Episode 11 – How to Hear God and Wait for His Answer
Hello, Fearless One.
Have you ever wished God would just speak plainly?
No trying to work out whether the thought in your head came from God, your own imagination or something you ate before bed. No God is that you, prayers.
I sometimes wish God would speak to me the way He spoke after Jesus was baptised by His cousin, John the Baptist.
In Matthew 3, the heavens opened and God declared:
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Clear. Audible. Undeniable.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every time we needed direction, God simply announced the answer from heaven?
Take the job.
Write the book.
Leave that relationship alone.
Launch the business.
Move to the new country.
Wait six months.
Turn left.
We want God to be loud because loud feels certain. But God does not always arrive in a loud and obvious way.
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah experienced a powerful wind, an earthquake and a fire. But God was not in any of them. Afterwards came what the Bible describes as a still, small voice.
That means if we are only listening for the spectacular, we may miss the sacred.
God does speak to us. In fact, I believe He is always speaking. We are often the ones who are tuned into everything and everyone else.
You are listening to the Fearless One Podcast with Nerissa Golden. Before we dive in, please follow or subscribe wherever you are listening. Share this episode with someone who is seeking direction and needs the assurance that God still speaks.
Today, I want to unpack Habakkuk 2:1–4 as a practical guide for hearing God, receiving creative solutions and waiting for His answer to unfold.
When God Spoke to Me Audibly
God may speak audibly, but that has only happened to me once.
It came at a critical moment in my walk with Him. The fact that He spoke was remarkable, but what made the experience even more significant was that He answered the exact question I had been asking.
I had been seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
Yes, we are divine beings and so we have a spirit. But Jesus told the disciples to tarry for the Holy Spirit and this is manifested as speaking in a language we do not understand.
I grew up in a Pentecostal church and so tongue talking was pretty normal. But I wanted to understand the mechanics of it. I like knowing how the pieces fit together.
One day, I was lying quietly on my tiny couch when I heard a voice say, “Luke 24.”
My immediate response was, “Luke doesn’t have 24 chapters.”
I have no idea why I thought that. I did not know the Bible well enough at the time to be making confident declarations about how many chapters Luke had. I suspect it was my mind trying to rationalise what had just happened.
But Luke does have 24 chapters.
When I went to the passage, I discovered Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. He told them to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high.
That first scripture led me into the book of Acts, where I studied the coming of the Holy Spirit and what happened to the believers. By the end of that study, I was filled with the Holy Spirit.
I will tell that full story in another episode.
What matters for today is that God did not give me the whole study in one moment. He gave me a starting point. One breadcrumb led to another. He answered my question in a way that sent me deeper into His Word and strengthened my faith.
God knew how to speak to me.
I love puzzles, so He often gives me the first piece and allows me to discover how it connects to the others.
The mistake I sometimes make is thinking that, once He gives me the first piece, I can take it from there.
“Thank You, Lord. I’ve got it now.”
Then I run around trying to find the remaining pieces by myself.
But God does not only want to give us the first instruction. He wants us to remain in conversation with Him throughout the process. If He gave us the first piece, He can also point us towards the next one.
Habakkuk shows us how.
Take Your Position
Habakkuk 2 begins:
“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower.”
Habakkuk had questions. He was troubled by what he saw happening around him, and he wanted an answer from God.
But notice what he did.
He took his position.
He did not throw a quick question towards heaven and then rush back into the noise. He deliberately placed himself somewhere he could watch, listen and receive.
We often say we want to hear from God, but we have not created any room to listen.
The television is on. The phone is in our hand. Notifications are arriving. We are listening to podcasts, scrolling through social media and collecting everybody else’s opinion.
Then we wonder why we cannot recognise God’s voice.
Taking your position does not mean you need a literal tower. It may mean sitting quietly before everyone else wakes up. It may mean taking a walk without your headphones. It may mean opening your Bible with a notebook beside you. It may mean turning off the noise long enough to notice what has been stirring within you.
The watchtower also gave Habakkuk a different perspective.
Sometimes we cannot see the answer because we are standing too close to the problem. Fear, urgency and frustration have filled our field of vision. We need to step back and allow God to show us what we cannot see from ground level.
If you are asking God for a creative idea or a solution, your first responsibility is not to produce something. It is to position yourself to receive.
Stay Long Enough to Hear
Habakkuk continues:
“I will watch to see what he will say unto me.”
He expected God to answer.
That phrase is interesting. Habakkuk said he would watch to see what God would say.
He did not limit hearing God to something entering his ears.
God may speak through a scripture that suddenly becomes clear. He may give you an impression, a picture, a dream, a vision or a knowing within your spirit. He may bring the same idea back to you repeatedly. He may draw your attention to something you have overlooked.
He may speak through your spouse, your friend, your child or even a stranger.
An answer may emerge while you are writing, working, cooking or walking. You may suddenly see a connection between two things that previously seemed unrelated.
The answer may come through an internet search, a conversation or a piece of information that appears at exactly the right time.
God knows how you think. He knows how you process information. He knows the language you understand.
If you speak English, He is not going to make His answer incomprehensible by delivering it in French. Unless, of course, the person who speaks French is part of the answer.
God is not trying to make communication unnecessarily difficult. He is not setting a pop quiz to see whether you are spiritual enough to pass.
His desire is to reveal His love, guide you and help you walk with Him through everyday life.
Moses needed a burning bush.
Gideon asked God for confirmation more than once.
Samuel heard his name but did not initially recognise that it was God speaking. Eli had to tell him, “If He calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’”
Recognising God’s voice can take practice.
The more time you spend in His presence and His Word, the more familiar His voice becomes.
Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
You learn His voice by learning His character and His Word. God will not instruct you to do something that contradicts what He has already revealed in scripture.
The Bible gives us a standard against which we can test what we believe we have heard.
Other People Can Confirm, but They Cannot Hear for You
Especially early in your walk with God, He may use other people to reinforce what He has already been saying to you.
Someone may preach a message that addresses the exact issue you have been praying about. A friend may call and repeat the same phrase that has been stirring in your spirit. You may read a scripture in the morning and hear someone refer to it later that day.
Scripture gives us the principle that a matter is established by two or three witnesses.
Confirmation can be valuable. It can strengthen our faith and help us recognise how God communicates with us.
But other people should not become a substitute for hearing God yourself.
They should confirm the message, not become the source of your direction.
Eventually, you must learn to tune in to God.
I have noticed something about myself. Sometimes, when I want to ask this person and that person what they think, it is not because I do not know what God has told me.
I already know.
I am looking for someone to tell me, “That cannot be God. It doesn’t make sense.”
I am not seeking clarity. I am seeking an escape route.
Perhaps God’s instruction feels too big, too inconvenient or too different from what other people expect of me. So I keep collecting opinions, hoping someone will give me permission to ignore what I have heard.
There is wisdom in seeking godly counsel. We should remain teachable, and we should test what we believe we have received.
But counsel cannot replace obedience.
There comes a point when asking one more person is simply delayed obedience dressed up as discernment.
Your validation must come from God.
Other people may not understand the instruction because God did not give it to them. They may be judging your next step through the limitations of their experiences, fears and expectations.
Not every instruction from God will make immediate sense to the people around you.
Noah was building a boat before anyone had seen rain.
Abraham left home without being given the complete destination.
Mary accepted an assignment that could have cost her reputation and her future.
The question is not whether everybody else understands. The question is whether you have heard God and whether what you heard is consistent with His Word and character.
You do not need universal agreement to obey God.
Write the Vision
God answered Habakkuk:
“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”
Write down what you believe you have heard.
Writing slows the thought down long enough for you to examine it.
A vague impression can feel powerful in the moment, but when you write it down, you begin to see what is clear and what still needs prayer.
Writing also gives you a record.
You can return to it later. You can compare it with scripture. You can notice whether the same message continues to appear. You can track confirmations and see how God has guided you over time.
This is particularly useful when seeking creative ideas or strategic solutions.
Perhaps you are asking:
What should I write next?
How should I structure this business?
What solution does this community need?
How do I approach this problem differently?
What should I build with the skills and resources I already have?
Write the question at the top of the page.
Then become quiet.
Record what comes to you without immediately judging or editing it. You are not declaring that every passing thought came from God. You are creating space to notice, test and develop what you are receiving.
Ask:
Does this align with scripture?
Does it reflect God’s character?
Does it produce love, truth, wisdom and good fruit?
Does it require faith, or is it being driven by fear and ego?
What is the next step?
Who would this idea serve?
What would responsible stewardship of this idea look like?
God may give you a seed rather than a finished product.
That seed is the Fruitful stage of the Fearless Framework. It is the gift, insight, idea or possibility God has placed within you.
But a seed must be developed.
Writing the vision begins the movement from inspiration to stewardship. You give language and structure to what you have received so it can eventually create value for others.
Make It Plain Enough to Act On
God did not only tell Habakkuk to write. He said to make the vision plain so that the person who read it could run with it.
A revelation that never becomes actionable remains an idea.
Sometimes we say we are waiting on God when He has already given us enough information to take the next step.
You may not have the entire map, but do you have the next instruction?
You may not know how the business will grow, but do you know who you are meant to serve?
You may not know every chapter of the book, but do you know the opening story?
You may not know where all the resources will come from, but do you know the first person you need to contact?
Faith does not always require certainty about the whole journey. Sometimes faith is simply acting on the clearest thing God has already said.
Make the answer plain.
Turn the idea into a sentence.
Turn the sentence into a plan.
Turn the plan into a first step.
Then remain in conversation with God as you move.
Do not say, “I can take it from here, Lord.”
Ask Him for the next puzzle piece.
Wait for the Appointed Time
Habakkuk 2:3 says:
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time… though it tarry, wait for it.”
Receiving the answer does not mean everything will happen immediately.
God may give you clarity about the vision while asking you to wait for its timing.
That can be frustrating because once we see something, we want to make it happen.
We may rush it, dilute it or force it. We may compare our progress with someone else’s. We may decide we heard incorrectly because the result has not appeared quickly enough.
But delay does not automatically mean denial or misdirection.
There are different kinds of waiting.
Sometimes you are waiting for clarity.
Sometimes you have clarity but are waiting for the next instruction.
Sometimes you have the instruction but must wait for the appointed time.
You need to know which kind of waiting you are in.
If you are waiting for clarity, keep listening.
If you are waiting for the next instruction, remain attentive while completing the last one.
If you are waiting for the appointed time, prepare.
Develop your skills. Strengthen your character. Build the systems. Save the money. Study the market. Write the draft. Have the conversations God has already placed before you.
Waiting on God is not an excuse to become passive.
The waiting season is often the development season.
God may have shown you what is coming because He wants to prepare you to steward it well when it arrives.
Faithful, Not Frantic
Verse 4 ends with the declaration:
“The just shall live by his faith.”
The alternative presented in that verse is pride. Pride says, “I know better. I can control this. I can make it happen without God.”
Faith says, “I trust what God has said, and I will remain faithful while it unfolds.”
Hearing God is not only about receiving an answer. It is about staying aligned with Him after the answer comes.
Can you resist the urge to force the timing?
Can you obey when other people do not understand?
Can you return to God for the next piece instead of depending only on your own intelligence?
Can you allow His voice to become more authoritative than the opinions around you?
This is part of living fearless.
Fear says you need all the answers before you begin.
Fear says everybody must approve.
Fear says that if the answer does not appear immediately, you have missed God.
But faith takes its position.
Faith listens.
Faith writes.
Faith tests.
Faith moves when God says move.
Faith waits when God says wait.
A Practical Way to Seek God
If you are seeking God for an answer or a creative solution, try this practice.
First, name the question clearly.
What are you actually asking God?
Second, take your position.
Create time and space without noise or interruption.
Third, open the Word.
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and make the truth clear.
Fourth, watch and listen.
Pay attention to scriptures, impressions, ideas, repeated themes and unexpected connections.
Fifth, write what you receive.
Do not rely on your memory.
Sixth, test it.
Does it align with scripture and the character of God? Is it producing faith, wisdom, love and good fruit?
Seventh, notice confirmation.
Receive confirmation with gratitude, but do not keep demanding more signs because you dislike the instruction.
Eighth, ask for the next step.
Do not demand the whole map when God is giving you enough light for today.
Finally, wait faithfully.
Do what you can with what He has already shown you. Leave the timing and the pieces you cannot control with Him.
Reflection Questions
What question have you been carrying that you need to bring clearly before God?
Have you created enough quiet to hear, or are you expecting God to compete with constant noise?
Has God already given you the first puzzle piece?
Are you genuinely seeking wise counsel, or are you looking for someone to release you from an instruction you do not want to follow?
What have you heard but not yet written down?
What is the next clear step you can take?
Are you waiting for clarity, waiting for another instruction or waiting for the appointed time?
Prayer
Father, thank You that You are not distant or silent.
Thank You for giving us Your Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us and remind us of Your truth.
Help us to recognise Your voice.
Quiet the fear, urgency and competing opinions that make it difficult for us to hear You clearly.
Give us wisdom to test what we receive against Your Word and the humility to accept godly confirmation without surrendering our responsibility to listen to You.
Show us where we have delayed obedience by continuing to seek opinions after You have already spoken.
Give us the courage to write the vision, make it plain and take the next step.
When the vision seems slow, help us to trust Your timing. Teach us how to prepare while we wait and how to remain faithful without becoming frantic.
Show us the next puzzle piece, Lord. Then help us remain close enough to ask You for the one after that.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Fearless One, God is not hiding from you.
He knows how to speak in a way you can understand. Your responsibility is to take your position, become still, listen, test what you receive and remain faithful as He leads.
You do not need to know everything today.
You only need to stay close enough to hear the next instruction.
Thank you for listening to Fearless One with Nerissa Golden.
If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a comment and share it with someone who has been seeking direction.
Until next time, remember who you are and whose you are.
Live Fearless!