God Conversations with Tania Harris

What if God is already speaking – long before we arrive with answers? In this episode of God Conversations, Tania Harris sits down with hospital chaplain Matt Sanders to explore what it really means to listen for God in the lives of everyday people. Not in church pews. Not in polished testimonies. But in hospital rooms, juvenile detention centres, moments of grief, fear, and profound vulnerability. Matt has spent decades at the coalface of human suffering – first as a chaplain in juvenile hall, and more recently in hospital and hospice settings. What he’s learned overturns one of our most common assumptions: that spiritual conversations require religious language, right beliefs, or even a belief in God at all. Instead, Matt describes chaplaincy as a ministry of presence – the disciplined art of showing up, slowing down, and truly listening. Join the journey to hearing God’s voice. Start your free 7-day God Conversations devotional today! https://www.godconversations.com/god-conversations-devotional/Pray, promote and give. God Conversations is donor-funded and made possible through the generosity of people like you! Become a partner today. https://www.godconversations.com/give/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. https://www.godconversations.com/50days/

The history books tell us that Christianity arrived in New Zealand with the first Western missionaries in 1814. But that’s only half the story. Forty years earlier, God spoke to a man named Toiroa, giving him a vision of the Europeans’ arrival. The vision included the strange clothes they wore, their unusual mode of travel and the message they carried about a good god and a name that meant “Son who was killed.” Toiroa shared his vision with many other Maori, so when the foreigners came, they eagerly received the news! A massive indigenous revival followed. By the mid‑1840s, around 64,000 Māori were attending church. It was one of the most significant revivals in history.Our guest on this episode, Māori leader and author Jay Ruka tells the incredible story. He also shares how a life‑changing encounter with God led him to reclaim his Māori identity and uncover a hidden chapter of New Zealand’s spiritual history - one filled with prophecy, revival, identity and the surprising ways God moves beyond the boundaries of the church.https://www.godconversations.com/podcast/god-conversations-before-missionaries-jay-ruka/Next StepsJoin 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 Jay RukaJ. Ruka is a story teller, musician and public communicator. After working as a church minister for many years, he now writes and speaks about indigenous worldview, New Zealand History and the importance of cultural partnership. He is married to Erin and they live with their three children in Whāingaroa (Raglan), New Zealand.

Isi was contemplating drowning by suicide when she had a supernatural encounter that saved her life.In this episode, our guest Pastor Isi De Gersigny shares about her supernatural experiences and angelic encounters. In our time, angels are usually only depicted as cute chubby-face cherubim on greeting cards and are rarely mentioned in church life. For many, the idea of angels is for the “woo-woo” fringes of rational society. Yet throughout Scripture, God frequently speaks through angels, with nearly 50 specific God conversations mentioned. Angels are understood to be God’s messengers - the word “angel” literally means messenger. In the Hebrew Scriptures, angels speak to people like Abraham, Hagar, Moses and Elijah. In the New Testament, angels speak to Mary, Jesus, Peter and John. Angels seem to appear at pivotal moments and often seem to take on the role of the Holy Spirit So, what’s it like to have a God conversation with an angel and what should our expectation be for their participation in our lives?In this episode, we talk with church leader and prophetic creative Isi de Gersigny about God conversations with angels. Isi is qualified to speak into this area, having experienced angelic appearances several times. Isi is the co-founder and pastor of a Jubilee Church along with her husband Fini, the founder of the Create school and a recognised prophet, songwriter, musician, dancer, poet.You’ll hear about:Isi’s back story - including a life-changing encounter as a troubled teenager where a supernatural being (was it Jesus?) rescued her from suicide by drowning.Isi’s angelic encounter in a dream where the angel offered wisdom for her ministry. Angelic encounters carry spiritual revelation, encouragement and guidance for navigating life’s seasons.What angels are - angels are created spirit beings, not defined by gender or physical bodies and who can appear in human form to suit the occasion.The role of angels. Isi shares how angels to minister to believers, reflect God’s nature and act as messengers. Experiences with angels are meant to confirm God’s purposes, and draw us deeper into relationship with God—but not to be worshipped.Practical wisdom for angels. Angelic encounters should not be sought for their own sake but received humbly as part of God’s mission.Pastor Isi de Gersigny is an innovative prophetic songwriter, musician, dancer, poet and speaker whose joy it is to see people come into their freest selves and lead prophetic worship that often spills over into prayer for nations. Isi co-founded Jubilee Church with her husband Fini in Sydney, Australia and Create, a school of Biblical revelation and activation for equipping and releasing disciples into all aspects of society.Next StepsJoin 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.

If the Spirit sounds like Jesus, how do we make sense of Old Testament passages where God seems to command violence? In this episode, I sit down with theologian Greg Boyd to explore what it really means to hear God’s voice—and why the Spirit always sounds like Jesus. We talk about Greg’s personal journey, the ultimate test for discerning God’s voice, and how to read Scripture through the lens of the cross.Full post here: https://www.godconversations.com/podcast/103/Next StepsJoin 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 Greg BoydGreg Boyd (reknew.org) is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. Greg received his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota. He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University where he received the Teaching Excellence Award and Campus Leadership Award.Greg is the co-founder of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where he serves as Senior Pastor, speaking to thousands each week.Greg has authored or co-authored 22 books and numerous academic articles, including his best-selling and award-winning Letters From a Skeptic and his recent books Crucifixion of the Warrior God and Cross Vision. His apologetic writings and public debates on the historical Jesus and the problem of evil have helped many skeptics embrace faith, and his writings and seminars on spiritual transformation have had a revolutionary, freeing impact on thousands of believers.

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 StepsJoin 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 HudsonAfter 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.

When someone says the word prophet, what do you think of? The label conjures up all sorts of images – a robed figure gazing into a crystal ball or a wild man dressed in camel hair, eating wild insects and raving about the end of the world! Prophets have always been around – in the biblical tradition and beyond it. Among the Hebrews, prophets played a key role in expressing God’s will for the nation, but something significant happened to their role after Jesus came. There’s still prophets in the Church today, but what do they do and how do we know who they are? How are they different from the prophets in Old Covenant or prophets outside the biblical tradition?On this show, we’re talking about the prophet’s role in the contemporary church with a globally recognised prophet based out of South Africa: Andre Bronkhorst.You’ll hear about:Andre’s surprising initial encounter with God’s voice as he was contemplating ending his life at age 16. God seemed to say the exact opposite of what Andre felt he deserved. The experience changed his life and set him on course to learn more about the voice of Holy Spirit.God’s redemptive approach to communication. God speaks to awake our potential and the fullness of who we were created to be. God sees in us what we can’t see in ourselves!Andre’s calling to be a prophet which was sparked by a divinely co-ordinated ministry appointment. How Andre has been used of God to minister in churches that have previously shut down prophetic ministry. Andre shares how God has used him to introduce an approach that promotes safety and maturity.Andre’s understanding of a prophet and how they function in the church today. The primary difference between the Old and New Covenant centres on the coming of Jesus. Jesus modelled prophetic ministry (Hebrews 1:1-3) and initiated an era where the main purpose of prophecy is to strengthen our relationship with God. The main task of the prophet then is to equip the saints to hear the voice of God and follow (rather than reflect on world events) (Ephesians 4:11,12).In Jesus’ day, there was a lot of political events that took place, but Jesus never got involved with that. He never gave his opinion. That’s the model that we follow. There’s going to be wars and calamities. But our focus (as a prophet) is to get people back into God’s assignment. To help fix your eyes on Jesus. Specifically, Andre sees his purpose in helping people identify how God speaks to them and help them to walk in that. Andre tells of the danger of prophets who draw on Old Testament models so that people come to him to hear God for them:I love to prophesy, but it’s far greater to train and equip people to hear God’s voice personally. I’m very careful not to become sort of mediator.The problem with the tendency of prophets to give a “word for the year.” Andre reflects on how this works if every church, community, nation is different.The false idea of the prophet’s role being to predict the future. Andre shows how God invites us to participate in his plan rather than speaking through fatalistic pronouncements.As a New Testament prophet, we don’t give predictions – we give invitations.The model of the New Testament which points to the existence of prophets in every local church.Next StepsJoin 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.

How Does God’s Audible Voice Really Sound? Insights from a Modern-Day EncounterSome people talk about hearing the audible voice of God. What does that sound like? And should we expect to hear it? On this episode of the God Conversations podcast, we’re talking about the “audible” voice of God, why God rarely speaks this way and what our expectations should be for how the Spirit speaks.Our guest has heard the audible voice of God five times and has plenty of insights from his story. Patrick Hegarty is a pastor of a church in Brisbane, Australia but also heads up a a national church planting organisation. He’s also authored several books on spiritual formation and renewal. In this episode, you’ll hear about:Patrick’s back story, raised in an atheist environment and becoming a Christian at age 19. After 20 years of working in business and “avoiding God’s call,” Patrick changed careers and became a full time minister.Patrick’s experiences of God’s audible voice. Patrick describes it as feeling “almost normal,” since it involves the God you know in everyday life. When God speaks out loud, it is almost like the Spirit is shouting in the moment, but as you reflect, you realise no-one else heard it.“God’s voice is normally very disruptive. I’ve never found God to speak at a convenient time!”The God conversation that inspired Patrick’s book on leadership and discipleship such that he finished 90,000 words in just three weeks.Patrick’s God conversation in Kenya. Patrick was on a ministry trip surrounded by poverty and devastation in the biggest slum in Africa when God spoke out loud: “I remember these people, I want you to remember them.” In Patrick’s words, it was like “listening to heaven while looking into hell.” As a result, Patrick started a charity in the area that continues to this day. As I was looking down in the valley – the biggest slum in Africa – I saw toddlers looking in a stream of rubbish and sewage for food. I had my ears listening to heaven and my eyes looking into hell. Suddenly I heard the out loud voice of God. Everything else went quiet. “I remember these people, I want you to remember them.”The difference between God’s “quiet” voice and God’s “loud” voice. Patrick sees the audible voice as God’s way of making a point that would otherwise be difficult to make. At the same time, the out loud voice is not necessarily the preferred form, since God wants to speak in our everyday moments. The quieter voice also tends to call us to actively seek and listen to God. Like a game of spiritual hide and seek, it’s in the seeking that we build the spiritual muscles we need. The outside voice has to be the exception, while a quiet voice is a mark of intimacy.We should always seek the person not the experience. Advice for hearing God’s voice. Patrick says with a smile, “buyer beware.” God’s voice calls for transformation and action!Next StepsJoin 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 Patrick HegartyPatrick has worked for over 20 years in a broad range of Christian movements. Having authored several books on formation and renewal, led and planted churches, and taken over 10,000 people through courses and spiritual retreats, he has seen God do many incredible things across the globe.Patrick leads Kenmore Church in Brisbane, founded the Connexa development incubator, and is currently launching M4 Australia, a national church planting organisation. Find out about his work on spiritual formation at thegrowthtrack.com.au.

Brian committed himself to practising contemplative spiritual disciplines every day for a month. Here’s what happened…Psychological studies suggest that certain personalities are better suited to hearing God’s voice than others. Those who are “feelers” rather than thinkers seem to be pre-disposed to experiencing the Spirit in sensory ways. So what does that mean for the thinkers and the intellectuals among us?On this episode of the show, we’re talking Spirit experiences and analytical thinkers with someone who appreciates both. Dr Brian Ross is an associate professor at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary in California who hails from the Anabaptist tradition but regularly ministers at a wide range of churches. In Brian’s words, he’s always “lived in his head,” but things changed when he began practising some of the contemplative spiritual disciplines. You’ll love this conversation, particularly if you’re a “thinker” rather than a “feeler”! Brian brings some wonderful wisdom and insight to the topic. In this conversation, you’ll learn about:Brian’s journey to faith from a broken home, through a nihilistic and depressing season as a teenager to his decision to follow Jesus and enter pastoral ministry. Brian’s angst in discovering that the church was not always a place where people were naturally oriented to answering his questions.Relating to God as an intellectual: I’ve always lived in my head by nature, but this doesn’t mean my walk with God isn’t practical or personal. God as an incarnational being meets us where we are – that’s where God has met me. Sometimes you might hear people say things like Christianity is not a philosophy – it’s a relationship and I know what people mean by that, but I would always say, “what’s wrong with it as a philosophy?” because I find that compelling.Brian’s initiation into the spiritual disciplines and the Spirit encounters that followed. Brian committed himself to practising the disciplines – such as contemplative prayer, meditation and sitting in silence​ – every day for a month. He explains what happened:Nothing changed for a while. Then after a few weeks, I began to have experiences I’d never had before… that I do not have words or categories for. I found them often beautiful and compelling… So, this is what Pentecostals and Charismatics talk about!Brian’s reflections on the variety of personalities God has created and how we all experience God differently. Since we all reflect God’s likeness, we should expect that we would relate to God in different ways. For example, through acts of service, doing justice, intellectual enquiry, participation in nature and prayer or worship experiences.The need to incorporate all aspects of our intellect to know the fullness of God including rational discourse and deep thinking. Indeed all the early church leaders related to the Greek thinkers of their time.The impact of spiritual experiences on Brian’s life…These experiences that are often beyond words are a visceral reminder that there’s much more to reality than what we see or understand or control.Some advice for those who haven’t had those Spirit experiences.Next StepsJoin 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.

God’s most common way of speaking in biblical history is through dreams and visions. But today many of us are more likely to dismiss our visionary experiences as the product of a spicy meal rather than a potential message from God. But could we be missing out on the voice we so long to hear?Today’s show is a different one where we flip the roles around on the show! Hosted by one of our volunteer God Conversations team members, Ali Kennedy, we hear from Tania Harris, Director of God Conversations and the author of the brand new book, God Dreams: How to Hear God’s Voice in Dreams and Visions. You’ll get a taster of what the new book is all about, plus a peak behind the scenes of the writing process.You’ll hear about:Tania’s motivation for writing the book… 25 years in the making, the book began with a personal journey when Tania first heard God speak in a dream. The problem was she had never heard teaching on the topic and when she sought to seek understanding from others, she encountered skepticism, misunderstanding and even mockery.I told my friends about my God dream and they thought I was strange. I told my pastor and he said I was strange. Then I read my Bible and I realised they were strange too, because they heard from God in dream-visions all the time!Why the topic of dreams and visions is so neglected in the church – even when it makes up an enormous proportion of the biblical material. Tania explains the reasons for this “blind spot” in the Western church.Some of the most pivotal points in biblical history happened while someone was sleeping.Why God might favour dreams and visions as a form of communication above other means. Tania reflects on the insights of neuroscience and why they point to our masterful communicator who knows the best way to get the message across.A picture really does tell a thousand words!The difference between a dream and a vision.Tania’s greatest challenge in writing the book – exploring John’s visions of Revelation, our best example of a visual God conversation in the early church. Tania joined a Revelation scholars group to ensure her interpretations had solid grounding in church tradition and biblical exegesis! Tania explains that John’s visions are not difficult to understand once you know how to interpret the language of symbolism.Next StepsJoin 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.Inspired by the interview? Check out God Dreams the book!

The Salvation Army is an incredible movement that works in 136 countries around the world and began in the streets of nineteenth century London by William and Catherine Booth. It is both a church and charity, known for its focus on justice, compassion, and supporting the welfare of others. But did you know that the Salvos began in the power and revelation of the Holy Spirit?On this episode of God Conversations, we talk to Major Kim Haworth about the God conversations that shaped the Salvation Army – affectionately known (in Australia!) as the Salvos. Kim is a major in the Salvos and leads the state of NSW/ACT as Divisional commander. She explains that the Holy Spirit was at the centre of the Salvation Army work from the very beginning.You’ll hear about:Kim’s story – how she made a decision to follow Jesus at age 31. Kim tells of her belief in God in her earlier years, but how a life-changing encounter in church introduced her to relationship with God at a personal level.Kim’s unexpected God conversation that led her into ministry with the Salvation Army.I heard in my mind, “you know you’re going to be an officer don’t you?” To which I replied “yes!” and felt this crazy sense of peace from the top of my head to the tips of my toes – that is until I realised what I said!The origins of the Salvation Army and how the Holy Spirit led William Booth to reach “the lost, last and least.” These were the people other churches weren’t reaching because they were the “tough ones.” Booth’s approach was to raise up a volunteer army to fight for God’s kingdom in a spiritual battle. He used military vocabulary because it was well respected and widely understood at the time.The fundamental understanding of the Salvation Army that salvation is wholistic and involves every part of ourselves.“There is no gospel, but the social gospel – salvation is wholistic – the total redemption of mind, body and spirit. People can’t hear about the gospel while their tummies are rumbling.”A little of William Booth’s story and how he received pushback from the established church because the people he was ministering to didn’t fit in and weren’t welcomed. Booth realised he would have to create a safe place for them to flourish and hence, new churches were founded.The role of the Holy Spirit in establishing new movements. Often we begin in the fire of the Holy Spirit, but then we get comfortable and shift into maintenance mode. Hence the need to constantly stir up the Spirit in our hearts, listen to what God is saying and bravely re-pioneer…“We see God move most in our lives when we’re out of our depth.”Next StepsJoin 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 Kim HaworthMajor Kim Haworth is the Divisional Commander of the NSW and ACT Division of The Salvation Army. She has served in pastoral ministry for 10 years with her husband, Steve as Corps Officers (lead pastors) in country Victoria and Melbourne, as well as four years as the Divisional Commander for Tasmania. Kim has completed undergraduate and post graduate studies in Ministry and Theology and holds a Vice Chancellor’s Scholar award from the University of Divinity. She have three great adult kids – Jayden, Stacey and Bryce. Kim is passionate about living in the presence of God every day, and sharing the life of freedom and joy, that Jesus died to give all people who call on His name.

Hearing God in a dream can be a life-changing experience, but it can also be a confusing one! Dreams speak a symbolic and sometimes confusing language and the process of interpretation is not well understood, making it subject to mistakes and abuse. It’s no wonder the claim to hearing God in a dream is often met with skepticism, disinterest and even mockery.Dream interpretation is more art than science, so it isn’t always straightforward or formulaic, but there are some principles we can learn that will help us hear God more clearly in this creative and powerful way.In this episode of the show, I talk with British dreams expert Tony Cooke about the common mistakes people make when learning to hear God in dreams. We unpack the dynamics of the God-dream experience so that you can confidently discern God’s voice as we sleep. You’ll discover:A little of Tony’s back story and how he became interested in dream interpretation when prophetic experiences broke out in his church.Mistake 1: misunderstanding the symbolism of people in our dreams.One of the biggest mistakes people make is when they see a related person in their dream and they assume the dream is about that person.Mistake 2: over-reliance on dream dictionaries. A dream dictionary is helpful in teaching us about symbolism, but has limited use, because symbols must be understood in the context of the dreamer’s life.Mistake 3: fixating on individual symbols while not considering the bigger picture.Mistake 4: dream interpreters who lapse into prophecy and thereby add to the message of the dream.Mistake 5: the inability to discern between soul and spirit in a dream.A reminder that making mistakes is part of the learning process! Given our propensity for error, humility in dream interpretation is crucial. We also need to receive training and be willing to reflect on our experiences in community.The biggest mistake of all is not getting trained properly. Humility says, “I need to know how to do this properly or I can do damage.”Next StepsJoin 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 Tony CookeTony is the founder of The Dream Academy (www.thedreamacademy.online), an online training and support site for biblical dream interpreters. He and his wife Dwee planted pastored the Cheltenham Vineyard Church in 2009 and later continued to teach and train in many countries including The Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, India, South Africa, USA, Spain and Ireland. Tony is also on the Leadership Board of Patria Ministries International, a global family of businesses, churches, ministries and itinerant ministers which provides a highly interdependent personal environment where leaders can build relationships and be strengthened and equipped for greater Kingdom influence. Tony and his wife Dwee have two grown up children and live on the south coast of England.

If you had to sum up the ministry of Jesus, it would include three features: teaching, exorcising demons and healing! As followers of Jesus and recipients of his Spirit, the church should also be known for healing. But how does it work, and what role does the Spirit’s voice have to play?In this episode of the God Conversations podcast, we talk with Kirk Delaney, Pastor of Pine Rivers Vineyard Church in Brisbane Queensland, Director of the Australian Vineyard Churches and a follower of Jesus who is experienced in hearing God’s voice for healing.You’ll hear about:Kirk’s initial attraction to the Vineyard movement that came about because they were not just concerned with moral and spiritual transformation, but in partnering with the Holy Spirit to do the empowering works of Jesus, including healing the sick and casting out demons.“My question was, why are signs and wonders happening in the Majority world but not in the West?”The first major healing Kirk witnessed when the Holy Spirit fell on a woman with a pronounced curvature of the spine and a large protrusion on one of her shoulders. Over 45 mins of prayer, Kirk watched as her leg grew, her spine straightened and the bump on her shoulder disappeared like a deflating balloon. Kirk’s response was, “God, I don’t know you, do I?!”The connection between compassion and the the healing ministry of Jesus. Holy Spirit speaks to move us with love for hurting people in the manner of Jesus.The mandate on every person to continue Jesus’ ministry of healing. Everyone has authorisation to engage – not just the “super healers” on stage!“Everyone gets to do the work of Jesus!”The first time Kirk stepped out in hearing God’s voice and healing, involving an unusual story of a woman who had recently lost her husband and was suffering from an arthritic pinkie finger. Kirk explains how we hear God through all the senses – feeling, seeing, hearing – as God draws our attention to something in another person.“God I know you want to talk to me about healing for someone, but my right pinkie finger is really throbbing!”Advice for starting out: start simply – ask God, “is there anyone here on your heart that you would like to touch with your love today?”Kirk’s thoughts on why healing doesn’t always happen.Next StepsJoin 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 Kirk DelaneyKirk is married to Nichole and they have three young adult children and a new son-in-law. Together they pastor the Pine Rivers Vineyard Church in Brisbane and serve as the national directors of Vineyard Churches Australia (https://vineyard.org.au/). Kirk has been serving in local church ministry for 30 years and has a big heart to see God’s people equipped for living the message, ministry and mission of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

How do we hear God’s voice? Perhaps the best way to describe the forms of Holy Spirit communication is by starting with the human forms we’re familiar with. This includes all of our senses! So we can hear God’s voice, but we can also see it, taste it, smell it and feel it!On this episode of the show, we focus on hearing God through our “spiritual senses” with prophet and pastor Maria Mason. You’ll learn about:Maria’s back story, from being raised in a Catholic family to walking away from God and later, coming to terms with her experiences of seeing in the Spirit realm from the age of five.The variety of sensory ways we can hear from God. Just as we have sight, hearing, touch, taste and feeling as our five natural senses, we have five senses in the spiritual ream – spiritual eyes, spiritual ears, spiritual taste, spiritual smell and spiritual touch.“God is a god of variety. It is the Father’s intention that each person has their sensory realm opened up.”How God uses “Spirit feelings” to communicate. For example intercessors can receive “intel” from God through their emotional selves by tuning into God’s heart for a situation. There are plenty of examples of this in Scripture, such as with Jeremiah – the weeping prophet, and Isaiah who felt the groans of God. Prophetic people who are tuned into their senses can feel for other people and receive information about them.The importance of emotional healing to sharpen our spiritual senses.“Wounded emotions struggle to feel in a clean way. You get mixed intel…”The profound connection between hearing God’s voice and healing. Maria says we need to become “students of our own hearts.” She reminds us of the proverb to “watch over your heart with all diligence because from it, springs life” (from Proverbs 4:23). Watching over our hearts includes noticing trigger points that come up and present an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to bring healing. As Jesus said, the Spirit is present to heal the broken-hearted (Luke 4:18). Prophecy is not just for revival – it is one of the tools that God uses to bring emotional healing.“The more our hearts get healed by the Father, the more we can be confident that we are experiencing clear communication in our human relationships and our relationship with God.”The value of “Highly Sensitive People” (HSP). Neuroscientists have discovered that there are some brains (approximately 25% of the population) that are particularly sensitive to stimuli. That is, highly sensitive people are quicker to discern things when they walk into a room. They can be hyper aware of what is going on in relationships and can even sense the presence of demonic forces. HSP people are almost pre-wired to be prophetic!Next StepsJoin 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 Maria MasonMaria describes herself as a “cultural architect,” who lives to see the Church become powerful in God’s presence. Together with her husband Phil, Maria pioneered a community in northern NSW, Australia in 1998 called Tribe Church. She is a recognised prophet and speaks on the subjects of church culture, relationships, leadership, prophetic ministry, worship, community and revival. Maria loves to coach leaders and is an ordained pastor in the Crosslink Network and a member of the Australian Prophetic Council. Her books, “The Glory Community; Building Heaven’s Culture on Earth” (Part 1 and 2) and “Heart Prophet: a manual for feelers, seers and heart restorers” are designed to inspire the church to live in the realm of God’s glory here on earth.