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Here’s something that might surprise you—every once in a while, you might hear words in your prayer. This is just one of the experiences we’ve been talking about in our series on what happens in prayer. Now, let’s be clear: I don’t mean that you’ll physically hear words, as if someone were speaking to you, although a few saints have reported this. What I’m speaking about is the experience of intuiting words or phrases that seem to come from God. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does it’s memorable. A few years ago, during a retreat, I was praying about the Gospel passage where Jesus stands up in the synagogue in Nazareth, to read from the Scripture. After he does, he essentially proclaims himself as the Messiah, which prompts his fellow townspeople in Nazareth to turn against him.
As I prayed, I marveled that Jesus was able to do this. Because he knew all those people well and could probably anticipate that people would reject him. So I asked Jesus, in prayer, how he could do this. Into my mind came the words, “Must everyone like you?” It was a bold challenge. Now I hadn’t heard the words, but they were certainly clear. I asked my retreat director how we could trust those experiences. He said, “Well, the ones to trust are those that fit with what you know about God, that fit your situation and that stick.” Another director told me that God’s voice has the “ring of truth.” That kind of experience doesn’t happen often in prayer but be open to the times where God wants to have a word with you.
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