What does Tribe teach about how to hear god?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on hearing God starts with a single Hebrew word. Joy Abad brought the message on two consecutive dates in early 2024, building on what Brian had taught the week before about simple obedience. The word shema, which sits at the root of the famous Deuteronomy 6 passage, carries both listening and obeying at once. You cannot have one without the other, and the listening comes first. Joy put it directly: "If you don't obey, you haven't listened. And if you're just doing, it is not the same as obedience." For people who are wired to act, to find the problem and make a list, this is the disruption. The biblical picture of obedience does not begin with action. It begins with getting quiet enough to actually hear.
The 1 Kings 19 passage, where Elijah encounters God not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire but in a gentle whisper, gave the practical frame Joy used. A whisper requires you to lean in, remove the noise, and give your full attention. She drew three movements from that passage: go out, meaning leave your normal rhythms; stand, meaning be still; and be on the mountain, meaning find genuine solitude where outside inputs are genuinely off. Joy was honest that this is not something she has figured out but something she is working through herself. She said she has caught herself avoiding the quiet for a specific reason: "I haven't asked because I don't want to know what he has to say." The first step toward hearing God, in this teaching, is being willing to ask.
The practice Joy described is deliberately small. Sit with a pen and paper, take a breath to get quiet, and ask God a specific question, writing down whatever comes to mind. She pointed to James Clear's idea from Atomic Habits as encouragement to start with an amount of time so small it would be harder to skip than to do. The goal is not a dramatic experience. It is a habit of listening that, over time, makes listening and obeying genuinely inseparable.
Taught from 1 Kings 19:9-13 · Deuteronomy 6:4-5 · Exodus 19:5-6 · James 1:22-24 · Matthew 7:26-27
“If you don't obey, you haven't listened. And if you're just doing, it is not the same as obedience.”
From Listen Before You Obey
The passage taught · 1 Kings 19:9-13
9 He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- February 5, 2024 Listen Before You Obey Joy Abad teaches Tribe church that true biblical obedience begins with listening, exploring the Hebrew word "shema" and how to quiet yourself to hear God's voice.
- February 4, 2024 The Simplicity of Listening A teaching on the Hebrew word "shema," showing why real obedience to God begins with listening, and how to create the quiet needed to hear His voice.