BloomHER Collective Vice President
ROOTED Session — Summary & Recap
October 14, 2026 | Hearing God’s Voice
Topic: What to Do When God Speaks — Understanding How You Were Created to Hear Him
Facilitator: Jenna Linington
Foundational Scripture: John 10:27 — “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Session Overview
This month’s ROOTED gathering invited women to deepen their understanding of how God communicates with His children and how each person may experience His voice differently.
Building on the previous Growth Gathering, Jenna emphasized that hearing God’s voice is foundational to developing an intimate relationship with Him. Before we can follow His direction, we must learn to recognize His voice.
The central message was that we don’t need to hear God the same way someone else does to have a meaningful relationship with Him.
Drawing from Havilah Cunnington’s book Created to Hear God, the session explored four prophetic personalities and encouraged women to discover the unique ways they may recognize God’s communication.
Key Teaching Points
1. Recognizing God’s Voice
The gathering began by reviewing three principles for discerning God’s voice:
God’s voice reflects His Word and character. What we believe we are hearing should align with Scripture and His nature.
God’s voice will not contradict His commandments. Discernment requires knowing His Word.
God’s voice convicts rather than condemns. Conviction invites us toward repentance and restoration rather than leaving us trapped in shame.
Jenna emphasized the progression found in John 10:27:
KNOW
LISTEN
FOLLOW
Recognition leads to listening, and listening invites obedience.
Sometimes obedience means moving forward. Other times, it means remaining still, waiting patiently, and trusting God’s timing.
During seasons of waiting, women were encouraged to study biblical examples, remember God’s previous faithfulness, journal their experiences, and remain connected to others who can strengthen their faith.
2. Three Foundational Beliefs About Hearing God
Drawing from Created to Hear God, Jenna introduced three core beliefs.
We are spiritual beings. First Thessalonians 5:23 describes spirit, soul, and body. The teaching emphasized that developing sensitivity to the Holy Spirit involves daily surrender rather than allowing our thoughts, will, and emotions to direct every decision.
We were created to know His voice. John 10 describes the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. Knowing His voice develops through relationship and familiarity.
God is always speaking. The teaching encouraged women to approach prayer with the expectation that God desires communication rather than assuming He is distant or silent.
An important theme emerged: Sometimes the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are recognizing the way we believe He communicates with us.
3. Four Ways We May Experience God’s Voice
The session introduced four prophetic personality categories described in Cunnington’s book.
The Hearer — Words and Conversation
Hearers experience communication through words, phrases, sentences, or an inner dialogue. They often enjoy journaling and can clearly articulate what they believe God has spoken.
The Seer — Pictures and Vision
Seers experience communication through dreams, images, visions, and mental pictures. They may recognize possibilities and see a larger picture before understanding how it will unfold.
The Feeler — Emotions and Sensitivity
Feelers experience strong impressions, emotions, and spiritual sensitivity. They may be particularly drawn to intercession and prayer. The teaching emphasized the importance of distinguishing personal emotions from perceived spiritual impressions.
The Knower — Clarity and Understanding
Knowers experience sudden clarity, wisdom, or a strong inward sense of understanding without necessarily hearing words or seeing pictures. They may find it difficult to explain how they arrived at an insight.
These four categories were presented as a framework for reflection, not as an exhaustive biblical classification or a definitive test of spiritual discernment.
Jenna reminded participants that they may identify with more than one category while recognizing a stronger tendency toward one.
4. Relationship Over Comparison
One of the most meaningful discussions centered on the tendency to compare how we hear God with how others describe their experiences.
Several women shared that they had wondered why they did not hear specific words or sentences as others seemed to.
The teaching offered another perspective: What if we have been overlooking the ways we experience God’s guidance because we expect it to look like someone else’s experience?
Lori reinforced the importance of slowing down, creating space for quiet, and becoming attentive rather than living in constant busyness and striving.
The discussion also highlighted how greater understanding can bring confidence and encouragement without making one person’s experience more spiritual than another’s.
Session Recap — The Heart of the Message
The deeper invitation of this ROOTED gathering was to move from striving to hear God toward cultivating a relationship in which we become more attentive to Him.
Hearing God is not presented as a competition, a performance, or an ability reserved for a select few.
It is an invitation to grow in relationship with the Holy Spirit, learn His character through Scripture, and respond with trust and obedience.
We are not trying to become someone else in order to hear God. We are learning to recognize His presence while growing into the people He created us to be.
Action Steps — Putting What We Learned Into Practice
A suggested seven-day reflection exercise based on the session
My Weekly Action Steps
Create intentional quiet time
Spend 10–15 minutes each day in prayer, Scripture, and stillness. Begin by inviting the Holy Spirit to guide your attention.
Explore how you recognize God’s guidance
Reflect on whether words, pictures, feelings, or inward clarity are familiar experiences. Notice without forcing an outcome.
Journal what you notice
Write down impressions, Scriptures, thoughts, pictures, or feelings. Record them as things to prayerfully discern rather than automatically assuming they are from God.
Practice biblical discernment
Ask whether an impression aligns with God’s Word and character. For important decisions, allow time for prayer and wise counsel.
Respond with one faithful next step
Consider whether there is an action to take, a conversation to have, or a season of waiting to embrace.
Personal Reflection Questions
Use these questions during your quiet time or as a continuation of the group conversation.
1. When I think about hearing God’s voice, what expectations or beliefs have shaped my experience?
2. Which of the four prophetic personality descriptions resonates most with me, and why?
3. Have I compared my experiences with God to someone else’s?
4. Is there something I believe God has been inviting me to do, surrender, or wait upon?
5. What is one intentional change I can make to create more space for relationship with the Holy Spirit?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for creating each of us with intention and for inviting us into a personal relationship with You.
Holy Spirit, teach us to recognize Your leading. Quiet the distractions, expectations, and comparisons that may keep us from being attentive to Your presence.
Help us to know Your Word, recognize Your character, and discern Your voice with wisdom and humility.
Where You are calling us to move, give us courage to obey. Where You are asking us to wait, strengthen our faith and deepen our trust.
May our desire be more than simply hearing from You. May our hearts grow in knowing You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Final Encouragement
The goal is not simply to become better at recognizing spiritual impressions. The goal is to grow in intimacy with God so that knowing, listening, and following Him become a natural expression of our relationship with Him.
Know His voice. Listen with intention. Follow with faith.
Teaching reference: Created to Hear God by Havilah Cunnington. Scriptures discussed: John 10:27; John 1:1,14; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Acts 26:16–18.
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