Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
How to talk to God—and have God talk back.

How to talk to God—and have God talk back.

Last updated on: September 22, 2013 at 8:02 am by Tom Rapsas

How to talk to God—and have God talk back. 2013-09-22T08:02:52-06:00 Tom Rapsas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’ve all had those moments in life when we’re facing an especially tough decision or proverbial fork in the road, and we’d like to have a little help from on high to guide us. “If God would only steer me in the right direction,” we think, “I would know just what to do.”

If you ask Simran Singh, she’ll tell you this advice is available to you at all times—if you’re just willing to pay attention to it. It’s the basis of her book Conversations with the Universe, How the World Speaks to Us, in which Singh tells us her personal story of how she was guided at a vital time of her life—and how we can receive the same guidance.

You may know Singh as the host of the popular 11:11 Talk Radio where she interviews leading spirituality authors and speakers. In the book (and a TedX video) she tells us how at one of the lowest points of her life, she began getting clues as to what she should do next. It started with her seeing the numbers 11:11 everywhere she looked, eventually leading her to create a spirituality magazine and radio show by the same name.

At the beginning of the book, Singh asks us to break from our traditional way of thinking and consider life from a fresh perspective:

What if none if it were random at all? What if everything that shows up, every single thing, is a distinctly personal message to the individuals involved?

Have a big life question or issue you need help with? Singh believes that the Universe (which I take as a code word for God) is there to assist us. In its own unique way, the Universe speaks to us, offering us the guidance we seek. She advises us that “the beauty of the human journey” is that:

We are never alone and always supported… look around and you shall see the Universe smiling at you, speaking constantly to you.

The problem is we often ignore the Universe’s messages to us. The key to hearing and seeing them is to approach life with our senses wide open. Singh believes that nothing happens by accident and that “life always leaves clues”. These clues often appear in the form of synchronistic events—where we suddenly encounter words, people and situations that are connected to our question. She recommends:

Fully open your senses and engage to wisdom of the heart and the gut…the Universe will call, it will whisper, and at times it will yell…it has a really quirky sense of humor and always conspires toward the greater good.

But what about those who say “I’m talking to the Universe and the Universe just isn’t responding.” Then what?

It may be time to locate the elusive inner voice. I’m talking about the tiny voice that pops up every now and then and assures us everything will be alright or instructs us to take a specific action or even steers us away from danger. The problem is this voice sometimes seems to go silent, MIA when we need it most.

Author Eileen Flanagan offers advice on finding this voice in her book The Wisdom to Know the Difference, When to Make a Change & When to Let Go. Similar to Singh, Flanagan believes “there is a source of divine wisdom in the universe” and because we are connected to this source, by “listening within” we can access the vast wisdom it has to offer*.*

The idea of the inner voice and “divine wisdom” can be traced back to the Kaballah and Bible where it is referred to as divine revelation. Napolean Hill has another name for it, Infinite Intelligence, and wrote that “the small still voice which speaks from within is superior to your own powers of reason.” The reasoning is the voice goes beyond our own inherent abilities, and pulls from a universal source of wisdom.

The key to finding this divine wisdom? Faith. You must believe the guidance is there and available to you, even if at first attempt you’re unable to access it. What we need, and what’s often lacking, is patience. To this point, Flanagan suggests that finding the answers we seek may not come as quickly as we would like:

Divine guidance is not always so rapid or clear. Many people experience it as more of a gradual dawning, like a sunrise rather than a lightning bolt…allow time for answers to unfold, rather than demanding an immediate solution.

And in her book, Flanagan illustrates how, in time, people find the guidance they seek and their true path in life. One woman found it through serendipity, meeting the right person at the right time to land a dream job. For another, it was paying attention to a series of coincidences in her life. Others actually hear the voice of God speaking to them, while for one woman it was simply a matter of “learning to listen to myself”.

To know the advice you receive is true, the author points to a Christian tradition of checking it against the “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. If the guidance we hear leads to these qualities, it is much more likely to be trustworthy.”

Ultimately, Flanagan believes it is up to us to call the shots and steer our decision in whatever direction is in the best interests of ourselves and those around us. This might be best summed up by a woman in the book named Marcelle. After finding the answer to her own difficult life decision, she concludes:

What you want is the same thing as what God wants. Be open to letting God make that happen.

Previous Post

September 13, 2013

“Why is God doing this to us again?” (The Jersey Shore Boardwalk Fire)

Next Post

September 26, 2013 Kaballah in 60 seconds: what Madonna didn't tell you.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 50+ Spirituality 60 Second Inspiration Activism Adversity Afterlife agape aging Aliens Angels Angels and aliens anger animism Astrology Atheists Attention Attitude Authenticity Awareness Awe Ayahuasca Balance Beginnings Being Present Belief Bhagavad Gita Bible birth of Jesus Blessings Bliss Bono Breathing Buddha Buddhism Calling cats Centered Centering Prayer Chakras Change Character Character and Aging Christ consciousness Christianity Christmas Church Civility commencement speeches commitments compassion Connecting with God Consciousness Contemplation Contemplative Prayer Contentment Conversations with God Coping Coping mechanisms Corinthians Coronavirus Covid creativity Daily practice Dalai Lama David Brooks David Frenette Death Deathbed visions Decisions determinism Discernment disconnecting Donald Shimoda Dreaming of the Dead dreams Drinking Easter Eastern religion Eckhart Tolle ego Elders Emerson Engagement Enlightenment everyday magic Evil Spirits Expectations experience Faith fate Fatima Fear Feel Finding God Fitness Fulfillment Gandhi Gary Zukav Generosity Giving Gnostic gospels Gnostics God God's will Golden Rule Good & Evil Gospel of Thomas Gospels Grace Gratitude Grief Growing Older Guardian Angels gumption Gurus Halloween Happiness health health and happiness Heaven Helping others High Strangeness Hinduism Holiday Season honesty Honor Hope Humility impostor syndrome inner music Inner Work Insights insomnia Inspiration Inspirational intuition Investing Jeff Bridges Jesus Jesus Christ John Templeton joy joy of life Justin Bieber Kaballah Kabbalah Karma Kindness koans Law of Attraction Life Life after Death Life and death Life Balance Life Hacks Life Lessons Life Path Life Philosophy Life Plan life purpose Life Rules Life Tips Life's Big Questions Lindsay Lohan Listening Living Intentionally Loneliness Love Magic Mark Twain Marriage Meaning of Life Meditation mentor Mentors Mid-Life Crisis Mindful Mindfulness Money Monks Multiverse Mysterious World mystical experience Mysticism Mystics Mythology Napoleon Hill Near Death Experience (NDE) New Thought New Year New Year's resolutions Noise Oprah out-of-body experience Parables Peace of mind philosophy Plant Intelligence Pope Francis Positive Thinking Prayer prayers for the spiritual Preachers Premonitions presence Prophecies Prophecy Prophets Psalms Purpose Purpose of Life quietude Quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Trine Reconnect Recovery reincarnation Relaxation Religion resolutions Resurrection Ritual Rituals Rules to Live By sadness Sam Harris Sandy Second Act Seeking self Self Mastery self-help self-improvement Seneca sermon sex shamans Sickness Silence Silence of God sleep small voice Smiling Social Activism solitude Soul Soul and Spirit Soul Awakening Spiritual Awakening spiritual beliefs spiritual guidance spiritual journey spiritual living spiritual path Spiritual philosophy Spiritual Practice Spirituality Spirituality and work Spooky Spirituality Stillness stoicism stoics Storytelling Stress Relief Success Suffering Suicide Surrender tao Thanks Thanksgiving the afterlife the bardo the Bible the Blues The Election the Kingdom the secret the self The Soul Thomas Keating Thomas Merton Thomas Moore Time Tony Robbins tradition UFOs Uncategorized Universe Values visualization Voice of God Wake Up Call Wake Up Call book Walls Walt Whitman Well-being Winter Blues Wisdom words to live by Work work/life balance worry Yogananda Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 January 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 December 2009 November 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the devil tempt Jesus to turn into bread?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Wood Fish Stones Sand

Books by This Author Books by Wake Up Call

See All Titles »