Does God speak to you?

[Urban Ranger]

Re: Does God speak to you?

Originally posted by bfg9000
One of the things that I used to find difficult to deal with when interacting with religious types is this idea of, "I need to find out God wants me to do about X"... To an outsider, these people sound crazy - "Are they hearing voices from God?" "How does God TELL you to do something?"

Yeah, God talked to me, and he told me there's no God.

When I was riding on the local subway several years ago, I overheard a couple of Christians talking to each other, something like the following:

A: "Can you hear God talking to you?"
B: "No."
A: "Oh, I hear him speaking with me all the time."
B: ""
A: "You just need more practice. First the voice would be far away, but it will become closer and closer."

What a bunch of loons.

[Ben Kenobi]

There's different gifts UR.

[Dis]

christians are deranged. it all makes sense now

[trev]

I have never heard God's voice as such, but there are times when my thoughts seem to be sourced from God, usually in times of quiet contemplation while I am preparing a sermon, these thoughts guiding my sermon so that it meshes in with other teaching in the service (our church can have up to 6 people contributing messages in a single service with 1 person being the main speaker delivering the service, the others for periods up to 5 mins each) and provides specific teaching that members of the congregation needed at that point in time. The coincidence of people who have not consulted with each other prior to the service given coordinated teaching that meets the needs of the people on the day (this happening very frequently) is proof to me that sometimes my thoughts do come from God through his Holy Spirit.

[Dis]

I don't mean to be insulting to christians in my above post. I was just joking.

As you know it annoys me when people badmouth religious people as nuts. Most of my relatives are religious. Mormons even! They aren't nuts (well... some of them are). Misinformed possibly. But not stupid.

As for the topic at hand. Yes, it does seem strange. My relatives never talk of god talking to them. Why is it acceptable for the commander in chief to have symptoms of a delusional man?

[Frankychan]

I wouldn't necessarily say that I've actually heard God, but there have been times where I'm doing something that is beyond reckles and life threatening and there's that voice that don't necessarily hear, but it's telling you to either stop, or don't give up.

And it's not a feeling like your conscience...it's different. Had it happen to me a few times. Once driving on the roads wasted off my mind..."something" told me to get my a** straightened up and pull off the road and fall asleep. Another time I was drowning and basically gave up when that same thing said to just do one more kick and you'll make it to the surface.

God? I dunno. It's something tho.

[Dis]

I never hear any voices in my head. Not even my concience. It is entirely possible I don't have a concience. I can be a bit insensitive at times...

Not even thoughts. The only thoughts in my head are my own, and easily recognizable as my own.

[Frankychan]

Hearing voices in your head is usually a bad thing. Conscience is more like a gut feeling.

[Robert]

"God said to me" is a way of speaking, for some christians. They don't actually mean they heard a voice in their head. I never have heard God actually speaking to me. Me myself would not say "God said to me...." since it's very arbitrary to say so. Too much people have done certain things and backed themselves up by "a message from God"

On a personal side though I believe God 'speaks' to me. Though not (yet) through a literal voice.
In example, next year I'll start studying to be a preacher. I believe that's what God wants me to do.
Why? Not because I heard an actual voice.
Why then?

What does people make to believe God speaks to them?
- Other people said certians things at a very specific time. (ie. I feel not loved and alone, I pray to God and ask him to help me. 15 minutes later my phone rings and a friend says he just want to tells me how he cares about me and how we should meet soon again)
- You read something in the bible which is very appropiate for something you're actually dealing with.
- You feel a strong desire to do something. (which is not pleasing yourself, since most people feel a strong desire to pleasure themselves all the time) (example: I need to call him or her and tell him/her that I love him/her)
- Things are happening in a certain way and you feel God's hand in your life.

There are many more things though.
And I would agree with everyone that any of these 'ways' are very arbitrary. for that reason I say: "It's a personal things", like believe is a personal thing.

I think no christian should act in a way that would affect other people because they think God told them to. I do support Bush for going to war in Iraq. Though I think such a decision should not be made because one believes God told him to do so. (which Bush actually never said!!!!! people lay those words as if God acts bc God told him to act in his mouth all the time) (correct me if I'm wrong)

Unless of course God would actually literary speak to me. Though that shouldn't happen (for me presonally) when I'm tired or sick or drunk (ok. I'm never drunk) because I'm very sure that those are conditions that will be very good for my mind to play tricks on me.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
No, prophecy is still a gift of the spirit, and that requires God speaking to you, or revealing things to you, that cannot otherwise be known.

Good grief.

Or proved- such as the gift of prophecy actually existing, rather than being a figment of the imagination, just like the auditory hallucinations.

[beingofone]

"God alone truly is, and . . he is intellect or thought, and . . he is thought alone to which no other being is added."

"I have occasionally spoken of a light in the soul which is uncreated and uncreatable. . . . This light is not satisfied with the simple, still and divine being which neither gives nor takes, but rather it desires to know from where this being comes. It wants to penetrate to the simple ground, to the still desert, into which distinction never peeped, neither Father, Son nor Holy Spirit. There, in that most inward place, where everyone is a stranger, the light is satisfied, and there it is more inward than it is in itself, for this ground is a simple stillness which is immovable in itself. But all things are moved by this immovability and all the forms of life are conceived by it which, possessing the light of reason, live of themselves."



Johannes Eckhart, Christian mystic - 1300 AD

[Last Conformist]

He tells me to kill people who dress poorly.

[Spec]

He tells me:

If only I made more people like you and less like Fez.

Spec.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Q Cubed

"There's a difference, when Lincoln prayed, he talked to God.
When Bush prays, God talks to Bush."
--Mario Cuomo, to Bill Maher

Is this quote for real, anyway?

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/episode/index.html

[Alex]

Originally posted by trev
I have never heard God's voice as such, but there are times when my thoughts seem to be sourced from God, usually in times of quiet contemplation while I am preparing a sermon, these thoughts guiding my sermon so that it meshes in with other teaching in the service (our church can have up to 6 people contributing messages in a single service with 1 person being the main speaker delivering the service, the others for periods up to 5 mins each) and provides specific teaching that members of the congregation needed at that point in time. The coincidence of people who have not consulted with each other prior to the service given coordinated teaching that meets the needs of the people on the day (this happening very frequently) is proof to me that sometimes my thoughts do come from God through his Holy Spirit.

Are you a priest?