Want to hear God? Carry a notebook.
That’s just one of the four best practices for using the H.E.A.R. Framework we’ll explore, and I’ve also included a first draft of a free H.E.A.R. Framework worksheet you can download.
We’ve explored the four views of how God guides—including the one view of God that will set you up for a lifetime of experiencing his guidance. You’ve worked through the five steps that will prime you to hear from God. I’ve introduced some other frameworks for hearing from God that you’re free to try as well as some pitfalls of frameworks.
Starting next week, we’ll begin unpacking the H.E.A.R. Framework letter-by-letter, which is what this entire email series has been leading up to. We’re about to get unbelievably practical.
To help you make the most of this framework, though, I’m sharing four best practices that I’ve discovered over the years—as well as the first draft of a free H.E.A.R. Framework worksheet you can download that I’ve been making by hand with people for the past few years.
1) Pick a “Ubiquitous Listening Tool.”
When I was a college student, I was struggling to know what to do with all the thoughts and ideas I was juggling in my head. That’s when a mentor of mine named Rob said, “You need a ubiquitous capture tool.”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
The language is from productivity writer David Allen in his book Getting Things Done. Your Ubiquitous Capture Tool (or UCT, for short) is something that you always carry with you to write things down so that you can get them out of your head until you’re in a better space to think about them.
Rob showed me his UCT. It was a little notebook that fit into his pocket. Any time he had a thought, he could jot it down until later.
I’ve carried a notebook like that ever since.
As you’re being attentive for God’s guidance, you’ll need to find a “Ubiquitous Listening Tool” (ULT)—some way to write down anything you might be noticing or hearing. God’s guidance doesn’t just show up when you’re sitting with a journal open in your comfy chair. It often shows up in the midst of daily life as you’re doing other things and, without a way to take note, it’s easy to forget it.
Think of yourself like an old-timey investigative reporter who carries around one of those spiral-bound, flip notebooks to write down anything that might be relevant to the case that you’re trying to solve—or, in this situation, a decision that you’re trying to make.
It could be a pen and a pocket notebook like the ones made by Moleskine or Field Notes. (If you’re wondering, I also prefer the Pilot G-2 07 for my pen.) Or, you might prefer a more digital strategy like a note on your phone in Notes app or an app like Evernote, which I’ve been using for over a decade to organize my notes.
I use a hybrid of the analog and digital note-taking strategies, but figure out what works best for you.
2) Take non-judgmental notes.
As you start listening for God’s guidance, you’ll have a tendency to immediately “judge” the different thoughts, feelings, advice, experiences, and Bible verses that come your way. You will already start filtering what’s good enough for the notebook and what’s not.
In general, that’s a good thing.
Paul writes, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22). Not every thought you have or someone else has for you is from God, and it’s important to “test” the guidance you might be getting to see if it’s from God or not. (Remember, God isn’t the only one trying to guide you.)
However, noticing and judging require different mental muscles, and if you’re not careful, you might judge something too quickly and miss out on God’s guidance. You might stifle the Spirit before you’ve had a chance to discover if it was the Spirit speaking or not.
That’s why, at first, just take nonjudgmental notes on how God might be guiding you. You can (and will) judge them later with God when you have some space. (And, in a post later this month, I’ll be sharing some of the best questions you can ask when testing if something might be from God.)
It’s similar to good brainstorming with a team. It often involves a whiteboard and dry-erase marker and reminders like “there’s no bad ideas.” You just write every idea down on the board. Now, of course, there are bad ideas but often it’s the bad ideas that help us see which ideas are the good ideas.
The same is true with listening for God’s guidance.
As you’re listening for God’s voice, you’ll sense clearly obvious things that are not his voice for you, but you’ll also have things you’re not sure about at the moment. If you’re unsure, just write it down and judge it later.
3) Block off time in your calendar to process your notes with God.
Once you start capturing some of the different possible ways God might be guiding you, you’ll need dedicated space in your life to organize and filter through it.
Depending on how long your timeline is for God’s guidance on a particular decision, it might be helpful to give yourself 30-60 minutes each week to simply process. If you have a shorter timeline, find a different frequency that makes sense. It might be a little bit of time each day.
In addition, you’ll want to create a longer block of time (e.g., a half-day or a long evening), especially with big decisions, when you can carefully process everything with God in prayer before making a final decision on how he might be guiding you—just like Jesus did before choosing his Apostles.
Whatever time you choose, block it off in your calendar. I’ve always heard that “the first person to your calendar wins.” Be the first person to your calendar and prioritize time to process what God might be saying.
Otherwise, it probably won’t happen.
During that time, get your notes organized. Use the different categories in the H.E.A.R. framework—when it’s helpful to do so. Talk over your notes with God. This is a good time to start actually “testing” what you’ve heard and “hold onto to what is good,” as Paul says.
To help you with this, I’ve created a free, one-page PDF you can download to help you as you process some of the ways God might be guiding you. It has space in the middle for you to clarify the question, set your timeline, and name your options. Then, it has four sections for each part of the H.E.A.R. Framework. Try it out, and let me know what you think.
4) Invite a listening partner into the process with you.
Jerry Seinfeld has shared the way that comedians, when they’re wondering whether a new bit will work or not, will ask, “Is this anything?” with other comedians. They’re wondering if it has any potential to make people laugh. They need people who can encourage a bit that has potential and stop them from trying a bit that will totally bomb.
You need people in your life like that, too, especially as you’re listening for God’s guidance.
As you’re writing down anything God might be saying to you, you’ll need some people that you can ask, “Is this anything?” In particular, you’ll need people who aren’t afraid to be honest with you and tell you, “That’s not God, bro.”
When we get to “A” in the H.E.A.R. Framework, we’ll explore this more (and I’ll share what this has looked like for me), but for now: Who is at least one person you can invite to be your listening partner?
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So, here’s how to make the most of the H.E.A.R. Framework as you’re listening for God in the decisions that matter most:
Pick a “ubiquitous listening tool.”
Take non-judgmental notes.
Block off time in your calendar to process your notes with God.
Invite a listening partner into the process with you.
If it helps, download the free, one-page PDF to make it even easier. Next week, we’ll start exploring what it looks like to hear God in your heart.
This is email 19 out of 40 in Hear From God in 40 Emails (Or Less)—a Substack series designed to give you biblical and practical guidance on hearing from God in a decision that matters to you. Start with the first email.
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