GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast

224. What's On Your Mind – Calling Out to God

• Jerry L. Martin, Scott Langdon

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Have you ever wondered what it really means to call out to God- and what it feels like when something answers?

In this moving episode of What’s On Your Mind, we explore Janet's spiritual awakening, which began with a simple desire to know who Jesus really was and unfolded into moments of inner instruction, prophetic clarity, and self-discovery. She offers five profound lessons about spiritual discernment, obedience, and the subtleties of hearing God's voice-insights that speak directly to anyone walking a nontraditional spiritual path.

Sandy responds to Janet with a deeply personal story of her own- a quiet moment of prayer where she asked God to show up... and was met with a radiant, inner warmth that felt like a hug from the divine.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin and Scott Langdon reflect on these stories with care, honesty, and philosophical depth. Together, they explore how we can distinguish divine inspiration from ego or illusion, and how “calling out to God” is not just a religious act- but a deeply human one.

Whether you’ve had mystical experiences, questioned your sanity in moments of spiritual insight, or are simply curious about how the divine shows up in real life, this episode offers a grounded, compassionate conversation for seekers of all kinds.

We talk about:

  • Hearing inner guidance and not knowing if it’s “real”
  • The delicate line between divine insight and wishful thinking
  • Why calling out is essential to divine relationship
  • How discernment and self-trust evolve over time
  • The difference between ego-driven action and God-led intuition
  • Love as God’s truest name

If you're exploring faith in a way that doesn’t fit into traditional boxes, this conversation is for you. It’s not about having the right answers- it’s about staying open.

✨ Have a story of your own? Email us at questions@godanautobiography.com. We’d love to hear it

Explore the book that sparked it all: God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher. Get your copy on Amazon.

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Scott Langdon 00:17: This is God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, a dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher by Jerry L Martin. He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions and God had a lot to tell him.

Scott Langdon 01:09: Welcome to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. I'm Scott Langdon and this week we offer our 33rd edition of our series What's On Your Mind? This week, Jerry Martin and I have two emails to discuss. The first is from Janet and the second is from Sandy, who writes in as a direct response to Janet. We here at the podcast feel very strongly about the power that lies in the stories we tell each other about our experiences, and Jerry and I both relish the opportunity we have to share the stories that are sent in to us. We're very grateful to all who have taken the time to share with us this way. If you'd like to share your story of God with us, please drop an email at questions@godanautobiography.com. We'd love to hear from you. Here now is a letter to us from Janet. I hope you enjoy the episode.

A Letter from Janet 02:15: I don't know where to begin. There's been so much and so many questions. When I was about 34 years old, after many, many years, I watched Jesus of Nazareth circa 1977, once again. I remember watching Jesus in the film and feeling like I had been hit by a lightning bolt of awareness that I wanted to suddenly know who that kind of Jesus was. The next several years were a blur of miracles and divine happenings I find hard to explain. Several weeks after this awakening, I began to hear instructions in my mind's ear. At first I was wondering if I had gone psychotic. But in one last vain attempt to find clarity, I wrote down the message I was hearing and went to my pastor with it. The message was a warning of some sort for a youth pastor at the church. As I sat with the senior pastor, he told me that this was the fifth time in two weeks that someone had come to him with this exact message. He then said you have my expressed permission to be the one to give the youth pastor this message. I was floored. I did as asked and months later I found out that the youth pastor had not heeded the divine warning and was stripped of his position. From that moment on, there have been numerous other dreams and visions, prophetic errands and messages of hope.

A Letter from Janet 03:46: There are a few things that I have learned. 1. There is no possible way to take credit for the divine. Circumstances will always unfold to make sure you cannot, so that you know the action was from God. 2. The Holy Spirit is indeed like the wind. You carry a message at times, but can have no idea where it is intended to land until right before the person or group comes along. 3. Satan will always attack a prophetic act before it occurs, sometimes physically. My guess is that this proves its value in the grand scheme of things. 4. If you have no one to teach you about such things as things, the Holy Spirit Himself will protect you as he teaches you personally. I've had many times when I've been saved from embarrassment due to my eagerness. 5. Knowing the difference between God and Satan's counterfeits is a little like splitting hairs. It's extremely subtle, but after a while of spending time with God you will know the difference between the divine and divination.

A Letter from Janet 05:06: Though it rarely happens anymore, I have been sent to many with messages of hope, direction or instruction, to witches, clergymen, drunks, doctors, criminals the list goes on. One of the most touching experiences I've had was once being sent to a hospital out of nowhere. I was told to turn around and head to a nearby hospital. I was told to tell a complete stranger who was dying there that God loves them and wanted to save their life. I was given a name and, sure enough, someone with that name was in the ER, who I later discovered was indeed dying.

A Letter from Janet 05:47: A few moments after I met him, he asked me what is God's name? I answered: Love. He turned around in tears, asking if my being there was a joke. I said no, this is no joke. I was sent here to give you a beautiful message. As I explained further, the man broke down and began to ask me questions as to who sent me, marveling that I knew his name. We spent hours together having a conversation. At the end I asked if he wanted prayer, but he declined. I never saw him again. Unfortunately, though, I think of him, often, wondering if he's still alive. And that's a message from Janet.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 06:46: Well, that's wonderful, Scott. I thought that was wonderful and quite a communication for you and me to discuss today.

Scott Langdon 06:54: I think so too. That's a beautiful message from Janet and was so wonderful for her to take the time to share that with us. You know, it took a while to think that out and write it down and deal with it. You know, and it's a beautiful message, we always encourage all of you, if you have a story that you want to share, to send it with us, and this is a beautiful example of that.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:14: Yeah, and it doesn't have to be that long or great. It can be one moment you know and something comes to you and share it, because those moments are also precious. Even if they aren't part of a long narrative or if you don't have a big analysis of five lessons you learned. Those are all helpful to us all to kind of learn how to recognize such moments in our own experience. I mean, that's what we're all trying to do, as we often say here, Scott learning to pay attention, how to pay attention. Well, here's my response to Janet that I posted at the time she sent that- to Janet.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:57: Yours is a blessed experience. God sometimes picks someone to deliver a divine message or even an intervention. You have been remarkably faithful, even eager to take it to follow it through. The five lessons you've learned are perceptive, incisive and vitally important. The story of your mission to the guy in the emergency room is deeply moving. Your following of divine directives to turn around to go to another hospital, for example, sets an example for all of us. Your answer about God's name that question can be answered in many different ways, including that God has no name was exactly right. In this situation Love was God's name. You may find that this pattern of being called upon for a divine task lasts the rest of your life, or it may be a stage. I mention this because if it doesn't last, that is okay. It is not a cause for despair. We do God's work when called upon to do it in some special way. Then we go back to living daily life in a Godward way. Bless you.

Scott Langdon 09:21: One of the reasons I chose this email to read and talk about today is its connection to what we've been talking about recently. In the last unit of episodes, when we focused on episode number 24, God and Abraham and the story of Abraham responding to God. And when God calls Abraham, Abraham says here I am, Lord. He responds as a soldier reporting for duty. And God used that story to make the point that it's about obedience at the most fundamental level and that when God calls and God's will is made known to you, is called to you, to respond with here I am. And then in the next episode this unit we're talking about now, which is focusing on episode 25, where God talks to you about his relationship with the Jews and the people of Israel, the early people of Israel and the covenant and what God's part is in that. God says in that episode, He tells you: I am responding there. You ask God right off the bat why do people need to call out to You, the exodus that the Jewish people had? Why do we need to call out? And God says because that's the fundamental way that we have relationship. If you need something, I need to know what it is and I will respond here I am, just like Abraham did.

Scott Langdon 10:59: It's this reciprocal thing and when Janet has this awakening, as she puts it, she begins to hear these instructions, that she is hesitant at first, almost as we all are, Moses was, you can talk about how you are, had been very hesitant and she's a little bit at first, and then she goes to her pastor with this thing and says listen, I've got this nudge that I need to do this thing. And it gets confirmed. And then things unfold and she starts to think, yeah, following this directive is the way to go, and here are some reasons why. Here are some things I learned about it and these, these five lessons. But the reason again that I chose it is this sort of real world story about someone who feels this compelling desire to respond to a calling and does so and is rewarded, if you want to say it that way, by not riches or wealth, but this deeper relationship with God.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 12:10:  Yeah, that's what happens here. I've found several things interesting. The lightning bolt comes and she starts hearing instructions in her mind's ear and she worries if she's psychotic. That's good evidence that she's not psychotic. Only, the psychotic never worries about being a psychotic, they're trapped in it.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 12:35: But this is called due diligence. You check out the experience. What does she do? She goes and talks to her pastor Well, that's a very reasonable thing to do and the pastor, remarkably, reports, oh, I've had five people with very similar reports in the last two weeks, virtually identical reports. Huh, well, that's unusual, you know.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 12:58: But I know I had somebody write me with a deep personal problem and decision he had to make from a town in India and it wasn't our friend Ajit, it was somebody else and I was aware, well, I don't know enough about your life and the situation to give advice here. I always try to be somewhat helpful, but you always have to make sure you don't do damage by saying oh well, here's what you should do. When you don't know what you should do, I said go ask the wisest person you know. Look around in your situation. Who's the wisest person you know? And that's what this woman does. You go seek counsel. You don't just have to have private visions and then march off somewhere.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 13:45: Though, even if the person you go to for advice if they had the pastor said the opposite, she probably still should have followed the divine voice. So that's not the final word, that ecclesiastical authority is not the final word. You have to follow your own sense of is this God's voice, which she says you've got to distinguish God's voice from Satan's counterfeits, which is one of the biggest problems of spiritual discernment. Because, according to, I read the literature on this when I had my own experiences and warning, warning, warning that Satan is very good at mimicking God. So that's why you have these demonic cults and so forth, that somehow people, somebody charismatic or whatever, persuades people that this is the God. Well, no, you've got to pay attention.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 14:43:  And she says, I think quite accurately it's a little like splitting hairs, it's extremely subtle, and after a while of spending time with God, you will know the difference between the divine and what she calls divination, and that fits my experience. After a while, you can kind of tell oh, this is God. Sometimes I'd have the problem distinguishing. I've lapsed into my thoughts. I thought I was communicating with God, taking in words, but now I think it's just Jerry thinking, and I would always stop and check that out, but actually I think you and I, Scott, would both have the same experience. You can kind of tell the difference after a while. Right, God isn't quite the same as just you thinking. So anyway, this is a fount of wisdom that Janet has shared with us.

Scott Langdon 15:40: Yes, and she gives these five lessons that she learned, which I found really interesting. To be able to, you know, sit down and sort of self-reflect in this way is really I've always found it helpful when I do it. You know, if I'm going through a circumstance and I say, well, okay, what have I learned here, you know, and she does that, and it's very interesting. And it's very interesting. Just the first one, though, is what I want to focus on for just a second, and it ties into what we've just been talking about.

Scott Langdon 16:08: She says here's of the five things I learned, she says number one there is no possible way to take credit for the divine circumstances will always unfold to make sure you cannot, so that you know the action was from God. So, just going back to what we were talking about in terms of discernment, to me, the way that reads and the way it sort of works in my life, especially lately, is this sort of battle between is this my ego or is this God's directive, and I kind of parse them in those two ways. So, as we've talked about privately I don't know if we've mentioned this on the program before but one of the questions that deeply intrigues me is when someone says I'm going to work on myself, who is being worked on and who's doing the work? It helps me to think about it that way in my own personal work. So I think, okay, so I'm being worked on, that the one being worked on.

Scott Langdon 17:09: I consider my ego, I think of it that way and God doing the work. I want to hear and be open to that possibility not just possibility, but the promise of being in tune with God. So I would lean into that and when I do that, I have this sort of conversation. There's no possible way, ego, for you to continue to take this on as your idea if it isn't, because it'll fall away into something else that will catch you and you won't be able to keep it up, almost like a lie. You know that you just cannot continue the story, but when it's God-breathed, if you will, maybe that's a way we can talk about it. If it's you and God in this divine teamwork, virtually everything about it feels right. Even if it's difficult, even if it's hard, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy, it just means that, yeah, this is what I have to do, and it just feels right.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 18:14: Yeah, well, you think of thinking about difficult things and I certainly had moments like this, and maybe you have too, Scott. She's told to go to a hospital because there's somebody God loves and wants to save their life. And whoops, this isn't the right hospital. And she's looking for, God has given her a name and she's looking for a patient named such and such. And well, that person is over, officially terminal, and so she goes.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 18:46: And these are very strange commands to follow. Right, in ordinary common sense they make no sense. They're just kind of arbitrary and flip a coin, you know whatever. And yet, if you're attuned properly, it's probably the right thing to do. It's certainly the right to try it, because that's the only way to find out if it's right. And if you scoff or dismiss it at the outset, oh, that seems like a divine voice, but maybe it's probably not, or something like that. No, you've got to follow through, and Janet did that.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 19:25: And then, amazingly, the person is there and she delivers this extremely important message. He asks what is God's name? Which, if you recall, Moses asked that question. Because God says you know, go to the Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go, basically. And he says well, if I go, people will want to know who sent me. And in that story God gives a certain answer that's a little different from in the translation I prefer by Martin Buber and his colleague it's I will be with you. Is the name of God. I will be there, I will be there is the name of God. God will be present is the name of God. So God has different names and different circumstances. It's not a magic potion that one can say to invoke God or something like that in magic.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 20:31: But here, what is God's name? And she answers Love. And that's what this person needs to be told. And he turned around in tears and she shows him. No joke, just here to give you this message, because the guy's surprised. I don't know this woman who's come in and told me this stuff, and isn't that wonderful. So this is the serendipity of the unpredictability of human communication and human communication with divine input into the communication. And, as Janet rightly says, I don't think this wasn't that I was so great thinking of going in and telling this guy God is love, it's not her, she's directed to do that and is doing in synchronicity with God’s doing it.

Scott Langdon 21:52: This email has something to it kind of like a little treat. And that is that, after your response, someone responded to Janet's original email and her name was Sandy and expresses something that I also find beautifully encapsulates what we're talking about in terms of being available for God. You know, sometimes I know that I can get into a comparison game where I look at somebody, well, let's say like you, or somebody, let's say like Janet, who has this experience, where they maybe hear a voice or hear a thing, and you say, oh, I wish I had the experience the way they did, as if you're not having an experience on your own, in your own way. You know, I often get into that with my ego, you know we talk about that. But I also find that when I'm really available to take in whatever God is offering to me, in whatever way I am built to take it in, however, that is when I'm open to that then it seems as though those communications they come, they're there, they appear in the form of someone who has a need or someone who has a question, or someone who can answer a question, or whatever it is. It's always available and Sandy, in her little email, expresses what happens with her and this is what Sandy says.

A Letter From Sandy 23:37:  There have been moments when I've been down or gone through a rough time and I'd say, God, I just need to know you're here, that You're with me. It was just a prayer in my head and soon after I felt a similar feeling you had, but different. It was more like a radiant, glowing feeling from the inside, almost like the energy from the sun was in my body, or something. Really cool experience. I look at it as God delivering, through his spirit, a hug. That's the only way I can figure it. Anyway, so cool, you had an experience. May God bless you. A perfect example of what we always say, which is your story shines on someone else and they have a story that shines on someone else. We love hearing these stories. So thank you, Sandy, for that. Beautiful.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 24:34: Yeah, well, it's interesting because here God makes God's self present and vibrant for us in different ways, and that's one of the things you learn from these communications we hear from people, and here it was like a radiant glow feeling from the inside, and so that's one of the ways, and our theme this time, in a way, is that here I am, that you communicate to God and God responds and you need to ask first. I was puzzled. You need to ask first because this is true in anybody. You think of your best buddy and you think, oh, he knows I'm a buddy and that I'll stand by him. If he gets like unemployed or something, I'll be his friend still.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 25:27: But it's always helpful to tell people that you know. Tell people what you're thinking of them, you know. You tell your wife does something really nice. Tell her that was a really nice thing you did. Don't just assume. Oh well, she knows that I liked it. Tell, tell, tell. We don't communicate enough. We make too many assumptions and what she wants to know is God, please, let me know You're with me. And God responded.

Scott Langdon 25:55: That's calling out to God. At the beginning of episode 25, you ask God, God, why do we need to call out to you? And God says that's just how it works. I mean, think about it and you're right. I think about, let's say, my wife Sarah, and if she had something going on with her and you know it's at work and I don't see her, maybe very much during the day or something, and she comes home and maybe she goes right to bed and I, you know I want that, is there a way I can help you, is there something I can do. We want that, we yearn for that, we desire that out of someone else. How much more then does God desire that from us? He wants to be there for us, is always there, in every way.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 26:43: Yeah, I always feel that a marriage, for example, or a couple, but it would apply to friends and so forth. If you need something, tell the other person, tell them. And sometimes people can go into kind of brooding. Why isn't this person doing such and such for me? He never takes me out to dinner. Well, let him know that you would really like to go out to dinner. Don't brood about it.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 27:15: And so I always feel the ball is in the court, you might say, of the person who is suffering, who is unhappy about something or who has a need. Let people know. Let the relevant people in your life your wife, lovers, friends, neighbors, whomever, coworkers let them know. And this is I think you're quite right, Scott. This is God, there, available and wants to be there for you. But it's got to be reciprocal. You can't just zip up, you know your lip and not let God know. And I always feel I tell people about prayer. Any prayer that's sincere is good. And if you're angry at God, just tell God you're angry. Well, that's very informative for God, right, as it would be, as it is in a couple or between friends. I was really unhappy you did that, you know well, let them know, because then you can get somewhere, you're in relationship and we've got to keep the lines of communication open with God if we expect God to actually be there and be love in our lives.

Scott Langdon 28:30: I think about relationships and we'll stick with the marriage metaphor for a minute, because God uses that with you and uses it to talk about Israel. You know when you're talking about God and that relationship, and if we stick with the marriage metaphor, you can think about this idea of love languages. You know, you kind of you want to see... I can't remember the author of this book now but in the early nineties this guy wrote a book called love languages or something and there’s five of them and it's how you receive love, and in the best way. So maybe, words of appreciation or an affirmation are one, quality time is one,gifts are one, and so you kind of you see what your partner, how they take in.

Scott Langdon 29:28: So maybe so, for example, for Sarah, like her biggest love language is words of affirmation, and you know sort of doing things preemptively. So it's not the only thing, it's just a way to sort of categorize things. But if I sort of preemptively do something that I know will hit her love language, maybe I know she's coming in for a hard day, so I might give her some flowers and a note that says, hey, I really appreciate how hard you're working, like I already know that that's... And I have this feeling of like I really want to give that to her, I want to give her that comfort. And then I think, how much more does God feel that, number one, like you said, being available. God's like I want to give you every comfort and preemptively I'm thinking about it right? So if I want to flip that around and think about it in terms of God, how would I give God love? Well, if God is everything and everyone essentially, then anytime you have an opportunity to love something or someone, with their love language, you know, we kind of look around how is this person most open for love and then boom, hit them with a compliment or hit them with a because you want to give that love and they receive it because that's the mode by which God and us communicate.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 30:54: And then when someone, a lover or friend or co-worker or whomever does one of these things for you, then you let them know, you appreciate it. You don't take that for granted either, of course. You gave me a ride to the hospital when I hurt my foot. You don't just take that for granted, you thank you. And at one point, when I was praying about rituals because I've always been someone who never saw the part of rituals, the point of them you have not had that formation or temperament, but I always did. And what are we going through this for? 

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 31:37: And the example God gives me in prayer is simply you may appreciate something. Send a thank you note, and that's a ritual. Send a thank you note and you mark the moment, and that's a kind of, that's again part of the flow of communication back and forth. I ask for something, you or God, deliver it. Ah, it doesn't stop there. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Scott, thank you whomever. That's part of the reciprocity of communication, where the personal, I'm told, in prayer is interpersonal. And that reciprocity of person to person, God here and God's personal aspect. You're communicating and doing things for one another, asking requests, doing what God wants you to do as best you sense what God wants you to do, and then you follow up in whatever way. Thank you for letting me know that, Lord. Or however it's most natural for you to express that, but there is an appropriate follow-up for different kinds of events and different kinds of interactions with the divine, and keep that moment in mind as well.

Scott Langdon 33:05: Well, we have a great deal of gratitude for Sandy for writing in and to Janet for telling us her story, and we thank all of you for listening, and if you have a story of God that you'd like to share with us, please drop us an email at questions@godanautobiography.com. We love hearing from you always, Jerry. It's great to talk with you again, especially about something so wonderful as this.

Dr. Jerry L. Martin 33:29: Yeah, yeah. These are tremendous communications and we're happy to be informed by them and be, you know, enlightened and enlivened by them.

Scott Langdon 33:57:  Thank you for listening to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. Subscribe for free today wherever you listen to your podcasts and hear a new episode every week. You can hear the complete dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin by beginning with episode one of our podcast and listening through its conclusion with Episode 44. You can read the original true story in the book from which this podcast is adapted, God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher, available now at amazon.com, and always at questions@godanautobiography.com. Pick up your own copy today. If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please email us at questions@godanautobiography.com, and experience the world from God's perspective as it was told to a philosopher. This is Scott Langdon. I'll see you next time.