God is not a respector of persons therefore everyone can but few do, why? Because they are to busy with their problems or lives or the computer or tv or anything else that takes the place to talking to God. Try turning everything off and powering down your mind and sit quietly praying and asking God things, wait patiently quietly and if you are truly concentrating on God alone you will be surprised at what you might hear. I agree that most do not hear but then again a lot of people dont even pray often or much less expect an answer from God or wait for it as everything today is now and people dont like to wait
I cannot help but think that you and some others in this thread are equivocating the meaning of "speak" and "spoke" with reference to the voice of God because with one breath you speak of hearing the voice of God and God speaking to you and with the next breath this voice is silent and incapable of being recorded on your phone or ipod and thus we have the voice of God heard and yet not heard with earthly ears nor carried in the air by normal natural sound waves but instead a secret voice in the head that none can record and no one else can here. If you mean to say that God draws and leads you and that an inner 'voice' within you speaks and you recognise it as from God then please make it clear that this is not the voice of God that the children of Israel heard at the foot of mount Sinai nor the voice from heaven that spoke when Jesus prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead nor yet the voice that was heard at his baptism and again at the transfiguration because the voice heard with earthly ears on those occasions could be recorded and was recorded in writing by those who heard it. But the voice that speaks inside one's head is silent on any recording device and no other person "hears" it.
If due care is taken, and that is what I ask of you, to distinguish between hearing with the ears and "hearing" with the heart or mind or both but not with the ears then much of the confusion in these discussions would disappear. And if you and others allege ear-heard voices speak and that the voice is the very voice of God then say so in unambiguous language and next time you hear such voices turn on your phone's voice recording because such a recording would surely be a tremendous testimony for the faithful and even for those who are not yet in Christ.
And since I have already stated that God does lead the faithful by means of holy scripture, prayer, the admonition of pastors, the teaching of the church, and the advice of wise persons as well as by natural events and history as it unfolds there can be no doubt that God "speaks" to the faithful through these means and possibly through dreams and visions and even by angelic visitors but the latter is exceptional and unusual while the former is common and a part of nearly every believer's experience. So let's not get into claims that those who have not heard voices with their natural ears are outside of the body of Christ nor that they are somehow less "inside" if they have not heard revelations from God with an inner ear of the heart or mind by faith.
Now, having dealt with this matter of hearing God (or "hearing" God with an inner ear) I am wondering if we're still talking about the recent "blood moon" and if it was a disappointing experience?
I like controversial topics and conversation when we keep it civil and when we struggle with the issues and try to understand what each one is saying and I like to have clarity in what is said in such discussions, so please read my comments above in the spirit in which I wrote them - seeking clarification about what is being asserted and what is not all the while maintaining respect and friendship with the brethren (and sisters).
