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Can You Hear Me? (2012): Tuning in to the God Who Speaks
If your prayers get no higher than the ceiling and you hunger for spiritual authenticity, this book is ideal. You may need to stop talking and start listening. This profound but accessible book is full of illuminating testimonies drawn from everyday life. It will help you apply the practice of listening prayer to decision-making in diverse circumstances such as parenting, the healing ministry, and church leadership.
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 9, 2011
I want to tell you about a book that is changing my life. The book is Can You Hear Me? by Brad Jersak. The book is about discerning the voice of God, listening to it, meeting with Him, and entering into a conversation with Him. My prayer life has been improving so much since reading this book. In fact, I am on my second go round with the book. I generally don't re-read books. I could probably count books I've re-read on my fingers. This re-read is warranted by a couple factors. One, the anecdotes Jersak shares in the book are encouraging examples of how God is moving and working miraculously today. Two, the book provides good exercises and reminders of ways to help us hear God and trust Him.
The book has some fairly standard approaches, but also swings into more Pentecostal territory. There are some things that raise my eyebrows, even when they are backed up by scripture. At the end of most sections, he provides some things to try out. The key to this book is actually trying these things out. You can't read this book and gloss over these sections, as I am prone to do. Try out the exercises and you'll be surprised at the results.
The key things that this book seems to do differently is that it encourages using imagery in prayer, and letting God speak to you through your imagination. It also encourages the necessary step of applying discernment to what you see and hear. For me, this works so well because words alone are seldom enough to occupy my mind and it scampers off bunny trails and soars on flights of fancy. My prayers have been lists prayed at God, not a conversation with God. By mixing in the visuals, this helps my mind and heart to focus. In my prayer, I have experienced some powerful bursts of emotion and the healing of old hurts. It's really cool.
If you would like to add depth to your prayer life or totally resurrect it, this book would definitely be worth a try. My wife says you can read it until you get freaked out. I heartily recommend this book.
The book has some fairly standard approaches, but also swings into more Pentecostal territory. There are some things that raise my eyebrows, even when they are backed up by scripture. At the end of most sections, he provides some things to try out. The key to this book is actually trying these things out. You can't read this book and gloss over these sections, as I am prone to do. Try out the exercises and you'll be surprised at the results.
The key things that this book seems to do differently is that it encourages using imagery in prayer, and letting God speak to you through your imagination. It also encourages the necessary step of applying discernment to what you see and hear. For me, this works so well because words alone are seldom enough to occupy my mind and it scampers off bunny trails and soars on flights of fancy. My prayers have been lists prayed at God, not a conversation with God. By mixing in the visuals, this helps my mind and heart to focus. In my prayer, I have experienced some powerful bursts of emotion and the healing of old hurts. It's really cool.
If you would like to add depth to your prayer life or totally resurrect it, this book would definitely be worth a try. My wife says you can read it until you get freaked out. I heartily recommend this book.
May 6, 2012
absolutely life changing book!
learning to tune in to the God Who speaks...
God has a Voice and God's 'sheep' know that Voice. Brad provides 'tuning in' listening exercises to teach and train our ears to hear God's Voice speaking to our inner spirit. Beautiful examples of questions to ask God - just be sure to have your journal ready to record the inspiriting responses!
Loved this and have recommended over and over to friends on the faith journey.
Given to each of my children as well. Nothing like providing them with the resources that build solid life foundations!
MORE info atFull Blog Review
Forever grateful to Brad for taking time to write these lessons -
Now also available on Brad's Youtube channel for personalized listening and learning ..
learning to tune in to the God Who speaks...
God has a Voice and God's 'sheep' know that Voice. Brad provides 'tuning in' listening exercises to teach and train our ears to hear God's Voice speaking to our inner spirit. Beautiful examples of questions to ask God - just be sure to have your journal ready to record the inspiriting responses!
Loved this and have recommended over and over to friends on the faith journey.
Given to each of my children as well. Nothing like providing them with the resources that build solid life foundations!
MORE info atFull Blog Review
Forever grateful to Brad for taking time to write these lessons -
Now also available on Brad's Youtube channel for personalized listening and learning ..
September 11, 2015
A very thorough overview with some in-depth looks into listening prayer and hearing the voice of God. Very experientially focused while still maintaining a high commitment to Scripture. I've given this a four because I still have a lot of questions but I am looking forward to referring back to this work as I listen for God more in my own life.
March 16, 2016
In spite of all the controversy (among believers) about this book, God put it in my path at exactly the right time in my life, when I was searching for meaning in my life and a closer relationship with Him. The exercises in the book helped me foster and begin a fresh and new relationship with God and open the river of communication.
It helped me become more aware of the Holy Spirit's work around me, to listen to His voice, and also encouraged me to not be afraid to speak encouragement into people's lives.
If you are hungering for a deeper and closer relationship with God, I recommend this read.
Keep your Bible beside you and cross-reference with it, if that helps put you at ease. ;-)
God speaks to us still today as he did in biblical times.
It helped me become more aware of the Holy Spirit's work around me, to listen to His voice, and also encouraged me to not be afraid to speak encouragement into people's lives.
If you are hungering for a deeper and closer relationship with God, I recommend this read.
Keep your Bible beside you and cross-reference with it, if that helps put you at ease. ;-)
God speaks to us still today as he did in biblical times.
October 7, 2018
This was an interesting book. It gave me some good ideas but it was also discouraging in that I had never had experiences like those Jersak recounts. Since reading It, I've tried to use his approach and it has worked somewhat but not all the time. I found the videos by Jersak on this topic a little further "out there" and not sure I'd want to go there or that I ever could even if I want to, and I somewhat do.
March 15, 2019
This is a good source of information and encouragement to listen actively for Jesus' voice (even more, to practice his presence in your life). I found reading this along with Sweet and Viola's excellent work on the same subject to be even more valuable, as the two interact to add to the overall experience.
September 22, 2019
Read this book for our small group. Prompted some great discussion and includes some practical exercises. Some of the examples the author used stretched our thinking and belief (and at times seemed extreme or unrealistic), but I loved the premise that God is at work and speaking so the question is whether we're turning in and listening/sensitive to the Spirit.
January 16, 2022
This was an eye opening book about hearing and speaking to God. I feel like some of the things were a little iffy and far fetched and maybe even strange, but for the most part it was sound and greatly helped my prayer life!
July 22, 2013
I have so many thoughts after reading this book and don't know how to begin... This is one of the best books I've read on prayer. It had a good balance between providing a biblical basis as well as practical questions/concepts that people can immediately implement into their prayer life. My mind and heart were equally stirred and challenged. Brad writes with a lot of passion and humility and quite frankly, its contagious! I've always struggled to pray and stay focused. Many books I've read are dry and make things seem more difficult. This book tells of a dynamic and lively prayer life in which there is the firm belief that God actively speaks to/with people. I look forward to rereading the book more slowly so that I can try some of the suggested approaches to conversing with God - to ask better questions and patiently listen to His responses.
August 5, 2016
This book was far different from anything that I ever expected, and I think it was outstanding. It was not a fast read, but required work (even homework) to get through properly. The title summarizes the main points of the book: that God is personal and desired that “personal relationship” that Christians all talk about, but fewer actually have. Based on the teaching of the book, I am a novice with much practice ahead of me. This is rather exciting as I have been seeking to know more of God for decades. Given the spiritual nature of the book, I fully expect that it will be too radical for those who do not actually believe that God is personal.
November 20, 2011
God speaks to everybody, but most people don't recognize when he speaks to them. Often they just brush it off as coincidence or imagination. This book very clearly shows how God talks to people, and I absolutely loved it. It also has some good prayer exercises to do that show you how God speaks. I highly recommend it to anyone, but specifically to Christians who think they don't hear God. Because you do. Be discerning, because prayer is powerful.
September 4, 2014
Hmmm, this one is hard. While there was much about it that I liked and could learn from, I could not get myself to finish it. By the end of the book, it felt like it was off track and off solid ground. I found myself encouraged in the beginning, frustrated in the middle and obviously dissappointed by the last two chapters. The value is/was in the encouragement to seek God.
February 6, 2012
Jersak does a great job of painting a relationally based approach to hearing from God. Prayer is more than just an answering machine of things we need. Prayer is hearing, seeing and meeting the Everlasting God. I would encourage anyone who looking for a well rounded, spiritually challenging, intimate approach to prayer check out Jersak's book.
January 2, 2009
This is a book about hearing from God in prayer and discerning his answer. Not the best book on prayer, and books on prayer never take the place of actually praying. Still there is some helpful stuff here
January 18, 2008
Insightful and non-conformist discussion of developing two-way communication with God.
October 23, 2008
Great book for those who want to listen to God's voice!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews