“The music’s all around us…all you have to do is listen.” –August Rush.

Can you match a pitch? Can you sing along with your favorite songs? Can you tell when someone else is out of tune?

Some people are practically born singing little songs and making up melodies. They have an obvious musical gift. Some have perfect pitch. They can listen to a song on their ipod and start playing along on the piano or another instrument. They don’t have to ask what key it’s in, because they already KNOW. Without being told, they can hear and name any pitch. Most of us are somewhere in between.

Some people have been told they can’t carry a tune in a bucket. I hate that phrase. It’s unfair and untrue. Many people have a very small range. They can sing in tune with 4 or 5 notes and sound great. The problem is, most songs are not written in their range. When they try to sing along, they are too high or too low and they don’t know why they can’t match the pitch. No one told them this is a skill that can be learned. They just thought they’d never be able to sing (in front of other people).

The same is true for hearing God’s voice. Some people trust God from an early age and enjoy a life of talking with and hearing from God. Many of us are told God doesn’t speak to us anymore. Others have been told you’d have to be crazy if you thought you heard God speaking to you.

God is speaking all around you…all you have to do is listen.

And know what to listen for.

It’s ear training, but it’s not about intervals. It’s about hearing God speak into your heart. When I first prayed for God to speak to me, I realized:

1. I needed to know him, know what the bible says about who he is, and understand he will never tell me something that contradicts what he’s already said.

2. I needed confirmation that what I really thought I heard, I heard.

3. I needed to be able to tell the difference between my thoughts, lies that came at me, and God’s voice.

If you don’t know him and would like to, please contact me.

Confirmation

I realized that one of the ways God speaks to me is by repeating a theme over and over in a short period of time. When my kids were in 4th and 5th grades, they asked me to home school them. This was not part of my plan. I had been a music teacher, but the thought of home schooling never crossed my mind. I prayed about it. All of a sudden, everywhere I went, the word home school popped up. I met a new friend. What does she do? She home schools her kids. I listened to the radio. There was an ad for a home school curriculum. I went to my bible study and they were discussing the same verse I had just read on the curriculum I had just seen. It went on and on and on. I got the point. I told the kids we would home school for 1 year and see how it went. We home schooled for 3 years through middle school before putting them back in school for high school. It was 3 of the best years with my kids! I have many other examples of this kind of thing happening.

His voice…or?

In my life, God’s voice sounds like my own voice. The thing is, he is much kinder and gentler than I am. I’ve learned that if my heart is sincere and my pride is not on the line, I can hear God speak gently. Not always. Not everyday. Not even when I really want. But, sometimes. Sometimes I wake up and have a thought (like this morning when I had this idea about ear training and God speaking). Sometimes I’m writing in my journal and I ask God a question and I hear a few words that speak right into my heart.

Usually I hear how much he loves me, how beautiful I am, that it will be OK, that he’s in control and I’m not.

The reason I know it’s not just my imagination is because I would never think these thougths.

When I hear something mean, cruel, vicious, or hurtful, I know it’s not God. That goes against everything I know about his character from the bible. He will not contradict himself. The negative thought may come from my own worry or selfishness, but sometimes it comes from a lie I heard earlier in my life and still believe. Sometimes it’s just plain evil and I have to change the focus of my thoughts.

Ear training…it’s not just for music!

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This post written by Colorado Life Coach, Carrie O’Toole.