Though best known as a leadership expert, pastor Bill Hybels believes that the greatest fruitfulness is found in a Christian life open to the quiet "nudges" from God that can sometimes upend the best-laid plans and programs.

The founder and leader of the famed Willow Creek Community Church looks at how to become more sensitive to the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit in The Power of a Whisper (978-0-310-32074-6, $22.99), releasing this month from Zondervan.

Hybels shares stories from his own life and the lives of many members of his congregation, intertwining them with lessons from the ways God spoke to Bible characters such as Elijah, Samuel and Paul, to illustrate how it is possible to detect what he describes as "the quiet whisper of the transcendent God."

Subtitled "Hearing God. Having the Guts to Respond," the 400-page book suggests that those inner promptings that can all too easily be dismissed are often intended to offer affirmation, admonition or a call to action. Hybels also presents a five-part filter of discerning questions: Is it from God? Is it Scriptural? Is it wise? Is it in tune with your character? What do others you trust think about it?

Far from encouraging over-dependence on feelings, Hybels contends that straining to hear God's whispers should cause Christians to press deeper into His Word to seek confirmation of what they are sensing.

Drawing on personal experiences as a parent and times of struggle and challenge in his ministry, Hybels also reveals how "divine direction" has been the catalyst for Willow Creek's taking pioneering stands on issues like women in ministry, immigration and racial reconciliation. He asserts: "When people hear from heaven, they are rarely the same again."

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