What are you putting in his mouth?

Ok - so it's been a really long time since my last post.  (I kind of feel like I'm starting a confession saying that.) We are moved, mostly settled and trying to start a new normal. As I pray about what to post, I just keep coming back to this same lesson that I actually started writing before the move. Throughout this time of crazy schedules, in between homes for a week, packing and unpacking for almost a month, the thing that stands out most about what God is doing is how he is teaching me to truly hear his voice. God's been teaching me a lot about the differences not only between outside noise and his voice, but also about the difference between his voice and the words I put in his mouth. It is funny how we can read scripture and twist something around to make ourselves think that it is God speaking when really it is how we have taken God's word and made it about what we want to see happen without even realizing it.
I have talked with ladies who have asked "How do you know it is God speaking?" or "How do you hear his voice?" I have spent many hours thinking about those questions and tried to come up with how I answer them.
Mind you - I have no Seminary training or background for this to be anything other than my own experiences. However, here is what I would say is how I know I hear God's voice...

1 - In order for God to speak to you there must be a connection between you. - You spend time with him regularly. You praise him. You read his instruction book, The Bible, daily. You love him and you tell him that with your words and your actions. (This doesn't mean that God can't speak to you and get your attention without spending regular time with him. It simply means that to have a relationship where you truly learn to hear his whispers there has to be a ongoing connection.)

2 - What God says to you is not centered around you. - God has great things in store for you, but what he says to you will not be about lifting you up and making you great. If you think God is speaking to you and what he is saying somehow makes you look really good or puts you in a really good position, just double check that you are not putting words in his mouth. God has designed us to glorify him and lift him up! There are many people in the New Testamant and still today who have lost their lives following what God said for them to do.
   
3 - What God says is often confirmed through people or circumstances. - God will use other people in your life or things happening around you to affirm to you what he has already said.

4 - What God says will happen, happens! - It is not from God if what you think he said does not happen.  Deuteronomy 18:21-22
You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken.

A little side story...
I found myself learning these lessons clearly not too long ago. I know that God has something in store for me, a ministry that I will be able to serve him in a mighty way. I have no idea what that looks like, so as I read scripture I began to picture some ways that could be accomplished. I took God's word and in my heart, as if God was saying it to me, I told myself this is what he is telling me. "He is going to allow this to happen and do this, so that I can do this..." I was completely convinced that it was from God. It came to my mind during a quiet time. It was based on scripture.I have been seeking him with all my heart, having a great connection with him. Why wouldn't it be what God wanted for me?
I had the opportunity for it to be confirmed through a circumstance that same morning, but it was not. That still wasn't enough. I was convinced God was going to do this, so I kept thinking of other ways that it could work out. Through out this time I have to admit God had to be looking down at me going "Oh Bonnie, when are you going to learn? What are you doing all this running around for? If you would just get out of the way and stop making your own plan, I could really do some pretty cool things with you." 
Finally, I was able to stop and look at why I came up with this thought in the first place. I was hiding the fact from myself, but ultimately this plan was to elevate me. Although God would be honored in the outcome, the plan itself was about elevating me to the place I thought I should be, not about following him and his plan. 

When Jesus was in the wilderness being temped, Satan even used scripture to try to get Jesus to mess up. It is very important to know when God is speaking vs when you are putting words in his mouth. I know that if you are a Christ Follower, if you have given your life to follow after Christ, God is present and he is real! If you spend time with him, and cry out for him to speak to you, he will answer. Jeremiah 33:3 says:  
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.

Are you putting words in God's mouth, or are you allowing him to teach you great things?


I would love to hear some of the ways that you know when God is speaking.  Please post comments and share what God is teaching you and how you hear his voice.