Books Dealing with Hearing from God
I would like to start this article by recommending a recent book by one of my all-time favorite authors, John Eldredge. The book deals with the practical side of a lifestyle of trying to hear from God. It is called "Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You". Incidentally, my favorte book by John Eldredge deals with various matters of the heart in relationship with God, and would possibly be helpful for people trying to learn to walk intimately with God. It is called "Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive".
A very practical how to book is "Communion with God" by Mark and Patti Virkler. I like this book, which is a workbook. It is written to help people who think so much that they don't have a good intuition of what is going on in their heart.
A less "by the numbers" book, but one which I just finished and like a lot is by Leanne Payne and is called "Listening Prayer: Learning to Hear God's Voice and Keep a Prayer Journal". Her ministry has included a lot of inner healing, so those that are interested in inner healing will be doubly blessed by this book.
A similar book is one by Dallas Willard (though less inner healing), and is called "Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God". This is the man who inspired the spiritual disciplines movement, and is co-editor of the Renovare Study Bible. He's a university professor who loves Jesus!
Joyce Meyer has written a couple of books on the subject, only one of which I have read. The one I read is called "Knowing God Intimately: Being as Close to Him as You Want to Be". Her other book which seems like it is on this topic is called "How to Hear From God: Learn to Know His Voice and Make the Right Decisions". The reason I haven't read it is because I had so many other "hearing from God books" I was working on, and it sounded like it overlapped with her other book. But now that I've read a little on Amazon, I think I might ask for this for my birthday! Joyce Meyer is very popular, so you can find her books at almost every Christian AND secular bookstore.
There are several classic books that are extremely helpful. By classic, I mean centuries old. But they are translated to English, and so don't seem so old. The first is a book by Madame Jeanne Guyon (she lived in the 17th century) called "Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ".
Another classic book is one by a friend of Guyon's, Bishop Francois Fenelon. It is called "Talking with God".
The last classic book I want to recommend is one by Brother Lawrence called "The Practice of the Presence of God". He also lived in the seventeenth century. This guy was a monk who talked with God 24/7 (well, at least when he was awake). He said he would rather talk to God in his kitchen work than talk with God in structured prayer, but he did the latter, too, so not to offend others. You can download a copy at Lawrence, "(Download) Practicing His Presence". If you're thinking of buying it, consider spending a couple bucks extra and get "Practice of the Presence", which combines a new translation of Brother Lawrence in the same book as writings from Frank Laubach, a missionary in the 1930s who tried talking with God 24/7. His experiment is interesting to read, as well. An Amazon link: Lawrence, "Practicing His Presence".
For some of my favorite quotes from these books and a few others, go to Favorite Quotes.