Book Review: Is That You, Lord? by Gary Gilley

 

There are many in the church today who believe that hearing God's voice is crucial to the Christian faith. Some would even say it is required. Others have said that give assurance to the believer that they are saved.  There are some Bible teachers that claimed to need to hear the voice of God when it comes to making major decisions like who to marry, where to go to college, or what job to take.

Is it true that Christians need to hear the voice of God apart from the Bible? Gary Gilley tackles this issue and others in his book, “Is That You, Lord?” Hearing the Voice of the Lord: A Biblical Perspective. Gilley is the pastor of Southern View Chapel in Springfield, IL, where he served there since 1975. 

The book begins with a look at pietism which I thought was a little strange at first, but as I continued in the chapter, I was seeing that pietism was embraced by Christians that resulted in joyless Christianity and made them want to have an experience in the area of worship and in their relationship with God.

Gilley goes to address hearing the voice of God based on the teaching of Henry Blackaby, Wayne Grudem, and others. Blackaby advocates for Christians to hear the voice of God as the heart of the Christian experience as well as a requirement for faith which turns into a Galatians 1 situation. Gilley writes on Christians wanting new revelation outside of scripture which Grudem does support even he believes that modern day prophecy can be fallible which goes against God's Word in Deuteronomy 18.

Gilley addresses following the will of God which many Christians believe that God has a specific will for each individual which is true as we see in the Bible, but God does not open the door of heaven and say what you are supposed to do. Yes, we do know God has a sovereign will over the universe and has a general will for how the people of God are to live in this world. Many Christians want God to lead by impressions or nudges over scripture. We can also put out feelings in that category. 

Gilley addresses objections and answers them biblically when it comes to the voice of the Lord. He gives practical advice for anyone trying to discern the will of the Lord. He believes that Christians need to stop looking for extrabiblical communication for God, but rather to rightly handle the word of truth.

One final note, Gilley did address prayer in this book. Many think than prayer is a two-way form of communication, which the Bible does not support. God speaks to us in the Bible, and we speak to God in prayer as "the communication of the heart and mind of the believer to the Lord " (page 87).

I wish this book was available during my early days as a Christian because I have fallen into the trap of relying on extrabiblical means of God speaking to His people which caused a lot of grief. Not saying God deceived me because God can do no evil, but I was the one in error. I highly recommend this book for all Christians to read for themselves and even with others.

I received this book from G3 Press in exchange for an honest review.