Hearing from the Lord

Distinguishing between the Lord’s thoughts and our own is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. When Paul wrote about walking in the Spirit he contrasted how the natural mind wars against the thoughts of God (Rm 8:7). The problem isn’t that we don’t hear God’s thoughts; it’s that we haven’t learned the practice of discerning them.


Discernment is learned through preference. Just as a wine connoisseur develops a palate for good wine, God’s people can develop a preference for His thoughts. We learn that His wisdom is to be coveted for its great worth, and that His knowledge is a foundation which we can build on. God’s thoughts also reveal His point of view, and by listening to Him we learn more about His nature.

Discernment is developed by practice. If a man is ignorant of the source of his thoughts, he is like a small child learning his way. But as we grow into spiritual adulthood, we learn that God is the source of our inspiration and that He brings insight far beyond our personal experience. This causes the sincere to develop a seeking spirit, always listening for God’s input. But an insincere heart will prefer the Lord’s thoughts at one moment, and their own thoughts the next.

Sincerity nurtures practice. “”Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb 5:13-14). We find that practice is what develops discernment, and discernment develops our maturity, if we follow it.

Because we are born with a mind that is content to think its own thoughts, and in fact, we derive pleasure from our own thoughts, the Holy Spirit faces resistance in us until we yield ourselves over to Him. We can do this by disciplining ourselves to think upon scriptures, for they are written by God’s Spirit (2 Pet 1:20). Besides the discipline of thinking on scriptures, we can apply acceptable categories to what we allow ourselves to think. Paul writes that we should think thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Phil 4:8). Early on in our Christian walk we learn the discipline of thinking good and scriptural thoughts, letting them form us more into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture is not only written by the Word of God Himself, but that very Word is also the Holy Spirit. Because the Word of God is a person and a Spirit, He can speak to us through the scriptures, and personally in our own receiving center; our spirits. It brings glory to us when the Holy Spirit takes what is Jesus’ and makes it known to us (Jn 16:14). Therefore, the Christian is not limited to the scriptures as his only source for God’s thoughts.

God desires to speak to us all, bringing us glory and molding us into His image by the transformation of our minds. We are instructed to not be conformed to the way the world thinks (our old pattern of thinking) but to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2) Testing, and distinguishing (from Heb 5:14) are what divides God’s thoughts from our own. If we truly and sincerely want to follow the Holy Spirit, our mind will become a tree of discernment, nourished by God’s Spirit and bearing the fruit of tested thoughts. If we are insincere, we will return to our own thoughts because we prefer them and do not love the discipline involved in separating out that which is of superior value.

Those who do not see God as that pearl of great value will eventually find that the natural hostility of their mind causes a rebellion against what is perceived as the intrusion of the thoughts of God. The man in this state has the same intellectual pride as the one who thought “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Is 14:13-14) Not only will he believe his thoughts are of superior value, but that he can, from his own knowledge and wisdom, counsel God and His angels in the “mount of assembly.”

God knows the power of the Holy Spirit to conform our way of thinking and thereby transform us, eventually, through discipline and practice, into His way of thinking. He also knows the potential of our natural mind, and the corrupting power of its pride. God’s Spirit works with us continually to present us with choices; His thoughts, or ours. Today, when we hear His excellent thoughts, may we prefer them, for He covets to walk with us.  Amen