About this title: Originally published as In Search of Guidance, this classic by Dallas Willard provides rich insight into how we can clearly hear God's voice and develop an intimate partnership with him.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780830822263ISBN:0830822267
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Christian Living. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Very minimal edge-wear, previous owner's name in ink on the front & back endspieces and half-title page, very light highlighting spread out throughout book, pages are clean and tightly bound, part of the Christian Book Club. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780830822263ISBN:0830822267
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Intervarsity Pr
Date Published: 1999-11-01
ISBN-13:9780830822263ISBN:0830822267
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780830822263. read more
Description: Acceptable. ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Date Published: 1999-11
ISBN-13:9780830822263ISBN:0830822267
Description: Like New. Some underlining and notes inside the book, some corner twisting; otherwise the book is fairly new. Ships same day or next day 6 days a week.; we ship same or next day 6 days a week.; we ship same or next day 6 days a week. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: INTER VARSITY PR
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780830822263ISBN:0830822267
Description: New. In this updated classic, originally published as In Search of Guidance, the author provides rich spiritual insight into how we can clearly hear God's voice and develop an intimate partnership with him in the work of his kingdom. read more
"Dallas Willard's book, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God, has the most practical, wise and biblically sound reading I have ever done on the subject of divine guidance. It's a book worth reading over and again for those who wrestle with the problems of how God communicates with us personally: Is it presumptuous to think that God would want to communicate with us directly? Isn't the Bible an entirely sufficient revelation of God's will for any and all Christians? What is the relationship between the Bible and more personal forms of communication from God? How do we reliably distinguish the voice of God from our own thoughts and desires? What if something which I believe God is telling me later proves to be mistaken? Willard deals with these issues in very perceptive and insightful ways, not with pat answers and formulas. (Though he does provide one formula at the end of the book, it's for "living with God's voice", not for getting God to speak with us on matters that may concern us.)
It seems reasonable to assume that God's speaking with us must be a matter which is entirely up to him and is independent of our own condition. If God wants to tell us something he should have no trouble in getting our attention and getting his point across to us, like he did with Saul of Tarsus (who later became Paul the Apostle) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9). This is certainly true in principle, but I think Willard would argue that these are exceptional means which would be out of God's character and intent for normal use. Rather, God wants to speak to those who honestly and earnestly desire to hear his voice. He speaks mainly to those who are humble in character, receptive and responsive in spirit. That God speaks to us isn't a matter of reward or privilege for being righteous or devout. It doesn't put what God says to us personally on the same level of authority with Scripture or give us license to neglect careful and rigorous study of the Bible. God's speaking to us doesn't make us infallible hearers of what is said any more than we are infallible in our understanding of what anyone else says to us. Nor can we rely on God to speak to us about any matter that we wish him to in order to escape all responsibility for what he wants to be our own decisions or because we are "obsessed with being right as a strategy for being safe." Hearing from God is not a means toward risk free living. Certain risks are necessary to produce character in us. Though there is certainly some benefit to living wisely in God's counsel, what God says to us may take us out of our comfort zone. It's important to understand that, "God doesn't speak to us to amuse or entertain us but to make some real difference in our lives." Hearing God has as much to do with who God wants us to be as it does with what he wants us to do.
Willard puts divine guidance in it's proper context. It is not an end in itself but a vital part of living a "life greater than our own-that of the kingdom of God." This life is not only for "super spiritual" people but is accessible to anyone who would enter it. For all the correctives that Willard gives on matters of divine guidance for Christians, the book's main purpose is to show that God strongly desires to communicate with us on a personal, conversational level. Willard shows us how this desire can be met with our own desires as part of a whole life lived in the will of God. This is not without its challenges in the modern world. "Nearly all areas of life in which we could become spiritually competent (hearing God and receiving divine guidance among them) confront us with the same type of challenge. The all require of us a choice to be a spiritual person, to live a spiritual life. We are required to "bet our life" that the visible world, while real, is not reality itself" (p. 219).
"Spiritual people," Willard says, "are not those who engage in certain spiritual practices; they are those who draw their life from a conversational relationship with God. They do not live their lives merely in terms of the human order in the visible world; they have "a life beyond" (p. 222). This book offers tremendous encouragement that not only is such a life possible, it is available to any who desire it. Indeed, if "God has created us for intimate friendship with himself-both now and forever", our desire to hear God has its source in him and trying to live our lives without hearing God would be more presumptuous and dangerous than otherwise (p. 9-10)."
"I learned that you can hear God easily when you are in relationship with Him as you live day to day. That takes one-on-one time, and just recognizing His hand in all things."
"Willard...you are brilliant. Having come from the Southern Baptist background, I'm still trying to reconcile how you could be one. Anyways, about the book. Willard humbly, and accurately addressed the issue of God speaking to man. The only complaint I have is that its almost too comprehensive. I found myself thinking "ok i get it, move on." But really overall an important read!"
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