Prayer and Listening to God Part 3: How We Got Here and Why It Matters

(This is Part 3 in a series of posts on Prayer and Listening to God. Click here for Part 1.)


In the previous post in this series, I said I would talk next about how we in the Church came to believe we should listen for God's voice in prayer; and I said that I would talk about why it matters. So to begin, here's a quick (and incomplete) history on how we got here.

Over fifty years ago, something was happening in the academies that most in the pews knew little or nothing about. In many seminaries, including Southern Baptist ones, liberal theology imported from the German schools had taken hold; this theology sought to do away with belief in the inerrancy of Scripture, and sought also to do away with the historical-grammatical method of reading and interpreting Scripture. After all, if the historical-grammatical method could be done away with, then anything in the Bible could be reinterpreted, denied or explained away. And this is just what happened.1

Young men trained in these American seminaries became pastors with a new understanding of what the Bible is and how we are to view it, an understanding that was opposed to orthodox Christianity. The "new understanding" did not necessarily show up in ways that people noticed. There was still preaching from the pulpit that at least gave lip service to the gospel, there were still professions of faith, baptisms, Sunday Schools and training unions. In a way, things seemed much the same. However, much had changed. Slowly, the churches began to forget about some of the important things that had once been widely understood, including basic knowledge on understanding and interpreting Scripture.

In the 1950's and 60's, a charismatic "revival" with roots in an earlier Pentecostalism began to affect mainline denominational churches, as well. (Some of the history of this charismatic/Pentecostal movement is documented here, if you'd like to know more of the story.) The cultural upheaval of the 60's, along with the changes mentioned above, left much of the Church open to aberrant doctrine. The way was paved for acceptance of the idea of listening for God's voice in prayer, supported by its proponents with misinterpreted biblical texts and isolated verses taken out of context. The idea that we are to seek to hear God's voice inwardly as we pray, informing us of his will for our jobs, education, etc. has now become accepted as the norm.

(You may be thinking at this point that if all this is true, how did people 'discern' God's will for their lives before this all took place? You may enjoy many of the changes brought about by the charismatic movement; you may have lived through those days yourselves, and have fond memories from that time. I understand those questions and that sentiment, and I'm going to get to that. But first let me state, though you may not yet be on board with my premise, why all this matters.)

At stake in this issue of whether or not we are to listen for God's voice in prayer is the supremacy and sufficiency of Scripture in our faith and practice. It takes thought and study to see why this is true, to see that the Bible makes certain claims for itself. For instance, the Bible claims to be the only source of revelation of God's will, and that its pages contain all we need to know of his will for his people (Psalm 19:7-11, 2 Peter 1:16-21). The Bible claims, as well, that many things are for God alone to know (Deuteronomy 29:29). For making life choices in regard to these unrevealed things (what jobs we will take, who we will marry), the Bible claims to provide abundant wisdom from its own pages. The Bible holds the place of honor in our lives for teaching us the wisdom we need to make life's decisions (Proverbs 1).

All this hopefully raises good questions: "What about Paul--what about the Old Testament prophets? They heard God's voice and were directly guided by him. So were others in the Bible. Are you saying that in those narratives, the Bible isn't teaching us to expect such guidance ourselves?" Those are exactly the sorts of things we'll look at in my next post. In it, I'll offer a few quick guidelines for interpreting Scripture, and then look at some Scripture passages that have been used as "proof" that we should expect God to speak directly to us.

I'm convinced by Scripture (and by experience) that all this is very good news for God's people. There is a way of understanding God's will that is far better than anything contrary we may have believed. Proverbs 25:25 says, "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." The good news of how we may know what God wills for us and how we are to think about guidance and decision-making brings relief, and freedom from the anxieties of wondering whether we've missed God's will, or if we've "heard" him right. Therein lies the hope of freedom in Christ, and the hope of a wisdom that "adorns the doctrine of God our Savior" (Titus 2:1-10). Oh, yes, and one that by the way has huge practical benefits to your spouse, your children and your church as well.
(Click here for Part 4).