I have prayed about it and I'm ready to share this publicly.
I am not aware of any damage it could cause.
This is to help some people understand how to hear God.
God came down to Earth once and spoke with the lips of a human body. He came down in the form of Jesus, and when Jesus returned to Heaven, that was the last time that God directly spoke to men in a human form.
How do you know the voice of God? Do you hear it in your mind?
How would you know the difference between your own voice and the voice of God?
How would you know the difference between deceit and truth?
Let's think along these lines. God speaks, and we recognize that the words that we hear would only be spoken by God.
Most of the time, this is in the form of signs.
We reason that only God can read our innermost thoughts, and that since God knows exactly what we are thinking, what we see, hear, and experience in the environment is like a direct response to our innermost thoughts.
A man is thinking, "What should I get my kids for Christmas?", then, he suddenly sees or hears something that seems to say "This is what you should get your kids for Christmas." That's called a sign. It's a response to something that no one other than God could give a correct response to. Kind of like "What number am I thinking of?" and you receive a response that tells you what number you are thinking of.
Most people assume that it is God when they hear or see something that answers a pressing question. Since God provides what you need, and because your deep need was met, then God must have provided it for you.
To begin to hear God's voice, all you need to do is know what God would say in response to something.
The best thing we have to reach this end is the Word of God. The preserved Word of God.
That is good. Though Scripture can answer EVERYTHING WELL, and "hearing" the voice of God is not necessary, you can get a sense of how God would respond to something.
The Jews had a God ordained method of quickly deciding what God's response to a situation would be called the Urim and the Thummim.
But I must say, patience and waiting is the best way to understand what God's will is. And meditation on Scripture, on the Bible, on the Word of God.
If you asked God, "What is 2 + 2?" God might respond "4".
If you asked God, "Should I take the job offer?" then you might see something in the environment that God must have placed there if it was the answer we were looking for.
God answers truthfully. So the answer that God gives us would be the truth.
What would God tell you in response to a question you have?
First, go to the Scripture. That is where we begin. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to a Scriptural answer.
But what about questions about things that Scripture cannot present a quick answer to?
And that is where our faith in God comes in. Scripture, the Word of God, is the foundation. And through experience, by the exercising of our senses, we come to know how God would respond to a given question.
I will present one example to illustrate this.
Scripture does not have a verse that answers the question, "My mom thinks I should marry this or that person. Which person should I marry?"
First, look for the exact answer, "You should marry xyz". But that is not in the bible.
Then, look for a way to infer the answer. Look for patterns, types, and examples that when added together, converge on a direct response. For instance, there might be a situation in the Old Testament where a person like you was in the situation you are in, and God handled the situation in such and such a way. Your answer would be to rely on what God had done in that situation.
But sometimes, that is not enough. This is where signs come in.
Since God can control everything, then our environment might clue us into the answer. We ask the question, and immediately, we see things in environment that either answer the question or contribute to an answer. We assume that God must be responding to us since what we see in the environment gave us the answer we were looking for.
But signs might not work.
What are we left with?
What we hear within. This is the last resort. And that is something that you can only have after a very long walk with God and discerning his will. You come to expect how God will respond to any given thing. Satan is subtle, be on guard, but there are times when you and only you know that only God would have responded in a such a way.
So my advice is this.
1) Consult Scripture for everything. Rely on Scripture exclusively until you reach a point where Scripture fails to provide an answer in a reasonable amount of time.
2) Consult elders, and those who have walked with God for a long time.
3) Trust that God can do anything, and that he alone knows your innermost thoughts. God can place things in the environment, make people say things, and cause things to happen that are the response you need to hear. These are called signs.
4) Consult your own walk with God and how he has dealt with you as a last resort. This is equivelant to knowing how God would respond to you. This can be dangerous, but when everything else fails, the only thing you can rely on is your faith.
Actually, that would be charity. So in the end, have charity.
I am not aware of any damage it could cause.
This is to help some people understand how to hear God.
God came down to Earth once and spoke with the lips of a human body. He came down in the form of Jesus, and when Jesus returned to Heaven, that was the last time that God directly spoke to men in a human form.
How do you know the voice of God? Do you hear it in your mind?
How would you know the difference between your own voice and the voice of God?
How would you know the difference between deceit and truth?
Let's think along these lines. God speaks, and we recognize that the words that we hear would only be spoken by God.
Most of the time, this is in the form of signs.
We reason that only God can read our innermost thoughts, and that since God knows exactly what we are thinking, what we see, hear, and experience in the environment is like a direct response to our innermost thoughts.
A man is thinking, "What should I get my kids for Christmas?", then, he suddenly sees or hears something that seems to say "This is what you should get your kids for Christmas." That's called a sign. It's a response to something that no one other than God could give a correct response to. Kind of like "What number am I thinking of?" and you receive a response that tells you what number you are thinking of.
Most people assume that it is God when they hear or see something that answers a pressing question. Since God provides what you need, and because your deep need was met, then God must have provided it for you.
To begin to hear God's voice, all you need to do is know what God would say in response to something.
The best thing we have to reach this end is the Word of God. The preserved Word of God.
That is good. Though Scripture can answer EVERYTHING WELL, and "hearing" the voice of God is not necessary, you can get a sense of how God would respond to something.
The Jews had a God ordained method of quickly deciding what God's response to a situation would be called the Urim and the Thummim.
But I must say, patience and waiting is the best way to understand what God's will is. And meditation on Scripture, on the Bible, on the Word of God.
If you asked God, "What is 2 + 2?" God might respond "4".
If you asked God, "Should I take the job offer?" then you might see something in the environment that God must have placed there if it was the answer we were looking for.
God answers truthfully. So the answer that God gives us would be the truth.
What would God tell you in response to a question you have?
First, go to the Scripture. That is where we begin. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to a Scriptural answer.
But what about questions about things that Scripture cannot present a quick answer to?
And that is where our faith in God comes in. Scripture, the Word of God, is the foundation. And through experience, by the exercising of our senses, we come to know how God would respond to a given question.
I will present one example to illustrate this.
Scripture does not have a verse that answers the question, "My mom thinks I should marry this or that person. Which person should I marry?"
First, look for the exact answer, "You should marry xyz". But that is not in the bible.
Then, look for a way to infer the answer. Look for patterns, types, and examples that when added together, converge on a direct response. For instance, there might be a situation in the Old Testament where a person like you was in the situation you are in, and God handled the situation in such and such a way. Your answer would be to rely on what God had done in that situation.
But sometimes, that is not enough. This is where signs come in.
Since God can control everything, then our environment might clue us into the answer. We ask the question, and immediately, we see things in environment that either answer the question or contribute to an answer. We assume that God must be responding to us since what we see in the environment gave us the answer we were looking for.
But signs might not work.
What are we left with?
What we hear within. This is the last resort. And that is something that you can only have after a very long walk with God and discerning his will. You come to expect how God will respond to any given thing. Satan is subtle, be on guard, but there are times when you and only you know that only God would have responded in a such a way.
So my advice is this.
1) Consult Scripture for everything. Rely on Scripture exclusively until you reach a point where Scripture fails to provide an answer in a reasonable amount of time.
2) Consult elders, and those who have walked with God for a long time.
3) Trust that God can do anything, and that he alone knows your innermost thoughts. God can place things in the environment, make people say things, and cause things to happen that are the response you need to hear. These are called signs.
4) Consult your own walk with God and how he has dealt with you as a last resort. This is equivelant to knowing how God would respond to you. This can be dangerous, but when everything else fails, the only thing you can rely on is your faith.
Actually, that would be charity. So in the end, have charity.