4 Ways the Holy Spirit Speaks
Is this the voice of the Holy Spirit, or is this just me?
That is a question many believers ask themselves. I want to show you 4 ways the Holy Spirit speaks so that you never miss His voice.
There was a time in my life when I was tormented over this. I wondered constantly whether I was correctly hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. My own thoughts became obsessions. My own feelings became obsessions. Every little thought and every little whim, I began to wonder about it. Was that the Holy Spirit? Did He speak to me? I was tormented by the thought that I might miss His direction.
It was a religious way of living, and it became so bad that when I got ready for the day, I would look through my closet, look at my jacket, and say, "Holy Spirit, do You want me to wear that jacket?" Then I would look at my shirts and say, "Holy Spirit, do You want me to wear this shirt?" This overbearing, religious way of seeing the world had taken hold of me.
It wasn't until I truly discovered the voice of the Holy Spirit that I was set free from that kind of tormented living.
Maybe you are in that place right now. You sincerely want to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. You want to know the direction for your life, and you will obey. But you wonder, "Is this just me, or is this the Holy Spirit? How do I know?"
Here are 4 ways the Holy Spirit speaks.
1. The Word
The Word of God is perfect, lacking nothing. It is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and it is the foundation for your life. This is where it begins.
Second Timothy 3 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work."
If you want a word from God, open your Bible. If you are serious about hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, you will be serious about reading the Bible.
The more familiar you become with the Word, the more clearly you will hear the Holy Spirit speak in the other ways He speaks. If you don't know the Word, you don't have a foundation. You don't have a safety net. You don't have a measure by which to judge whether you are hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word.
2. Wisdom
Wisdom is the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit. It doesn't quite show up in your intellect or your understanding. It is more of a guiding sense about what should be done in a particular circumstance.
Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
When you have a renewed mind, you are more easily guided by the Lord. That is how we come into a flow with the Holy Spirit. This is why the Word comes first. The Word produces wisdom.
With wisdom, you don't hear specific words or sentences. You have an overall sense, an inner knowing about the direction you should go. James 1:5 says, "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."
After the Word, this is the most reliable way God speaks. It is what guided Solomon, and it is what James says God will give to you if you simply ask.
3. The Whisper
The whisper is different from wisdom. With wisdom, the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit, and you have an inner knowing. With the whisper, the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit, and your spirit communicates that to your natural understanding. It comes as specific instructions.
This one is harder to navigate because many thoughts and emotions can interrupt, intercept, and distort the voice of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 says, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
The whisper is not as reliable as the Word or wisdom. That isn't because the Holy Spirit is unreliable. It is because we have so much going on inside of us that we can disrupt or distort what He is saying.
Some ask, "If it's in God's Word, why does the Spirit need to speak it to us? And if it's not in God's Word, why would the Spirit speak it?" But these questions leave out our need for specific instructions that Scripture doesn't address. Where should you live? Who should you marry? Where should you work? Should you take that offer from that school?
Scripture gives us clear commands: live holy, worship God, love one another, forgive each other. But for the specifics of your life, you need the whisper of the Holy Spirit.
That leads many believers to ask, "What does His voice sound like?" You will get many different answers to that question. I'm not saying people are lying. People experience and describe the Holy Spirit's voice in different ways.
Even if I say His voice sounds like many waters, what good does that do you? A thought may run through your mind, and you may imagine it sounds like many waters, and say, "That's the Holy Spirit!" Or if I say His voice is like a gentle whisper, you may feel a soft nudge in your heart. That could still be your own mind. Just because it is gentle doesn't mean it is the Holy Spirit every time.
That is why specific descriptions don't give us the help we need. The voice of the Holy Spirit is a spiritual sense. How would you describe sight to a man born blind? How would you describe hearing to a man born deaf? There is no way to describe a sense someone has never had. In the same way, the sense of the Spirit and His voice is outside the realm of description. You either know it, or you don't.
That may sound discouraging, but it is actually encouraging, because for believers, this comes naturally. It is not a matter of hearing. It is a matter of discerning His voice. The more familiar you become with the Word, and the more you walk in wisdom, the more easily you will recognize His whispers.
We should not obsess over this. Everything God gave us that we absolutely need to please Him is found in the Word, and our lives are guided by His wisdom. When it comes to specific instructions, we must not walk in condemnation. If you are sincerely seeking His direction and surrendering your life, saying, "Lord, I want You to guide my life," you can be free from the toxic, religious mentality that says, "You missed it here, you missed it there, and now God is angry with you."
You no longer have to obsess over every whim and thought that comes to your mind. You can be guided by the Word and by wisdom, and the Holy Spirit will reveal Himself through the whisper as you live on those first two foundations.
4. Wonders
Wonders are the things that come from outside, from the world around you. First to your mind, and then to your spirit. These include dreams, visions, prophecy, words of knowledge, and signs.
First Thessalonians 5:19–21 shows us that the Holy Spirit speaks through prophets. Acts 2:17–18 shows us that He speaks through visions. Job 33:14–15 shows us that He speaks in dreams. And Mark 16:20 tells us the Lord confirmed the message through miraculous signs.
So wonders include all these outward ways God speaks to us, such as miracles and prophets. But whenever we become unsure, we can always come back to the Word.
The Holy Spirit Speaks in 4 Ways
The Word is the foundation. It is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and the Holy Spirit will never contradict it.
Wisdom is the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit. It comes as an inner knowing about the direction you should go, not as specific words or sentences.
The Whisper is the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit, and your spirit communicating that to your mind. It comes as specific instructions for the details of your life, but it is less reliable than the Word and wisdom because our own thoughts and emotions can distort it.
Wonders are the outward ways God speaks, such as dreams, visions, prophecy, words of knowledge, and signs.
Build your life on the Word and walk in wisdom, and you will learn to recognize His whispers. You don't have to obsess over every thought or live in fear that you missed Him. If you sincerely want to follow Him, He will guide you. And whenever you become unsure, come back to the Word.
For more practical ways to recognize when the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, watch my teaching, “How Do I Know If the Holy Spirit Is Speaking to Me? – 4 Ways the Holy Spirit Speaks” on YouTube. Watch it here.
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