How Do I Know God is Speaking?

One of the common questions I hear when talking to people about prayer and how they want to grow in their ability to talk to God is this:

“How do I know for sure it’s God speaking to me, and not my own thoughts or emotions?”

Simultaneously, learning to hear God’s voice is essential — how can we claim to follow Jesus if we don’t know where he is telling us to go? 

And how can we know where he is telling us to go if we don’t grow in some capacity to hear and respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit?

When Paul is praying for the early churches, the two most common things he prays for are for them to grow in: 1) the knowledge of God, and 2) discernment.

In Colossians 1:9-11, Paul prays:

When Paul prays for the early churches to grow in the knowledge of God, he is not praying for them to grow in their biblical literacy, their systematic theology prowess, or, knowledge about God.

Of course, knowledge about God is essential — I’m not denying this — it’s just that what Paul is particularly praying for is for the early church to grow in the knowledge of God — the experiential, relational knowing of someone that can only come through genuine friendship.

As if demonstrating his own point, Paul engages in a conversation with God (prayer) so that the early churches can grow in their own conversations with God.

A knowledge of God naturally leads to knowledge of God’s will — it’s hard to pray without being formed, shaped, and in some way compelled to grow in obedience in the direction our Lord is telling us to go.

The life Paul lives is marked by the supernatural voice of the Spirit interrupting him and giving him divine direction about where to go (see Acts 16:6-10).

So how, then, do we grow in our confidence in hearing God’s voice for our life?

The main assumption that I have is that we are building upon a foundation of personal prayer, Scripture, and life lived in a real community.

If you have not yet carved out a daily time (even ten minutes) to be with God, open up the Bible, and share how that time is going with someone in community, start there!

It’s hard to hear God’s voice for major life decisions if we have not heard God’s voice for our daily bread, and if we do not come with an expectation that he wants to speak to us.

Is it upon this foundation of daily seeking God in the small things that we build faith for how God wants to lead us in the big things.

Some believe that God leaves our lives primarily up to us — that as long as we go to church, maybe give a little bit of money, and pray sometimes, we can basically choose our jobs, choose where we live, and leave God out of the equation.

To me, this doesn’t live up to the New Testament testimony that when we give our lives to Jesus he becomes our Lord, and we give up our (usually Western) preferences and sense of rights to all these things.

We literally surrender our lives to his leadership — we follow Jesus.

So, as Paul prays for the churches to grow in the knowledge of God’s will, he’s praying for them to grow in their following of the leadership of Jesus in their life, implying that God actually does have a preferred future for us, if we seek him in prayer.

Do we believe that God has a will for us and that we must seek him to find it?

And, do we believe that he is a good Father that wants to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?

Upon this foundation of faith, here are three questions to ask when testing if the senses and impressions we feel are, in fact, God:

1. The Faith Test: Is the word filling me with faith to move forward?

If I feel like God is speaking something to me, do I feel like I am empowered by the Holy Spirit with faith to take the next step? For me, this can feel like an internal “opening up,” or a sense of grace and peace. That doesn’t mean I have all the details worked out or know an exact timeline of how everything will work out, but it does mean I feel the power of the Spirit behind me to move. To simply this test: where there is tension, wait, and when there is grace, go!

2. The Community Test: Is the word resonating with people close to me who would be honest if it wasn’t?

Do you have a community in your life that would tell you “no” if they felt it wasn’t God? I want to be clear that I don’t mean a manipulative or abusive person or community that would try to conform your hearing of God’s voice to their preferences — but rather a community that is committed to your best — to champion and empower you to go wherever God calls you to go? Share the word with people around you and see if it resonates!

3. The Story Test: Is it integrating? Does it connect to my sense of the story God is writing in my life?

Does the word integrate with other prophetic themes in your life, or is it completely out of left field? Does taking a step in the direction you feel like God is leading you feel like it’s leading you closer to who you are in God, given your specific wiring, strengths and gifts, and does it feel like it’s taking you closer to who God has been for you in the past?

4. The Love Test: Is the word moving me towards specific love?

By “specific love,” I mean is this word moving me closer to the real people in my life that God has assigned me to love? Will this word help me to lay down my life more for the real people I am called to serve — my family and community or, perhaps, my neighbor — or will it lead me away from these primary assignments?

I hope these questions are helpful to you! If I can pray for you in any way, please don’t hesitate to hit “reply” to this email and let me know!

-Ryan

P.S. It is one of the greatest joys of my life to help people come alive and live in love with Jesus, especially by waking up to the continual conversation we get to enjoy with God. Our team is working on creating some beautiful prayer resources this year, starting with a daily prayer journal designed to help you grow in your ability to hear God’s voice. Please consider becoming a founding partner with us and receive every resource we create in 2025 completely free!