Is God Speaking ?

Question :

Hi liz How do you know the voice if god when he speaks to u and differentiate it from your own thoughts ive started journaling and find i can get into a flow but then doubts creep in as to weather ive been hearing gods voice or my own thoughts x

part 1

this is a really good question that has caused much debate for centuries :-)

i did a little study once on "the word of God"

so how does God speak to us ?

well first of all he speaks, he doesn't hint. there's no point going reading things into circumstances the majority of the time. same with finding obscure verses and reading something into them that they're not really saying. we still have superstitious practices that hang around even in christian circles that we don't notice cos that's how our society sees things.

things that are referred to as the word of God in the bible -

first and foremost is the person of Jesus. Jesus is God talking to us - john ch1 - and the word was make flesh and dwelt among us. hebrews 1 "in the past God spoke through the prophets, now he has spoken to us through his son." .therefore we need to copy how he behaved and obeying things he said is the one way to be dead certain you're in God's will. 

* read the eye witness accounts about him - the gospels (literally -good news, greek evangel) 

* mull over his advice and his example. beware over spiritualised interpretations that take things to mean something they don't mean in context. 

* DO IT ! jesus told a story about two building constructors - one set his house in a difficult place to build cos it was on rock, another chose a nice flat area that had a sand base but was probably the flood plain of the river. the storms came, as they do sometimes even if it's only once in every 100 years, and the house built on the sand was washed away. jesus interpreted this story saying that the one who builds on rock is someone who hears jeus's words AND DOES THEM. the other guy heared too but didn't put into practice what he heard. his life was saved but all his life achievements were wasted.

'the bible' is referred to as God speaking. well, lets qualify that statement. the word the bible does not exist in the bible. it means library or a collection of documents in latin and talks about the full collection - old and new. it wasn't used till years after the final documents were written, when people were trying to gather together all the letters and biographies that had been written for the early church. what it is refered to is as the scriptures (latin for writings) is also called the law and the prophets. in hebrews ch 1 it says "in the past God spoke through the prophets, now he has spoken to us through his son." Jesus speaks about everything written in the law and the prophets being fulfilled in him. Jesus treats the ot writings as God talking. in the nt they refer to the teaching of the apostles. at the time it was probably in person at first and passed on as an oral record, but very quickly things were written down and letters would be copied out and passed on from church to church, though they would be too expensive for individuals to own mostly - it was going to be well over a thousand years before the arrival of paper and the printing press.

* we're told to be like a reliable workman in studying and applying it.
* jesus only had the Old Testament, but he learned that very carefully. The quotes he uses when he was tempted by Satan in the desert was probably a "Sunday School" lesson he memorised.

you have to get the bible teachings in place to be able to really work out what is God's general guidelines - no point praying about something and expecting an individual word when in fact it's already more than clear in the bible ( tho read it for yourself - don't just base it on one teaching on one verse) if in the slightest doubt about what the bible is saying about something go and ask Don Fortune. he's read the bible all through each year since he became a christian and he has a careful and balanced approach to things.

if you are feeding yourself with bible and having an attitude of worship and respect to God some of your thoughts will come in line with God's way of seeing things and be naturally more in line with his.

*however you define the word of God it's described in ephesians as a sharp two edged sword, hebrews adds that it can cut between bone and marrow  - that's a scalpel in my language, so don't treat it as empty words ie you have been warned !!! 

thirdly there is god speaking through the holy spirit usually explaining, encouraging, guiding, leading and so on. this is called prophecy when it's another person speaking on behalf of God, or it may be another prompting like a word of knowledge or of wisdom, the interpretation of a message given in an unknown language, a gift of faith to have a certainty about some thing that God is going to do that we can't really know. we'll go on to hearing god speak for yourself next.



part 2

one factor in learning about god speaking is finding out the difference between hearing God speaking and your own imagination.

first practice using your imagination. God gave it to you. we are told to love the lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and all your strength and love your neighbour as you love yourself; there's nothing wrong with thinking through.


try reading a passages in the bible and imagine it with real people. ask what happens if ...

get used to what your imagination sounds like. enjoy using it. then you wont pretend it's God speaking cos you'll recognise it, and you'll recognise that it's a really useful tool that God can use to help you understand things, and to therefore speak to you through it.



part 3
 
recognising God's voice - my sheep recognise my voice and follow me - jesus in the good shepherd passage.

what about noting down all the times you ca think of when you were dead certain it was God who spoke to you and it was proved right. would you recognise that voice again.? it is unlikely it was a voice in your ear, more likely in your spirit. did you act on it ? you get familiar with god's voice - but that doesn't exclude ever getting it wrong. you build in confidence.

what was the fruit of hearing what ever it was ? usually when i hear God i feel relieved, or peaceful. 

here's an example : over and over again he's given me the words "do not fear for i am with you". sometimes i have felt fed up - that's not a very exciting message. i had it for the first time at my baptism and its come through all sorts of people over the years. i thought it was cos i can be a frightened person - little lizzymouse. i never guessed that it would mean i was going to be in all sorts of scary situations. God knew that I would need reassuring that the fact that things were bad wasn't a sign that i'd done something wrong, far from it because he had promised he would be with me. we were skint for years and years and years but God provided everything that we needed (tho not always what we fancied) but he wanted us living amongst others in need and living like them. we even lived a few blocks away from an al quaeda terrorist cell for a while - blokes from the same mosque as them came and threatened our kids and their friends and wrecked our car. having a mysterious illness, well, now diagnosed as ME/fibro (whatever that is), is pretty scary too - but knowing with such certainty He is with me has helped me to cope through any number of crises, and especially the loneliness.

i don't begin to pretend that "God speaks to me" every day. but i can be aware of his presence every day, i can learn every day, i can be open to him every day. i can be wary about not listening to other voices every day.


another example of hearing God speak : i was once at a worship conference in lincoln. i had got to know another woman a bit at table. during the extended worship session i felt i had to stand with her and say that God had said she wasn't to be left on her own. i did. i felt a right nit. she said she was fine; i just stood nearby feeling a bit of a dope. then there was an appeal, i listened vaguely but i didn't particularly feel i should go , it was for people in leadership, leading worship, pastors and pastors wives. i stopped listening cos this woman was sobbing her eyes out. i just put my hand on my shoulder and prayed gently in tongues. i didn't know what to say and she didn't look like chatting. they i gave her a hanky, she dried her eyes and said, i'm fine now. thanks. and i went back to my seat. much later, as i was leaving i met her chatting with someone and she said - do you know anything about me? and i said - no, we only chatted briefly at lunch. it turned out she was recently separated - her husband, the pastor, had gone off with the secretary. she'd had to go to another church - so along with the loss of her husband was a lot of loss of status too. no more leading worship or being a pastor's wife, so she felt very miserable and left out not being able to go to the front for that appeal. she was astonished and thrilled that god had provided for her to not be alone and it confirmed he was looking after her.

it was a familiar prompting that sent me to her, but some times i've have got it wrong too. however i don't think a prompting to do a simple act of kindness is ever wrong - unless it's being nebby and nosey or something, even if it's just you being moved by sympathy - that's the fruit of the spirit at work in you. 
i used to worry about if a name of someone came to mind should i pray for them or not. i now automatically pray for them - sometimes it's God prompting me and other times - well it's just their lucky day isn't it.

i find most times God speaks it's rarely guidance about the future (tho that does happen)- it's usually about dealing with something in the present. and often points to something in his character and something in my character. this builds something long term not just a superficial what shall I do next.

i find there are times when im' hasty and should have listened first - when someone asks for prayer, or in prayer for healing, or a miracle i find it's wisest to listen a bit first rather than just crash in with the usual catch phrases that could actually be unhelpful to the person being prayed for.

be careful not to make the wrong claims about something. for example a lot of times it looks like i had a word of knowledge, but i'm naturally curious and i might have noticed the slightest hint or remembered that that person said something that no one noticed at the time. that doesn't make it less God speaking to that person through me but i must be careful what i call it. i don't always remember what triggered it till after - but that's ok - if God chose to use it.

you're not at this stage but some people become so familiar with a churchy way of thinking and talking that this gets muddled in their head with what is actually God. they will bring out their thoughts but present it as God speaking. they're rarely being deliberately naughty, more often well meaning, but there's a thin line between what is harmless and what can be misleading, thoughtless or downright dangerous. in the ot they were called false prophets. the problem was that people liked them cos they said things they wanted to hear, and they looked to all intents and purposes like they were the real deal on the surface. this is why it's important that those who are familiar with prophesying should weigh up any prophecy that is given to check. hence being a little bit careful about prophecy given with no other witness present. always best to check.


part 4

i have found a useful way of checking back is this God speaking is to use a 3 way spirit level (lizzy joke ha ha).

the story : i was watching this bloke building a wall. he wasn't young. he was building a garden wall, and by the way he used his tools and the fluidity of his movements he'd done this lots of times before. what struck me was that at every stage he kept fiddling with his bit of string with a weight on it - you know a plumb line - to check the wall was straight up, and every new row he fixed a bit of string to check he was making it straight. he worked so easily i'm sure he could have done it by eye, but he knew himself and walls well enough to be wise enough to keep checking.


this got me thinking about - we can get so in the habit of making "christian" decisions or the atmosphere in christian meetings, that we maybe aren't always thorough about checking back that it is God speaking and not just our ambitions or hopes or just how our culture sees things. i thought about some of the ways to check we're on the right lines. like the bloke out the back building his wall we need to keep checking ourselves. a good workman makes it a habit like a nurse thinking to wash her hands.

Word of God - Jesus in person. what would Jesus do? is it the sort of thing he'd say. (greek logos - someone speaking something)

Word of God - the bible/scriptures/the law and the prophets/the apostles' teaching - does it fit with the general teaching on that subject in the bible (not just the interpretation of one verse) (greek graphos - something writen down - latin - scriptus ->scripture)

Word of God - prophecy - it it what God's saying at the moment? prophecy should be confirmed by others known to use prophetic gifts if there is any doubt. never hesitate to go and ask someone wise to check out a private word that's been given to you. (greek rhema - the specific message that someone is giving)
 
* beware, i've heard some superstitious rubbish with a bit of truth in it for good measure spoken on this subject. 

* be wary of anyone who thinks God only speaks through them and who is upset if you want to check it. 

* be wary of anyone wanting you to respond without letting you think about it. be wary of anything that leaves you feeling condemned. if it's the conviction of the holy spirit he always gives you something to do about it. and true repentance always brings release - remorse makes you feel better for a bit, but doesn't solve anything really. 

* beware of anyone making you feel you can't hear God properly cos you're young in the faith. parents talk to kids at any age so your heavenly father is very likely to talk to you.



part 5
knowing the difference between God talking and your feelings.

same as with your imagination, find out about your feelings. face them. they're not wrong, even if your reactions to them can be. get used to your own inner voice so you can recognise when you're talking to yourself; a healthy adult does it a lot of the time. if we always block out our thoughts with tv music etc it's not really helpful, same as the opposite extreme of being preoccupied with your own belly button and only listening to your thoughts :-)

you were talking about a journal. it might be that someone has suggested you write down what God says to you. i think that's a good idea. but i think it's helpful to keep a wider journal than that. write down things you're thinking about, event that have happened. put a ? - i wonder if God is speaking to me. come back to it later and re-read it - things may well have become clearer. don't be frightened to think things through. you may laugh when you come back to it in a couple of years time, or you may think - did i really write that - that's a bit wise :-) why didn't i act on it then ?

you got me started on a huge subject. i hope you find some of this helpful - it's by no means a complete study but some of my thoughts.
xx Liz xx