Listening When God Whispers

Learning to hear God’s voice amid a world of noise.

The world has never been louder.

Every screen, every feed, every voice competes for our attention—shouting what to believe, who to follow, and how to feel. We’ve grown so accustomed to noise that silence can feel like absence. But God has never been one to shout over the chaos.

He whispers.

The Shema begins with one simple command: “Hear, O Israel…”That word—Shema—means more than just hearing. It means to listen with the intent to obey. To lean in, to quiet ourselves, to give full attention to the One speaking.

Listening, in God’s language, is an act of love.

We often expect God to speak in dramatic ways—through burning bushes, parted seas, or thunder from the heavens. But more often, His voice comes softly. It’s the tug in your heart that reminds you to forgive. The quiet conviction that nudges you toward truth. The peace that settles when you finally surrender what you were never meant to carry.

God’s whisper doesn’t compete with the noise; it invites us to step out of it.

“The whisper becomes the compass.”

When we stop striving to hear something spectacular, we start recognizing the sacred in the simple. The sound of wind through the trees. The words of Scripture that read us even as we read them. The still, small voice that says, “This is the way—walk in it.”

The enemy’s strategy has always been distraction. If he can keep us busy enough, loud enough, entertained enough, we’ll miss the voice that anchors us. And in a world built to divide our attention, listening becomes a spiritual discipline—one that requires stillness, humility, and presence.

When I forget this, I think of Elijah. After the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, came a gentle whisper. That’s where God was. Not in the spectacle, but in the silence. Not in the power, but in the presence.

The truth is, hearing God isn’t about volume—it’s about nearness.

He whispers because He’s close.

When our hearts grow quiet enough to notice, His voice becomes unmistakable. It cuts through fear, confusion, and doubt. It calls us by name. It reminds us who we are and Whose we are.

So today, make space for silence. Step away from the noise long enough to listen. Don’t rush the moment or fill the gaps with your own words. Just be still.

And when He whispers—listen in love.

Because in the quiet, the Creator of the universe is speaking to you.

— Rich Van Doorn