“…and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake…”
— 1 Kings 19:11 (KJV)
There is a common tendency today to equate God’s voice with the spectacular — thunderous proclamations, dramatic miracles, or loud prophetic declarations. Television evangelists and miracle preachers often emphasize power and spectacle, and many Christians come to expect God to announce Himself the same way.
I do not question God’s greatness or His sovereign power. Scripture speaks clearly of His majesty. Still, the way we imagine God affects how — and whether — we hear Him. If we always expect a booming voice, we may miss the still, small Word He often uses.
God can use the simplest things to speak
The Jewish leaders who could not accept Christ’s humble birth missed this truth: God does not have to be spectacular to be supreme. He appeared to Abraham as a traveler, wrestled with Jacob in the guise of a man, and took on the simplicity of a carpenter’s son. Simplicity is not weakness. God often hides His deepest purposes in the plain things of life.
Elijah’s experience in 1 Kings 19 is instructive. The Lord passed by in wind, earthquake and fire — dramatic events — but He was not in them. Instead, God came in a still, small voice. Elijah learned to expect God in unexpected ways. We must too.
How our imagery affects our spiritual hearing
The pictures and images we hold of God shape our imagination and our spiritual ear. If we’ve been taught that God always speaks through spectacle, we’ll dismiss gentle promptings or ordinary means as “just my imagination.” Advertisers know fallen human nature: we expect value when things are amplified and made dramatic. But God’s ways are often the opposite.
If you want to hear God more clearly you must re-train your imagination to accept simplicity as a place of divine encounter.
Create a silent space — the practice of solitude
The world is loud. Life is full of distraction. To hear God we must intentionally create silent space:
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Moses climbed Sinai alone to meet God.
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Jesus “often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16).
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Jesus taught us to pray in secret: “…when you pray, go into your room, close the door…” (Matthew 6:6).
Solitude is not an escape from life; it is the practice of placing yourself where God can be heard. The more regularly you withdraw, the more finely tuned your spiritual ear becomes.
Beware deceptive busyness and lost solitude
The story of the prophets in 1 Kings 22 is a sobering warning. Some prophets prophesied what the king wanted to hear rather than what God said. Zedekiah — one of those prophets — claimed God’s Spirit but had been led astray. Micaiah told him that the day he would understand the truth was the day he “went to hide in an inner room” (1 Kings 22:25). In other words, the day he returned to sincere solitude and honesty before God, he would know that God had departed when he had been relying on performance and public acclaim.
If we want to grow in discernment, we must safeguard our private devotional life and refuse to substitute public ministry or busyness for honest, solitary listening.
Practical steps to hear God in a noisy age
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Practice regular solitude. Schedule consistent quiet time—daily if possible.
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Quiet your devices. Digital noise drowns the still, small voice. Create tech-free times.
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Read Scripture before seeking impressions. God’s word is the test for every prompt.
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Listen for peace. God’s voice bears peace, even in correction.
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Notice repeated promptings. Repetition can indicate an established word from God (see Genesis 41:32).
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Test messages against Scripture and godly counsel. Truth is never contrary to God’s revealed Word.
Conclusion — a study, not a quick fix
This is not a quick-fix manual; spiritual discernment is a lifelong discipline. Elijah wasn’t born knowing how to hear; he learned to listen. So must we. In the next study I will lay out practical, step-by-step paths to mature in spiritual discernment and to cultivate the “spiritual ear” that recognizes God amid the noise.
For now, begin small: withdraw, listen, read the Word, and expect God to speak — often through the simplest things.
