Hearing from the Holy Spirit
If you’ve been around a Christian environment before, you may have heard someone say “I felt like God was telling me…” or “I feel like I’m called to do…” and you may be thinking How the HECK are these crazy people hearing things from God? Or wondering How can I know when God is speaking to me? Does that even work for me? Well, the answer is YES! Because Jesus’s death on the cross bridged the gap between us and God, we ALL have the ability to have a personal relationship with him. And what’s a personal relationship without talking?? If we want to truly know someone, we have to both speak and listen and it’s no different with God.
But you may be thinking- Regan. God isn’t physically here. I can’t audibly hear him or physically see him. And you’re telling me he is able to speak to me? Yes! When someone accepts Jesus into their heart, the Holy Spirit is sent to dwell inside them. It’s like a part of God is constantly living inside you, guiding you and shaping your heart and mind. Jesus explains this in John 16:13-14:
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
Jesus sent us his Holy Spirit which he also calls “the advocate” so we can hear from the Lord and discern what God’s truth is. Discernment, or being able to tell when it’s actually God versus when it’s just your own thoughts or the enemy’s lies, is a keyword when it comes to practically hearing from God. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when trying to discern the Lord’s voice in your life:
1. First and foremost know that hearing from the Holy Spirit takes practice! It’s weird unfamiliar territory and God knows we’re going to mess up sometimes. And if you do it’s ok. It doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to hear from him if you get it wrong sometimes. God is bigger than our broken human abilities to discern what He’s trying to tell us. No matter what, his will will come to pass and he will use all your efforts for good. Also, if you’re skeptical, it’s OK. It all sounds really wacky and trust me that’s what I thought at first too. If that’s where you’re at right now I would encourage you to keep an open mind and let God show you how personal He is. God can handle your skepticism and your questions so don’t feel like you have to hide how you’re really feeling from him cuz guess what? He already knows. Bring your real thoughts and questions to him and let him do the rest.
2. God can speak in a limitless amount of ways. It can be through the Bible, worship, another person, circumstances, prayer, or just a feeling/thought you get that you know didn’t come from your own mind. But how do you know it’s not just your mind? Let me give you an analogy. Let’s say you and I are really close friends. We text each other every day and talk all the time. Then one day my brother takes my phone and starts texting you from it. You’d probably know it wasn’t me on the other end of that phone. Why? Because you know me and my voice. You know things I would and wouldn’t say because you’ve invested time texting and talking with me. It works the same way with God. The Bible is God’s word. The more we are reading it and spend time in prayer, the more we will recognize God’s voice when he speaks to us.
3. When you have a feeling you are hearing from the Holy Spirit, it’s important to always make sure what you think you’re hearing lines up with the Bible. The Bible is the truth and is from God so if they’re in line, you know what you’re hearing is also from Him. For example, if you felt like you heard God saying to go punch someone in the face, that’s probably not from him because it contradicts scripture that says to show love to even your enemies.
4. God also gifted us a Christian community for a reason! It’s important to bring the things we think may be from the Spirit to other believers who are also walking closely with the Lord. They can offer insight and a second opinion and even ask God the same question themselves. God is always truthful so if two believers truly go to God with surrendered hearts, they will receive the same answer.
Now I would also like to point out that hearing from God isn’t always some big dramatic ordeal. Sometimes, God just wants to remind you He loves you. He isn’t going to give us the answers we want on our own timeline. Hearing from God is often a continuous process and he can reveal his answers over time. But, God always wants to talk with you! He’s your father remember? He delights in spending time with you even more than you could ever delight in him. He wants to encourage you, use you for good plans, and teach you more about his character.
I want to wrap up just sharing a way that I enjoy communicating with God. It is definitely not the only way to do it but I want to share my experience with y’all. I have something called a listening journal. I sit and ask God questions and read the word, pray, and then journal what I think He’s saying. I don’t stop and think about it or worry about the grammar or wording. I just let the pen flow and let what comes come. Once I have it written down, that’s when I check it with the Bible and another Christian. Often enough, I’ve found that where I happen to be reading in the Bible (or some verse will pop up or something elsewhere) will confirm what I just felt like I heard. A lot of times too what I hear is not the answer I would have wanted if it was up to me, or it catches me by surprise. That goes back to knowing the voice of God and that it’s different than the desires of our flesh. Have I always been spot-on with these journals? Of course not. And that’s ok. I’m still learning too. But I have seen some incredible things happen through doing this and God has spoken specifically into multiple seasons of my life where I’ve seen his promises be fulfilled later on.
I know this is A TON of information y’all and a lot to swallow, especially if this is your first time learning about it. Hearing from the Spirit is an area I am, and always will be, learning and growing in. I definitely didn’t explain it even close to perfectly but hopefully, this could all make some kind of sense. And any questions you have PLEASE connect with me! I would love nothing more than to chat about this with you.
