For me, I've thought I heard God's voice, but perhaps it was an inner dialogue. God will never tell you to do something against His word. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. We have to be careful when we use "God told me" or "thus saith the Lord". If you're using it for your own gain, that's spiritual abuse and there will be judgement.
Yes, I agree. I have felt a prompting from The Holy Spirit to speak with someone or share the gospel but I’ve never heard an audible voice. “God told me” is a very dangerous place to be.
First, I speak as a child of divorce. My parents divorced when I was 15. It was/is a horrible thing. I was so freaked out that I had migraines and dizzy spells for years and only realised the cause a decade later. I have put a lot of time and effort into putting my family back together. My wife has made 3 serious threats of divorce to me and each time I have wanted to die. I have visions of my children grown up not recognizing me. There are no words for how much divorce horrifies me. That being said, I could not so cavalierly say that God would never tell anyone to divorce.
First, Deuteronomy 24 provides statutes regulating a divorce which indicates that however odious, however horrible it is, it has some place in this world. Second, Jeremiah 3 describes God as initiating a divorce against Israel. Numerous other passages describe the divine casting off of both the Northern and Southern kingdoms in essentially the same language. 2 Corinthians 7, which is probably the most clear teaching against divorce, does permit divorce of the unbeliever.
Now, I very much appreciate a pastor taking a stand against divorce. I also remember my mother who harassed a preacher until he told her that yes there were some circumstances where divorce was permissible and then she took that and ran with it. But, I still think that we need to be very careful about saying what God can't or won't do. A guy who will murder His own Son might do pretty much anything.
So, I don't usually share this but God has spoken to me before and while it certainly wasn't an audible voice I wouldn't call it an inner voice either. I don't remember what He said, which is sort of funny. I remember that I had a problem that was troubling me a lot and I was praying about it. And suddenly a solution of simply passing up my claim, simply walking away was in my mind when it had never been there before. And I knew immediately that my prayer had been answered. The presence of God frightened me. I can remember clearly a moment before He spoke and a moment after but Him speaking seemed to happen between heartbeats, in a gap between one bit of time and the next.
My parents divorced when I was 15 too, it was horrible and it broke me. So I too am a child of divorce. I cannot condone another man divorcing his wife simply because he wants another woman.
No. You can't and you shouldn't. And it sounds like in that particular instance, and most instances you were absolutely right. I do think that we need to be very very careful about saying what God can never or will never do though. I think though that even here there is room for appropriate nuance. Mark 10 is a great example:
10 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.
3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”
5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus certainly cannot be accused of promoting easy or free divorce here, but notice that it is against remarriage that he reserves his harshest words. There is some reluctant, grudging divine permit for divorce. There is none whatsoever for remarriage, while the abandoned spouse lives, which seems to reach quite directly to the counseling situation that you encountered if you don't mind me saying so. It wasn't really divorce that he wanted; it was remarriage. It was another woman. We can preach the whole counsel of God on the subject without any weakness or permissiveness by distinguishing between divorce and remarriage.
I've heard what I thought was an audible voice from God only once. I was unemployed and wrestling with what my next steps were in life. I couldn't sleep, I went out to the beach near where we were staying. It was windy, and the waves were crashing loudly, and I was overwhelmed by the power of God. I sat there and prayed for a while, and heard God say "Go to seminary." That was it. the next year, I started my Masters in Christian Education.
You're right though, God doesn't contradict himself, so if I'd had the same experience, but I heard something that goes against the character and revealed Word of God, I would have responded a lot differently.
I guess it’s the still small voice that is inaudible but real nonetheless. He speaks to me through His Word, also through open and closed doors; I pray, seek God’s wisdom in some direction in my life, and He let’s me know if I made the right decision or not.
I do not believe YHWH has ever spoken to me audibly; and I'm not sure, but I think there are times when I have felt an inner prompting and guide. HOWEVER, I do know/knew two people who have heard the audible, and I believe them.
Of course I believe God speaks to people. The point of this post was to see what people think about how God speaks to people. Let me guess, you like to be argumentative? Everyone had no problem commenting on how they believe God speaks but you are insinuating that I’m not a believer and that I’m in the wrong “business”.
No, I don't like to be argumentative. I don't know you, and apparently I misunderstood the point of your post.
When you asked, "what is your objective standard to prove it is from God?" it seemed like you were coming from a perspective of disbelief that people could actually hear from God.
Asking believers to provide 'objective' evidence of their experience sounded (to me) like you were challenging people to provide proof that God speaks to us.
Sorry for my misunderstanding. I'm glad I was mistaken. Thanks for clearing it up.
For me, I've thought I heard God's voice, but perhaps it was an inner dialogue. God will never tell you to do something against His word. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. We have to be careful when we use "God told me" or "thus saith the Lord". If you're using it for your own gain, that's spiritual abuse and there will be judgement.
Yes, I agree. I have felt a prompting from The Holy Spirit to speak with someone or share the gospel but I’ve never heard an audible voice. “God told me” is a very dangerous place to be.
First, I speak as a child of divorce. My parents divorced when I was 15. It was/is a horrible thing. I was so freaked out that I had migraines and dizzy spells for years and only realised the cause a decade later. I have put a lot of time and effort into putting my family back together. My wife has made 3 serious threats of divorce to me and each time I have wanted to die. I have visions of my children grown up not recognizing me. There are no words for how much divorce horrifies me. That being said, I could not so cavalierly say that God would never tell anyone to divorce.
First, Deuteronomy 24 provides statutes regulating a divorce which indicates that however odious, however horrible it is, it has some place in this world. Second, Jeremiah 3 describes God as initiating a divorce against Israel. Numerous other passages describe the divine casting off of both the Northern and Southern kingdoms in essentially the same language. 2 Corinthians 7, which is probably the most clear teaching against divorce, does permit divorce of the unbeliever.
Now, I very much appreciate a pastor taking a stand against divorce. I also remember my mother who harassed a preacher until he told her that yes there were some circumstances where divorce was permissible and then she took that and ran with it. But, I still think that we need to be very careful about saying what God can't or won't do. A guy who will murder His own Son might do pretty much anything.
So, I don't usually share this but God has spoken to me before and while it certainly wasn't an audible voice I wouldn't call it an inner voice either. I don't remember what He said, which is sort of funny. I remember that I had a problem that was troubling me a lot and I was praying about it. And suddenly a solution of simply passing up my claim, simply walking away was in my mind when it had never been there before. And I knew immediately that my prayer had been answered. The presence of God frightened me. I can remember clearly a moment before He spoke and a moment after but Him speaking seemed to happen between heartbeats, in a gap between one bit of time and the next.
My parents divorced when I was 15 too, it was horrible and it broke me. So I too am a child of divorce. I cannot condone another man divorcing his wife simply because he wants another woman.
No. You can't and you shouldn't. And it sounds like in that particular instance, and most instances you were absolutely right. I do think that we need to be very very careful about saying what God can never or will never do though. I think though that even here there is room for appropriate nuance. Mark 10 is a great example:
10 Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
2 The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.
3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.”
5 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10 In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. 11 So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus certainly cannot be accused of promoting easy or free divorce here, but notice that it is against remarriage that he reserves his harshest words. There is some reluctant, grudging divine permit for divorce. There is none whatsoever for remarriage, while the abandoned spouse lives, which seems to reach quite directly to the counseling situation that you encountered if you don't mind me saying so. It wasn't really divorce that he wanted; it was remarriage. It was another woman. We can preach the whole counsel of God on the subject without any weakness or permissiveness by distinguishing between divorce and remarriage.
I've heard what I thought was an audible voice from God only once. I was unemployed and wrestling with what my next steps were in life. I couldn't sleep, I went out to the beach near where we were staying. It was windy, and the waves were crashing loudly, and I was overwhelmed by the power of God. I sat there and prayed for a while, and heard God say "Go to seminary." That was it. the next year, I started my Masters in Christian Education.
You're right though, God doesn't contradict himself, so if I'd had the same experience, but I heard something that goes against the character and revealed Word of God, I would have responded a lot differently.
I guess it’s the still small voice that is inaudible but real nonetheless. He speaks to me through His Word, also through open and closed doors; I pray, seek God’s wisdom in some direction in my life, and He let’s me know if I made the right decision or not.
I do not believe YHWH has ever spoken to me audibly; and I'm not sure, but I think there are times when I have felt an inner prompting and guide. HOWEVER, I do know/knew two people who have heard the audible, and I believe them.
This post confuses me.
Your publication is called 'A Pastor's Life,' so I assume you're a pastor.
But it doesn't sound like you believe God speaks to people, even by 'an inner voice.'
If that's true, then you don't believe the Bible and you don't have an experiential knowledge of God. If so, you're in the wrong line of business.
Of course I believe God speaks to people. The point of this post was to see what people think about how God speaks to people. Let me guess, you like to be argumentative? Everyone had no problem commenting on how they believe God speaks but you are insinuating that I’m not a believer and that I’m in the wrong “business”.
Scott,
No, I don't like to be argumentative. I don't know you, and apparently I misunderstood the point of your post.
When you asked, "what is your objective standard to prove it is from God?" it seemed like you were coming from a perspective of disbelief that people could actually hear from God.
Asking believers to provide 'objective' evidence of their experience sounded (to me) like you were challenging people to provide proof that God speaks to us.
Sorry for my misunderstanding. I'm glad I was mistaken. Thanks for clearing it up.
Tom