When waiting for the Spirit's answer how does one receive it and know it is the Holy Spirit's answer rather than our own inclination or something else?
A few things stand out from my experience;
1.pay attention to where that voice comes from. Do you hear it from inside your head, (just like you were thinking), or is it a voice from outside of your body, just as though a friend was standing next to you, talking to you?
2. Does what the voice say agree with your will, or does the voice agree with what God says?
Let me tell you of my first experience of listening for the Holy Spirit:
I went grocery shopping with no particular list of things to get.
The Holy Spirit took over and made good healthy suggestions ( I used to eat a lot of junk food) and He also helped me to remember what I needed to get that I had forgotten about.
When I got to the check out stand, I had a cart full of healthy food, and the necessary things that I had forgotten about.
That was a good shopping trip that provided good for me food, and saved me an extra trip for what I had forgotten.
What He guided me to was good for me, good for my pocketbook, and supplied me with what I needed.
And I felt really satisfied, in command, and I knew that what I had been directed to would do me good!