I have two members of my family that are basically deaf in one ear. To no fault of their own they are frequently wondering if I’m talking to them. I often get the response of: “Huh?” “What?” or “Are you talking to me?”
They get a little frustrated because they know they heard something but it wasn’t quite clear. So, they have to ask for clarification.
We often have the same frustration when we think we’ve heard God talking to us. We know we’ve heard something but we’re not quite sure what we heard or who was talking.
Then we wonder was that God or was it my imagination? If that’s you I want to help you with that.
Here’s how to know if God is talking to you:
1. Check the motives of your heart.
We want to be careful not to confuse the voice of God with our feelings. More times than not our feelings fool us. Especially when they are self-motivated.
Philippians 2:3 tells us to keep a check on our motives:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.”
When you think God is talking to you the question you need to ask is… What’s my motive? If it’s truly godly it might be God.
2. Align it with God’s word.
The wonderful thing about God is that he will never betray his character or speak contrary to what is in his word. Whenever he speaks to you it will always be consistent with the scriptures.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us the scriptures are God’s word to us to prepare us for… well, everything. It says:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
When you think God is talking to you the question you need to ask is… Does this align with God’s word? If it’s God speaking to you, it will.
3. Pray for the confirmation of his will.
This is the secret sauce, prayer. It’s what aligns our motives with God’s word and his will.
1 John 5:14-15 tells us one of the great prayer promises when it says:
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
God will answer your prayer in one of three ways yes, no or not right now. Whatever God’s answer is it will always be in line with his perfect will.
When you think God’s talking to you the question you need to ask is… God, is this your will?
4. Seek godly advice.
Fact: loners are lonely and people who don’t seek advice are foolish. Proverbs 12:15 teaches us this when it says:
“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”
It’s wisdom to seek advice. It’s godly, actually.
When you think God is talking to you the question to ask is… What godly person can I ask for advice?
I want to make sure I’m clear here. When I say godly that’s exactly what I mean. I’m not saying all your super close Facebook friends (wink, wink) or the comments from your favorite blog post.
I’m talking about people who are faithfully walking with Jesus and know his word. This could be a leader at church, a close, godly friend or a Christian counselor.
1 Corinthians 15:33 makes it clear why our advice needs to come from godly people when it says:
“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
How to know if God is talking to you can be difficult at times but I’ve found these four steps to be a tremendous help to me. I know they will to you as well.
Once you feel confident you’ve heard direction from God then step out in faith. If your motives are right, it aligns with God’s word, you’ve prayed about it and godly people confirm it then do it.
Look up these verses to build your faith:
