God's thoughts or mine

[Joan Lamb]

Hello. How would I know about some of my thoughts- God speaking or just my own mind. How to tell the difference? Blessings.

 

[Trusting in Him]

It takes time to learn to hear the word of God in your life. It's not an abstract thing. Try to not allow your own understanding and imagination to be part of this. It's just not like that. Believe me, you won't need anyone to tell you when God speaks to you. You will know! I don't know how it will be for you, so don't ask me. I came to a point in my life when I had my second stroke and it crippled me. It was very frightening and all I could do is cling to God. I always thought that I was someone who was gifted and really knew how to make things happen and suddenly that was gone forever. Since then I've had a lot of time on my hands and I read the bible a lot more than I ever had.

I also know what it is to have discovered the fear of the Lord. God opens the scriptures to me and makes them so real to me. As I go through lifes struggles and encounter things which need decisions, I often face impossible choices and impossible situations. My wife and I pray about these things and then we find that God is under taking for us. As time goes on God speaks to us, sometimes individually, sometimes to both of us. Men and women's minds don't work the same, but I look to God to confirm important things to both of us and He does this. He speaks to me in ways that are clearly from Him. Will you surrender completely to Him, will you trust your whole life to Him. I'm not joking, but when I had my second stroke, I did not know if I was going to live, or die. I now live day by day in total dependance upon Him and that's every day.

I don't know when my life will end and I can not be sure of when I might no longer be here. I truely need to know that I am His every day. It's so important and it's not anything which has anything at all to do with me. When God speaks to you, you will definitely know it is Him. Waiting on Him is an important thing to learn. His word says, "Be still and know that I am God" Just do that! Don't act in presumption, wait on Him first! "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." May God bless you as you seek to hear His voice!

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hello. How would I know about some of my thoughts- God speaking or just my own mind. How to tell the difference? Blessings.

If you can't tell the difference then God is not speaking to you.

 

[TruthSeek3r]

If you can't tell the difference then God is not speaking to you.

I remember you said some time ago, in a thread about prophecy, that 90% of the time you were not quite sure if a word came from God (or something along those lines). If there is any doubt whatsoever about the origin, does that automatically mean that the word does not come from God?

 

[Joan Lamb]

If you can't tell the difference then God is not speaking to you.

It's just that sometimes I have heard a speaker reporting on his conversation with God and I wondered how he told the difference between his thoughts and God's.

 

[lismore]

It's just that sometimes I have heard a speaker reporting on his conversation with God and I wondered how he told the difference between his thoughts and God's.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:9-11).

When I was in the AOG I heard what you're saying sometimes, a pastor would recount his conversation with God from the pulpit. I remember one sharing a long conversation he had in the bathtub with God and I wondered if it really was from God. Not because he said God spoke to him when he was taking a bath, it was the content. If what God was saying sounded like something the pastor would say then perhaps it was the pastor cutting the cloth to suit himself. God's ways are higher than ours and his thoughts higher than ours. When the Lord says something it does not return void but achieves his purpose. When a speaker or prophet is sent by God what they say achieves God's purpose. God Bless

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I remember you said some time ago, in a thread about prophecy, that 90% of the time you were not quite sure if a word came from God (or something along those lines). If there is any doubt whatsoever about the origin, does that automatically mean that the word does not come from God?

You are correct about my seeming contradiction. I used to sort of take pot luck in prophesying, and I guess I was lucky that they turned out okay. But I was careful not to add "thus says the Lord" because if I was not sure, I wasn't going to get into trouble with the Lord by taking His name in vain. I was going to leave it to the hearer to determine whether the prophecy was a word from God for him or not. I think that when we desire to prophesy, and the desire can come from a love for the brethren and to encourage them in the Lord, then we can trust that the prophecy will be a blessing.

But after seeing the many false prophecies that have gone out with the extreme word-faith movement (I have to say that there are many good people within that movement who truly love the Lord and want His best for the body of Christ. I am not referring to them), I felt that the waters have become very muddy, and I didn't want to be number with those false prophets. So, I am in no hurry to prophesy these days unless I am totally sure that it is the Holy Spirit who is motivating me. If I am asked to give a word to someone, I will always say that this is what comes to me, but "you have to determine whether it is a word from God for you or not, otherwise accept it as godly encouragement and advice".

I believe that if a person has to add "thus says the Lord" to a prophetic word, then in most cases it will be false, and the person saying it would be taking the Lord's name in vain. I believe that if a prophecy is true and of the Holy Spirit, it will be clearly obvious without the "prophet" having to sell the word as from the Lord Himself.

So, I am a lot more cautious these days than I have been in the past. The most scary prophecy I gave was in the early 1980s when I gave a word to an elderly sister in Christ who just loved the Lord and wanted to go and be with Him. I told her that she is not long for this world. Six months later, I got news that she had passed away, and everyone in that church group knew of the prophecy and that it had comes to pass. One of the most remarkable ones was to a man in a meeting. I had not met that man before that meeting, and I prophesied that he would have a financial miracle. The others in the group started praising the Lord. I found out that the man was facing bankruptcy in his business. Another prophecy I gave was to a mature retired minister, very experienced in the prophetic. I had no knowledge of his personal circumstances. He wrote back to me saying that my prophecy was so accurate that it had to be of the Holy Spirit.

With these prophetic words, I somehow knew that what I was saying was correct. I don't know how I knew. I just did, and the prophetic words were accurate, and I was just as amazed as those who received the words. Actually the group I was with was a Charismatic Methodist group newly introduced to the things of the Spirit. They thought it remarkable that I was just as amazed as the rest of them, because they thought that Pentecostals just accepted the work of the Spirit as something pretty normal and familiar. The trouble is with many Pentecostals is that they become too familiar, and familiarity can breed contempt. We should always be amazed when the Holy Spirit does something unexpected and awesome.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It's just that sometimes I have heard a speaker reporting on his conversation with God and I wondered how he told the difference between his thoughts and God's.

The reality is that God has said all He has to say to mankind within the pages of Scripture. Therefore if a person says that he has heard God speaking to him, then what is said has to be totally consistent with written Scripture. When God speaks to me, He points me to a passage or verse of Scripture where He has said it previously to someone else.

 

[disciple Clint]

Hello. How would I know about some of my thoughts- God speaking or just my own mind. How to tell the difference? Blessings.

my experience is when God speaks you know it is God, it is certain there is no doubt that the thought came directly from God. There is also a peace and assurance connected with it that you feel.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Hello. How would I know about some of my thoughts- God speaking or just my own mind. How to tell the difference? Blessings.

I belive if its not from your own well known thoughts , like an "a ha" moment, it could help discern if it is comming from the Father. This is often the case in my life. Blessings.

 

[lismore]

Hello Oscarr. Interesting post, it does raise some interesting questions though.

The reality is that God has said all He has to say to mankind within the pages of Scripture. Therefore if a person says that he has heard God speaking to him, then what is said has to be totally consistent with written Scripture.

Running the risk of weighing various prophecies, some will be from the flesh, some will be demonic and some will be from God. If the only valid points in modern prophecy are things that have already been said in scripture, why not just read out the scripture? Why would many churches bother with extra-biblical revelation at all?

My experience of extra biblical revelation may be similar to yourself, at the very best it is ambiguous. ANd very often it replaces biblical exegesis.

For example when I was in AOG the pastor was all excited one Sunday and called someone out to recount their dream of finding a samurai sword in a stream and various other revelations they had received (this was instead of the bible reading). What it practically meant, no-one was sure.

Then a member of the congregation read out a bible passage for communion- that was the ministry for the day. The sword in the stream was soon forgotten.

When God speaks to me, He points me to a passage or verse of Scripture where He has said it previously to someone else.

A word from the bible, a word in season, always good.

 

[lismore]

Hello. How would I know about some of my thoughts- God speaking or just my own mind. How to tell the difference? Blessings.

Perhaps Romans 12:2, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Read the Word of God, meditate on it, meditate on the word of God day and night Psalm 1:2. Then when a false thought comes to your mind or a false teaching to your ear you will know the difference.

I have a mate who worked in a bank picking up on counterfeit bank notes. To prepare they studied the real thing, the real bank note. Then when a counterfeit bill came along they could tell the difference right away.

Study the Word of God

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hello Oscarr. Interesting post, it does raise some interesting questions though.



Running the risk of weighing various prophecies, some will be from the flesh, some will be demonic and some will be from God. If the only valid points in modern prophecy are things that have already been said in scripture, why not just read out the scripture? Why would many churches bother with extra-biblical revelation at all?

My experience of extra biblical revelation may be similar to yourself, at the very best it is ambiguous. ANd very often it replaces biblical exegesis.

For example when I was in AOG the pastor was all excited one Sunday and called someone out to recount their dream of finding a samurai sword in a stream and various other revelations they had received (this was instead of the bible reading). What it practically meant, no-one was sure.

Then a member of the congregation read out a bible passage for communion- that was the ministry for the day. The sword in the stream was soon forgotten.



A word from the bible, a word in season, always good.

If we look carefully at 1 Corinthians 14 and put aside what different groups have read into it, we see that Paul doesn't say exactly what a prophecy should contain or how a person should exercise it. All he says is that all may prophesy (one by one), and that prophecy should be to edify, exhort, encourage and comfort the believers. Paul also links prophecy with saying things in a meeting that is understood by the hearers for their edification, as opposed to public use of tongues which is equivalent to a foreigner speaking a language unknown to all which does not edify.

I think that some groups have presumed that the prophecy that Paul is talking about is equivalent in some way to Old Testament prophecy. But when we look at Old Testament prophecy, we see that they were the preachers of their time, they not only foretold the future, but said many other things to build up, encourage and comfort the people as they warned and preached to the people to forsake their idols and return to the living God. So, Old Testament prophecy covered the whole gambit of preaching and the validation of a prophet was that he spoke what God told him to speak. False prophets were known by their motivation for speaking and so the content of what they said followed their own ambition, idol worship, or unquestioned loyalty to a godless king.

So, Paul's view of prophesy could well have covered the whole gambit of what was being spoken in a Christian meeting. Therefore prophecy for him could have included revelation, insight into the Scriptures, exhortation to remain faithful to Christ, teaching the principles of the Gospel, or direct words of encouragement to individual members. I don't think that it is the practice of someone getting up and saying "Thus says the Lord" and giving some sort of loud monologue about what God was supposedly saying to the people, as is the practice in Pentecostal churches. I think it was more informal than that. I think it was more of, "Something interesting came to me while I was praying this morning and I want to share it with you." Someone may ask: "Is there someone who can give us some teaching from the Scriptures?" And in response, one of the elders may get up and give the teaching. Another person may turn to another person and say, "Brother Zoop, I just want to encourage you in the Lord to be strong and courageous concerning the persecution you are going through right now." I believe that all these fall within the range of the type of prophecy that Paul was encouraging in the meetings.

I believe that Paul's letters were prophetic and certainly were consistent with Paul's definition of prophecy. I have heard preached and teaching messages in church that were definitely prophetic. So, the practice of someone getting up and "giving a prophecy" may not be what Paul meant about prophecy at all.

I read something interesting in Calvin's commentary on 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul says that prophecies are given while the others judge the prophecy. He says that it is not the content of a prophecy that is judged, but it is the prophet himself. If they judge the prophet to be a false prophet, then his prophecies will be false no matter what the content is. What this shows me is that anyone who shares in a Christian services has to be someone who is well known and trustworthy and who has proved to have received good, sound doctrine from the Lord. So in Calvin's definition of prophecy it is what Dirk Bogarde said at the end of a movie about his character and a priest, "It is the singer, not the song."

This definition would prevent people having to listen to prophecies from someone who has just walked into a meeting, saying that "God has led me here to speak with you". In some good Pentecostal churches, the leaders will not allow someone to prophesy until that person has been bonded into the fellowship and prove to be a stable believer with a sound doctrinal foundation. This stops random "wolves" coming in misusing prophecy and harming the flock.

Just a few thoughts to lubricate the discussion.