AN ENTHUSIASTIC former parishioner used to recount his conversations with God to me: which sock God told him to put on first; when to turn the light on or off; what route to take while out walking. He recalled exact phrases that God used when speaking to him. I would smile and nod, a hundred questions buzzing in my mind.

Pete Greig is founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement. In 2019, he published How to Pray, on the whys and hows of our words to God (Feature, 12 April 2019). His new book examines the other side of the conversation: how we hear God speaking to us.

Greig says that hearing God should be a normal Christian experience, not the sole province of wild-eyed mystics. His key biblical text is the road to Emmaus. In this short narrative, he says, we see God communicate in at least five ways: conversational (as they walked), exegetical (unpacking scripture), sacramental (breaking bread), prophetic (their eyes were opened), and inward (their hearts were burning).

The main sections of this book are on hearing God speak in the person of Jesus, in the Bible, in prayer, in prophecy, in whispers and dreams, and (to cover all other bases) in community, creation, and culture. Examples are drawn from a wide range of sources: from St Ignatius of Loyola to the prophetic Pentecostal missionary Heidi Baker. Each chapter ends with a suggested Listening Exercise.

Greig assumes that the reader will have heard lots of fellow-Christians say, “God told me this,” or “The Lord said that.” Well, maybe in the churches that Greig frequents. But he remains healthily sceptical about declarations of “What the Lord says” from pulpits and platforms. He notes that psychiatric wards are full of people hearing voices that they attribute to God. So too, he says, is the Christian conference circuit.

Greig’s main readership is likely to be young adults in the Charismatic Evangelical wing of the Church. This book will do a solid job helping them listen for the voice of God in everyday life, by way of a broad range of spiritual traditions, while remaining alert to the loopier and more manipulative claims of some would-be channellers of the Almighty.

The Revd Mike Starkey is Head of Church Growth for Manchester diocese and author of the Stepping Stones for Growth course.

How to Hear God: A simple guide for normal people
Pete Greig
Hodder & Stoughton £14.99
(978-1-5293-7798-9)
Church Times Bookshop £13.49