How do you know you hear from God?
Discussion question for April 24, 2009
Can people really expect to hear from God today? If they can expect to hear Him, how can they be certain about what He says? When someone really wants to know the will of God for their life, and need answers for decisions that need to be made, they want to know with certainty how God is directing them.
Here’s my summary from our discussion.
We know we have heard from God after the fact, based on what has happened and seeing how it has turned out. Our experiences then can provide a pattern by which we come to understand the character of God, especially as it relates to our own life. When we see that pattern repeated it can give us confidence that God is responding to our question.
Sometimes we want to see manifestations: a burning bush, vision or dream, audible voice, signs and wonders. But manifestations of this kind are mostly for non-believers. That doesn’t mean God won’t answer from a burning bush from time to time, but He doesn’t make it the norm. If all communication were through manifestation, where would the faith be? And as it says in Hebrews 11:6 – “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
We can hear from God by triangulating from these input areas: the Word of God (Bible), trusted advisers, and circumstances (open doors). This requires practice. There is also the prophetic word – spoken by a person gifted in that way, or taken directly from the Bible. Hearing from God with these tools requires that we interpret the input accurately.
The most important component to accurate interpretation is to “have the mind of Christ”. If we are thinking God’s thoughts after Him, then we are more likely to hear accurately what He is telling us. When we are considering the true or best answer based on our own (fleshly) desires then we are prone to misinterpret what He says.
Paul admonishes us to pray in the Spirit and be alert (Eph. 6:18). We can help ourselves to do this by getting into a quiet place to pray (prayer closet of some sort). It can also help to journal your thoughts which converts them from the emotional realm to the physical realm. Invite the Holy Spirit into your prayer life, and be specific when you ask God a question. Then listen.
Check your motives. God is more interested in your heart condition than your decisions. It’s about relationship with God, and He is asking: “Do you love me today?”