WHEN GOD SPEAKS

What do people really mean when they say: "God spoke to me"?

Are they speaking of THE GOD? Like the actual almighty being making himself available to certain people out here in the universe? Actually talking, like holding a whole ass conversation with people? What makes those people so special? What do I have to do to have God speak to me?

As someone who has heard God speak, myself, personally, I can assure you that it's not what you think. There was no burning bush speaking to me in a cave. Most of the times, when God speaks to me it's in the most mundane place doing the most mundane things in the most not-so-special circumstances.

In this blog post, I hope to explain what happens when I hear from God. I hope to explain to you exactly what these instances look like, feel like, and sound like. Nine times out of ten, you've heard God speak to you too. If for some reason, you've never heard God speak to you, hopefully this post will help trigger something inside you to open yourself up to the experience.

Examples of When I Heard God's Voice

Listen After You Pray

When you pray to God, when you finish your prayer and say Amen, what do you do? Once the prayer is spoken and you've put the Amen stamp on it to send it straight up the main line, what do you do immediately after?

I can tell you what most people do. They say Amen and go about their day. For these people, it's no wonder that they're communication with God is only one way. How can you hear the voice of God, if you don't stop and wait for an answer before moving on to the next thing?

This is why, after saying a prayer, I always pause. I take a few minutes to breathe deeply and listen for an answer. Most of the time, when I'm praying for an answer or for courage, I receive the answer within those moments after saying Amen.

For example, when I was cast in the Vagina Monologues in College, I was super nervous on opening night. It was my voice that was supposed to kick start our performance. My monologue was the first in the lineup, the monologue that would set the tone for the rest of the night. That is a lot of pressure. I was a ball of nerves.

I turned to the only place I knew I could find the inner strength to walk out on that stage. I sat there, fifteen minutes before curtains and prayed. I asked God for the courage to walk out on the stage. I asked God for the strength to make it through my entire monologue in character. I asked God to help me push through my nerves and help me perform my monologue just as well as I did in rehearsals. As soon as I finished praying, I sat there and took 3 deep breaths. While I was breathing, a wave of calm washed over me and clear as day, in my head, I heard my own voice speak authoritatively: You've got this. You were made for this.

As soon as the curtains were raises, I was on and ready to perform. I gave the best performance of my monologue that I could give, better than rehearsals. Everyone loved it and I got a roaring round of applause.

It's important to note here, that God's voice, to me, is not some random male voice playing in my head. It's my own thinking voice that comes to me in a clear and precise manner.

Ask God Before you go to Sleep

When you're dealing with a major decision in your life, a turning point, a crossroads, do you ask God for advice? Most people ask their mom, their best friend, their mentors, their favorite professor. Basically, they ask any and everyone except for God.

For me, I will ask all of those people and God. I listen to what my friends and mentors have to say and then I sit down to do some deep inner work and speak to God about the situation. This is when the spiritual trifecta comes in to play. If you've been following Phorbe for a while, you would know that I refer to the practice of praying, journaling, and meditating as the spiritual trifecta. These are the three things you need to practice consistently, daily, in order to build your relationship with God and the universe while also, staying in tune with yourself and your deepest thoughts and desires.

When I'm at a crossroads, I like to spend time praying to God about the options at hand. When I finish my prayer and take a moment to breathe, if nothing comes to me, I wait. That night, I'll repeat my prayer and settle in to sleep for the night. When I wake up to do my morning routine, I search for my answer. My morning routine includes at least 15 minutes of meditation and 3 pages of longhand journaling. Every single time, if the answer didn't come immediately after the prayer, it will come during my meditation or journal session.

When I'm at a crossroads, I like to spend time praying to God about the options at hand. When I finish my prayer and take a moment to breathe, if nothing comes to me, I wait. That night, I'll repeat my prayer and settle in to sleep for the night. When I wake up to do my morning routine, I search for my answer. My morning routine includes at least 15 minutes of meditation and 3 pages of longhand journaling. Every single time, if the answer didn't come to me immediately after my prayer, it comes during my morning meditation or journaling session.

For example, a few weeks ago, I wrote about a difficult position I was put in. My landlord, who was having financial troubles due to Covid, decided to sell my home to give himself a financial cushion. The problem was, I had just signed a one year lease and was only two months into it. Fortunately, I received an offer for another place to stay. However, I was so in love with my new home and didn't want to give it up. With the law on my side, it was literally my decision on whether or not I wanted to give up my home and move or stay and fight. One night in the heat of the struggle, I prayed to God for an answer. I didn't immediately get an answer, but the next morning, while I was meditating I had a clear conversation with my spirit guide.

I've spoken about my spirit guide, John, before. I see John as an angel that comes to me whenever I meditate. He has his own personality, but the words he speaks are messages that are being passed down from God. During this particular meditation session, I asked John straight out: What should I do? He looked me dead in my eyes and said:

You know you need to give the townhouse up right? You are on the cusp of the next level of your life and in order for you to move up to the next level, you have to make a difficult sacrifice. This is that.

From then on out, I knew what I needed to do. As you know, I left the townhouse, got paid out for the rest of my lease, and am now happy as hell in my brand new apartment.

Random Instances of Clarity

Have you ever had a moment when you're doing something that you routinely do, where you have a moment of complete clarity? You could be washing the dishes and just lost in your thoughts when all of a sudden, your thoughts change. An idea comes to mind. You find the answer to a problem out of the blue. Or you start to formulate a plan of attack towards a goal that you've been working on? It's a full body experience. It's like all of a sudden you're caught in a trance where the final piece of the puzzle is put in place and it all makes sense.

I believe these moments of clarity are you entering a higher vibrating head space. You're getting a peek into what your thoughts look like at their highest vibration and in that head space, you're line of communication is completely open to God, to the universe, to whomever it is that you believe in. You are sending and receiving messages and those messages you receive are instructions. Instructions for your next move or a plan for executing your next move. Whenever I have moments like this, I feel so motivated and inspired. But mostly, grateful.

For example, this past Sunday, I was in the shower just doing what people do in the shower. Then all of a sudden, the instructions for my next move hit me. As clear as day! They came in order. First you do this, so that you can do this next and then so on and so forth. It was incredible. The first thing I did after that shower was write everything down. Now, my job is to execute. The more you listen and obey the instructions you are give the closer you will get to seeing your goals achieved.

I hope this gives you some insight on the different ways God speaks to me. He may very well be speaking to you in the same manner and you just didn't recognize it. I think when people say God spoke to me, sometimes we get confused like really? God came to you...just like he did with Moses and Noah? But it's not that complicated and it's not that elaborate. It's really just you having a moment of complete clarity and authority that's full of higher energy. God isn't speaking to you, he's speaking through you and directly to your soul.

I want to know what you think. Has God ever spoken to you before? Let me know in the comments below.

It's going to be a great day to conquer the world. So, step into the Queen you're meant to be and SLAY!

-Queen Maree

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 21, 2020