We know that God speaks to his people, but does God speak to those who don’t even know his name? Evidence would suggest the answer is yes - both in biblical history and contemporary life! God speaks to those who are listening - even those who don’t believe in him!

On this episode, we are talking with Andy and Melanie Owen. Andy is the senior pastor of a thriving church in Lucern, Switzerland. You’ll love the wisdom and insights of Andy and Melanie’s journeys.

You’ll hear about:

• Andy’s journey into wholeness after a troubled and abusive upbringing. Andy shares how both counselling and deliverance worked together to heal his life and develop his relationship with God.

• Melanie’s breathtaking story of seeing a vision of Jesus the night her mother passed away. On the same night, her Aunt received the same message. Mel was not a Christian at the time and the experience marked a changing point in her life.

• Andy’s God conversations about his marriage to Melanie that deeply tested his heart for God. It was a difficult journey of learning to trust God with his whole heart.

• Biblical examples of those who heard God’s voice even when they worshipped different gods. Think of the Egyptian Pharaoh in Joseph’ time and Saul the terrorist who experienced a vision of Jesus on the Damascus Road. There is no barrier to divine communication!

• God Conversations beyond the church - Andy shows how these reflect the “Missio Dei” - the mission of God - whose heart is to “seek and save those who are lost” (Luke 19:10). This understanding further orientates the way we share our faith. Rather than trying to force a message no-one is listening to, we look for what the Spirit is already doing in someone’s life and then actively partner with God in their journey.
• The difference it makes when the “veil is lifted” and we see the character of God more clearly in Jesus.

• The difference between New Age and Christian spirituality. Melanie shares the story of their neighbour - a medium - who saw a large energy field around their lives but didn’t want to participate in it. The Spirit speaks to transform us from the inside out which means hearing God say things we don’t necessarily want to hear!

Next Steps

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day ⁠God Conversations devotional ⁠today!

Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! ⁠Become a partner today⁠.

Equip your church to hear God’s voice. ⁠Join our community of ministry leaders⁠ for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource.

About Andy and Melanie Owen

Andy Owen is a trained IT specialist who holds a Master of Science in Psychology from Lee University and a Bachelor of Arts in Practical Theology from the European Theological Seminary. He is an ordained pastor with the Swiss Pentecostal Mission (SPM) and has been leading Zollhaus Church in Lucerne, Switzerland since 2019. Andy is married to Melanie and together they have four children.

This podcast is one with a twist. Instead of the good stories of God speaking, we’re sharing the bad! We all love a good God conversation story. God is still speaking as powerfully and creatively as he did in Bible days. But the nature of our flawed humanity is that we can get it wrong. We can make mistakes. We can use the claim to hearing God’s voice to manipulate others. The result is real damage to people’s lives.

It’s important that we don’t overlook the bad stories or pretend they don’t exist. Instead they become a learning opportunity when we see where things went wrong.

That’s why on the show in this episode, we talk with long time pastor Paul Hudson from the Elim group of churches in the UK. As a pastor of pastors, he’s seen the worst (and the best!) of the prophetic world and has plenty of wisdom to share about how to avoid the pitfalls.

You’ll hear about:

• Paul’s story growing up in a Christian environment and how two simple words from the Holy Spirit completely changed his heart towards international mission. From there, God used him to establish a global network beyond his own nation.

• A tragic story of a young man and woman who believed God spoke to them about marriage. They married quickly without consultation from others and their marriage broke up within 6 months due to abuse. Here we learn how consultation in community – especially those who are willing to disagree – is crucial.

• Paul’s own story of God speaking to warn him and how he twisted it around because he didn’t like what he heard. Thankfully God gave him a further message that enabled him to redeem the situation.

• Reflections on the Apostle’s Paul experience when the disciples mis-interpreted the prophetic word they heard about Paul’s journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21).

Throughout the stories, you’ll hear some recurring themes! We share the bad stories so we don’t have to repeat them. Let’s be smart enough as well as humble enough to learn from the experiences of others!

Next Steps

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day God Conversations devotional today!

Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! Become a partner today.

Equip your church to hear God’s voice. Join our community of ministry leaders for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource.

About Paul Hudson

After planting a church in the Lake District of the UK for 4 years, Paul pastored a church in West Yorkshire for 17 years. During that time, Paul also became the International Missions Director for the Elim denomination and established the Elim Global Network which is now in over 60 nations of the world and made up of thousands of churches. Five years later, he holds a regional role, leading 105 churches in the UK and acting as the pastors’ pastor. He continues to serve as the General Secretary of the Elim Global Network.

Why Can’t I Hear God’s Voice?

It’s been said that “hearing God’s voice is as natural as breathing,” so why do we often find it a challenge? If we were created to be in relationship with God, why do we find it so hard to hear the Spirit speak?

On this episode, we explore this question at a deeper level with prophetic ministry leader and spiritual director, Christine Westhoff. Christine is the President of The MESH Objective, a collective of psychologists, social workers, spiritual directors, and coaches who work to support the mental, emotional and spiritual health of leaders across the world. She is also a prophetic minister and trains church leaders towards a healthier and biblically based understanding of the Spirit.

You’ll learn about:

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• • Christine’s spiritual journey and how she navigated the near loss of her son and grandson. Christine shares how pain can create distance between us and God.
  • Obstacles to hearing God – perhaps better expressed as “areas of resistance” we experience towards God. Christine highlights the challenge of vulnerability and shows that just like any human relationship, we need to open up the hidden areas of our heart in order to receive Spirit revelation.
  • The importance of framing our “hearing God” experiences in the context of relationship. Hearing God is not some sort of mechanical skill. This is why spiritual direction – learning to hear God’s voice with the support of another person – is so valuable. Having another person alongside helps us to identify any areas of resistance we have towards God and how to remove them.
  • Another obstacle to hearing God is a lack of understanding that we can receive God’s revelation through all of our senses.
  • Some simple spiritual exercises to help us know our own thoughts and sense God’s presence with us. Here we learn the priority of understanding being withGod even above hearing from God.

Next Steps

Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day ⁠God Conversations devotional ⁠today!

Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! ⁠Become a partner today⁠.

Equip your church to hear God’s voice. ⁠Join our community of ministry leaders⁠ for monthly insights and a free preview of 50 Days of God Conversations resource.

About Christine Westhoff

Christine Westhoff is the author and developer of ReFraming the Prophetic (www.reframingtheprophetic.com), a biblical reflection book and online course that aims to anchor the gift of prophecy into its biblical framework and purpose. She is a trained spiritual director and the President of the MESH Objective (meshobjective.org), a collective of psychologists, social Workers, spiritual directors, and coaches working to support the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of leaders and missionaries globally.