Pete Greig’s new book helps kids and parents listen to God

What is your heart behind “How to Hear God for Young Explorers”?

Hearing God is the most important thing we can ever learn to do, but also one of the most confusing and painful, so this really matters - but especially for kids, for various reasons.

Firstly, I think kids are actually better at hearing God than adults most of the time, because they’re less boundaried and more in touch with their imagination. Secondly, praying and hearing God is the most important thing we can teach our kids, to equip them for their futures in a changing world - but there are surprisingly few resources for this.

The problem is not that God is absent or silent, but that we are distracted and confused

So, I’ve created this book to try and help parents, grandparents and teachers to have the most beautiful, brilliant conversations with their kids.

The book is full of cartoons, fun facts, interactive exercises, Bible stories - and the feedback has been amazing.

Have you had any particularly encouraging stories of kids getting into prayer from your previou book fo children?

Yeah, astounding stories. One of my favourites is the kids who send me photos of dens they’ve built in their bedrooms as prayer rooms.

Some kids read the books on their own - easy to do because of the fun design - and for others it’s an interactive experience with a parent or grandparent, cuddled up, going through the material together. The really important bit is the conversations parents tell me they wouldn’t be able to have otherwise, stimulated by this material: “Do you agree with Pete? Have you ever experienced this? Do you want to try doing this now?”

the problem is not “God’s not speaking to me”. It’s about learning to tune in and hear; to be still and quiet with God

Why do you think we struggle so much with hearing God?

We’re too noisy, and we’re too busy.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” And there’s never been a time in world history where people have been so noisy and so busy.

The problem is not that God is absent or silent, but that we are distracted and confused. God says, “I’ll never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). The Bible starts with God speaking the world into existence. The gospel starts with Jesus Christ as the word of God. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). So, the problem is not “God’s not speaking to me”. It’s about learning to tune in and hear; to be still and quiet with God. I think you’ll be surprised by what happens.

What are some simple ways that Christian parents and leaders can help children to start recognizing God’s voice?

We create cultures where we talk normatively about God speaking. Some people are frightened of doing that, because, of course, there is weirdness - people say and do stupid things. But the reality is that many of the greatest people who ever lived heard God - like Florence Nightingale, mentioned in the book. She received her calling into nursing in an audible voice from God. We all have this superpower, and it’s amazing. Why wouldn’t you want to learn to do that?

we’re training kids to hear God in culture and community, through other people and in creation

And first and foremost, God speaks through the scriptures. People say, “God’s not speaking to me”. I say, “He’s about to,” find a Bible verse, read it to them and say, “That was God speaking to you. Now that he’s spoken, what are you going to do with it?”

What we really mean is, “God’s not speaking to me as dramatically as I would like.” Well, tough! He will when he wants to.

Sometimes we don’t listen because we know he’s going to say something we don’t like.

100%. One of our 24-7 leaders was using our Lectio 365 app on the train, and the challenge was to share our faith in Jesus. So, she’s journaling, “God, I’m sorry. I’ve got timid. I’ve stopped sharing my faith. Please give me an opportunity.”

As she’s writing, the woman opposite says, “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. Can I ask, what are you writing? So, Carla goes, “Well this is my prayer journal.” So, the woman says, “What religion are you? She says, “I’m a Christian.” “Have you always been a Christian? Can I ask you more about how you became a Christian?”

We have a living relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit, is a dynamic interplay with the other more objective ways in which He speaks

Carla’s trying to have a devotional time, but God’s busy answering the prayer. By the time they reach Woking, the woman’s heard the gospel! God is speaking more than we realize, and you’re right, sometimes we don’t want to hear what He’s saying.

The book is structured in two halves: hearing God’s word, and hearing God’s whisper. Tell me more about that distinction.

First of all, you’ve got the more objective ways in which God speaks: the Bible, in Jesus. The ultimate word of God is not the Bible, it’s Jesus - that’s what the Bible says. Then you’ve got things like prophecy - which some people get wrong, some people get right, but you’ve got to accept 1 Corinthians 14 when Paul clearly says we should earnestly desire to prophesy. These are the external, measurable, objective ways in which God speaks: God’s word.

But then God’s whisper. Elijah describes a still small voice through the subconscious. God speaks in dreams. Dreams are one of the primary ways God speaks to people in the Bible. But with the rise of psychoanalysis under Jung and Freud, we got frightened of dreams and rejected them.

Then also the conscience. I don’t hear much talk about conscience, but it’s so important when the world is morally and ethically confusing, and so many leaders have messed up.

Read more:

How a simple step of faith sparked a prayer community at school

Helping autistic children hear God’s voice

Angels - again, a massive norm in the Bible. Most people in America say they believe in angels, but you hardly ever hear a talk in church about it.

The book also talks about hearing God’s voice in creation, culture and community. If we only ever learn to hear God in a religious context, then we’ve boxed up the God of all into ‘religion’. The challenge is to learn to hear him in all things: “Is there anything in that new Taylor Swift song that you think God might be saying?” “Did you notice this theme in that Pixar movie? That’s the sort of thing Jesus says.”

So, we’re training kids to hear God in culture and community, through other people and in creation. It’s a no-brainer, right? Get out there and just see the stars. The Psalms say that’s God speaking. These things are really important for a living relationship with God.

And God’s Whisper comes after God’s Word?

They come hand in hand. In a hierarchy of authority, yes. God will never say or do anything that falls outside what he has framed in scripture.

But we actually need to use God’s word and God’s whisper together. We have a living relationship with God, through the Holy Spirit, is a dynamic interplay with the other more objective ways in which He speaks. So, I wouldn’t want to say one is better than the other.

It frustrates me when people tell horror stories of how the prophetic has been abused. Those people never talk about all the Sunday sermons that are heretical. They don’t say, “Well we’d better get rid of the Bible then.”

ultimately, I long for kids to become adults who know that the most natural and important thing in the world is walking and talking with God

I want the full menu - the subjective and the objective, the word and the whisper - I want all of it. I don’t want to relegate one half of it to being secondary, but in terms of orthodoxy and doctrine, scripture is the foundation.

In the book, you mention many biblical characters who were young when they heard God: Samuel, Miriam, Mary, Jesus… Why can children potentially be better at hearing God than adults?

Firstly, Jesus said you can’t get into the Kingdom of Heaven unless you become like a child. There’s something about the childish imagination, humility, simplicity and trust that is conducive to hearing God. According to neuroscientists, when it comes to religion, adults tend to use the prefrontal cortex: obsessing over language, rules and objective realities. They’re terrified of fantasy; they know where their imaginations can go and are terrified to apply that to God.

Yet Jesus came, and He told simple stories that kids can understand. He was making the great revelation of God palatable to the less linear parts of your brain.

Kids are better at and less frightened of using their imaginations. They’re humble and trusting. That makes them open to abuse, which is terrifying, so we have to handle things well, but it also means they’re open to the whisper of God.

What is your prayer for families as they open this book together?

I want great conversations about the God who speaks. I want families to create cultures of expectancy around God speaking - not, “Has God said anything?” but “What’s God saying at the moment?”

I long for hearing God to become normative in family units. And ultimately, I long for kids to become adults who know that the most natural and important thing in the world is walking and talking with God in a real conversational relationship.