Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional

by Dallas Willard, Jan Johnson (Editor)

Being close to God means communicating with him telling him what is on our hearts in prayer and understanding what he is saying to us. The second half of this conversation is so important and so difficult. How do we hear God? In these daily devotionals Dallas Willard helps us understand how we can know the voice of God and act on it. Now in a new format with an expanded introduction, this classic provides daily Scripture readings and suggestions for prayer, journaling and reflection to draw you into God's presence. You may be surprised and even transformed by what you discover."

Genres: Devotional, Christianity, Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Religion

327 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2004

About the author

Dallas Willard was a widely respected American philosopher and Christian thinker, best known for his work on spiritual formation and his expertise in phenomenology, particularly the philosophy of Edmund Husserl. He taught philosophy at the University of Southern California from 1965 until his death in 2013, where he also served as department chair in the early 1980s. Willard held degrees in psychology, philosophy, and religion, earning his PhD in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a focus on the history of science. He was recognized as a leading translator and interpreter of Husserl's thought, making foundational texts available in English and contributing significantly to the fields of epistemology, philosophy of mind, and logic.
Though a serious academic, Willard became even more widely known for his books on Christian living, including The Divine Conspiracy and Renovation of the Heart, both of which earned major awards and helped shape the modern spiritual formation movement. He believed that discipleship to Jesus was an intentional process involving not only belief but transformation through spiritual disciplines like prayer, study, solitude, and service. For Willard, spiritual growth was not about earning God’s favor but about participating in the divine life through active cooperation with grace.
His teachings emphasized the concept of apprenticeship to Jesus—being with him, learning to be like him—and his influence extended to ministries such as Renovaré, the Apprentice Institute, and the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation. He served on the boards of organizations like the C.S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University, and his intellectual and spiritual legacy continues through Dallas Willard Ministries and academic institutions inspired by his work.
Willard was also a deeply personal writer who shared candidly about the challenges of balancing academic life with family. Despite his own admitted shortcomings, those closest to him regarded him as a man of deep love, humility, and grace. His enduring impact can be seen in the lives and works of many contemporary Christian thinkers and writers, including Richard J. Foster, James Bryan Smith, and John Mark Comer. As both philosopher and pastor to the mind, Dallas Willard remains a towering figure in the dialogue between rigorous thought and transformative Christian practice.

Reviews

[Jeremiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book just plain sucks. This woman needs to stop trying to turn Willard's books into devotionals. She ruined this book (Hearing God-which is a good read) and nearly ruined another too. If you want the goods that this book offers I'll offer you a three step plan which will be ten times better than what you'll find here: First, go buy Hearing God; Second, listen to what God impresses upon you while you read it; Third, implement what you've heard until it becomes a habit. I guess there's a fourth point too: take the ten dollars I just saved you from preventing you from buying this book and mail it to me.

[Salomon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hearing God was an absolutely amazing book and I understand why someone would want to do a 365-day devotional book based on that work. But this one is doing a bad job at it. You may find this book helpful and useful but I've had really hard time going through it and I can't recommend it. So instead of this, grab the original book and read one chapter per month. It should be a way better option for approaching what Dallas wanted to say about prayer and walking in a relationship with Christ.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take the time to let this book saturate into your life, you will be better for it.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This devotional is based on the book of the same name. I've only read a small amount of the latter but don't feel I missed anything from not having read it.

The beauty of this book is that Willard and Johnson explore the one topic: hearing God and we get 365 days to learn more about how to do it with lots of repetition and explanation using Bible verses as the foundation. Willard and Johnson's words are gentle but convicting.

Each day's devotion starts with a verse, some thoughts to reflect on in relation to the verse and then ends with a prayer prompt which guides you to respond to the reflections with God.

I expect I'll be reading it again in another year.

[Ryan Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. At times, the construction and flow of the entries were a little odd; but overall, the messages from Willard’s great book (Hearing God) were timely with great insight and reminders. (Side note - the format of these books with days of the week noted instead of the sequential numbering of days means the days never quite match up with a calendar year. It’s an odd formulation, which is why I finished it on Dec 26.)

[Maribeth Van loon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great way to digest Dallas Willard - in small, meditative bites. There are reflections or prayers as well as scripture for each day's passage. The book is full of wisdom about what it means to be in communication with the God of all.

[Matthew J MacKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a daily devotional every year. It is a great framework for the day, and I recommend you try this easy habit.

Dallas Willard had the gift of making the life of faith practical and this book of distilled gems is a great introduction to this intellectual giant who makes the complex simple.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes me want to read the original from which these excerpts were taken.

[Pixismiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh DW is so over my head. I bought this book years ago and always gave up mid January. I wanted to finish it so I can get rid of it. If you like DW you may like this.

[Kyle VanEtten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the book Hearing God - but did not enjoy engaging with it in this format at all.