but in other ways it doesn’t assure me that God will not also ask me to do strange things like living in the desert on raven’s visits.
We follow a God who is all love and curious novelty in his ideas. But the steadiness of his presence is perhaps the single most identifying factor. I’m not always euphoric or discouraged, but I always sense he wants me to know how he is FOR me.
No other human can come close to that.
I’ll add a few more random thoughts.
We “recognize” God’s voice as most other things through some sort of pattern, at least 2or 3 confirming signals or witnesses. In other words, it comes in a context. Moses is drawn to a burning bush. Isaiah is contemplating the death of the king near the temple.
A few months back some events or circumstances sent me researching some possibilities about future courses of action. The research opened various insights and concerns, so that I’ve narrowed the choices. I’d sensed God’s leading in this way, but no clear conclusion. So yesterday, I asked for wisdom to decide, to know. No answers. This morning I sensed God telling me, “You know what to do. You just need to recognize that your fears aren’t from me.” It had to have come from beyond me. It seemed to put the matter to rest. Up to this point it was the first time I sense God speaking on the matter, but I’d believed his presence was with me along the way. The insight came in a context of seeking and finding, a pattern of events.
“I being in the way, God led me.” Was that John Wesley?
Recently, I was filled with anger and discouragement, or maybe just tiredness. I was walking along asking God to do something, to show he cared. Within minutes, some friends came up behind me unexpectedly from “nowhere” it seemed, grabbed and greeted me. I sensed God smile, and say “See I care.” I smiled, sheepishly
. The setting of the surprise visit raised my conviction that God was answering, or perhaps that my prayers were answering God who had been calling all the time.
‘Nuff
I love it. thank you, Jim.
Thanks for sharing Jonalyn.
After listening to Tanya Luhrmann’s NPR interview on Fresh Air she mentioned that the idea that you can have a conversation with God – or an intimate personal relationship is relatively recent evangelical concept.
I am no Church historian but this point seems like it has merit. If we consider that much of the Christian church history is Catholic church history, it seems reasonable to assume that the focus was more corporate and hierarchical than personal.
I wonder how you see this historical comparison in the way the church relates to God.
I would bet the OT Patriarchs and NT Apostles would beg to differ with Ms. Luhrmann. Perhaps the concept was on hiatus for a few centuries, but there is nothing new about it.
Cheers,
Tim
Matt,
I’m glad to hear Ms. Luhrmann’s voice getting more air time. Thank you for bringing this point up, nice to have your comments here.
I am not a Church historian either, but I would disagree with Luhrmann based on a few Biblical passages.
I see a consistent intimate personal relationship God of Israel had with people from Genesis forward. For instance the outcast slave woman (Hagar in Genesis 16:7-14 notice how she names God and Gen 21:16-19), the shepherd boy before he became king (1 Sam 17:37 and Ps 23), the widow with a dying son (1 Kings 4:1-37). There are many more, but I’ve tried to choose the unexceptional people, those who were just doing their 9-5 jobs, those who were not prophet, priests and kings, women, children to show that God was not primarily corporate and hierarchical.
God wanted to be near any who called upon him.
The more I study Jewish roots of Jesus the more I see the Jewish story is far less hierarchical than the Catholic Christian story. And for good reason, the Catholic Church depends on maintaining a thread of hierarchy to continue its work.
While I realize God isn’t vetted to be our pet poodle doing our bidding nor can he be required to answer all who call upon him. We do know God is silent for years even with those he loves (Job, Elisha, Naomi, Moses, Mordecai). God’s answer are not automatic proof that God is close.
However, God is fairly personal from the beginning to the end of revealed Scripture, from Enoch (who walked with God), Abraham (who kept naming things after encounters with God) to Paul and Timothy, to Mary Magdalene and Dorcas (unfortunate name but cool resurrection story in Acts 9).
I take this as an indication that God can be intimate and personal with those he chooses.
Now as to the church relating to God, I’m not sure this means anything other than the individuals who make up the church relating to God. Or did you mean another idea that I’m missing?
Dorcas = Gr. for gazelle. Tabitha in Hebrew.
I’d name my daughter in Hebrew and not Greek on this name!
Matt, I think she’s right… it is a newer *evangelical* concept. But it is not new to Scripture or church history. It is new to evangelicals.
Evangelical tradition’s view of Scripture (which was born from Fundamentalism before it), believed that once the canon closed, then God speaks no more. For to speak was to reveal. And to reveal means we would have more inerrant and infallible scripture than what was recorded. This was in part a response to Catholic theology that says the canon is never closed for God speaks through the Church in “progressive revelation.” The justification for this was Paul’s statement that the “church is the pillar and ground of the truth.” Interesting, Paul doesn’t say Scripture is this pillar and ground. I have a view on why this is so, but that would distract from the discussion.
That canon-closed-God-is-silent attitude continues to linger in some evangelical and in most fundamentalist churches and institutions. In these places, you’ll also find a de-emphasis of the Holy Spirit but to convict of sin (which, ironically, is God speaking new specific revelation about our own personal condition).
These groups also stand up against the spiritual formation movement today. They are suspicious of it. Richard Foster was a forerunning in bringing evangelicals into this conversation, see “Streams of Living Water.” He’s had pushback for decades. Dallas Willard is a larger voice in this… and also has warnings attached to him from the evangelical right.
Why these groups have a pre-motivation to be against God’s speaking to us in intimate ways would be an interesting exploration.
The two earliest Christian “bestsellers” — *The Life of Anthony*, by Athanasius, and the *Confessions* of Augustine, both bear testimony that God speaks personally to individuals. Athanasius and Augustine make the list of top-5 post-apostolic theologians, I would think, whether one is Orthodox, Roman Catholic or Protestant.
Reformed theologian Klaus Bockmuehl has a couple of survey chapters on God speaking in biblical and subsequent history in his 1990 work, *Listening to the God who Speaks.*
Tim’s comment about the OT Patriarchs and NT Apostles has me thinking. I wonder if these people should set our expectations? Did the OT period offer the same personal access that this NT period offers? Do the dozens of OT stories about men and women hearing from God suggest that we all should equally expect to hear from God at all times? It seems to me that there is going to be a tendency to focus on the exceptional in any biography.
When I think of the unexceptional people I don’t think of anyone who gets named in the Bible. I’m thinking more about those who are just listed as “people”. They seem to be grumbling alot which I can sadly relate to.
More often than not, the “people” seem to turn to prophets and priests in order to converse or hear from God. Were the prophets a sort of stop-gap measure? Because no one else was trying to go directly to G-d?
Matt,
I believe I see what you’re getting at. What age are we in and what expectations can we have of God speaking to us?
Do you think grumbling is related to hearing or not hearing from God?
Do you think that now that the Holy Spirit has been promised as a seal or downpayment of God’s presence we can expect to hear from God more than OT people’s experience?
Yes, I’m asking several different questions. What expectations did OT Jews have of hearing from God. Did they expect to have conversations? My guess is that those who expected to hear new or specific revelation from God expected this through the prophets and priests.
Should we expect a new level of communication in A.D. Judging by the life of Jesus, he seems quite open to receiving and responding to whomever calls to him in faith. He touched and healed and loved the whole gamut. This seems to fit with Paul’s description of the veil being lifted and the priesthood of believers in Hebrews. I get the idea from these metaphors that our access and communication is more direct than it used to be.
If these comparisons are accurate, I connect more with the former than the latter. God seems to me to speak clearly and directly to specific people at specific times but I don’t feel like I hear him. It makes me wonder how “new” this current experience is.
Matt,
I resonate with the expectations language. I think you’re correct to say the OT folks heard from God through priests, judges, prophets more often than directly, while NT folks seemed to have a more conversational engagement as the Spirit moved throughout the Jewish believers. Passages where all of Israel is called “a royal priesthood” seem to point to the new way of God communicating (I Peter 2:5 & 9).
Nevertheless, this 1 Peter 2 passage was the goal of the God of Israel for his people all along. See Exodus 19:6.
Every man and woman of Israel a priest of the God of Israel (accomplished in Acts 2:17).
But here’s a potentially helpful distinction. My view is that these verses, both in the Old and New Testament are speaking to the Jewish people and their experience of the God of Israel.
As Gentiles, what guarantee or expectation can we have that this God of Israel will communicate in the same way with us?
Though we are grafted into the tree of Jesse, God may not speak clearly, history-changingly to us.
My communication with God focuses primarily on him telling me his of his abiding love, not him telling me to go free his people, as he told Moses.
I’m not saying he couldn’t, he just hasn’t.
Probably the greatest gift Jesus brought us through the New Covenant was His choice to take up residence in us. No longer can we “stray” from His presence. Who would want to live together in such intimate quarters, our hearts, and never speak to one another? He loves speaking all the time if we’d but listen. What’s a relationship without two-way communication? The Institutional church of our day has done a grave disservice to the people to teach that God only speaks through the Bible or those trained well in it. That’s a bunch of BS, and I don’t mean bible study