It is with great excitement that an article I wrote based upon my own personal experience with hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit is featured in MIRACLE WORKER MAGAZINE located in the United Kingdom.

TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE SEE BELOW:

Hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit

By Beth Geer

            Each of us contains an Inner Voice, a Guide, a Helper Who speaks to us from a sacred space within.  For most of us, this Voice lies deep within the recesses of our mind, unnoticed, unheard, denied, buried and mostly unrecognized.  This Inner Voice has gone by many names throughout the ages, but it seems that very few have been able to “hear” this Inner Voice with any degree of clarity.  

            Why is that?  What are we doing wrong?  Why do some people seem to have some sort of magical inner connection with something Divine within them while others appear to not?

            These, and many other similar questions had been on my mind for decades and it was through seeking answers to these questions that I was drawn to A Course In Miracles sometime in 2004.  It took me almost 9 years to get through the entire book for the first time, largely due to the fact that I would set the book aside for days, weeks, and sometimes even months at a time.  I did this because I had almost no comprehension of what I read within its pages, and found I couldn't read it at a faster pace. But stubbornly, I kept at it; hoping I'd understand it in time.  I at least recognized the divine importance of the words, though I had little idea as to their meaning.  

            Upon completion of the first read-through, I felt my understanding of this enigmatic work had only inched forward after a decade of slow and careful study.  By this time it was now 2015, and I decided to try the 365 daily Workbook lessons for the second time around.  It was at the beginning of my second attempt at these lessons that my inner ears were suddenly opened wide to an Inner Voice that later I would come to know as the Holy Spirit: God’s Voice.

            I've been asked: "How do you know this Voice isn't just a fabrication of your own imagination?  How do you know you're not just crazy or making this all up?"

            Quite honestly, I have no way of proving anything concerning this to myself, much less to anyone else.  All I can ask myself is this: Has the Voice been loving, helpful and kind to me?  Yes, of that much I am certain.  I have come to learn that God’s Voice is never judgmental, cruel, or depreciating. He is never negative.  He has always, and will forever be, wholly loving, forgiving, and kind.  This is the only way I recognize His Voice.

            That being said, I want to emphasize the fact that I am in no way more special than anyone else for hearing Him.  He speaks to all of us, but few choose to listen.  Weallcarry His Voice within us, and we can alllearn to hear Him once again.  We have simply chosen to block our inner ears to His Voice.  The good news is this choice can be unmade.

            This whole experience came about as I sat down in 2015 to attempt the Workbook lessons for the second time, feeling deeply frustrated.  I read the first lesson and thought, "I still don't know what this means, and I've read this book cover to cover now.  I must be the worst student ever.  I'm failing this course."

            To my surprise, at that moment the Voice of the Holy Spirit clearly answered me:  

            "You are not the worst student ever, no one understands My lessons right away and no one can fail My Course."

            At first, I couldn't believe that meof all people would be lucky enough to be in contact with the Holy Spirit.  In fact, I didn't truly believe it for a long time.  I felt as though I was just "playing along," being a good sport, listening, and taking down notes on what He said about each lesson.  But after some time, I realized there was no way these answers were coming from my own imagination.  They were coming from somewhere divine, beyond my small mind.  

            At one point I asked, "Why me?  Why are You giving me all this extra help?  Am I such a remedial student that I need such special assistance?"

            His only reply was, "Because you asked; then listened for My answer."

            And so, the Holy Spirit and I went through each daily lesson together over the course of a year, as He explained each one to me in the simplest of terms.  I felt as though I had my own tutor.  This resulted in my first book, Awakening To One Lovenearly a year later.

            I have no control over the Voice of the Holy Spirit.  I only know that I cannot hear Him if He is not invited by me.  Learning how to offer this invitation has taken some practice.  Some days, the answers to my questions would come as I read the lesson itself.  At other times, the dialogue would happen suddenly while folding laundry, washing the dishes, while driving, or at work. The key element to my hearing Him always seemed to be when I was in a state of inner peace.  I didn't have to spend hours meditating in the lotus position, attend any type of class, or go to any special place.  Our conversations would happen when I was at peace with the present moment.  The task didn't seem to matter so much as the level of peace my heart slipped into while doing it.  And so it was, that at times, the Holy Spirit would speak to me all through the day.

            InA Course In Miraclesthis process is described quite clearly in Workbook Lesson 189: “I feel the Love of God within me now.”

            “Simply do this: Be still, and lay aside all thoughts of what you are and what God is; all concepts you have learned about the world; all images you hold about yourself. Empty your mind of everything it thinks is either true or false, or good or bad, of every thought it judges worthy, and all the ideas of which it is ashamed.  Hold onto nothing.  Do not bring with you one thought the past has taught, nor one belief you ever learned before from anything.  Forget this world, forget this course, and come with wholly empty hands unto your God.”  (Paragraph 7, Lesson 189)

            And so it was that I had apparently (and initially unconsciously) learned from A Course In Miracleshow to empty my mind enough to hear God speak.

            We are all traveling this path together, on the same inner journey, towards the same happy destination: the remembrance of our Union in God and to hear His Voice once again.  There are many paths to this singular destination, and many supporting works have come before and after A Course In Miraclesto help us on our way.  One such body of work that has subsequently helped me to consciouslyunderstand the merging of my own voice with that of the Holy Spirit has been A Course of Love which taught me that hearing God is not the end.  We are to take the next step and merge what we have learned with our mind in A Course In Miraclesand incorporate it into an experience in our heart; and so it is that our small voice disappears as we experience our Oneness with God’s Voice.     And once your inner voice merges with God’s Voice within you, you will truly begin to receive guidance you can trust to help you in any and all trials and lessons the world brings you.  Life becomes a happy journey into Oneness that suddenly seems effortless as all fear is removed from your mind and your holy purpose here is revealed and accepted. 

            One such form of guidance I personally use to keep me on this path is the use of a sort of prayer given me from the Holy Spirit that adequately summarizes where my thoughts need to consciously be in order for me to most clearly connect to His Voice:

Father, let Your Will be done and not my own.

For I do not know who I am or who or what anything in this world truly is.

Therefore I cannot judge it.

Let me know Your Will instead, that I may carry it out with You, the One Who Knows the truth of All Things.

I am here only to be truly helpful to You Who sent me.

Let me learn to give and to bless, knowing that what I give I shall also receive.

Therefore, let me join Your Will in loving my brethren even as You do; as part of my One Self.

Then shall the world be forgiven and all will be healed.

Amen

            With the reminder these words give me of my goal of total forgiveness, my mind fills with light and love.  I feel a deep sense of release of whatever seems to be bothering me at the moment and I move into a true surrendered present state – a place where God’s Voice is truly welcomed and heard within us.  Once this state is achieved, light enters our thinking – thus “enlightening” us.  And what happens next is truly a miracle and is best described in A Course In Miracles as this:

            “When a mind has only light it knows only light. Its own radiance shines all around it, and extends out into the darkness of other minds, transforming them into majesty. The Majesty of God is there, for you to recognize and appreciate and know.  Recognizing the Majesty of God as your brother is to accept your own inheritance. God gives only equally.  If you recognize His gift in anyone, you have acknowledged what He has given you.  Nothing is so easy to recognize as truth.”  (ACIM CH 7 XI. The State of Grace 5:1-7

            And so it is, that through listening to God’s Voice we learn how the world is forgiven and healed of all forms of error and suffering; through seeing and extending nothing but His Love to one another.  We have only to be still and listen and His Voice will guide us in this and all else we do in His Name.