How to Hear Divine Messages
If you’ve ever been curious about divine messages, this post is for you. In it we discuss what divine messages are, how to hear them, and why it’s important to take action on each message you receive, no matter how small or seemingly silly.
“Miracles are natural. When they do not occur, something has gone wrong.”
October has brought with it a heightened and intensified energy. Can you feel it?
For me, this energetic wave has excavated several pockets of stored emotions that I’ve since been working to process and release. Based on conversations with others, I’ve gathered I’m not the only one experiencing this right now. It seems we’re being reminded of areas we’re meant to heal by way of challenging circumstances, heightened emotions, and unexpected changes.
While periods like these are often labeled negatively by the mind, the soul welcomes these shifts with open arms. It sees the opportunity and purpose in them.
In light of this heavier but highly productive energy, I thought it would be nice to address a softer and more mystical concept today:
Divine messages. ✨ Are you familiar with the idea?
I find this particular topic is best introduced with a personal anecdote. With that in mind, allow me to tell you a story about the day the Universe called me on my cell phone…
Flashback to November 1, 2019. 💫
This was at the peak of a time period where my husband and I were making lots of big, life-changing decisions. Buying a home, career pivots, major financial changes, deciding whether or not we were ready to expand our family with another little one, etc.
The energy was high and my mind had been spinning with doubt and uncertainty for weeks on end.
In a moment of humbled decision fatigue that morning, I closed my eyes, placed my hands over my heart, and asked the Universe to please offer me a sign that the decisions we were making were in the best interest of our family.
“Universe, I’m here, I’m listening, I’m ready to be guided. If we’re on the right path, please give me a clear sign.”
Just a few hours later, this happened…
On 11/1 at 11:11am the phone number 1 (1) 11 called me. ✨
I answered—if the Universe calls, you’d best pick up—only to be gently hung up on 1 second later.
I immediately called the number back and received an error message from Verizon saying that the call couldn’t be completed as dialed.
If this wasn’t a divine message from the Universe, I don’t know what would be. I’d asked for clear confirmation, and I’d received it in a divine (and modern) way.
In the weeks that followed, we proceeded forward with the decisions as we’d been planning, staying the course even in spite of several roadblocks that cropped up along the way.
With nearly a year of hindsight on our side, I can confidently say that the Universe was right. ✨
divine messages: what and from where?
Divine messages can arrive in all shapes, sizes, and forms depending on whether they’re seeking you or you’re seeking them. Most often though they come through as signs, synchronicities, nudges, bits of wisdom, confirmations, curiosities, and knowings.
Divine messages are transmitted to us (here on the physical plane) from higher realms of consciousness.
You can envision these messages as coming from your higher self/intuition, guides, angels, higher dimensional beings, the Universe, God, etc. Honor whatever vision and verbiage your mind is most receptive to and resonates most profoundly with your heart.
For instance, if the idea of guides, angels, higher dimensional beings, and so on feels too “out there” for your mind, consider sticking with the idea of the higher self.
I promise you though, the more you open to these channels of communication, the more you’ll realize just how diverse their origins are. Many of the messages I receive come through from my higher self but there are others I distinctly sense as coming from guides, angels, the broader sphere of Universal consciousness, and benevolent beings from other dimensions.
For instance, there are times when I journal intuitively and my higher self responds with wisdom for me personally. There are other times when I distinctly sense the presence of multiple energies transmitting wisdom for the collective.
Here are just a few examples of divine messages…
Hearing or seeing something mentioned on several occasions within a short span of time.
Receiving a visual cue in your mind’s eye seemingly out of nowhere.
Receiving gentle nudges to do or not do something—e.g., “Take this route to work today instead.” “Shut off this channel.” “Skip social media today.”
Thinking of someone you haven’t thought of in ages and feeling inspired to reach out.
Receiving information “downloads” from seemingly out of nowhere.
Repeated messages received through dreams.
Seeing multiples of numbers with greater frequency—11:11, 222, 333, 444, etc.
A sudden curiosity to learn about a certain topic or to take up a new hobby.
The messages we receive are often gentle and therefore easily dismissed. And yet they tend to become louder and more persistent with time if we ignore them.
I like to say that the Universe whispers… until it yells.
Ignoring our messages for a prolonged period of time can cause us to feel misaligned, disconnected, out of sorts, sapped of inspiration, and pinched off from life.
If you’re feeling this way, it’s quite possible you’ve been ignoring your messages!
trust in your breadcrumbs
Our messages are like breadcrumbs or puzzle pieces. They tend to be quite small and often don’t make a whole lot of sense on their own. And yet, when pieced together through hindsight, the divine manner in which the stars (or breadcrumbs) ultimately aligned in our favor is easily observed.
The more you trust in and take action on the messages you receive, the more clearly you’ll be guided.
This is because the Universe rewards trust. When you trust in the messages you’re receiving to the point of following through on them, the Universe will offer more and more confirmation that you’re on the right path (“right” as in whatever is in the best interest of you at a given moment in time).
The tricky part?
The messages we receive often don’t make sense to the mind, so it’s prone to resist following them. In the grand scheme of things, it can seem off course or altogether odd to follow through on some of the tinier messages. For example…
Go to this shop today.
Look into this book.
Turn off the TV and attend to that pile of laundry.
Close out of Twitter/Instagram/Facebook. This isn’t serving your highest good.
Stop everything and listen to this song.
Stop working for the day and do something to care for yourself.
The most challenging messages to take action on are the ones that go against the mind’s idea of what’s “right” for us. For instance, if you pride yourself on productivity, it will be difficult for you to hear and follow through on messages that suggest rest and relaxation as the next best step.
And yet, each message is equally meaningful and important.
When we trust in the small messages, the big messages weave themselves together, creating a path that becomes clearer and clearer as it’s laid out before us.
how to hear your messages
“Whenever we ask for help, the miracle will be presented. We don’t need to do anything other than be receptive to the guidance that comes.” —Gabrielle Bernstein, The Universe Has Your Back
The more you begin to take action on your messages, the more easily you’ll be able to hear them. But there are times when the day-to-day grind or unexpected circumstances can cause us to feel closed off from our divine guidance system.
In these instances (or whenever you’re craving more clear and concise direction), here are some things to try:
Nature
There’s divinity in nature. When you’re in need of divine guidance and connection, consider getting out in nature and stilling yourself within its presence. I find this practice to be particularly powerful during sunrise and sunset.
Stillness, Silence, Self-Reflection
This ties into the idea of creating space to create. When our minds are filled with noise, it can be exceptionally challenging to hear our messages.
This quote from Deepak Chopra captures the essence of this predicament:
“...if your mind is like a turbulent ocean, you could throw the Empire State Building into it, and you wouldn’t notice a thing.”
However, when we take time to intentionally still the mind each day, we’re more easily able to hear, see, and feel our messages come through.
Intuitive Journaling
Intuitive journaling is the practice of writing to the higher self/soul and allowing its wisdom to flow through, pen to page, unbridled and unedited. See this post for a quick and easy how-to.
Tune Into the Heart
Ask yes/no questions to your heart instead of your mind. Feel how your heart reflexively responds to the questions you pose. The difference will be subtle and entirely unique to you personally. Practice patience as you learn to decipher your heart’s ‘yes’ response from its ‘no’ response.
Meditation + Prayer
“When you humbly surrender through prayer and meditation, you begin to receive guidance far beyond your physical site.” —Gabrielle Bernstein, The Universe Has Your Back
Prayer is often associated with religion, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re open to the idea of prayer, religiously or spiritually, utilize the practice to request guidance in whatever situation you’re facing. The same requests can be made in meditation. You don’t have to go it alone. The Universe is ready, willing, and eager to assist.
Tune Into Your Curiosities
This practice is so powerful that I wrote an entire post on the topic—read it here to learn more about how curiosity (divinely) guides us.
Ask for Signs
When in doubt, ask the Universe to offer you a sign (just as I did when I received that call). Some general rules to follow when asking for signs: Keep an open mind, don’t be too specific in your request, and don’t put a time limit on receiving the sign.
As a general rule to all of the above, trust that if you think you’re receiving a divine message you probably are!
differentiating anxiety from divinity
As a sidebar note, if you’re someone who struggles with anxiety or chronic worry, you might be wondering how to differentiate those random, intrusive, worry-based thoughts from divine messages.
I’ll speak to this personally as an anxiety warrior and with the wisdom I’ve gathered from others through the years:
Divine messages come through free from fear. And they don’t pose “what if” questions. Anxiety and worry based thoughts, on the other hand, are fear-fueled and drop what-if bombs like it’s their job.
In other words, divinity doesn’t pop into to scare you, anxiety does. 👻
Divine messages come through as a knowing that feels heart-opening and loving, even when it’s not necessarily what you wanted to hear. The drama of fear may be later appended to the message by the mind but the initial message will always come through entirely untainted by fear.
And when you return to the message without the mind’s drama surrounding it, you’ll find it remains fear-free and peaceful no matter its contents.
INTENTION
I am divinely guided day in and day out. I open to divine guidance and welcome its supportive, loving messages.
INTUITIVE WRITING PROMPT
Think about an area of your life where you’ve been craving more guidance and direction. Hold it in mind as you write to your intuition* (higher self) to answer the following questions:
What would you like me to know about this situation right now? What are a few next best steps I can take to support myself with regards to this situation? What would you have me do today?
*If you’re unsure how to write to your intuition, read this post to learn how to access your intuition in 5 easy steps.
RESOURCES
Book: The Universe Has Your Back* (affiliate link) by Gabrielle Bernstein
Book: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success* (affiliate link) by Deepak Chopra
*This is an affiliate link. Purchasing through affiliate links supports me at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
