“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” 1 Thess. 5:19-21
- If someone who purports to be a prophet gives you a word that she says is from God, what do you do?
- If someone you know is a pastor tells you something that he says is a word from God, what should you do?
- If you have a prompting and think God is telling you to do something, what should you do?
- If you read a bible passage that is difficult to understand and you come up with an interpretation of what you think that passage is saying, what should you do?
We all know that there are all kinds of false teachers out there who are claiming that their words are from God when they are not. Some people seeing this have decided to refuse to listen to any word at all that claims to be from God. As such, they throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Some others are on the other extreme and are very gullible and receive everything as though from God.
What is the right thing to do? Paul says, listen to them all, test every single one of them. Take what is good and leave what is evil. Whether you are the one telling yourself that something is a word from God or someone else is telling you, it doesn’t matter, you still have to test everything to see what is truly from God.
But the question becomes, how do you test all these “words from God” to identify what is truly from God (good) and what is not?
I propose the following surefire tests. They are represented by ABCDEFG. The first three are the most important.
- Attributes/Attitude of God. God’s voice is always consistent with his attributes — who he is. God never speaks out of his character. For a word to be from him, he it must be consistent with his attributes. Ask: Is it consistent with God’s character? Does it agree with the attributes of God? Is it the kind of thing God would say?
- Bible. God’s voice is always consistent with His written Word. For a message to be from God, it must agree with what God has already said in the Bible. Ask: Is there a bible passage that supports it? If you have a prompting to do something that contradicts the Bible, it’s not from God.
- Counsel/Confirmation from others. To discern God’s voice, it is helpful to get help from other more wise and experience hearers of God. Ask: Do two or three wise counselors confirm what I am hearing?
- Design. Does it align with your design or bent? Is it in tune with your calling, wiring, and gifts?
- Eternity. God is eternal. Eternal life is to know God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). His word never changes. His word has an eternal perspective to it.
- Fruits. God’s voice always produces good fruit in us and those around us. It makes us be more like Jesus. Ask: Does this voice produce good fruit in me and make me more like Jesus?
- Grace. God’s voice convicts us but never condemns us. Does this voice condemn or accuse us or does it gently lead, guide, and convict us with God’s tender love?
Another way to put this is: Attributes, Bible, Counsel, Design, and Eternity. God’s voice will align with these things. The most important are of course, the first two.
How knowing your design helps you interpret promptings.
Suppose you are a woman wearing a skirt with long flowing hair, a pink handbag, etc. You are walking on a busy street with several other people both men and women and you hear someone calling from behind, “Mister, Mister, you dropped something.” Would it concern you? Would you think they are talking to you? Likely not. You are sure you are a lady and are dressed like one and people can see. He is likely talking to one of the men. But if he had said, “Miss, Miss…” or “Madam, Madam…” you might have turned to see if he was talking to you. Knowing your design is knowing who you are.
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