This Week’s Focus:
Learning to recognize how God guides you through everyday nudges—those gentle pokes of wisdom you might call doing the holy pokey with God.
Note to readers: This is the third installment in our growing vocabulary for the Divine Flow Lifestyle—a simple framework for experiencing God in real-time, real life.
So far, we’ve explored three practices—each linked below—that serve as tools in your spiritual toolbox, helping you slow down and attune to the sacred rhythm moving through your day. Click the links below to revisit those tools:
Now we turn to another important tool in the Divine Flow toolbox: God-nudges, the subtle ways God guides us, step by gentle step.
Ready to learn how to do the holy pokey with God? Read on.
The Struggle to Notice God’s Guidance in a Noisy World
Life today is loud—endless email and text notifications, packed calendars, buzzing worries, and a pace that rarely lets us catch our breath. We struggle to notice the subtle ways God tries to guide us.
We crave clarity when we’re confused, comfort when life feels heavy, and reassurance that we’re not walking alone. Yet often, God feels distant—silent, hard to reach.
When we don’t recognize how God communicates, life can feel heavier than it needs to be. We assume we have to figure everything out ourselves, missing the divine invitations woven into ordinary moments. Fear takes the wheel, and trust slips into the backseat.
Even amid all the noise, the Spirit is whispering. And when we learn to pause, listen, and respond, we discover that God’s guidance is closer than we think—waiting in the quiet moments, ready to nudge us toward clarity, comfort, and courage.
I Wish We Had God’s Cell Phone Number
One morning, while talking with a friend over coffee, I confessed how worn down I felt—family pressures, work deadlines, a never-ending to-do list. I believed in God, but the divine connection felt faint, like God was busy handling cosmic emergencies and I was somewhere on the “I’ll get to you soon” list.
Half joking—but mostly hoping—I told my friend, “I wish we each had a phone number we could use to call and directly talk with the Creator.” In my mind, we’d dial the number and—most of the time—God would pick up right away, ready to chat.
But if God was busy tending to one of his other children, the call would roll to voicemail. I could hear the answering machine saying:
“You’ve reached the Creator of the Universe. I’m currently assisting one of my other children. Please choose from the following prerecorded messages for the specific guidance you need today:
Press 1 if you’re afraid—here’s strength and reassurance.
Press 2 if you’re doubting your worth—here’s a reminder of who you truly are.
Press 3 if you need direction—here’s wisdom for your next step.
Press 4 if you need to remember you are unconditionally loved.”
Each message would speak straight to our hearts—exactly what we needed in that moment.
And at the end, the voice would gently add, “If you’d like God to call you back, please leave your name. The Creator will reach out to you in a cosmic second.”
I laughed at the image—playful, ridiculous, and somehow comforting. But the longing behind it was real. I wanted a God who felt that accessible. That close.
My friend smiled and said, “You know, God actually is that close. Maybe not through a phone line. But God nudges us all the time.”
I paused. “God nudges us?”
She nodded. “Yeah—those subtle movements of the heart. The inner whispers. The clarity that seems to come out of nowhere. The unexpected encounters or ideas that feel… guided. That’s how God reaches us. Quietly. Personally.”
As she spoke, something in me softened. I realized God is accessible, present, and close—just not in the way I’d imagined.
Little by little, I noticed those subtle invitations in my life. Moments that glimmered with meaning. Insights that felt deeper than my own thoughts. Gentle inner shifts that seemed to say, “Go this way.”
Over time, I learned to recognize them for what they are: God-nudges.
What’s a God-Nudge?
A God-nudge is a gentle, often quiet invitation from the Divine.
It can show up as:
- a persistent thought you can’t ignore,
- a sense of peace about a decision,
- an inner tug to contact someone,
- a moment of clarity that comes out of nowhere,
- or a conversation that arrives precisely when you need it.
God-nudges rarely shout. They whisper, “This way. Pay attention. I’m here.”
When we respond, it becomes its own kind of dance. You might call it doing the holy pokey with God.
You put your courage in.
You take your fear out.
You turn toward what’s life-giving.
You let go of what’s not.
Little by little, one nudge at a time, you dance into deeper wisdom, compassion, and trust.
Experiencing God-Nudges in Everyday Life
When you notice God-nudges, life begins to change. Situations feel less random, decisions feel lighter, and you sense a Presence walking beside you. Ordinary moments become sacred.
Faith shifts from something you believe to something you experience—living, conversational, personal. You begin to co-create with God.
These nudges are what Richard Hauser S.J., in Moving in the Spirit, calls the movement of the Holy Spirit—a discernment that shows how God is inviting you to live your best life.
You might feel a gentle pull to reach out to someone in need, a quiet prompting to speak words of kindness and offer forgiveness, or you may receive sudden clarity about a difficult decision.
Science supports this too. Research from the HeartMath Institute shows that when we lean into our Higher Power, the heart—not the false ego—guides us, opening the way for wiser, more compassionate choices.
The more you notice these nudges, the more grounded you feel in God’s love and guidance. Ordinary moments become opportunities to experience divine presence—you don’t have to navigate life alone.
Noticing Your God-Nudges
As you move through this week, slow down during your Quiet Time and during the day so you can notice the subtle inner movements that might be God-nudges:
- A gentle prompting.
- A warm feeling in your chest.
- An idea that feels unusually clear.
- A moment of meaning that seems to glow around the edges.
Pause.
Place a hand on your heart.
And whisper: “God, help me notice Your nudges today—and give me the courage to follow them.”
Then listen.
Trust.
And take the next step in the dance.
A Tool for Your Spiritual Toolbox
Here’s a simple practice to help you notice God’s guidance more deeply:
Take a sheet of paper and divide it into the decades of your life.
Under each decade, jot down the significant moments—joys, losses, turning points, questions, breakthroughs.
Then sit quietly and ask:
- Where was I being guided by God?
- What was I being invited to learn?
- How was God nudging me toward healing, truth, or deeper love?
Step back and look at the whole picture of your life. You may see a beautiful truth emerge:
God has been walking with you all along.
By paying attention, listening, and responding to your God-nudges, you can join in the dance—and do the holy pokey with God.
Ready to Go Deeper? Explore the divineFlow Lifestyle
Dive deeper into learning and living the divineFlow lifestyle with my book, Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness. Full of real-life stories about God-Nudges, God Dates, Quiet Time, and other spiritual practices, it’s your guide to enriching your spiritual toolbox and inspiring your journey.
Click here for the audio, Kindle, or paperback copy.
Want to Hear God More Clearly? Start Here
If you’d like to explore how to recognize God’s whisper in your everyday life, check out this episode of my Spirituality on the Go podcast. It’s a simple, down-to-earth guide to hearing the Divine in the quiet, the ordinary, and the unexpected moments of your day.
? Listen to Episode 15: How to Hear the Voice of God
Next Week:
What’s “Divine Chaos”—how do you navigate it?
Next week, we’ll explore Divine Chaos: those seasons when life feels unsettled on the surface, yet God is quietly reshaping us beneath it.
Have a blessed week.
Your friend in the flow,
brian
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