3 Simple Ways to Discern God’s Voice In Your Life

Valentyn Svit shares three of the ways we can be assured we are following the voice of the Holy Spirit.

You’re driving on the way to work and you hear a voice speak to you in your mind:

“Move to California.” You look around. The radio is off and everything is quiet.

Now you’re wondering… where in the world did this thought come from?

Was this because I watched that documentary last night on Yosemite or is this God trying to say something to me?

In these crucial moments, it’s important to be able to know the real from the fake.

In this article, I’m going to show you 3 practical ways to discern the voice of God in your life so that you can know when He’s speaking to you with confidence.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. The Bible

If God truly is speaking to you, He will never contradict Himself. One of the best ways to confirm what you’ve heard is really from the Lord is to compare it to what the Bible says.

For Example: The Lord will never ask you to lie, steal, or sin in any way, no matter what the circumstances look like.

If you know that what you’re hearing goes against the Bible you can be sure that it’s either your voice or the voice of the enemy.

I know what you might be thinking…

What about an answer to a question that is more neutral? Something like:

“Yes, you should take that job offer.” How can you confirm that?

That brings us to number 2.

2. The Fruit of the Spirit

When the Holy Spirit is in a place, a moment in time, or voice, the fruits of His Spirit will be there:

Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

When God speaks, He will often confirm the word or vision by coating it with the Fruits of the Spirit.

As you hear an answer or an impression in your thought life, does it bring a deeper awareness of Peace with it? Do you feel His love or His presence as He speaks?

The way you feel inside when you hear a voice in your mind can be one of the best indicators of whether it really is God or not. It is His peace that passes all understanding and which guards our heart and mind while leading us at the same time.

3. Practice Stepping Out

One of the best ways to discern the voice of God is by learning to recognize when He speaks.

How do you do that?

By taking a step of faith and taking action on what you know is the Lord’s voice.

There are certain things that God will speak to you that you will not need confirmation for.

For example: Let’s say you are in a store and you hear a voice tell you to pray for the man buying coffee beans (probably me). You can be pretty confident in knowing that it’s probably the Holy Spirit.

The first time you might not be completely sure, but as you begin to step out and take action on what He’s asking you to do, you will begin to recognize His voice more often.

It’s kind of like when you meet your best friend. The first time they called, you probably didn’t know who it was. As you spent time talking to them and listening to them, you eventually began to recognize their voice in a room full of people.

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