Inner Voice and Promptings

[twin1954]

Good grief. Read your Bible.

Moses. Jonah. Elijah; probably lots more, but that is off the top of my head.

Read the Bible.

Do you honestly think that I haven't read my Bible? Just giving names doesn't show how they are examples of your assertion. Show how they are.

 

[twin1954]

Opinion + random Scripture =/= valid argument.

The burden of proof still lies with you.

As I said before the Scriptures that I gave were not random but every one was to show that what I said is based in the Scriptures. Ignore it and make fun of it all you want, it changes nothing.

 

[shelley1952]

My sister a few days ago told me she had a dream about mom and was wondering what it meant. I told her to not put too much stock in a dream(she's lost so I did not want to try to get too deep, {I don't put any stock into a dream}but dreams are nothing more than our thoughts put into 'action' in our sleep and not God's way of expressing Himself). But God communicates to us solely through the means of His word, and it is clear and concise(when the Spirit illumines my mind as I study).

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

 

[vinsight4u]

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[MechPebbles]

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[MechPebbles]

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[shelley1952]

Seems like the only Bible quotation in this entire thread that has any relevance at all with the original question.

LOL, actually it was in response to convicted 1s comment....... And I quote.. "But God communicates to us solely through the means of His word,".
But this is against what the Bible teaches.
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

OK, let me see if I can answer any of your questions.

1) Do you believe God speaks to His people through a quiet, inner voice? yes !
2) Do you believe the Holy Spirit "prompts" people into certain actions? yes
3) Do you yourself experience these things? yes sometimes
4) How do these things happen? What is this voice like? What does the "prompting" feel like?
Whew ok, let me see if I can try to explain some of it. Have you ever had someone ask you to do something but something inside you was giving you a bad feeling, kind of like saying you shouldnt do it but it decided to do it anyway but then something goes wrong and things end up bad ? Well that prompting inside you was Holy Spirit. Once I had a vision while sitting in my livingroom where I was shown what the Lord wanted me to do and after the vision was over I heard Him say, I will teach you in ways you can understand. I cant really recall what the voice sounded like. Once I heard Him speak to me just as I was dozing off to sleep, it jolted me awake because it was a mans voice and it actually sounded audible though I have no way of knowing if it was. I use to do in home healthcare services and once we were doing 24 hr. care for a man who lived way way out in the country and I was working 3-11. Well as I was driving home one night I had a strong feeling I shouldnt take this certain road home but it was closer but so I took it. I was going down a stretch that was kind of spooky and all of a sudden something big jumped out of a ditch that would of ended up right in front of my car but like a blink of an eye it was just gone. It scared me so bad I wanted to puke. I knew instantly it was a spiritual attack but God had protected me. But the thing is had I gone the other way it wouldnt of happened. Once I was driving at night and at 60 miles an hour I lost my eyesite and I was alone but I wont tell you all that one.
5) How do you know it's God speaking or acting? Sometimes its easy to know, lets say you get mad at someone and you hear a voice that says, you just should hit him, well needless to say, you know thats not God. If you hear, ask him if you can pray for him you know thats God. You should know scripture at least well enough to judge the voices. If its telling you something you know is bad, dont do it.
6) If you do not believe God works in such a way, please explain.

Pray that He would make you sensitive to His Spirit and His voice.
Learn the fine art of listening. Many people talk to God but they don't stop to listen—or they don't develop listening skills. Listening truly is a skill that you can learn, whether in your natural relationships or your spiritual relationship with God. You need to "have an ear" to hear the Holy Spirit and that may mean training your spiritual ears to recognize the ways He is speaking. Jesus said, "He who has ears [to hear], let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing" (Matt. 13:9, AMP). Solomon prayed that God would give him a hearing heart (1 Kings 3:9). Many translations say "understanding heart" in that verse but the Hebrew word translated "understanding" in that verse is shama, which translates to hear, understand, listen or obey. Pray that God will give you a hearing heart, then listen and obey.
Fellowship more with the Holy Spirit. This is fundamental. If you want to hear from God more clearly, spend more time with Him and His Word. Paul told his spiritual son Timothy, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17, MEV). Knowing the Word guards us from deception—and from falling into the trap of listening to other voices or even following vain imaginations. If you seek God, you will hear His voice. You don't have to be in a quiet room to hear from God. Your soul just needs to be quiet and focused on Him. Let your spirit dominate. Listen with spiritual ears. You can hear Him! Practice !
OK I am all talked out for now, sorry it is so lengthy, and hope it helps a little, God bless

 

[Sovereign Grace]

Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

That was a fulfillment of " And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreans, your young men will see visions."[Joel 2:28] So, since that day, it appears to me, we are in the last days. But it seems that these dreams and prophesyings are no longer for us as it says "Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." It appears that these gifts were for the Apostolic age and when the last Apostle died, those gifts ceased.

 

[Archie the Preacher]

1) Do you believe God speaks to His people through a quiet, inner voice?

At times. Quite often, so quietly it seems like my own thinking.

2) Do you believe the Holy Spirit "prompts" people into certain actions?

Yes, I do. Certainly not all the time, but enough to acknowledge it does happen.

3) Do you yourself experience these things?

I have on occasion. It's not like every morning between 0800 and 0830 I compose myself and God 'sends' me my daily orders. (Sometimes I wish He would.)

4) How do these things happen? What is this voice like? What does the "prompting" feel like?

It varies. When studying the Bible, I will occasionally get 'enlightenment' about the meaning of a certain passage. Usually it's later when I realize that was God speaking. This sort of thing is never like a loudspeaker announcement, "Now here this! ..."

A very long time ago (1967 or so) in a circumstance of potential lethal consequences, I did hear a voice in my head tell me, "You better get over there" (and I knew where 'there' was located). Everything turned out all right.

I am sometimes 'prompted' to do certain things, make certain offerings, go certain places and so forth. Sometimes it's as mundane as realizing I should turn right at that corner, or realizing I should talk to that person.

5) How do you know it's God speaking or acting?

I don't, consciously. At least not at the time. Usually in retrospect I can see how it worked. Sometimes I'm aware God is 'acting' while it's happening, but that is the rare occasion. At least I don't recall it being 'often'. Which is not to say God does not direct me all the time, it is just to say I don't always recognize it when it happens. No 'loudspeaker' or big sign. No brass band.

6) If you do not believe God works in such a way, please explain.

I believe God works differently with all believers. What happens to me is not binding on anyone else. Sort of like 'tongues' except in reverse. I've never spoken in tongues - of which I'm aware - but if God directs me to do so, I will obey. No one should expect or demand God deal with them as He does with me. No one else is me. (That's considered a 'good thing' by some.)

I should hasten to add: All 'inspirations', 'enlightenment', or 'understandings' from God will agree with Biblical text. No matter how 'attractive' or 'logical' the potential action may be, God will never instruct anyone to blatantly ignore His teaching.

Not every circumstance one encounters in life can be unequivocally and directly answered by Scripture. For instance, the Bible doesn't have a passage telling me which house to buy. But the Bible does have sound advice for life in general and principles which cover all issues. Being familiar with them is a great start toward understanding what God would have us do in mundane life.

 

[MechPebbles]

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[MechPebbles]

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[Sovereign Grace]

I'm clueless as to why you are talking about gifts.

Shelley1952 quoted Acts 2:21 and you heartedly agreed. Now, Acts is a book no one should build their doctrine off of because it was a book of transition, where many things did then no longer happen. Peter raising Dorcas, Paul bringing Eutychus back to life after falling three stories, ppl speaking in tongues, ppl having visions and dreaming dreams seems to fit in with these sign gifts along that time. Those ceased when the last Apostle died, imo.

 

[MechPebbles]

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[Archie the Preacher]

I really don't understand why God would communicate to His people in such a way that no one can be really sure if it's Him.

Perhaps He doesn't want people to get all excited about the hype and neglect the gift. I do know God speaks to me. There's no doubt. However, the way it happens, there's no doubt in my military mind it is His doing and not something I can 'call up' when I want to look impressive. No one else can reasonably think that either.

His hidden-ess is very puzzling ...

That has occurred to me as well. I don't have a firm and solid answer, but I think it's along the lines of not wanting to impress people with 'parlor tricks'. Consider all the miracles the prophets - especially Elijah and Elisha - performed in front of just about everyone; then the miracles Jesus performed in public: without much lasting impression on many people. Miracles generate too much hype and not enough actual belief - it seems.

...and I was hoping to explore it in another thread but that didn't turn out well.

I understand. Too many people just don't get 'it' at all, or have their own axe to grind.

 

[MechPebbles]

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[98cwitr]

A lot of Christians believe that God can speak to them directly through a small, inner voice. They also believe they can be "prompted" by the Spirit into doing something. In order that replies don't wander all over the place, please answer these specific questions:

6) If you do not believe God works in such a way, please explain.

Kindly note that this is just for discussion. There is no need for you to accuse me of being an unbeliever, a heretic or an immature Christian or that I have plugged my ears with my fingers, or that I am only interested in satisfying my curiosity and care little about bowing to the truth or that I am no Abraham and no friend of God. Thank you.

1) Do you believe God speaks to His people through a quiet, inner voice?

I think it is just ourselves, our ability to manifest an ulterior voice differing from ourselves.

2) Do you believe the Holy Spirit "prompts" people into certain actions?

Yes, absolutely

3) Do you yourself experience these things?

I have. It gave me faith.

4) How do these things happen? What is this voice like? What does the "prompting" feel like?

The evidence for me was a summation of coincidences that led me to conclude that something is Sovereign over creation

5) How do you know it's God speaking or acting?

It's a holistically benevolent force. This can be compared and contrasted to the malevolent force of the devil and our own sin.

 

[Archie the Preacher]

That may be true for unbelievers but why does God feel it necessary to keep Himself hidden from His children?

He isn't. He doesn't. I find the question not accurately worded or on an inaccurate premise. The Lord does not conceal His presence or actions from me. He doesn't tell me in advance, in detail. Sometimes I get a "Stick around and watch this..." sort of message.

Holy Writ tells us what He does. The action He takes speaks for itself, even if there are no photos with circle and arrows and a paragraph on the back... When it's over, I clearly see God's action.

God is 'discrete', not concealed. This may not be the same for all Christians; as mentioned, Christians are all different. Perhaps 'spiritual vision' - which is another concept not directly mentioned or named in the Bible - increases as one increases in knowledge and faith?

 

[PrettyboyAndy]

A lot of Christians believe that God can speak to them directly through a small, inner voice. They also believe they can be "prompted" by the Spirit into doing something. In order that replies don't wander all over the place, please answer these specific questions:

1) Do you believe God speaks to His people through a quiet, inner voice?
2) Do you believe the Holy Spirit "prompts" people into certain actions?
3) Do you yourself experience these things?
4) How do these things happen? What is this voice like? What does the "prompting" feel like?
5) How do you know it's God speaking or acting?
6) If you do not believe God works in such a way, please explain.

Kindly note that this is just for discussion. There is no need for you to accuse me of being an unbeliever, a heretic or an immature Christian or that I have plugged my ears with my fingers, or that I am only interested in satisfying my curiosity and care little about bowing to the truth or that I am no Abraham and no friend of God. Thank you.

Nice post,

I won't answer your questions per say, but many Muslims are coming to Christ by having visions of Jesus, there are many many testimonies on youtube.

So they can not be fake or false, because Christ is being glorified, and people are being saved, and receiving the Holy Spirit.

So yes I believe God speaks to his people through many various ways, but the evidence of that would be Christ being glorified and drawing his people to Himself.

 

[MechPebbles]

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[Archie the Preacher]

You're now side-stepping the issue. I'm sorry, Archie, but you were addressing the issue directly until this point.

Stop right there.

I am not side stepping. I am directly disagreeing with you. You said you weren't going to argue, and now you are because I don't agree with your script. God does not 'hide'. Our inability to see is not due to His hiding. If you wish me to continue, then follow your own rules.

If you don't wish me to continue, just tell me. But don't tell me I'm side-stepping by not following your views.