How can we have two way conversations with Jesus?
as taught by Mark Virkler
A strange word of advice
“Christmas will be even more special with Annie,” said my older daughter excitedly. Annie was a refugee from Angola living in London. The charity Freedom From Torture had asked us to host Annie for Christmas in Derbyshire. The previous year she had spent Christmas very alone in her hostel. My wife, two daughters and I were very happy with the prospect of Annie sharing our Christmas.
I thought I had still better pray about this sizeable decision. “Jesus, this is all OK with you, isn’t it?” I asked. “Thank you for asking, Roger,” seemed to be the reply. “It’s good to learn to talk like this. But it would be better for Annie to stay in London.”
I was surprised. I asked the reason for this strange advice. All that came was a repeat. “It would be better for Annie to stay in London.” It made me think of some friends in London who had had an asylum seeker living with them before. I phoned the friends. “No, sorry,” they said. “We’re already having 2 Indians for Christmas lunch this year.”
My wife and daughters were cross. It made no sense. Why try to stop us doing something so worthwhile? They thought Jesus couldn’t really have spoken to me like this. We agreed to host Annie.
On a Sunday afternoon, 10 days before Christmas, the Freedom From Torture organiser rang us. She sounded embarrassed. “I’m very sorry, but we’ve just heard something we didn’t know before. Annie’s friends have planned a big birthday party for her – on Christmas Eve. I’m really sorry, but she won’t be able to come to you in Derbyshire for Christmas.”
I couldn’t help reassuring the organiser that Jesus had already told me it would be better for Annie to stay in London. The organiser was bemused. I phoned the friends in London. Their Indians weren’t coming after all. Annie had her party on Christmas Eve and a happy Christmas Day with our friends.
Before 2000 this story would have been unimaginable for me. I never heard Jesus speaking that clearly and easily. But in 2000 I twice happened to be visiting churches where Mark Virkler, from America, was teaching “How to Hear God’s Voice.” The first time I did hear Jesus say something significant to me and thought I would look into this further, one day. After the second time in a year, I thought God was pushing me to take in Mark’s teaching properly. When I prayed about Annie, I was following the pattern Mark teaches.
What do we learn from the Bible?
Many Christians believe that God speaks today through the Holy Spirit. We accept that there is a gift of prophecy which is given to some people to enable them to hear God speaking and to pass what they hear to other people. But we don’t hear Jesus speaking to us personally, except in occasional inklings. How do we actually hear God for ourselves? We have heard sermons encouraging us to listen to God. But how? If we want to listen, what do we do?
Begin with the Bible. Think of people who heard God speaking, where the Bible describes a little of how they began to hear. Who comes to mind? Moses, at the burning bush, Samuel, in the Temple, Elijah, on Mount Horeb are three who many people think of. You may have others in mind.
“Where were these people?” Moses was on the far side of the wilderness, a long way from his father-in-law’s home. Samuel was in the Temple at evening. The lamps were lit but the work was all done. Elijah was at the end of a long journey running away from conflict at home. Each was away from home, away from the routine of the day, in an out-of-way-place or an out-of-the-busyness time.
“What was in their mind just before God spoke?” Moses was looking a bush burning, or not burning, probably thinking “Wow! What?” A strange sight, was God behind it? Samuel was resting looking at all the Temple furniture gleaming gold, with the smoky incense rising in the candlelight. He too probably was thinking a gentler, “Wow, that’s so lovely!” All connected with God. Elijah had just seen the whole earth shake around him, seen the dust and stones driven by a fierce wind, seen a blazing fire come out of nowhere. “Wow! What?” may understate what was in Elijah’s mind. The earthquake wind and fire could only come from God.
Being in an out-of-the-way place or frame of mind, and seeing something of the glory of God are common to people in the Bible hearing God. Mark Virkler makes these the first of the ‘4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice:’
1 Be still, relaxed, mentally away from everyday worries
2 Focus on the glory of God – who is Jesus with us.
1 We relax, moving ourselves away from the immediate tasks and concerns of the day. We adopt an out-of-the-busyness frame of mind. Taking ourselves in our imagination to a favourite relaxing place is a good way to do this. What do you think of a good peaceful place, a place which makes you smile? Some people remember a park, or a hill, or a beach. Some remember their bedroom, or their grandmother’s front room, or a church. You choose.
Or you could imagine yourself in a Gospel story with Jesus. We follow the example of many people in the Bible and put ourselves in a place, a frame of mind to hear God.
2 Moses, Samuel and Elijah all saw something from God before they heard from God. So did nearly everyone in the Bible who heard from God, from Abraham to whom God appeared and then spoke, to Isaiah in the Temple, to Mary who saw angel Gabriel first, to Saul / Paul who saw a blinding light first. Although Christians talk more about hearing God than seeing the glory of God, we need to take seriously the many people in the Bible who saw before they heard. If we want to hear Jesus, it is best to start by seeing Jesus. We can’t see Jesus with our physical eyes. We have to use they eyes of our heart, as Paul writes in Ephesians 1:18, in other words, use our imagination, to see Jesus.
Christians know that we see God’s glory in Jesus, the glory of the only Son, full of grace and truth. In Him all the fulness of God dwells. The very best way of seeing the glory of God is to see Jesus. The Jesus who said ‘Look! I am with you always.’ (Some translations give us ‘Remember I am with you always,’ but the Greek word is a word to do with seeing, looking.)
Jesus is with us in our favourite place and we need to look. We probably won’t see him at first. Look round, wondering where Jesus is, asking ‘Jesus, where are you?’ Expect to see Jesus as he was when he told his disciples to look – in his resurrected body. Before long, we will see a person-shaped figure not far away. The figure may well be hazy. We will know if he is sitting, standing, walking, lying down. We will probably see where his hands are but won’t see his fingernails. If you only have a hunch that Jesus is somewhere particular, which seems a little brighter, trust your hunch and look a little closer, especially for his hands.
If Jesus is a little distance away, you can either move to be next to him or ask him to come next to you, or stay as you are. Relax and enjoy Jesus’ company. He will be relaxed, enjoying your company. Know that Jesus is not interested in telling you about your sins, he is interested in being your friend, your brother.
Start a conversation with Jesus. Make a comment or ask a question, just as you would to your friend or your brother.
3 When Jesus speaks to us, his voice comes from the Holy Spirit within us. Flowing as a stream of living water from our belly (John 7:38), thoughts, impressions, pictures come into our minds. This ‘wisdom from above’ is pure and peaceable, willing to yield, gentle, full of mercy and good fruits. (James 3:17) We don’t work, we receive in faith what comes to us in grace. This gives the 3rd Key: Welcome the Holy Spirit flowing from within in impressions, pictures, words.
4 Faith is important. We need to believe that what comes gently from within is the Holy Spirit giving us words, pictures, impressions from Jesus.. But faith without works is dead or barren. (James 2:20) It is important to do something which expresses our faith. In listening to God, voicing or writing down what comes to us is us expressing our faith in action. This gives the 4th Key: Write out or speak out whatever comes.
Once we have spoken or written what comes to us, we can then examine it. We can check if it is consistent with Scripture. We can ask other people if they think it is from God. This examination is necessary and important. But if we examine too quickly, we interrupt the flow of the Holy Spirit. First, we have to receive in faith. Then we examine, and weigh what has come to us.
To recap. The Four Keys are:
1 Be still, relaxed, mentally away from everyday worries
2 Focus on the glory of God – who is Jesus with us.
3 Welcome the Holy Spirit flowing from within in impressions, pictures, words.
4 Write out or speak out whatever comes.
How did Mark Virkler learn this pattern?
The 4 Keys came to Mark Virkler through a year he had set aside to find out how exactly people hear God and know it is God speaking. Brought up in a fundamentalist American church, Mark slowly learnt to accept that God has not stopped speaking since the Bible was completed. He asked people who could hear God how they did it. “You just ask God to speak and he does,” they would reply unhelpfully. “He doesn’t to me,” Mark would reply. “What exactly do you do to listen to God? And how do you know it’s him speaking?” “You just ask, and you sort of know when it’s him. You just know that you know.” “No I don’t know!” replied Mark, frustrated.
Mark went to anyone who could possibly give him workable answers. He went on a Retreat in New York led by Roman Catholic Jesuit monks. They pointed him to the importance of picturing Jesus, maybe through a Bible story, and welcoming the impressions that come to us as we reflect on the day. Sometimes people ask ‘Where did this picturing come from?’ The answer is from the established Christian tradition of the Jesuits. The 4 Keys summarise teaching from across the Christian traditions.
Towards the end of his year, Mark Virkler was reading Habakkuk 2:1,2 “I will stand at my watch-post, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it.” It struck Mark that Habakkuk did 4 things. He went away to an out-of-the-way place. He looked to see. He expected God to speak. He wrote down what came to him. Habakkuk followed the 4 Keys, and so can we. “Whenever I need or want to hear from God, I can, as long as I use all four of these keys,’ says Mark. I have travelled all over the world teaching what I have learned, and the 4 Keys worked in every culture and every circumstance and every age group. God’s people are able to recognize his voice, just as he promised.”[1]
Anne Hibbert, Director of the Well Christian Healing Centre, Leamington Spa, came across Mark Virkler’s teaching a few years ago when she was working for the Bible Reading Fellowship. In Retreats she was leading she encouraged people to listen to God using the pattern of the 4 Keys. “Often people who had never thought they could hear God, did begin to hear His voice,” Anne says.
How does Mark’s teaching compare to that or other people?
Mark Virkler’s teaching is similar to that of others about listening to God, although others may not stress all 4 elements or may put things in a different order, Bill Hamon in America emphasises the need to believe in your heart and confess, speak out, with your mouth, not only when being saved but also in exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Sharon Stone, who has learnt from Bill Hamon, and now lives and works in this country, teaches people to be calm, invite the Holy Spirit to flow, to look for pictures and speak out to others what has come. Steve Thompson, who works with Rick Joyner in the USA, writes that we usually begin to hear God through ‘mental or spiritual impressions or perceptions, gentle internal visions, and the still small voice of God that we hear in our spirit.”[2] Bruce Collins, who teaches Prophecy in the New Wine movement, writes that it is very common for God to speak through thoughts, impressions, pictures and visions.[3] Graham Cooke, author of ‘Developing your Prophetic Gifting’ writes “Prophecy can come by impressions. An inner conviction – strong or faint – about something. That’s why we need to be still before God. It’s very important.”[4]
Any critical voices?
Not everyone agrees with either Mark Virkler’s 4 Keys or the insights of other teachers. Some consider all talk of prophecy today goes against the sufficiency of Scripture. Others find it hard to see Mark’s model in the Bible. Simon Ponsonby of St Aldate’s Church, Oxford, has expressed reservations. He has not studied Mark Virkler’s teaching, but has come across a similar approach which he refers to as ‘the prophetic imagination model.’ “It seems to lack biblical control. It allows too much to the subjective” he wrote. “Is this really Jesus they are communicating with or a projection of their imagination? Is Jesus not sitting at the right hand of the Father? Is it not the Spirit who speaks now? Should we expect to meet and see and speak to Jesus on demand? The question of what is the control, how is this tested, discerned, etc., becomes hugely important.”
Simon Ponsonby prefers to meditate on the Bible and then be silent “inviting and allowing God, if he so chooses, to speak in a way he so chooses.” This has been a more common practice for many Evangelicals. But many, like Mark Virkler, find that this does not work for them. Focusing on a picture of Jesus with them, as always (although He is also at the right hand of the Father) enables the Holy Spirit to speak within them more clearly. Being available for the Spirit to speak is good, but we are usually thinking, maybe He will speak, maybe He won’t. A stronger faith that Jesus is close and wants to speak to his sheep, expressed in using the 4 Keys, enables us to hear more.
What is good practice in having conversations with Jesus?
However we hear what we believe is the voice of God for us, testing and discernment are always important. Whether we use the 4 Keys or sit quietly after reading a Bible passage, makes no difference. We always need humbly to check out with others what has come to us. Mark Virkler writes that it is ‘absolutely essential to have two or three spiritual advisors in your life, and that you go to them on a regular basis to confirm that what you felt you heard from God actually came from God. ‘[5] People who have not done this, have fallen into serious errors.
Having conversations with Jesus, using the 4 Keys, is like riding a motorbike. Learning to ride on 2 wheels involves practicing a few very simple movements, but doing them all together, while keeping alert. Motorbikes can be dangerous if ridden without care. The 4 Keys are each simple, but it takes practice to learn to do them all together. Most of us need tutoring. All of us need someone in authority to assess our competence before we are safe to ‘ride’ or prophecy among other people.
Two way conversations with Jesus are good. Through the Holy Spirit, we can all hear him for ourselves and speak out what He is saying (Acts 2.) Mark Virkler’s 4 Keys help us to do this. This listening, however, is never to replace our following what the Bible says. Nowhere does Jesus tell us in so many words, to listen to him like this, whereas he does tell us to obey all that he has commanded. ‘Listening’ to the commands of Jesus and following what he says in the Gospels is more fundamental to our discipleship. Listening to him today comforts us, encourages us and strengthens us in this discipleship.
Full-length summary of the 4 keys with supporting Scripture
Hearing God’s voice is as simple as: 1) quieting down (Ps. 62:1-5), 2) beholding Jesus at my right hand (Ps. 16:8; Acts 2:25), 3) asking for His revelation and tuning to flowing thoughts and flowing pictures (Jn. 7:37-39; Jer. 2:13; 10 pictures), and 4) recording this flow (Hab. 2:1,2; Rev. 1:9-11). I then test it, ensuring it lines up with Scripture (Ps. 1:2; Jn. 10:35; 1 Thess. 5:2) and is affirmed in the hearts of my three spiritual advisors (2 Cor. 13:1; Prov. 11:14). See this link.
Taking it Further
Many more details and questions are addressed by Mark Virkler in his book ‘How to Hear God’s Voice’ (Destiny Image 2013), available through on-line bookstores. Mark’s website is http://www.cwgministries.org/Four-Keys-to-Hearing-Gods-Voice where you can find a summary of the 4 Keys, download video teaching, and find information about seminars Mark leads, mostly in the USA. Mark has also taught in the UK and other countries and is willing to go where invited.
Roger Harper