The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond Paperback – June 24, 2012

The Power of a Whisper is the first book I read by Hybels -- and I plan to read more!God keeps reminding me of Isaiah 55.8. God's ways and thoughts are rarely my own. I need to listen for God's promptings in my life.I do not know where in the book the quotes are (and I'm not exactly sure how to quote something on a kindle)! "My entire journey comes down to a series of unplanned promptings from heaven that have charted a course for my life even I never could have foreseen"."If there is a pattern in Scripture regarding whispers, it is that we serve a communicating God - a God of words. He created with a word, he healed with a word, he encouraged with a word, he rebuked with a word, he guided with a word, he prophesied with a word, he assured with a word, he loved with a word, he served with a word and he comforted with a word. Throughout all of history, God has communicated, and he still is at it today. The issue isn't whether or not God is speaking; it's whether we will have ears to hear what he says." "There is tremendous benefit to be gained from going slowly and systematically through the Word of God, asking him with every turn of events, `What were you up to here, God? Why did you pour favor on that woman or man?...'" "Whenever you find yourself on the receiving end of God's prompting, be sure to obey - no matter the cost. Don't let fear or doubt rob you of one bit of what God has in store for you. Whenever you hear from God, do precisely what he asks for you to do."I was not expecting to be so saddened by the end of this book. But when you hear about how God is working in someone's life, you find yourself not wanting their story to end. It was a good to time for me to reflect on how God's whispers have shaped my life.

I used to love listening to Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story", filling in previously-unknown important details about current events. In this book, Bill Hybels similarly shares what's really been going on in the past 34 years at Willow Creek Community Church, and in his own life as pastor. For those who aren't familiar with Willow, I consider it the eye of the hurricane in what God is doing in our generation.In this book, Bill peels back the curtain behind key events in both his own life and that of the Willow Creek Church and Association, and shows how he believes he and others at Willow have been guided by messages from God along the way on such varied topics as speaking the truth in love, women in ministry, AIDS, extreme poverty, racial reconciliation, immigration and human trafficking.Bill also shares ways to improve our own hearing of such messages, and tips for discerning whether a sudden inspiration is really from God.As Bill likes to say about Willow's annual Leadership Summit, this is all new material. Some books by pastors are just recycled sermon series -- but not this one. Even if you too have attended Willow regularly since 1990, I guarantee you have not heard all this before.As Bill notes, this is a somewhat-risky book. Lots of crazies throughout history have claimed to be guided by messages from God. Plus, for a pastor to claim a decision is due to divine inspiration greatly ups the ante for those on the other side of an issue.I used to recommend people interested in understanding Willow Creek to read Lynne & Bill Hybels' 1995 book  Rediscovering Church , to see how a student pastor and a dozen kids in a youth group grew into one of the largest churches in America. But now I'd instead recommend reading this book, covering the same ground at a deeper level and extending it to today.Highly recommended!

I'm an avid reader of Hybels' books, so I started reading "The Power of a Whisper" from that perspective. At the beginning, I wasn't so sure this one of Bill's best. However, as I continued reading, my bias was confirmed again. The chapter about Scriptures that can and have spoken to many believers was excellent. I found myself nodding many times that I have experienced God's guidance through His Word. Bill's honest reflections and admissions about his life are legendary, and once again such honesty was powerful. The chapter about hearing God's whispers concerning two very different children is worth the price of the book. We all know that kids are different, but being sensitive to GOD'S whispers about how to respond to our children and teens is another story.As I look back on my life, I've been aware of God's whispers into my life on several occasions. Sometimes I realized that God was whispering after the fact. I found myself wondering how my life could have been different/better if I had listened for God's whispers more intentionally, as Bill has obviously done. I had the sad feeling that I've started too late to really listen for God's whispers, but it's never too late, is it?Read this book to its conclusion, and you'll find yourself wanting to hear from God more and knowing that He will whisper to you.

Bill Hybels has written a very user friendly book explaining how one can listen for the voice of God. The book is centered in the Bible as any solid Christian work should be. In order to live an authentic Christian life, we must believe God speaks to us, we must learn to listen for His voice and we must be certain that His instructions are consistent with His character. When we teach this to others, we help them grow in grace and in faith.I am an associate pastor of a church and recommended this book as reading material for our senior pastor and our deacons. Each one has a copy and we will be doing a group study together. There is a DVD and a workbook available to facilitate group study. On behalf of our group, I heartily recommend this book to you.In the past, I've used and taught Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, which is also an excellent study but is thirteen weeks long. The Power of a Whisper is four weeks which is friendlier as a first study for the topic of learning to discern God's voice.

There's nothing more invaluable in Spiritual life than listening to the voice of God.This is a really good book to read and understand how God speaks to us. However, the only But I have, is that there's not an amazing amount about HOW to hear God's whispers, just a lot saying that it's really important that you do! In some ways then, it might not be the right book for someone wondering why God seems silent at times, but if you're on the way out of that valley it might be exactly what you need to read right now!

A very beneficial guide to recognising God's voice: Bill Hybels has included lots of scripture as well as real-life examples to support his explanation of how God speaks today. I looked forward to my evening reading sessions - if I'd had the time, would have easily read this in a couple of sittings. I fully intend to make some notes on the book and review these - and I have already acted in response to God's 'whispers' on a number of occasions. So it's a book that has an impact!

Our small group is following the DVD, so I thought I'd read the book. Bill Hybels has written very honestly and helpfully about his own experiences, and challenges us to follow in small steps. I expected to enjoy the book (good topic) but enjoyed it even more than I expected, as did my friends whom I lent it to.

Really great little clock. So easy to use & I really like the snooze alarm feature, light & very clear clock face. Definitely recommended.

Ok , some good principles