How do you know when God is speaking?
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I think this is such a good question. I am in awe when people easily say, "and then God said to me,...". I think we need to be very humble and careful when we say we are quoting God. We were blessed to have a pastor, Jerome Ocampo, from the Philippines, and he spoke to us about listening to God. He talked about how to listen and then said if we believed we had a message or words for someone else, and I am paraphrasing, " Approach them and say, while I was praying, this is what came to my mind, I do not know if it means something to you. I ask that you pray and see if this is a message from God to you. " This is the sort of humility we need to use when we say, "God spoke to me". Is it the same as the prompting of the Holy Spirit? I have had times where I felt like I was told something but we are complicated. Does what I think I heard/know agree with the scripture? If it does not then reject it. Is it telling me to do or say something that goes against the fruit of the Spirit? Then reject it. What is the take away from what we think we hear? Does it match with the character of God? If it is a message that says, to be hateful, spiteful, proud, stir of trouble, or any of the other things that God despises, then it was not from Him. Test it. Pray, pray and pray.
I know one time I was walking to my car in the parking lot leaving work and for some reason that I don't even remember now why I was angry with God and I was saying in my head. I'm mad at you and I am not going to talk to you. There was a little silence and I heard... Whatcha doing now? With a little chuckle.
I thought about it and I started to laugh as I realized that even in my anger when I said I wasn't going to talk to Him but it was exactly what I was doing. The lesson I learned in that moment is that God has a sense of humor and whatever I was mad about melted away with the laughter....I had no real reason to be mad at Him in the first place. But it is a fond memory of a short and sweet exchange with Him.
I thought about it and I started to laugh as I realized that even in my anger when I said I wasn't going to talk to Him but it was exactly what I was doing. The lesson I learned in that moment is that God has a sense of humor and whatever I was mad about melted away with the laughter....I had no real reason to be mad at Him in the first place. But it is a fond memory of a short and sweet exchange with Him.
How do you spend time listening to God? Would it matter if your eyes are open or closed while listening in prayer? I think having your eyes open may be distracting especially if looking around and start thinking about what needs to be done.
His words give you life...they do not condemn you, they give hope, they give solutions to problems, they are always exactly what you needed to hear.
God speaks to me in my thoughts, sounds just like my voice talking to me in my thoughts, but the words are not my words......the words are so life-giving.
My words when I’m talking to myself are just about making decisions or thinking about a memory or something.
Satan/demonic words also sound just like my own voice in my thoughts, but they are destructive words not life-giving at all......words that are designed to make me feel bad about myself, others and God.
You’ll know when God speaks, His words are so wonderful!
If you’re somewhere that you can close your eyes, definitely close them. However, if you’re driving and trying to have a conversation with God, keep your eyes open! Lol!
Faith will allow one to believe it is our Maker. Like Daniel, and many believers, our Father may speak and we will not understand fully,, but we retain what He has spoken.
God has spoken (Heb. 1:1-3).
Jesus said the Holy Spirit would help the apostles to remember "all things"... He said to them while on earth. (Jn 14:26) (Jn 16:13).
The Lord gave mankind "all things" pertaining to life and godliness... (2Peter 1:3) (2Tim. 3:16,17).
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2Tim. 3:16,17).
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (2Peter 1:3).
God has spoken
He said all He is going to say.
There is no more He will say.
Today mankind needs to read the NT to learn what the Lord expects of them. (Eph. 3:3,4).
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11).
Thanks
I think that for me, the key is that it is not a ritual, it is a relationship. Years ago I was challenged to pick an item that reminded me to think of God. For me it is clouds. When I go walking or just being outside, when I see clouds, it brings me into focus of him. When I look at them I allow myself to be still. I start with hello. I am quiet for a minute, maybe much longer. Sometimes closing my eyes gets me too much into my own head. I try and avoid throwing a shopping list of requests at him. I give myself time for gratitude. I let that expand. I become aware. As I go about my day I try and hold on to those moments and sometimes I see things in a different way. I might be impressed with the need to call someone, or receive a correction on an attitude.
I have had times where I was asked to pray for someone and when praying, started to pray for issues they have not shared with me. Sometimes I see something and share it.
I think one of the more profound times was when I had a dream that my mom told me she had lupus. I had no idea what that was.
When giving a family history to my doctor I mentioned that my mom had lupus, not realizing it was a dream rather than a memory.
I mentioned it to my mom who was horrified. She'd never said that to me. I said that it was a clear memory and realized it for what it was.
Shortly after that I became ill. It took years to diagnose. It was lupus. The dream/vision was about me, not my mom.
I've had several other events like this and I test the living daylights out of them. I would say that this is the impression I have when I pray, or what I saw when I prayed or dreamed, and ask for God's guidance.
So I know I've strayed a bit from your original question but the form is not the important thing, it is to be quiet and not be afraid of silence. Focus and allow that alertness to remain as you go about your day. He is leading, we just have to get out of our own way.
For one, learning how God speaks is important.
God can speak by answering prayer.
God has already spoke in His written Word for your guidance so technically that is as if God speaking to you.
God can speak through others who then speak to you.
God can speak through nature as sometimes the awe and beauty can shed light on scripture truths.
God can speak in dreams or visions.
God can speak or more like guide you in Spirit.
God can do something miraculous to get your attention.
Usually a good indication that God is speaking to you is to ask yourself does it line up with scripture. If it does than that is typically a major green light.
If it is a big life change message you could always seek a spiritually mature friend who can help you determine the next steps.
Hello Cherie, the place to (at least) both begin and end (if your purpose in hearing from God is to know Him/know His will) is detailed for us by a simple but profound children's hymn that opens with these words, "Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so"
Or as Martin Luther once said,
Moses, Joshua, and David had these important insights .. e.g. Deuteronomy 11:18-21; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3, 119:9-11, 105. And the Lord Jesus and the Apostles continued in the NT saying things like this .. e.g. John 17:17; Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21.
God bless you!
--David
Hello again @CherieR, here's a 2-part teaching series (that is free to stream for the immediate future anyway) that will help you know how to go about discerning God's will, as well the ways of discerning His will that should be carefully avoided (and why).
God absolutely has a sense of humor. He' can be quite wittiy and amusing too at just the right moment.
.
Way back when, God said:
"My Spirit shall not strive with man forever" (Gen 6:3)
It's fair to ask; How did God's Spirit do the striving? Was his voice audible
so that people could hear Him with their ears?
No; they heard Noah's voice with their ears instead of the Spirit's voice.
"Noah, a preacher of righteousness"
» I don't know how Noah found time to do some preaching while
constructing the ark. However; he wasn't given orders to start till he was
480 years old; so he had plenty of free time beforehand.
_
Way back when, God said:
"My Spirit shall not strive with man forever" (Gen 6:3)
It's fair to ask; How did God's Spirit do the striving? Was his voice audible
so that people could hear Him with their ears?
No; they heard Noah's voice with their ears instead of the Spirit's voice.
"Noah, a preacher of righteousness"
» I don't know how Noah found time to do some preaching while
constructing the ark. However; he wasn't given orders to start till he was
480 years old; so he had plenty of free time beforehand.
_
The trouble with thinking God speaks directly to people today is that we cannot try or test to see if that is true (1Jn 4:1). When people claim God spoke to them we are just supposed to take it a gospel truth.
Not so!!!
Any portion of truth should be able to be tested. (1Jn 4:1)
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Men throughout time have had a tendency to depart from the truth (1Tim.4:1-4) (2Tim.4:1-4).
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Thanks
Not so!!!
Any portion of truth should be able to be tested. (1Jn 4:1)
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Men throughout time have had a tendency to depart from the truth (1Tim.4:1-4) (2Tim.4:1-4).
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Thanks
The first and foremost thing is the intimacy with him. The deeper the bond between our hearts and his the more intuned we are to his voice and trust me he is a chatterbox. He can and will speak to his children in every way imaginable he has spoken to me even through things that have nothing to do with him.
Have you ever ntoiced how sometimes you can be doing something that doesn't seem important and yet he places in your heart something? I love to go on walks to be with him I listen to Christian music constantly and especially on these walks I connect to him in a different way than when I am on cc or say laying in bed being still and just being with him. He loves to be with us especially when we are doing things that we enjoy doing he walks with us he watches with us he doodles and makes arts and crafts with us.
His voice is everywhere and in everything, in a childs laughter, in the enjoyment of being with loved ones, in the flowers we love to admire in the animals and pets we treasure. To know when he is speaking to you is to know how to listen and to know how to listen is to deepen that bond and intimacy with him and to deepen the bond and intimacy is to get to know him and how does one get to know anyone?
You spend a lot fo time with them you are in constant communication with them.
He wants to be our own personal diaries he wants us to be able to speak with him about anything and everything even in our anger he wants us to be honest with him. He adores it wqhen we speak to him, everytime his children speak to him his heart leaps with joy and craves it he wants only the most intimate kind of relationship with us.
He will speak to us in our heads in our spirits in everything around us and yes even outloud. Personally I have only experienced that last part once but I can tell you I had such joy in it, his voice was powerful and commanding like a booming thunder and my body just acted as it was commanded but I was honored he would even do that
So true, God has quite a witty sense of humor....lol!
I remember feeling guilty for not reading my Bible and going to Bible Study, I was spending a lot of time doing home improvement projects - I was trying to install crown molding and kept making mistakes. Finally, I said, "God, are you mad me for neglecting You?" He answered and said, "Hey, I'm always with you - not just when you're reading your Bible or at Bible Study.....how about you let Me help you with your crown molding project? Ya know, I was a carpenter.......lol!"
Well, I busted out laughing and since then I've never felt guilty about neglecting God because He's with me everywhere, all the time - He is an absolute joy to talk to and listen to! Sometimes, He is VERY QUIET and you think He's not there anymore but, He is!!
I can attest how funny and witty he can be, most of the time it's when I am in the shower talking to him and a lot of times I recall something he said to me through others through me or any way he did even through music and I didn't get it at the time but then it hits me and I can't help but laugh at loud and tell him you think your funny XDSo true, God has quite a witty sense of humor....lol!
I remember feeling guilty for not reading my Bible and going to Bible Study, I was spending a lot of time doing home improvement projects - I was trying to install crown molding and kept making mistakes. Finally, I said, "God, are you mad me for neglecting You?" He answered and said, "Hey, I'm always with you - not just when you're reading your Bible or at Bible Study.....how about you let Me help you with your crown molding project? Ya know, I was a carpenter.......lol!"
Well, I busted out laughing and since then I've never felt guilty about neglecting God because He's with me everywhere, all the time - He is an absolute joy to talk to and listen to! Sometimes, He is VERY QUIET and you think He's not there anymore but, He is!!