Chapter 1

God Speaks

Does God really speak to people today?

I have to speak out and say, “Yes, he does!” The very first time it happened in my experience, words came to me, which said,

“Put the hoover down, go into the bedroom and pray!”

These words came loud and clear to my mind, completely out of the blue during my lunch break in the flat we rented — right next door to the school where I first worked as a teacher, the Buddle Middle School, Wallsend. I remember it as if it were yesterday. Where did these words in my head come from? Was it simply my imagination or my wishful thinking? Or could these words actually be from God, inviting me to pray? On the other hand, were such words really the kind of language an eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful God would use to get someone’s attention? I ask you?

I very much doubted it at that point in my life. And as for an opening line, these words seemed bizarre, bordering on trivial; surely my mind was playing tricks? So, I continued hoovering the carpet. A few seconds later, again out of the blue, that same command came to me once more,

“Put the hoover down, go into the bedroom and pray!”

I stood still for a moment, reasoning that if this really was God, shouldn’t he at least put in a few thees or thous? Or should there not be a more special place to call someone to than our bedroom, next to my little kitchen? But then again, wasn’t this the way God spoke to people in times of old, when people were doing some mundane task, and their brains weren’t particularly active? Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep when God spoke to him. Elijah was hiding in a cave, fearing for his life. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. Peter was fishing.

I dismissed the words for a second time, for I was just an ordinary person, and not important enough for God to address the likes of me. Once more, I carried on hoovering the carpet so everything would be spick and span by the time my husband got home. I turned my thoughts to making a rice pudding once school was over. But then a third time that voice sounded out in my inner conscience,

“Put down the hoover, go into the bedroom and pray!”

This time, the words seemed more emphatic, more urgent. Oh, my goodness, I thought, now I’m hearing voices! First signs of going crazy!

And yet, I sensed that if I ignored this command a third time, I wouldn’t hear the voice again. So, with feelings of both curiosity and annoyance, I flicked the hoover switch to the off position,

“All right then, I’m going!” I said out loud, for by that time I was in a bit of a strop, and anyway, I didn’t have all that much time left of my lunch hour. I stomped into the bedroom, and I knelt down to pray by the blanket box, which was in front of the main window, thinking. I’ve got to give this a try. What harm will one little prayer do, anyway?

What I said then must have sounded irreverent. I remember saying impatiently,

“Right, you’ve got me here, now what is it you want God?” (Adding the word God on at the end was my way, at least, of showing some respect.)

What happened next was THE pivotal moment of my entire life, a complete shift in its direction, and everything familiar was about to change. God was about to make himself known to me.

All this occurred to me a few months after my ‘Baptism in the Spirit’ at Elvet Methodist church in Durham at a Charismatic Day of Renewal. But more of that later. You see, the all-important question for the world is not, does God still speak to us today? But are we listening to Him when He does speak to us?

I once read somewhere that when Joan of Arc was questioned at her trial by one of her judges, he asked her,

“Why should God speak to you and not to me?”

She replied by saying, “He speaks to everyone, but not everyone is listening.”

Now, I’m no Joan of Arc. I'm no Moses, Elijah, Gideon, or Peter, but at least I was listening. This voice had my full attention. I wonder if something of a similar nature has ever happened to you? And did you suppress it or ignore it? Or did you respond? But before I tell you what happened that day, I would like to take you right back to the very beginning of my life.

To read the full book please purchase the book on Amazon from May 2024

(details to follow)