In what might—or might not—be considered a follow-up volume to their previous Six Prayers God Always Answers, authors Jennifer Schuchmann and Mark Herringshaw use their winning formula for communication. Personal stories + real-world situations + relatable writing style = a book you want to read.

As with Six Prayers, this new book, Nine Ways God Always Speaks deals with the hearts and minds of people just like you and me, presenting some of the best testimonial evidence of the work of God—that of personal experience.

I think the big take-away for me in this volume is to ask myself, "When does God NOT speak?" Is there really anytime that the God of heaven is not striving mightily to communicate with us? Without giving away the nine ways, God uses creation itself to cry out to us, pointing the way to His heart. Beauty itself speaks of His love for us. His Word is clear and applicable to our struggle to hear His voice via other avenues.

God also speaks through the human experience. While not always so clear, and often slanted by personality quirks, our conscience, our emotions, our make-up all express facets of Him—methods He has chosen to interact with us. Even our very history reveals His plan of the ages, and where we've jumped the shark.

I love the ending sentiments of the book, where the authors reveal the ninth way God speaks.

"Our goal in this book has never been to present you with a formula to replicate. Rather, we've tried to expose you to the various ways God communicates. God can use anything, anywhere, and anytime, but He doesn't always use the same thing, in the same place, all the time."

I won't give it away, but the first eight ways are somewhat passive on our part, while the last way requires action from us. While God wants us to listen for His voice—in all it's myriad forms—He also wants us to obey His voice when we hear it.

As with Six Ways, I highly recommend this book, for both the Christ-follower who hears God's voice on a regular basis, and for the sincere searcher who wants to hear, but is not quite sure what to listen for.

Jeff M. Miller \\ Consuming Worship
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