from the 6th chapter of my second book:
“in 1 kings 19:12 the lord addressed elijah in ‘a gentle whisper.’ elijah heard the voice and responded. mark batterson discusses how the holy spirit communicates with us in our time in his book, Whisper: how to hear the voice of god. why would the holy spirit communicate in such a manner? when one whispers to us we lean close to hear, and it is a personal interactive intimacy that our lord wants. batterson describes how the human auditory mechanism processes sound waves received through the ear as transmitted nerve impulses akin to the morse code in the auditory cortex. there pitch, volume, tone, distance, direction and meaning are translated into actionable information by the mind. though it is possible for the holy spirit to communicate audibly with us, from the neurosciences we have inferred that meaningful neural codes can also be generated directly by the power of the holy spirit and transmitted through synaptic networks. but to hear the gentle whisper of the holy spirit it is important that noise or inattention do not block perception. batterson asks if it is possible that relational, emotional and spiritual problems are actually hearing problems - ears deafened to the voice of god so that we lose our way in life.
“the author also addresses bibliolatry when one believes that god only speaks through scripture. batterson notes the ultimate importance of the bible in transmitting the word of god and god’s holy spirit ‘will never say anything that is contrary to his good, pleasing, and perfect will as revealed in scripture.’ but there are other ways in which we can receive and perceive the gentle whisper of the holy spirit, including dreams and visions. ‘creation was god’s original gesture. the cross is his merciful gesture. the resurrection is his grand gesture. and he is still accomplishing his plans and purposes via dreams and visions through the working of the holy spirit.’”