How does God speak to us?

I recently was listening to a pastor and heard him say, if you want to hear God speak to you, read his word, if you want to hear God speak to you audibly, read it out loud. His message was on people that go around saying that God told me this and God told me that, or God placed this in my spirit. This Pastor said that God places messages in our conscience, I always thought he speaks to us through our spirit or circumstances, are we splitting hairs here with conscience and spirit? Are they really somewhat the same as for as receiving God's messages to us?
Thanks Bill

My wife has vivid impressions of God speaking to her very specifically. She says it generally occurs during her devotional time and she describes a "download” into her mind. When she heeds, great things happen. This happens on rare occasions and definitely not an every day thing.

This has never happened to me; I wish that it did but that is not how God chooses to speak to me. He has spoken to me twice in dreams where I had no doubt it was from the Lord. These were not instructions but rather revelation of Himself to me.

Of course I do believe that God speaks through scripture but there are other ways. See Acts 13:2.

Todd... He has spoken to me twice in dreams where I had no doubt it was from the Lord. These were not instructions but rather revelation of Himself to me.

I hear you Bill. The two dreams I mentioned were so vivid and they affected me so deeply emotionally as it pertained to my love for Jesus that I know they were more than a normal dream. In both dreams I remember being filled with unutterable joy to the point where it took my breath away and I was trembling and could not speak (in my dream).

In the one dream I remember this beautiful worship being sung and there happened to be sheet music there and I remember saying that the words were so beautiful that I could not comprehend them. The only word I could read on the sheet music was "Eden.” When I told this dream to some brothers I prayed with, one of them reminded me that a meaning of Eden is "delight.” That was exactly the overall feeling of the dream- that God was delighted with me and others in the dream(who happened to be the guys I prayed with).

Wow! Todd, that was an awesome dream. I edited out what I had wrote here, because after much thought, I didn’t feel like was relevant to the thread I started.

Mr. Bill, here’s how I unpack the issue:

if you want to hear God speak to you, read his word, if you want to hear God speak to you audibly, read it out loud.

His message was on people that go around saying that God told me this and God told me that, or God placed this in my spirit.

This Pastor said that God places messages in our conscience, I always thought he speaks to us through our spirit or circumstances, are we splitting hairs here with conscience and spirit?

My concern would be how the pastor may have indiscriminately tossed out a false proposition on the back of a criticism. If this is a habit in your church culture, you will see a fair bit of judging, pride ”“ or other effects of spiritual immaturity.

When we focus on what’s wrong (in others) we deprive ourselves of the energy and time needed to forge what’s right, good and effective in our personal lives.

Mr. Bill, I’m blessed by how you are using your experience to nudge the "Body” here towards spiritual maturity. You’re making us think - with you.

Bless you, Mr. Bill!
Diane

He speaks to us directly and indirectly.

He could speak audibly,( Ive never experienced that)
By the Spirit of God.
By the word of God.
By prophecy, counsel, exhortations, word of knowledge/wisdom
By angelic voice.
By Judgments and chastening from God.

More indirectly; circumstances, books we read, a combination of effects= friends or pastor or even this discussion board.

When we focus on one avenue alone it gets pretty quiet out there. When we are sensitive to the things of God, even providentially, we begin to recognize God speaking in many ways.

I didn't hear the pastor's sermon, but hearing from God has never been confined strictly to reading scripture.
That being said EVERYTHING heard is to be scrutinized according to the scripture.

Diane: Excellent discerning in your post. Well said.

Marvin, I'm not trying to trouble you, but could you please list scripture that backs these 4 up.
Thanks Bill\t

He speaks to us directly and indirectly.

1.He could speak audibly,( Ive never experienced that)
2.By the Spirit of God.
3.By prophecy, counsel, exhortations, word of knowledge/wisdom
4.By angelic voice.

I agree Diane. Thank you so much for your thoughts, and this is so true below, but seems to be happening more everyday.

"It’s not the best idea to center a message on the perceived flaws of others".

Hi Brother bill

Audibly...

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

(Paul heard the voice and so did the other men.)

The context is Paul's conversion, which all started from seeing the light and hearing the voice of God audibly.
Maybe a more notable occasion was the mount of Transfiguration.
Matt 17 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid

Jesus and the other 3 heard the voice of God audibly.

And without getting technical at all... anytime Jesus spoke you were hearing the voice of God through the man Christ Jesus.

The Spirit of God

This voice is generally internal to the person.

1 jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
The anointing here synonymous with the Holy Spirit.
and again,

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

The Spirit teaching us is not merely a mental piecing-together of various bible texts to give some kind of coherency to scripture. The Spirit's teaching is revelation, power and enlightenment.

Branching out from this, the Spirit of God speaking to us uses the agency of the body of Christ.
This is where the Spirit of God manifests through us to others via verbalized words from God. They may come in the forms listed above.
The whole context of 1 cor 12-13-14 validates the ministry of speaking by the Spirit of God to one another.
( I will not quote the whole of that text here)

Angelic voice.

Acts 8:26

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert

Acts 10:7

And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually

I think this should be sufficient to disclose the various ways God speak to his people.

The common, normative way God speaks
Through internal revelations given by the Spirit of God Through reading the scriptures.
Through Preaching/teaching/exhorting/sharing our faith.
Through devotion and worship of the Lord
Through prayers, intercessions and ministering unto the Lord.

Now in Acts (whole chapter)
Where at least 4 different apostles spoke and gave counsel to one another, testimony and scripture principle so as to put to rest the issue of circumcision and the law.
There are many old testament texts but here is one that stands out for all of us here.
Romans 15:14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
(admonish here is build up, counsel or edify)

The Romans text is meaningless if it is not ascribed to a working of the Spirit of God, because Paul's boldness is toward them for spiritual growth and maturity. Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

These and many other texts can be given toward encouraging one another in expecting the Spirit of God to speak in a variety of ways so that we may grow up into him in all things.

Marvin is spot on, but the list can be so much more expanded. The problem becomes one of dependence on one hand and control on the other when we look at hearing God through others. Sometimes we get lazy and just want a word from God without spending time with God, than in comes the personal prophets with their controlling spirit. In all things no matter what I believe individually we need to be diligent to be good students of The Word of God and of seeking The God of The Word. In this age anyway. The early being without the Bible as we have it now that is.

As to dreams...... I could write several pages. I will spare you all here though. This too is an interesting subject , with an opening proposition by a well meaning preacher I am sure.

Lot to study here, personally I just always thought "today" God would only speak to us through spirit and conscience, and of course his word. You know all the folks that say God spoke to me this and that, you want to believe them, and I usually do, but after all the folks that said they had the heaven and back experience, I don't know who to believe anymore. I surely don't believe any of the Heaven and back experiences... John 3:13 says..No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man.

Brother Bill: Our faith in God's promises and design that he would speak to us need not be hindered by the silly and ridiculous. Doctrinally we have the exact same thing and we think nothing of obtaining right doctrine and practicing the truth.

Hearing God and following the Spirit of God is no different in terms of counting on God to teach us, putting ourselves in a place where the truth is lived out and preached, learning to related to others based upon the truth we know.

For me, when someone says "God doesn't speak to me, I go to the word and that's it, period" I think that's weird.
The next guys says "God tells me this, that and the other, plus where to park what to eat etc etc. I think that's weird. To me they're both way off base.
One errors on acquiring the truths of scripture, something has lead him to believe there is nothing for him but the written page. The other errors on discerning the Spirit of God, something has lead him to think God is little more than "ok google...I need"

Each extreme comes with its own special package of errors, extremes, fanaticism and of course a group of people who will not challenge or expose the error. Im not saying theyre heretics or loons ( though some surely are)

There are plenty of good preachers on this site to demonstrate the opposites and yet for all their dogma show they are just a foot or just a knee whatever and their sphere of knowledge is based on what they are.

Marvin said....The other errors on discerning the Spirit of God, something has lead him to think God is little more than "ok google...I need"

Thank you Marvin for posting the scriptures.

Paul speaks in 1 Cor. 1-3 about the carnality that existed in the church of Corinth. At issue was the fact that they had begun to divide themselves according to the particular style or slant of the teachers that had influenced them. Paul says that this is evidence of their carnality. He contrasts this with his own ministry and its power in the Holy Spirit.

All too often we try to interpret scripture through our own carnal experiences (circumstances) or through the doctrinal slant of men who have taught us and with whom we have somehow become enamored either through their style, their personality, or the seeming wisdom of their words to our own carnal mind.

But this is not how God would have us interpret scripture, nor how he would have us receive revelation. He sent His Holy Spirit to do this work.

It seems to me that the OP pictured a pastor who did not believe in the supernatural voice of God speaking to us directly. Unfortunately, his doctrine on this matter will prove himself correct in his own eyes. His ears are closed to this type of ministry of the Holy Spirit.

However, I regularly experience God speaking to me. It is a daily thing. I have learned to hear His voice and it is becoming as natural to me as hearing the voice of my wife or a good friend. A week ago, in worship at our fellowship, the Lord began to speak to me. I took out my phone and began to write down what He was saying to me. A few days later the pastor became very ill and asked at the last minute if I could preach. I began to pray and God told me, "This is why I spoke to you Wednesday night. Unpackage what I told you and preach it." It was not an audible voice, but it might as well have been as I heard Him speak clearly to my spirit.

Paul says in 1 Cor. 2 that we, through the Holy Spirit, can know the very mind of God, His thoughts, His desires, His directions. I believe that without the ministry of the Holy Spirit, you cannot hear the voice of God. The natural man, the carnal or fleshly mind, cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are spiritually discerned.

If I read scripture, but the Holy Spirit does not quicken it to me and make it alive, I can have an intellectual knowledge of what I read, but no spiritual understanding and no spiritual revelation. I am not to read scripture to know it intellectually. I am to read scripture to have it become revelation so that I might become what I am reading.

So even reading scripture to hear God speak requires the Holy Spirit to make it alive to my spirit, not just to my mind. I love to read scripture and have it leap off the page in living reality. I have, many times, been brought to my knees in praise and tears as God quickened His word to my heart. I have also had the same experience when He has spoken directly to my spirit.

AMEN!!!

This is very much my experience in the matter and find it to be a most valuable asset in this life. I mean where would I be without Him speaking to me directly and personally? I’ll tell you,... I’d be outta step with the Spirit of God. Call me crazy but I guess in my ignorance/innocence I believed He wanted to and would speak to me, so I believed and He does:)

Thanks Travis! I'm all about wanting to hear God speak to me through the spirit, and I always thought he did. Travis, I did enjoyed this pastors sermon, but with some pastors now days, there can be some error, on purpose? I don't know, so we have to be careful, as this scripture clearly states in Ephesians. "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming".
Ephesians 4:14

Mr Bill: Try and discern are essentially the same, but I believe they are different in a minor respect.

Discern= a type of judging that differentiates between the Spirit of God and a human spirit or demonic spirit or angelic spirit.
To Try the Spirit = a type of judging that acts as a kind of litmus test for the spirit. Such as when a prophecy is given and the leadership weight out the spirit whether it conveys a sense of the power and presence of God. If the spirit is judged as proceeding from God the message is then considered and it is judged as well in accordance with scripture.

Ive been in situations where I discerned the spirit speaking to us all was not of God, the message actually being spoken will in-general testify against the spirit that is speaking.
What I mean is the spirit speaking whether demonic or human may use Christian vernacular but it will not convey the sense of God that penetrates the hearts of the hearers.

Sadly I know of so few Churches that will permit public prophecy during a sunday service. This serves the enemy of our faith in that our leaders have no experience dealing with 'spirit' on a platform situation, nor do they learn to discern readily, they don't even pray about such a thing because they never expect such a thing, nor do they in general permit it.

The trick of course is with that inability to discern and try the spirit, anyone can "preach" now from the pulpit without any discerning other than maintaining a doctrinal alignment to their own Church dogmas. In effect, you can speak from the human spirit all day as long as you pay homage to various key/favorite doctrines of that congregation.

The gifts of the Spirit are not stupid, they are exceptionally wise and given for the growth of the Church.

Mr. Bill: I am not implying that the pastor quoted was full of trickery, deceit, or was purposely in error. I am saying that the doctrine that we hold onto can have a strong influence on what we believe and experience. If we, like the Corinthian church, are enticed by man's teaching and allow ourselves to enter into a camp that follows a man's interpretation, then we can genuinely be led astray. I believe the idea that the only way God legitimately speaks to us is through the written word is the result of this man aligning himself with man's doctrines rather than receiving revelation from the Spirit of God. (If indeed that is what he is saying. I am only assuming this based on the limited wording in the OP) As a result of believing this, this is all he will experience because he has an a priori commitment to his doctrinal slant that would rule out any other option.

If in this case I have misjudged the man, then I am wrong about him. However, I believe what I have said holds true in general.

Quote - I recently was listening to a pastor and heard him say, if you want to hear God speak to you, read his word, if you want to hear God speak to you audibly, read it out loud. His message was on people that go around saying that God told me this and God told me that, or God placed this in my spirit. This Pastor said that God places messages in our conscience, I always thought he speaks to us through our spirit or circumstances, are we splitting hairs here with conscience and spirit? Are they really somewhat the same as for as receiving God's messages to us?

I think your splitting hairs.

When I was a trainee field hand I would really rely on God to help me in my job and still do but that's when I developed my listening.

At first you'll miss it; because you'll think it's your thoughts, sometimes if it's a more important matter you'll see an image in your mind and then hear his voice with very clear instruction, but mostly it's a whisper just like a thoughts.

For example I was in Saudi just as the 2nd gulf war started it was night time and I was traveling back to camp and went into a petrol service station to get a few things. When the thought came out of the blew "get out now". So I turned to my the guy I was in with and said "we must leave now" and we left without getting everything.

As we was leaving he was asking what's wrong, I said I don't know all I know is that we must leave we are in danger.

As we pulled out onto the highway this pick up truck turned in with a massive Palestinian flag flying out the back of their pick up truck. Now nothing happened but praise God I heard the voice and obeyed.

However there are other times when I have heard and did not heed the voice(like a thought) and it has cost me and ended up with a written warning, for causing a delay on the job which could have been avoided if I had listened more carefully rather than casting off the thought.

Hope that helps