Many of us lose patience with people who attribute their own thoughts to God. They say "Jesus told me" or "God said" or "I heard the Holy Spirit say," and they seem to have an exclusive stamp of approval on whatever they do.

We may become frustrated because we cannot dispute their claims without accusing them of lying. I often ask, "Tell me how the Lord spoke to you." This question has occasionally caused people to change the subject or to come up with incomplete answers without evidence.

Christians need to be careful about claiming to hear God's voice, because the Scriptures warn us about the danger of placing our own thoughts in the mouth of the Lord. We may be looking for an excuse to sin or simply have our own way.

Jeremiah 23:21-32 says in part, "I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. ... I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? ... 'Therefore,' declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me.'"

Instead of simply stating, "God told me," we need to think about what it means for God to speak to us. How should we act when we believe we have heard from God?

1. We must be careful not to tell others in a prideful way, as if to say, "See, the Lord speaks to me, but not to you."
2. We should remember that God often uses other Christians to guide us, and the Lord may be speaking to us through them.
3. We should be sure the words we think we hear aren't simply our desire to do things our way.
4. We must match up what we believe we have heard with Scripture. God will never tell us to do something contrary to His Word.
   

Try using these words when you feel God is speaking:

1. "A persistent thought keeps coming to me, and I believe it may be the Lord's leading."
2. "I feel impressed to take action. I have prayed and Scripture seems to agree."
3. "I sense the Lord is leading me. Doors once closed have opened."
4. "I prayed that I would go in a certain direction if the Lord didn't stop me. I have waited and the way seems clear."

We need to be cautious about claiming the Lord has spoken to us, but we also must be careful not to reject all thoughts of the Lord speaking to His children today. God continues to communicate with His people.

Several years ago, a family in our church was in deep chaos. Their daughter's former husband had threatened to take the children away. Court battles raged. The judge ordered the children to visit their father. It was a long and unhappy trip for them by airplane. The father could not provide a proper home for them.

One worship-day morning, the children's grandmother said to me, "The court case is coming up soon and it will determine who gets those children. I am so afraid."

As I sat in front of her in church, a constant thought came to me: The Lord will have His way in the end. All through the service the words continued. I could hear my friend sniffling behind me as she contemplated what the results might be.

Other thoughts came to mind: What if I share those words and they lose the children? That would make matters even worse because I'd have given her hope. But the words kept coming. I finally prayed, Lord, at the end of the service, I'm going to share my thoughts with her. Please stop me if this is not of you.

I waited until the closing prayer and benediction had been said. Then I turned around and blurted out the words, "Nancy, I don't know if this is from God, but I just couldn't get rid of a thought I've had all through church. It was as if God impressed me with the sentence, 'I will have My way in the end.'"

Nancy thanked me. She seemed relieved. A few weeks passed, and then the results of the proceedings were known. The children were to remain with their mother and grandparents.

Nothing deserves more caution than a desire to blurt out that which we believe we have received from God. We need to responsible about discerning when the Lord is truly speaking, because if we tell someone, "The Lord told me to tell you," that person may act in eagerness upon those thoughts. And if we use the words "God told me" too often, they may not be taken seriously by others. So we must truly listen for God's leading and be sensitive to the best ways to share what we've heard.

God speaks, but we must pray faithfully for the Lord to help us see the difference between His voice and our own.