HOW GOD SPEAKS: 10 CATEGORIES

1. God directly spoke with a manifest presence, in very clear, powerful ways

• “The word of the Lord came to… saying…”
• God appearing and speaking to Moses in the tent of meeting
• To Adam & Eve in the garden; to Abraham as one of 3 men; to Elijah;
• Christ, God incarnate, spoke during His earthly ministry, and a few times after
He ascended (Ex. Hebrews 1:1-2; to Paul Acts 9:1-6; 23:10-11; the testimony of Charles Stanley)

2. The Holy Spirit:
• Word of knowledge or Word of wisdom or a direct word from the Holy Spirit:
This is a word of God directly to you; may or may not be audible. There may tend to be some uncertainty at first of who’s the voice is: His, or ours.

• 1 Corinthians 12:8
• Acts 10:19 The Holy Spirit told Peter that 3 people were seeking him.
• Acts 13:1-4 The Holy Spirit told believers to set apart Barnabus and Saul for missions work
• Acts 16:6 The Holy Spirit did not permit Paul to go to Asia or Bithynia.
• Kimmy Barker’s testimony of joining church plant

• Prophecy: A word from God’s Holy Spirit through one person to another — could be a future-telling sort of thing, or a declarative word from the Lord through a prophet or preacher. The Holy Spirit could move a pastor to preach on the very thing you have been asking god about — and when you hear it, you know it’s a word from God to you. Not all preaching is prophetic, and not all prophecy is preaching.

• 2 Peter 1:20-21 “… no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation… but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
• Romans 12:6 Prophecy is a spiritual gift, given by the Holy Spirit, for use in the body of Christ (see also 1 Cor. 12:28; 1 Cor. 14:29,31,39)
• Acts 20:23; Acts 21:10-11 The Holy Spirit foretold of Paul’s death, through Agabus and others
• Acts 11:28 Agabus, by the Holy Spirit, predicts the great famine coming upon the land.
• Acts 13:9-11 The Holy Spirit speaks through Paul, to Elymas the sorcerer.
• John 15:26 The Holy Spirit will testify of Christ to the world (through people): Acts 1:8; 2:1-4; 4:8-12, 31
• 1 Corinthians 14:3 Those who prophesy speak edification, exhortation, and comfort to men: Ex. Pastor Mark Becton’s story

• Non-verbal impressions by the Holy Spirit:
Sometimes the Holy Spirit communicates to you through “nudging’s” and non-verbal impressions. If you think God is nudging you or impressing something on your heart — search it out, seek confirmation, raise your awareness until you find the answer. As a believer, the Spirit of God lives within you, and you must learn to discern His voice from yours. The Bible is the best way to “test” these.

• John 16:7-8 Impressions, like the conviction of the Holy Spirit
• 1 Cor. 12:10 — “Discerning of spirits” The Holy Spirit can help us to discern
whether something is from God or Satan (see also 1 John 4:1)
• Read Travis Collin’s book “Directionally Challenged” Ch. 2 for more info.

• Praying in the Spirit — effective prayers led by the Holy Spirit — in tune with Him.

• Jude 20 “… praying in the Holy Spirit”
• Ephesians 6:18 “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…”
• Romans 8:26 The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayers
• 1 Corinthians 14:14-15

• Spiritual understanding — that is only available to us supernaturally through God’s Holy Spirit: as God communicates with us, we need help to understand what He says.

• Our natural selves could never understand: Ephesians 4:17-18; Romans 3:11
• Luke 24:36-45; Acts 16:14 Before the Holy Spirit came Jesus supernaturally
helped some people understand the Scriptures.
• John 14:26; 16:13 — the Holy Spirit is our teacher & guide about spiritual things
• 1 Corinth. 2:10-14 “… no one knows the things of God but by the Spirit of God.
• 1 John 4:1-6 Test the spirits!
• Ephesians 1:16-17; Colossians 1:9-10; Psalm 119:18; 2 Timothy 2:7
• Matthew 11:25-27; 16:17; John 6:37, 44,65; 7:17 The Father supernaturally
reveals the Son, and the Son supernaturally reveals the Father
• John 6:63 Jesus’ words were of the Spirit, and difficult to understand for the
logical, natural mind.

3. Angels: God speaks though heavenly messengers
Ex. Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, Mary, Joseph, Paul, John, overseas testimonies

• Angels who appear as men — Ex. Gen. 18:1-19:1; Hebrews 13:2; Gen. 32:24 (Hos.12:4)
• Angels who appear as they are, in spectacular form — Ex. Gen. 16 Hagar incident; Judges 13:3, 6; Luke 1:26-33; 2:8-11; Acts 12:5-10
• Angels who appear in other forms: Ex. Burning bush Exod. 3:1-4
• Angels sometimes come in dreams: Ex. Joseph — Matthew 1:19-21
• Angels sometimes appear in visions: Zechariah 3:1

**Angelic encounters can be spectacular — and demonic spirits can appear as “angels of light” — bringing great deception and starting false religions and cults: Ex. Islam, Mormonsim, Branhamism. So, heed Paul’s warning to beware anyone, including angels, if they have a different Gospel than we have already received. The Bible is your best and truest, most reliable source of God’s word to you**

4. God’s word — the Bible: is the most sure, reliable, safe way we can know God’s voice. All other “communication channels” need to be tested against God’s word of truth.

• 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 God’s written word is profitable to us in many ways: for doctrine, reproof, correction, training in righteousness — and as examples for us to learn from.
• The preaching/proclamation of God’s word Ex. 1 Thess. 2:13
• Heb. 4:12-13 God’s word is living and powerful & sees every motive of our hearts
• Deuteronomy 8:3 Man shall live by God’s word
• Psalm 119:133 God’s word directs our steps
• Psalm 19:7-8 God’s word gives us wisdom and spiritual “light” (understanding)

5. Visions: God sometimes speaks through wakeful, visible, audible means.
• Acts 18:9-10 The Lord Jesus spoke to Paul in a night vision
• Acts 10:1-8 Cornelius has a vision of an angel coming and speaking to him.
• Acts 9:10-16 Jesus spoke to Ananias in a vision
• Acts 16:9-10 Paul’s Macedonian call night vision

6. Dreams (asleep) — God sometimes sends word in dreams. They can be symbolic, straightforward, and/or mysterious. They can bring a deep sense of horror (Daniel’s). They may bring warning, prophecy of future events, even help to build up the church.

• Genesis 15:12-17 The Lord spoke to Abraham in a deep, sleep dream
• Genesis 20:1-7 God warned Pagan King Abimelech in a dream
• Genesis 37:1-10; 42:6 God spoke to Joseph through symbolic, prophetic dreams
• Daniel 2:1-5, 19, 28 God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar through symbolic, prophetic dreams
• Matthew 1:19-21 The Angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in dream.
• Today, God uses dreams often in the Arab world to bring Muslims to Christ

7. Circumstances & events — God’s sovereignty: God may choose to communicate His leading and movement in your life through nearly imperceptible means. Oftentimes you see God’s divine orchestration after the fact. Sometimes it is through an “open door” or a “closed door,” or a series of events — that He leads & guides you into His will.

• 1 Sam. 9 (chapters 8,10 for context) Watch how God brought Saul to Samuel!
• Prov. 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord… and He will direct your path.
• Phil. 2:13 Sometimes our own desires point to God’s choices in our lives.
• Psalm 37:23; Prov. 16:19 A man’s steps are ordered by the Lord: refer to 1 Samuel 9 for a great example of this.
• Suffering — C.S. Lewis said, "Suffering is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world”: God’s chastisement is painful, but beneficial — Hebrews 12:10-11; See also Daniel 4:28-32 and 1 Corinthians 5:5.
• Waiting — God often works in unseen ways, challenging us to wait patiently for Him to answer. In waiting, He tells us “Not yet. My timing is perfect. My way is best.” Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 37:3-8, 23, 34 (Look what happened to Saul when he did not wait! 1 Sam. 15)
• Silence — Getting the “silent treatment” from God can be frustrating, putting it lightly. In our enduring silence, God is communicating any number of things — perhaps a grievous sin has not been confessed nd needs to be— or maybe God is testing us to see if we will be patient and wait for God in a matter, rather than taking things into our own hands — or maybe He is speaking in a way that we are not used to and He wants us to seek and find Him.

8. The Body of Christ — the church
• Wise counsel
Prov. 1:5
Prov. 12:15
Prov. 24:6
• 1 Corinthians 12: 8-11; 14:1-4 Certain Holy Spirit gifts God uses to speak to others.
• Acts 1:8 God proclaims the Gospel through the church, to the world.

9. Spiritual wisdom — you probably don’t think about this one much — you just figure it out and go on thinking it was you that came up with that great idea or solution.

• Daniel 1:17,20
• James 1:5-6
• Prov. 2:6,10-11
• 1 Cor. 1:24
•1 Cor. 2:6-15
• Eph. 1:17-18 (We see here that spiritual wisdom is connected to the Spirit!)

10. Through unconventional and even bizarre ways (i.e. Don’t put God in a box!)
Ex. Creation/nature: Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 10:16-18
Ex. A donkey: Numbers 22:21-31
Ex. A finger writing on a wall: Daniel 5:1-6, 11-12, 24-28
Ex. Moses hearing God speak through the burning bush! Exodus 3:1-4