Whether God still speaks is a controversial question

God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. He gave Daniel dreams and visions. The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, Jesus’s mother, and John the Baptist’s father. Most conservative Bible scholars accept these events as historical facts.

However, many Bible experts are divided on whether God actively speaks to us today through angels, dreams, and visions. Some think the Bible is the final Word of God, and He doesn’t speak anymore.

Yet, YouTube is populated with people who seemingly hear from God three times a week and twice on Sundays.

Me? I lean towards skepticism.

While I believe God primarily speaks to His people through Scripture, I can’t deny the possibility of divine revelation through dreams and visions. In my nearly thirty years as a Christian, I’ve experienced four undeniable events that I attribute to God’s direct communication. These rare occurrences have tempered my skepticism, but I’m not ready to start a YouTube channel.

Let’s discuss my four events with God speaking through dreams and visions, and you can decide for yourself.

My 4 Irrefutable Experiences with God Speaking Through Dreams and Visions

1 – A Dream About a Daughter I Didn’t Have

The year was 1996, and we didn’t have any children, although we were thinking about it after nearly five years of marital bliss. I had a dream that we had a toddler-aged daughter playing with Tupperware (I have no idea) on our apartment floor. I watched her play and kept saying she was beautiful.

The most important part of the dream was that her name was Keely. I had never heard of this name, and I told my wife the next day that God created it just for me. Then she pulled out a book with baby names and definitions and showed me “Keely” on page 17. Oh, well.

But Keely does mean beautiful.

Fast-forward a few months, and my wife became pregnant. We discovered on her 18-week prenatal ultrasound visit that our daughter had Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation (CCAM) of her lungs, which means her chest cavity was filled with cysts.

As a result, she had no lungs, and the cysts smashed her heart so severely that the pressure would kill her within days, according to the neonatal specialist. If our baby survived the heart trauma, she would die on the delivery table with no lungs.

I remembered my dream from the previous fall, which gave me the confidence and comfort to pray for a miracle because I believed it was God’s confirmation that our child would survive.

We got our miracle, who is healthy and in her late twenties.

Her name is Keely, and she is beautiful.

2 – God Speaks to a Friend on My Behalf

I had a successful real estate research business for over twenty years, and then 2008 happened. The real estate crash of 2008–2009 crushed me. By 2010, my business limped along at half speed, and keeping us afloat was a side gig I had marketing for my friend’s company. Then, on a bizarre day in August 2010, that personal and business relationship spontaneously combusted.

The next day, as fate would have it, the tax man froze my bank account. Yes, the next day.

When it rains, it pours, and I didn’t have an umbrella.

Then, late afternoon on an early October day in 2010, driving west into the setting sun, I cried out to God, “I need help!”

I was alone and didn’t mention this to anyone. The next morning, I got a call from an old church friend whom I hadn’t spoken to in over a year. He needed to fill a part-time position in his company. He said the strangest thing happened.

The Lord woke him up at 4:30 am and said to call me about the position.

How can the cessationist Bible scholars explain this?

3 – A Dream About a House

In 2013, we were house-hunting, and after months of searching, we found three great candidates in the same neighborhood. Each had its perks, twisting my mind like a salted pretzel. In fact, we signed a contract on one, but I asked my real estate broker to hold it until the following day because I was having second thoughts.

Our landlord contributed to the pressure by wanting us to leave so he could sell our rental house. I had to decide, and I couldn’t afford to be wrong.

My sleep that night was fitful, but I had a dream in which God vividly crystallized the right house to buy. Over a decade later, this decision has been confirmed many times, and I have no doubt God gave me this dream.

4 – God Spoke to Me About Writing

You don’t always hear God speak in a James Earl Jones accent. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit whispers into your consciousness.

A few years ago, I felt the same sinking desperation about my professional life as I did my finances in example #2. Meandering to middle-age with no direction is a lethal mix for a crisis.

I asked God for help and felt Him say, “What is your slightest inkling, the faintest hint of what you want to do?” My only response was writing.

And He said, “Pursue that.”

So, I pursued writing like a lion chasing after dinner. I started every day at 4am, taking writing courses through HubSpot, LinkedIn, Masterclass, Yoast, and Coursera, and devouring the best books on writing.

Last year, I wrote about how men can survive midlife without a crisis. It’s called Stronger Down the Stretch. Check it out.

And while not on a bestseller’s list, I’m confident I discovered my purpose – writing to glorify God and encourage others. It began with a word from God.

So, Does God Still Speak to His People?

I would say that God does still speak to His people. Where in the Bible does it say that He stopped speaking? If you are like me and fall to the conservative and skeptical side, I would encourage you to talk to God like a father. Because He is. Cast your burdens upon Him and believe in faith that He will respond.

And be quiet and listen for an answer. Maybe the cessationists don’t hear from God because they don’t expect to.

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