How do you know when God is speaking directly to you? Will what God has said just automatically happen, or is there something you could do or not do so that it wouldn’t happen?
These are the kinds of questions this message explores, giving three steps to take when you think you’ve heard something from God.
The Journey Through—The Prophetic Word
Psalm 105:17-19
“He sent a man before them—Joseph—who was sold as a slave. 18 They hurt his feet with fetters.
He was laid in irons.19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.”
He was laid in irons.19 Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.”
Psalm 12:6 “The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,purified seven times.”
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,purified seven times.”
Psalm 18:30 “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
Psalm 119:11“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
Psalm 105:19“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.”
BIG IDEA: God tests our faith with prophetic words; God tests our character with the literal word of God.
3 Steps To Take When God Speaks to You
1. The prophetic word from God always submits to God’s written word.
1 Corinthians 13:9 “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.”
2. Test the prophetic word.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 “Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.”
1 Corinthians 14:29 “ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”
Deuteronomy 13:1-3 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
3. Hold on to the prophetic word.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, 20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”
ACTION: What is God saying to you about how to hold on to the dream he has for you?