That is the popular sentiment and, thank God (if I may use the name G), the politically correct sentiment among most Christians today. You will remember that in the second book of the Potter series, Chamber of Secrets, only Harry Potter heard the voice of the Basilisk. When he confided in the two friends of his, one told him that even in the magical world, hearing voices is not a good thing. Just like art that mimics reality, can’t we say that even in our non-magical world, it’s not good to hear voices? Whether those voices are from God or someone else.

Most of us would agree that hearing voices in your head, voices that aren’t there, is actually a bad thing. In fact, it used to be a sign of being crazy. But what if the person claims to be hearing the voice of God? How can we know if God is speaking to this man in such a way that we cannot immediately lock him up in the madhouse?

The obvious answer is that we people who don’t hear voices from Harry Potter have to remember the eleven different ways God speaks to humanity. Some of those forms are observable and objectively verifiable. Others are not observable but can be verified. Examples in the first category are times when God spoke to Moses out loud and all the other Israelites could hear his conversation. Or when God the Father spoke to Jesus during his baptism, and the others gathered listened to that talk. Or when the wayward prophet Balaam had a conversation with his donkey. He makes you wonder who the goofy animal was at the time, doesn’t he?

Only bold men and women choose to listen to the voice of God today. Many Christians do not listen to God because they do not know what exercises to do that will allow them to hear his voice. While other Christians choose not to listen to God for fear of what their friends will say about them. They are likely to be seen as crazy, religious fanatics, and trying to glorify themselves. Worse still, those Christians will impose their morality on the rest of us because they claim to have listened to God. Right?

The value of listening to God is that it saves lives. I remember the time God told me to pray for a certain Dee Jay (Strawberry Jan) who used to be on KEZY 1190 AM. He told me that she was in danger and that he should pray for her often. So I did, even though he didn’t know her, and didn’t know anything about her personal or professional life. Six years later, she was almost killed by a drunk driver on the freeway. Finally, some 15 years later, I met Strawberry Jan in person. I’m sure my prayers were central to God’s plan to save her life in that accident, prevent certain injuries, and lessen others over the years.

If you are brave and want to listen to God, contact me toll-free at (877) 230-0100 or by email at [email protected]