Maybe your pastor talks about hearing the voice of God, or your friend says, “God spoke to me today.” How do they know, and how do you discern the voice of God? This week Pastor and author, Dr. Kenneth Ulmer provided some great insight on how you can listen for and hear the voice of God in your life.
Dr. Ulmer starts the conversation with a warning. “One of the most common strategies the enemy uses against us is his ability to disguise his voice and speak things to us that come over as though this is God. The enemy majors in deception–making truth look like error and error look like truth.”
Here are some principles to discerning if you’re hearing God speaking:
1. Does it agree with or contradict the Word of God? If you hear something that is blatantly unbiblical, that is not God speaking.
2. Does it bring you revelation and peace? Scripture shares that God’s path is always peace. If this word brings you the peace that passes understanding, it’s a good sign.
3. Do the other godly people around you affirm what you’ve heard? If there’s division, that should give you pause before applying and sharing that word.
4. Recognize that often God will call us to the harder thing. In Dr. Ulmer’s words, “It will be the one that forces us to be vulnerable, that calls upon us to trust Him more than if we took the easy route.”
