43. How to Hear God's Voice: Essential Steps for Busy Physicians

Hey friends! Have you felt that divine nudge lately? That call from the Lord to slow down and truly listen? 

As physicians, we often struggle to distinctly hear God's voice amidst the noise and demands of our busy lives. In today's episode of 'Heal the Healers,' I dive deep into how we can hear God more clearly. I'm Inga, your host, and I’m thrilled about our conversation today, especially because it ties into the theme of my upcoming Heal the Healers Physician Retreat on January 16th and 17th in Madison, Wisconsin. We'll explore key strategies like creating dedicated time for God, immersing ourselves in scripture, and the importance of journaling to capture divine insights. Plus, you'll get a sneak peek into the retreat details – an intimate, powerful gathering designed to help us connect profoundly with the Lord. Get ready to ignite your faith and discover practical ways to open your heart to God’s guidance.

Make sure you get on my email list to be the first to know when the Heal The Healers Physician Retreat opens for registration. You can get updated here 👉👉👉  https://www.ingahofmann.com/weeklydose

00:00 Introduction: Feeling the Pull from the Lord
01:36 Welcome Back: Heal the Healers Podcast
01:59 Upcoming Retreat Announcement
03:42 Retreat Details and Logistics
08:37 The Importance of Hearing God's Voice
13:37 Three Tips to Hear God More Clearly
26:05 Bonus Tip: Taking Action on God's Word
27:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcript

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have you been feeling that pull lately from the Lord? An invitation to just. Slow down and listen more closely, make room for him and actually hear what he has to say about our lives, about the directions perhaps that he wants you to take. So many of us long to hear from God more clearly, but this is actually one of the things I've found that is one of the biggest struggles, especially for physicians, and there could be many reasons for that. So I decided, let's dive into this topic today, how we can. Hear from God more clearly in a world that is full of noise and demands on our time, especially as we are super busy as physicians. So stay tuned for after the music and I will be right back. Hey friend. Welcome back to another episode of Heal the Healers. I am so happy to be back with you. It's Inga I, your host. I'm excited for today's episode and this conversation. And while I had planned to talk about this topic today, which is how can I hear the voice of God more clearly? How can I actually hear from the Lord? I am even more pumped because this actually ties into the theme of my next retreat, the Heal the Healers Retreat, which is finally, it's actually on the schedule. So the Heal the Healers Physician Retreat is happening January. 16th and 17th. Yes, that's coming up fast in the Madison, Wisconsin area. I am super excited about this. It took me honestly a little while. To really I think hone in and to be certain, is this what the Lord wants me to do? There is a few things he had put on my heart. But I really felt over and over this nudge and this need that I have been hearing actually for many of you that there is this struggle. How can I hear God more clearly from my own personal life as well as my journey in medicine? This is what the retreat theme will be. It's gonna be super powerful and completely centered around the theme, hearing the voice of God and I am. Super excited about it because I do think it is so incredibly needed and I hear certainty that is a need amongst you, physician healers that many of you have spoken to me about, wow, I really wanna hear God more clearly. But I'm not sure how, or maybe I'm not even slowing down enough. So we are gonna cover that very much in detail at the retreat. So here's what I want you to know about before I go in today's teaching. So the Heal the Healers Retreat will focus on hearing the voice of God. It will be in January 16th and 17th at a beautiful venue called. Doty's Ranch in the Madison, Wisconsin area. We're gonna be about 30 minutes out from the Madison, downtown area, about 30 minutes away from our regional airport. And it is a beautiful retreat when you, it's really more retreat. If you were at my past conference about a year ago, we were in a more. Conference when you're setting, which is also a stunning setting. It was beautiful there, but this is gonna have a more intimate feel. We literally have a house to ourselves. There is kitchens and living rooms spaces for you to retreat, journal, reflect spaces for us to have teaching ministry time, worship activation. But also for a handful of you that are first action takers, there is actually room for you to stay on the venue overnight at a very reasonable cost that is cheaper than booking a hotel. And you're gonna be right there. So it's gonna be amazing. Now here's the thing. This retreat will be super intimate. Meaning I'm gonna cap it at 20 people because I want this to be a time for gathering those physicians that are hungry to get in the presence of the Lord. To take the next step in their faith to say, Lord, I want more. I want to hear what you have to say to me personally. And we are also going to learn how to lean in and listen to the voice of God, how we actually practically do that. There will be times for teaching that I will be doing. Practical aspects. We will do some activations. Yes, you're gonna actually put into practice what you will be learning and we will have time for ministry, meaning pray over each other. I will pray over each of you individually as you are coming and it will be a powerful time of worship of fellowship. And most importantly, my prayer and hope is that you will have an encounter with the Lord God Almighty, and that you will leave transformed and changed and charged and ignited for 2026. As you are hearing the voice of God more clearly for your own life, we will also tune in to what the Lord is actually saying. To the medical community and to US physicians for 2026. I think there's a lot we need to pray about and be aware of, and that's what we're gonna do. Stay tuned for more details. Now I am working on the registration page. It should be up later this week. Give me a few days, probably from the release of this recording, the best way to make sure that you actually snack a spot, because I said they're gonna be very limited. So you're gonna be wanting to be fast to sign up. They because I will cap it at 20 people, so you really need to be on my email list because you cannot rely on social media. You're gonna miss it because the algorithm, here's the thing, it's not, it's gonna show probably. At best 1% of you what's going on? If you pay attention and happen to be on social media, that was that day. Otherwise you're gonna miss it and it might sell out before you even got a chance to register. So make sure you are on my email list. The best way to do is that Inga. homan.com/weekly dose. I will put the link in the comments. That also gets you my more or less weekly dose newsletter where I send teachings, encouragement, podcast updates. Sometimes I send prophetic words prayers, et cetera. Keep an eye out for the registration in your email. So that's about that. I will probably tell you a little bit more about the retreat. Maybe in another episode we'll see. But needless to say, please register if you're at all thinking you might be coming. Definitely make sure your secure spot, you are very welcome to bring your spouse, your husband, your wife, even if they're not in medicine. We all know that medicine's a family of fear and it takes a whole family to carry a physician through what we are doing in the hospitals and the clinics, et cetera. So you're very welcome to bring your spouse, and there is about four king size rooms. So again, if you wanna bring your spouse and you wanna secure one of those rooms, you gotta be super fast. So with that said let me get into today's episode and share a little bit actually about this theme of hearing the voice of God. Now, I believe this is something we sometimes oversize or mystify too much or you might be in the camp, you're like we have the Bible. That's it. I don't need to hear from God. And yes, you should totally read your Bible. I preach about that a lot. I share that on a lot of episodes. But here's the thing, many times. Almost daily in our lives, there are decisions we are making, whether for our personal lives, for our families, career decisions perhaps for our patients. There are times when we are stuck. Wouldn't it be amazing to hear what the Lord has to say and give you a hand because we have the Holy Spirit who is our advocate, our comforter, but he's also there to teach and instruct us in all things when it comes to yes the Bible in interpreting the text and understanding what the words of God say in the Bible, but he's also there to help and to guide and to support you. He doesn't want you to be uninformed walking in the wrong direction, and throughout the Bible. People learned how to listen to the Lord, be guided by the Lord and followed out his direction. And so many times we are really hoping for wisdom and guidance, but a lot of times we feel it's a bit of crickets and we actually don't. Here clearly belong to here. And on top of that we are living in a very challenging world where it's not even clear what is truth and what is a facade in illusion. And we need to hear the voice of God. We need to learn how to listen to the Holy Spirit. So we can navigate all of this and not get distracted not be ill-informed going down the wrong rabbit holes, et cetera. It is also important to hear the voice of God and to hear the Holy Spirit's prompting even by sharing the gospel, whether that's at work or in your community. I've heard this from many of you. You long to share about Jesus. You long to share with your colleagues or to see something happening at work that the overwhelming. Majority, actually, pretty much everybody I talk to doesn't really quite feel confident to do that. Doesn't know what to say and there is part of maybe a knowledge and a practice and, maybe have a little bit of a strategy and just do it and get your feedback. But I would also say. That there is a key part of hearing from the Lord, for example, in words of knowledge about a person and actually being able to speak into somebody's life through the knowledge of God and by that word of knowledge where you share something that you couldn't know what the Lord revealed the love of God for that person. It is a powerful. Evangelistic tool that I think we all underutilized and not tap into because we're afraid or not even sure where to begin. That's a whole nother teaching topic. But what I'm saying here is you as a Christian have to learn how to listen to the Holy Spirit because otherwise. What do we have? We are really lacking direction and the resources that the Lord has already given us to actually walk in in holiness and righteousness and conviction, in his ways, in his path, et cetera. And we are just wandering around like everyone else in the world. And that's really not what the Lord wants for us, I believe. And that said, I think this is going to be really important and. So many people I speak to desire in their hearts. I wish I could hear the Lord more clearly. I wish I could hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and be sure if it's actually his voice, which is my voice. And people are getting confused about that. And I used to be the same way. And there's still times I will be honest where I'm like, I'm not sure. Is this me or is this the Lord? Let me sit on it. And the retreat's actually very good example for this. So that's why I think this topic is important. That's why we will cover it in detail and really get your practical exposure because you can actually practice these things. You will be amazed and learn how to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit the voice of God, and you will be so encouraged. It will be amazing. So what I wanna share with you today is just give you a teaser. This is certainly not all we are gonna cover at the retreat. This is just something that came to me as I was preparing for this episode today. And I wanna give you three tips how you can hear from God more clearly. Now, these are not all the things I could talk about. These are not all the things that the Bible talks about, but I think these are some very easy win starting points that if you actually do these, I would say you have a higher chance of actually making progress. But if you don't do any of these three steps. It will be really difficult for you. So let's get started. So tip number one is this. Am I creating time to actually hear from God? Ooh, this is a big one. I'm gonna hit you right with it. Let's face this. We are super busy physicians. We are usually pretty time strapped. On top of that, we are. Crowded out in our minds with a very noisy background, meaning there's all sorts of input coming at us from all directions, whether that's at work, at home, on the news, in the social media. Anywhere there is a demand for our time and our attention span, and that is obviously a problem we all face, not just physicians, but I would say as physicians we have this extra level. I feel like when I am, when I was on call or an inpatient unit, or even in clinic all day. Somebody wants something for me and my head is bombarded with demands on my time, expertise, et cetera, that when I got home I'm like, I just wanna breathe for a moment, and nobody talked to me. So our head is very cluttered. And that's a different topic we should talk about at some point about that guarding our minds. I touched up on that a little bit in the last episode and we talk about that a lot actually inside Heal the healers right now. But I don't wanna digress. We are gonna pick that up another time. So what I wanna say here, you have to create time to actually hear from God, period. You cannot hear from him if you don't create space and time for it. It's like talking to your spouse. You cannot say my spouse never talks to me. When you actually never create time to talk to your spouse, whether that's at the dinner table or on date nights or maybe. You're not even crossing path because schedules are so overloaded and overbooked. It's the same with God. He is ready. But if we are not creating time and space for him, then it will be hard to heal. Because we are just always on the go or on the run, either physically or mentally because we have still this mindset going on. So God speaks. But the problem is that we rarely are still long enough to even notice. He actually speaks all the time. The question is, are we listening? That's the key issue, really. So you have to create time and space for that. Now, that could be in part in your formal quiet time, so if you don't have a quiet time routine. I know I preach about this a lot on here every time. Seems like it's a non-negotiable. It is really something you have to just create. A habit and a space to do. And so there is quite time where you could create time to sit with the Lord and really just sit and listen. But there is other times throughout the day, for example, on your commute to work, instead of listening to a podcast such as this one, which is awesome, or music or the news, you could actually turn everything off and have a conversation with God. And listen to what he has to say, or it could be before you go to sleep you have to create time in your day and be intentional about it to hear from him. So that's number one. So make sure you are creating time and space for him. Number two. And this is a big one. Am I reading the word so I can actually hear his will and direction? You're like, oh my goodness. Inga iss talking about Bible reading again. I'm like, yes, that's our guardrail, that's our foundation. That's everything that is available to us. But also our guardrail, so we don't go off track. You have to know the word of God, otherwise you don't know his will. Now here's the thing you might say, see, I'm reading the Bible. I don't need to learn how to you from God because I can just read the Bible and I know a hundred percent you should read the Bible and it in general, this will give you its general will. Purpose his character, what he thinks about you, it'll teach and tell you so much and you should study the word over and over and over again. There is no end to it. So definitely the Lord God speaks through scripture to us and that is one of the primary ways he does speak. And so certainly. You have to start there, so you have to read the word. I am not gonna. Share on this podcast episode how to do that. I have a gazillion podcast episodes on how to read the word of God, how to study it, how to make time for it, what Bible plans to use. So go back to prior episodes and just binge or listen to some of those that will really help you. Because. If you don't have the Bible and the word of God and really have that ingrained in you, you have no framework for your discernment because you have no reference point of what you are hearing when you think God is speaking to you, either in your own head, through your emotions, through your thoughts, or through other people what even mentors, et cetera. Whether he's really speaking or whether it's a decoy, because you don't have the framework of discernment because you don't know the actual word of God and therefore you're not sure what his general will is. There is no replacement for studying The word of God got intensely. And I would say I know it's hard for me not to talk about this. I know I've said that to myself so many times. I don't really have time. Can I give you some tough laugh and take it and laugh? You don't have time not to do it. You have no luxury in this time, in this hour. Never had anybody any luxury not to study abroad, but you can actually not afford not to listen to it. And I actually believe it will save you time, but try it out for yourself. So you have to read the word of God for direction for a framework of discernment because that is the way he speaks. That's a way he also softens our heart and opens our ears because that's often where the dots get connected. And sometimes you discover your own journey in somebody else's story in the Bible. So these are different ways how he speaks, but these are also. Ways how you can discern when you hear his voice or you think you hear his voice through other avenues other than his word, whether it's actually aligned with his truth. Because any time, whether it's, and I don't care if it's in your own hat, if a pastor is saying it, if a prophet is speaking over you, a prophetic word, somebody has a word of knowledge. If it doesn't line up with the scripture. Y you are in trouble, but you have to know the scriptures. I think I hammered this point home for you. Okay number three. Now this is a real practical tip that will help you a lot. And that is number three. Are you journaling what God tells you? So here's the thing, if I don't write stuff down, I honestly forget I have a boatload of dreams. I sometimes have the greatest revelation and quiet time, and if I don't write things down right away, it'll be surely forgotten. And that's for example why I always have a journal next to me when I have my quiet time because I never know. What hit me when, so it could be a aha from scripture, more in inductive Bible study kind of way. Or it could be a revelation through scripture, or literally could be pulled by the Holy Spirit and he revealed something to me. And if I don't write that down, what could be just a thought and I'm like an haha. If I don't write that down, I will forget. It's just, maybe it's, Hey. I'm not a spring chicken anymore, and my brain just works that way. But also, let's face it, our brains especially as physicians are very overloaded. We have to keep track of those things otherwise we forget. So if you don't write it down, what you think God told you haven't even secured whether he did or did not, but you get an insight maybe about a decision you're trying to make about your next career step. Should we move jobs or something? When you get some inkling and you have some thought about it, write it down so you don't lose or forget it. Because those thoughts in the moment, these whoa, this is a big aha. They really disappear like puff pretty quickly. And the other part of that. If God is really speaking to you, number one, journaling is an act of stewardship of what he is giving you. So if you steward the word that God is giving you, whether it's a direction for your life, an aha in scripture, or a revelation of some sort and as a prophetic person, this happens to me a lot. And I had to learn, and I'm still learning to hone that, to steward the revelation that the Lord is giving me. And I have to say, that process of journaling, writing it down is incredible helpful because through that we process, through that, we capture through that. We sometimes have an unraveling of more aha moments and thoughts and revelations and understanding. So writing things down is very important and it shows the Lord. You're actually taking it seriously because a lot of times what happens, we might think we've heard something from the Lord. You might truly have heard something, and you are just like, okay. You file it away. You're like, oh, that was cool. Then you don't steward it, you're not writing it down, you run away. You forget it, and then they, there you look, God, can you please help me? I need help with this. And he probably told you in the past already. But as we steward it, he typically reveals more. That's my experience. I've heard that from others. The more we steward what he's giving us, whether that's understanding on scripture, revelation insights, et cetera, it's like pulling on a threat. If you start pulling on that threat, the threat will just be longer and longer, and you can keep on pulling at it. Because the Lord loves to partner with us and he loves relationship and journaling and conversing with him is relationship And then in the end it also builds faith because you write something down and you go back to it later and you're like, wow. At the time I was struggling, I was figuring things out. I wrote this thing down and wow, it came to pass. That is building your faith in a massive way. Also journalists, just the way how we process our thoughts. So it could be helpful in that way too, in just a natural kind of way. Toka. How can we actually hear from God? These are three basic tips that is basically, it's foundational. You need to implement those things in order to set yourself up to actually receive from the Lord. Number one, create time and space. Number two, make sure you're in the word all the time, every day. Number three, journal and steward what he has given you so you can process it. And then the last kind of bonus thing I wanna give you many times we feel stuck in our lives. I've seen this in my own life. I've definitely seen this. What's lots of physicians have been coaching even in the non-faith based space. So I coach a lot of academic physicians. But certainly in a faith-based space, it is very true that people feel stuck, right? And many physicians feel stuck, not because God isn't speaking, but because they haven't actually acted on. What God said the last time he spoke. So sometimes when we hear him speak, we actually have to take action. And that is something a different topic to go deeper, maybe another time. But the Lord gives instructions. He usually doesn't give the next 25,000 steps like we physician, like to have our ducks in the room. He gives you maybe one step, perhaps two, and he expects you to start running in that direction and that's. Not that easy for us. Type a hyper controlling physician, people who kind of wanna have all their ducks in a row because we wanna prepare for any eventual outcome. So this is just a bonus I wanna give you. So if you hear him speak, make sure you actually obey, take action and keep on running forward. He will close the doors if you're totally running in the wrong way. Just stay in a. Humble heart in a prayerful position, in an ongoing conversation with all Lord. So I hope these three tips helped you to get started and to wet your appetite. But as I mentioned as the retreat, we will go deep into hearing from the Lord personally. How can you hear for him in your personal life? We're gonna do activations around that. We are gonna focus on how can you hear him for. The medical world in your job, et cetera. And then we're gonna look at the bigger picture. We are gonna even get into some prophecy. What's prophetic gifting, what's the difference to prophetic gifts? The gifts of the Holy Spirit and what's the difference to an office of the prophet? So we will have lots of opportunity to connect, to learn, and. To actually put into practice what we are learning and have a wonderful time worshiping in the presence of the Lord. So I am having high expectations for the retreat not for just high expectations for the Lord. I'm just believing. I've seen him move in powerful ways and I'm just believing for him to show up and to touch your life. And that's my biggest prayer, that you will come and that you will be transformed. So make sure you are on my email list. Follow those three steps. If you don't have a regular quiet time, get started and then stay tuned. Keep your eyes out in the email for the upcoming Heal the Healers Retreat. Again, dates are January 16th and 17th. That's a Friday, Saturday, we'll likely start Friday afternoon. So that you have time to travel and we'll finish Saturday night. And there's an option if you're coming from further away to actually stay until Sunday, even though the event formally closes. That's all I wanted to say and wrap up with you. Have a wonderful day. God bless you and talk to you soon.