by Havilah Cunnington

Hello! This is a Christian book, so if this isn’t your cup of tea, stop reading here. I will say though, that if you’ve been religiously bullied, or talked down to by someone claiming it’s a message from God, maybe keep reading.

I purchased this book because I was skeptical about people having full on conversations with God, where He spoke back. I was mostly skeptical because I had a person in my life who would pass on messages “from God” to my husband and I that were judgmental, aggressive and most times, downright cruel. This abuse got so bad, that even though I had grown up as a Christian, had attended and volunteered at church, I turned away from Him and the church for a few years. I just couldn’t understand how He could let someone speak in His name so hatefully, someone who claimed to love God and be a good Christian. It gave me such grief and I avoided church and Christianity because it was honestly triggering. It was shocking to me that a Christian person who said they loved God and His people, and was a devout Christian had successfully turned two people away from the church.

I had gotten back into the practice of Christianity a few years ago, even though the abuse from this person continues, which made me very interested in the practice of speaking to God. I bought the physical copy of this book, but also listened to the audio version, which is read by the author, Havilah Cunnington. Havilah is a very likeable, funny, engaging writer (and reader) and I enjoyed listening to her read the book.

This book explains the four ways that you can hear God. Hearing (hearer), Seeing (Seer), Feeling (Feeler), and Knowing (Knower) are categorized and explained throughout the book, helping the reader identify how God is specifically communicating with them.

Havilah explains that God purposely created each person with their own individual way for Him to communicate with them. It’s fun to listen to stories and examples and try to realize which one you are. One of the messages in the book that I very much appreciated was that God doesn’t spew hatred, anger, or malice into your ear to spread to others. So if you’re hearing that, that’s your own thoughts clouding what should be God’s love and redemption.

There are very detailed breakdowns of each of the four ways to hear God, and it makes it easy to navigate how you relate and possibly, how you were designed to “hear” God. Havilah also adds in personal stories, many with a little laughs which makes her very relatable. The book even has a little quick “cheat sheet” to help your journey through the book and recognizing your particular hearing abilities. Honestly, it was a fun book, not preachy, and it also included verses from the Bible to affirm the authors statements. The book is a pretty short read, as well. I was able to finish it within an afternoon, while also making notes.

If you are a Christian or even someone who was turned away from the Christian faith because of emotional/mental abuse by someone hurting you in the name of God, I think this is a great book to read to know that when God’s trying to talk to you, it’s good. Remember not to let anyone make you feel like God doesn’t love you. They don’t have that power and it’s just simply not true. Whatever you’ve done that might displease God, is forgiven when you ask for it. Don’t forget that He gave his one and only son. (Now who’s getting preachy?)

If you are not Christian and are reading this and I sound like a raving lunatic, that’s fine too. You do you.

Hi.

I definitely recommend this book! I’m going to skip pros and cons because the book is pretty straightforward in being exactly what it presents itself to be.

I don’t have an overall rating either, I will just close that I very much recommend.

Matthew 5:11