Recognizing God's Voice in your own Thoughts

How to tell if it's just your thoughts or if it's really God

Question: Is it possible that God speaks to us through our own thoughts? I feel it happens to me frequently. How can I tell if it is me or God?

Dear reader,

This is a beautiful question! I love the heart behind this question especially—a heart that is eager to hear from God and willing to listen both to yourself and for God speaking to you. We should all desire to be more like this.

God’s voice can seem to be an allusive thing. There has been so much said about it and it’s covered in mystery and wonder. Some might share about the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12-13) mentioned in scripture and others might hear God’s voice as an audible sound and sometimes it feels like it’s somewhere in between.

First, it is possible for God to speak to us through out own thoughts. It might not be exactly what you’re thinking of but it is possible. Because God is Spirit He speaks to us through our spirits. The Bible tells us that when the Spirit speaks He doesn’t speak on His own authority but on the authority of God (John 16:13).

When the Holy Spirit speaks to us I picture that sound wave going deep into our spirits. I know this probably sounds a little woo woo but hang with me here. Once the Holy Spirit has communicated that message to our spirit it can then come up through our thoughts. I picture it traveling from spirit to mind. That is when it feels like God is communicating to us through our minds. But it doesn’t always happen this way.

If you’ve ever had the Spirit change your inner world in a profound way but not been able to put it into words then you’ve likely experienced this other way of God speaking. Sometimes the Holy Spirit just goes straight into our spirit and does His best work—no need for our permission or approval because He lives in us as believers (Romans 8:9). That sudden sense of peace, the lighter demeanor you have despite a dark circumstance, the joy that is spilling out of you from deep within—these are all signs that the Spirit is speaking within you and impacting your inner world directly.

Then there are times when the Spirit does communicate through our minds. It starts Spirit to spirit, then it rises up in our minds and thoughts. I think of this as the Holy Spirit letting our minds translate for us. There is a spiritual language happening beneath the surface that we can’t put words to but then the Holy Spirit basically says, here let me help, and pops up into our minds for a bit. In these moments it sounds like our own thoughts but with a twist—our Holy Spirit translator is the one behind the communication from God.

If this thought sounds exactly like a regular thought though it can get confusing. How do we know if that thought is just me or if it is God speaking to me?

1. He will never say anything that is contradictory to His nature

   When the Holy Spirit starts popping into our thoughts we can learn to recognize that it is Him. First, He will never say anything that is contradictory to His nature or character. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So that means that He will speak consistently. He isn’t going to try to confuse you or say something that is the opposite of who He is—always loving, always patient, always kind.

2. He will never say anything that is contradictory to His Word

   He will never say anything contradictory to His Word. It’s so much fun to hear God’s voice and the easiest way to do it is to saturate our lives in scripture. Often when God needs to say something to us, He will remind us of what He has already told us before in the Bible.

3. He will confirm it—bigger words require bigger confirmation

   God will confirm it. If you’re questioning if the thought you are hearing is God or not ask God for confirmation. I had a mentor tell me once that the bigger the word from god is then more confirmation will come with it. If God is telling you to quit your job, move your family to a new state, and start a business you have no experience in—He will confirm it again and again before He expects you to do all of that. (Remember love is patient and God is love so He is patient with us as we learn to listen.)

4. He might surprise you

The final way I personally know it’s God’s voice and not just my own thoughts is simply that it surprises me. I might naturally think of buying a friend coffee but I probably won’t have the thought to bring coffee to my least favorite coworker. When an idea like that crosses my mind, I generally take the hint that it was from God.

Remember God says, “my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” If you follow God, He’s already speaking to you.