The phrase “Thus saith the Lord” appears hundreds of times in the Bible. From time immemorial, it presents us with a God who particularly loves to address His people and maintain a real relationship with them. Already in Genesis (Genesis 3: 8), it is revealed to us that God came down in the evenings to visit the man and spend time in his company.
Even today, God constantly speaks to us and desires to have a real relationship with each of us. Alas, His voice is drowned in the multitude of voices in our hearts. Like Samuel (at the beginning), we fail to discern when God speaks to us, to make us attentive to His listening.
“However, God speaks, sometimes in one way, sometimes in another, and we pay no heed to it. Job 33:14
God is sovereign and He decides how He speaks to us. Thus, He can speak to us audibly, through dreams, visions, dreams, intuitions, preaching, music that plays, or even simple thoughts that cross our minds, etc. Scientists tell us, moreover, that we have tens of thousands of thoughts that arise and disappear in our brains every day.
These are diverse and varied thoughts, each as noisy as the other. They come to us either from ourselves, from God, or from satan. In such an interior din, it may seem difficult or even impossible to distinctly discern the voice of God when He speaks to us.
Through the points below, you can have the attitude which will enable you to filter all the voices which come to your mind, in order to let emerge only, those which come from God.
1. Not seeking God in the flesh.
God is Spirit (John 4-24) and it is in spirit that we are called to have a relationship with Him. Seeking God in the flesh, sensations, emotions, etc. opens an avenue to confusion. This does not mean that God will never use our emotions and feelings to speak to us. As we said, God is sovereign and we can sometimes have prophetic emotions. But, it is a mistake to seek Him in the flesh because He is spirit.
There are some who, for example, when they do not feel shivers during worship or prayer, deduce immediately that God was not there. Yet God chooses to reveal Himself to us as He wills when we are in spirit with Him. It is generally to our spirit that He speaks,
2. Compliance with the Word of God.
The test of the conformity of our thoughts with the Bible is the 1st indicator that reveals to us the thoughts likely to come to us from God. Because if there’s one thing that God’s bound by, it’s His Word. John 1:1 teaches us that the Word is God. Thus, God can never contradict himself. He is consistent in all of His nature and He can never question His Word. This is why it is important to have a life of meditation on the Word in order to be filled with it.
So if the voice you hear tells you something inconsistent in any way with the Word of God clearly expressed in the Bible (Philippians 4: 8), it certainly does not come from God. However, this indicator alone is not enough to persuade you that your thoughts necessarily come from God. Because, we sometimes ignore it, but the devil also knows the Bible very well and as he did with Jesus, he can come and seduce you from the holy scriptures.
3. The peace of God in our hearts.
If we are truly born again, we are indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14). His presence in us empowers us not to do our own will but to always do the will of the Father. To this end, He constantly rings the alarm bell whenever we stray even slightly from the path of God’s will.
The preferred means by which he exercises this arbitration is his peace in our hearts. This peace is one of the most reliable indicators of the voice of God. Indeed, the devil cannot bring us peace. Therefore, even though he enriches those who belong to him and showers them with good things, they are not at peace. To give peace is beyond his power because he himself is not at peace. We can understand him because he lives in expectation of a judgment that will condemn him to spend eternity in hell.
Christ alone is the prince of peace and He alone can bring peace to His people through the Holy Spirit. That’s the reason you lose your peace as soon as you walk away from Him. So if the voice you hear in your mind doesn’t bring you peace, chances are it’s not from God.
4. The test of times and circumstances.
God is the master of times and circumstances. Very often, when it is He who speaks to us, the times and the circumstances adjust themselves perfectly in our favor, for the accomplishment of His purposes. Likewise, when it is not God speaking to us, He will often use times and circumstances to block us, to prevent us from going astray.
It is true that sometimes, although being in the will of God, the devil rises (as was the case with Daniel) to fight us. But perseverance in prayer inevitably overcomes him. So if you got up, believing you had heard God and that the obstacles and blockages follow one another and persist despite your prayers, it is the Eternal who is trying to make you understand that you are outside of his will.
5. The purpose of the Glory and good pleasure of God.
God does everything for His Glory, for His good pleasure. Everything exists through Him and for Him, for His glory alone (Romans 11:36). Psalm 149:4 also tells us that “God is pleased with His people.” If we are saved and redeemed, it is to serve for the Glory of God. So if the purpose of the instruction or information that the voice we hear in our minds imparts to us is not to glorify God, then it is certainly our own voice or that of Satan that we are hearing.
This list is obviously not exhaustive. Beyond all of this, therefore, the most important thing is to cultivate an intimate relationship with God through meditation on His Word and prayer. As true as it is easy to discern the voice of someone we love or who is familiar to us among many, you will grow in your ability to discern the voice of God by getting into the habit of talking to Him regularly. and listen to Him.
