I first began to pray about buying my own home not long after moving into a patio home I planned to indefinitely rent.  You will notice I use the word “home” instead of “house” or “investment property.”  For me, buying a house meant feeling comfortable in a neighborhood I loved, putting down roots, and turning that property into a long-standing garden home where I belonged.  But I had too many lingering questions about my life and future to leap forward, so I continued to rent, and I started to talk to my Father in heaven about it.  Periodically I would drive through neighborhoods in every direction not far from work, or tour model homes when a new development was going up.  Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing, so I invited the Lord to do it with me, and to guide my discovery.  He’s good like that.  

I grew up living across from a beautiful city park, so it was not surprising I hoped for a neighborhood with a large park at the epicenter.  I began to visit one park in particular where I would stop and pray-walk the entire perimeter, at all different times of day and night, talking to the Lord about the area and every house along the way.  I still drove around town searching elsewhere, but I found myself returning to this park often, pouring out my heart to God as I walked.

Progress on the matter was slow as the Lord had higher priority work that we were doing together in my life.  But the day finally arrived at Christmas time one year when “nothing is happening” became “and then suddenly.”  I had family visiting from out of state when I happened to drive down the street on the south side of that park and noticed a for-sale sign on the house in which I now live.  On our second visit to the property, I turned to my father who was with me and told him with certainty of heart that I wanted this house, and I made an offer that was accepted later that night.  Early the next morning another young man called my realtor with his offer for the same house, but he was notified that the property was no longer on the market.  Seven years of praying and waiting suddenly became a few days of action with family by my side who happened to be in town, and a tight window of time not to be missed for a decision.  Seven years of uncertainty and pray-walking the city with God as my realtor, then suddenly. 

I don’t necessarily recommend this unusual approach to buying real estate.  Have I mentioned I had no idea what I was doing?  But of course, I do recommend inviting the Lord into all things with you because through that relationship you will more readily recognize the many ways of hearing God’s voice and confirming what you believe you have heard from Him. 

We should always examine the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, and carefully test the words we receive from the Lord on our own or from Spirit-led people in the Church who influence us.  Scripture has given us several key safeguards by which we accomplish this to avoid falling into deception and error. 

The story of my prayerful search for a home is one example of being certain of God’s working through circumstances and timing.  Both of these played such an important role in my confidence that the Lord had brought me to this location that I told the story to everyone who stopped by afterwards to welcome me to the neighborhood.  These are also the reasons I steadfastly proclaim this to be the Lord’s home that I steward, not just my own. 

There are biblical precedents for God’s hand working through circumstances and timing, for example:

This relationship between Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, which happened as a result of circumstances, became one of the most important, strategic partnerships in the book of Acts.  As Paul prayerfully travelled on his missionary journey down the eastern coasts of Macedonia and Greece, I am certain he soon recognized the Lord’s hand in bringing this unique relationship together for Kingdom purpose when it happened.  

As described earlier in this series, it is paramount that a word from God received by any other means should always be in full concurrence with the Scriptures and the character of God revealed there.  “The Bereans Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:7, New International Version).

Note also that a word we hear from God might be non-biblical (or extra-biblical), i.e., something not specifically described or given as an instruction in the Bible.  But it must never be un-biblical, i.e., something that violates a Scriptural principle.  For example, the word I received from the Lord about abstaining from all alcohol in Part 3 of this series was non-biblical (promising that “I would walk in deeper intimacy with Him and experience more spiritual effectiveness in ministry”).  At the same time, it was not un-biblical by contradicting wisdom about strong drink mentioned throughout the Bible, but rather it was aligned with it.

When evaluating if any word from God concurs with Scripture, also bear in mind the need to consider the full counsel of God on a matter.  For example, Scripture instructs, “Whoever spares the rod hates their children” (Proverbs 13:24, NIV), but it also admonishes, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children” (Ephesians 6:4, NIV).  Therefore, we need Holy Spirit’s guidance to discern which principle is applicable in any given situation, and to become “a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV).

God has given the Church prophetic gifts (e.g. a word of knowledge, word of wisdom, or personal prophecy) as another means to give or validate a word from God.  “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances.  But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21, NIV).

Scripture also instructs us that godly counsel through trusted spiritual advisors and confirmation through works of the Lord are safeguards as well.

With these guardrails in mind, let me return to the most personal means by which we become confident we have heard a word from God when it is not scripturally-based; that is, our intimate relationship with God where Holy Spirit speaks to our heart. 

The peace of God settles on the heart, sometimes inexplicably, as a testament to the validity of a word received:  

I often think of Psalm 91 when talking about intimacy with God and His promises to protect, deliver, and communicate with those who love and trust Him:

These promises are not for weekly “drive-by” Christians, but for believers who have learned to dwell with God.  What does it mean to dwell somewhere?  It is not a place we simply study and talk about, or a place we occasionally visit.  It is a place we experience firsthand, where we intend to remain, or where we return regularly by lifestyle for fellowship, sustenance, and rest.  Those who dwell with God in this secret place will be more attuned to recognize with confidence every move and rhema of God as the Holy Spirit speaks to the heart in peace.  Yes, we are called to live in the community of believers and to be mindful of all the spiritual gifts and safeguards therein, and we don’t want to live as unwise (Ephesians 5:15), but ultimately alone “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28, NIV).

After seven years of prayerful interaction with God about a home, I was overwhelmed the day I walked into the only house I viewed with a realtor.  Even the configuration and décor of the house, and the expansive landscaped yard, matched to a detail what I would have chosen myself.  I was so deeply moved that little could have dissuaded me from believing Jesus had prepared this place for me, and He had finally given me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4).  This was personal, between me and my Lord, and maybe only I would ever know it was God acting on my behalf to bring me there.

In the years since, many exchanges of love and wise instruction have occurred with God in those gardens as blooms unfold and then are pruned, as birds sing in the trees, thorns prick the skin, and weeds interfere.  The voice of God is heard and proven in such personal spaces we all experience, e.g., in the creative work of embroidery, or construction, or homemaking, and any number of other arenas that must not be discounted when we think of God speaking into the heart of His people.  Forgive a gardening pun, but these precious spaces are the very grounds for our most wholehearted worship.  They do not replace what occurs in community at the church, but they deepen it as we invite the Lord to walk with us in the gardens of our life.

There may even come a time when we are so certain of His leading or something we believe we have heard from Him that we persevere in faith regardless of the opinion of others.  Scripture is replete with examples of prophets, leaders, and saints who faced opposition to what they believed God had spoken to them and called them to do, in matters far more dire than homes and gardens.  To God alone they would give an account.  “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?  To their own master, servants stand or fall.  And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand” (Romans 14:4, NIV).

It was long ago I sat purposefully on that bed in an upstairs bedroom of the spacious vintage house at university in the 1970s with my mission to hear from God.  In those days I truncated my name to the moniker, Rich. But later in life, at the time of an important milestone, I sensed the Lord inviting me to take back my full name, Richard, and to live out the destiny of what that name means, i.e., strong leader, powerful ruler.  That rhema from God remarkably changed everything henceforth in my life. 

But even if we fail and fall, even if we get it totally wrong when we think we’ve heard from God and we take a risk to follow Him in our decisions, He is fully able to restore and redirect us.  “Let everyone bless God and sing his praises; for He holds our lives in his hands, and he holds our feet to the path” (Psalm 66:8-9, NIV).  I have other stories of my own sin and failure you might one day read in other postings to prove this point.

As I bring this series to a close, I want to leave you with a final encouragement about something the Lord has confirmed time and again throughout the years:  We do indeed hear His voice (you might have been hearing from Him far more than you recognized), and we are safe in Christ to live courageously by what He says: