Some of the ways God speaks

Hi everyone, I got this question from someone through my ministry website yesterday and I get it enough I thought I would post it here as well.

Some of the ways God speaks are:

- Through your Bible reading, something will teach you in a special way, perhaps something will really hit you where you live, or maybe you will read something that really addresses something you are dealing with. This is the Lord speaking to you through his Word.

- The Lord also speaks to us through the counsel of our parents, wise elders in our lives, those in authority over us such as bosses, and fellow Believers. When we receive criticism or advice we need to take it because God may be using them to speak to us and train us.

- The Lord also speaks to us through our conscience. Oftentimes, in the deepest part of our heart we "know" what is right or wrong. We cannot ignore this inner witness because God uses it to speak to us.

- The Lord also speaks to us through our circumstances and surroundings in various ways, often in "coincidences", things we can relate to, or lessons we can see through various happenings and the environment around us. We need to stay in tune with what God is teaching us.

- And, when you begin to develop a prayer life, over time you will begin to hear from the Lord in your heart as well. One of the ways the Lord speaks to us is outlined in the Word of God when Jesus said, in John 14:26 "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." I have experienced this a lot. If I spend time in secret prayer and I also spend time in the Word of God, over time, I will begin to receive soft, gentle, silent reminders from the Holy Spirit in my heart and mind. This often shows up as he speaks to me by reminding me what the Bible says. For example, lately the verse that has been constantly floating through my mind is found in Ephesians and it says, "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth." I had read that in the past but not for a long time and did not know where it was. Tonight, as I was reading Ephesians, there it was! Another verse I have stumbled into a lot lately and that has been in my thoughts alot is in James chapter 1 where it talks about being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. This has been floating around in my head as well as several recent sermons I have "stumbled" onto have been on that verse. I take these as focus "themes" to show me what the Lord is working on in me.

Also, as I am praying if I ask the Lord something oftentimes a Scripture will come back to my memory that addresses my question or need. So, in summary, the Holy Spirit will remind you what the Bible says and will apply it to your life. If you say a prayer and you ask the Lord for help and then a Scripture comes to your mind it is probably the Holy Spirit teaching you the answer you need.

- Sometimes the Lord speaks to us without speaking at all. For example, I am in sales and I often do not know what to do in order to move a deal along, solve a problem, or close a deal. I pray throughout the day about many things and often I either ask for help or I will even specifically ask in my heart, "Lord, what should I do here." As I devote my life to him, seek him as my source of life and help, he answers very faithfully each time (I cannot emphasize that enough, you need to understand and take it on faith that he ALWAYS answers, stop judging by what you see or how you feel). There are a host of ways he will answer the question "what should I do"(or a host of ways of how he will answer any question for that matter):

1.) He will say nothing and seem to do nothing but the problem went away- don't be deceived that the situation just "went away", you got your answer to prayer and begin to gain spiritual discernment if you, by faith understand that God was the source of your answer. Pray for help, then be thankful when the situation is resolved. God does not have to drop an angel out of the sky with a flaming sword for us to consider that he helped in response to prayer does he???
2.) The Lord will give us an idea. The idea will come through the same brain that God has given us so it will seem like any other idea we've ever had but it will address the situation we prayed about so we need to understand that he has answered us and thank him for it.
3.) To keep us humble God will often give someone else around us the idea to solve the problem so you have to be humble enough to receive advice from others.
4.) The situation was not even a real problem- it actually may have been and God may have fixed it for you, either way be thankful. The bottom line is pray, then wait, and be thankful while you are waiting. And do not make the mistake I have often made. Do not pre-judge what you think God "should" do to answer you. You may get accustomed to him answering one way but he does not want you to trust in a method of response - he wants to have a relationship with you and for you to have trust in him.

- Also, remember that God knows everything and loves us, but he has all the knowledge and he is not just about solving our issues but also about forming us and training us. Our training is not always going to be easy and painless. So, ask him for help on everything and trust him. He'll work it out one way or another but you may need to go through various trials- we see that in James chapter 1 that we actually need trials to grow... so don't get mad at him. Relax and trust in him.