It may come unbidden. Someone comes up to you and says: “God wants me to tell you …”

It may come while someone is praying for you and says: “I sense God telling me …”

God does send messages through people. The Bible is full of examples of this. 

Moses heard from God and then conveyed His commandments to the Israelites (Exodus 20). Joshua beckoned the people to “come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God” (Joshua 3:9).

Over 20% of the Old Testament is made up of accounts of God speaking to His people through His prophets. Hebrews 1:1 acknowledges this as much. 

In the New Testament, God continues to use people to convey His words. Ananias, a disciple, brought a message from God to Paul (Acts 9:10-17). The prophet Agabus did the same later in Paul’s ministry (Acts 21:10-11).

But is every message you get really from God? How can you tell? What do you do if someone says: “I have a word from God for you”? Here are 8 things you can do in response.

1. Be open

When the shepherds went to Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, bearing witness to the angelic visitation in the field, the Bible tells us Mary did an important thing. She “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

The first thing you can do when someone gives you a word from God is to be open. Receive it but don’t act on it yet. Ponder it, test it (1 Thessalonians 5:21), take your time.

2. Be biblical

The Bible is the Word of God and the main way He speaks to His people. Whatever word given to you from Him will always be in harmony with Scripture.

In 2 Peter 1:21, we are told that “prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Does the prophecy you have been given align with the Word of God?

The word given, if it is from God, is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that inspired the Bible. God will not contradict Himself.

That is why we must know the Bible. It is the main way to test a word given.

3. Be moral

The word given to you should not go against your conscience.  

God is the moral law giver. From Him comes our innate understanding of right and wrong. This is the conscience that exists in everyone, believers or otherwise. Romans 2:14-15 calls it the “requirements of the laws” that is “written in their hearts”.

4. Be reasonable

Is the revealed word of God in keeping with reason that has been illuminated by the Holy Spirit?

Paul maps it out for us in 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 when he says: “The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

The Holy Spirit does not just inform our spirits, He informs our minds as well. So we are not expected to suspend all reason in order to obey God. In fact, God expects us to use our sanctified wisdom. If He did not want us to use our heads, he would not have given us minds.

The key is sanctified minds. Divine things may be supra-rational (above the scope of human rationale). We may not yet know the reason. But they are definitely not irrational (against reason).

It is true that there are times in the Bible when God asks His people to do things that seem to be lacking in reason and common sense. He asked Abraham to leave country, community and home without telling him exactly where to go (Genesis 12:1). Joshua was told to conquer Jericho not by storming into the city but marching around it (Joshua 6:1-21). Jeremiah was given a series of strange things to do with a linen sash which he obeyed without question (Jeremiah 13:1-7). Young Mary was told that she would be overcome by the Holy Spirit and conceive and bear the Son of God (Luke 1:28-38).

But these instances are few and far between, and always a preamble to something momentous. Most of the time, God’s will falls within the confines of “reasonableness”.

5. Be prayerful

In prayer, ask God if the word is from Him. His Spirit in you will confirm in your spirit (Romans 8:16) if it is so. That confirmation should deepen into a conviction. Over time as you pray, it becomes an assurance.

As you pray, you may need to sort through your feelings, impulses and imagination. These tend to urge you to act in haste, beyond reason or against advice. They cannot stand the test of time.

The assurance should, instead, be accompanied by inward peace. God does not cause fear (2 Timothy 1:7) or confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). God leads His sheep, not pushes them.

6. Be aware of the source

Who is the person who has given you a word from God?

Are they people of Christian character and spiritual maturity (Matthew 7:15-20)? Do they live lives in keeping with the Word of God? Are they known to move in the areas of word of wisdom, word of knowledge and prophetic words? Have they been accurate in the past?

7. Be in keeping with time and context

Sometimes, God gives a word well ahead of time. When He told Abraham that he would father his own child (Genesis 15:4-5), it would be some 25 years before Abraham saw the promise come to pass.

God’s things, like good things, come to those who wait.

8. Be willing to seek wise counsel

Take the word to trusted Christian leaders in your life and seek their discernment (Proverbs 11:14 and Proverbs 12:15). Find a mentor, cell group leader, ministry leader or pastor who can process the word with you and help you align yourself with God’s will.

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