1. Face-to-face like Moses experienced
2. Dreams
3. Visions
4. Audible voice
5. General leading
6. Scripture
7. Through prophets or other people
8. Animals
9. Angles giving messages or interpretations
10. Signs
11. Speaks to your spirit

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1.  Face-to-face like Moses experienced.  “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend”.  Exodus 33:11a.  It should be noted that this is not merely a way that God may speak to you, it is also a sign to others that you have earned a privileged position with the Lord.  Because of this position you may have with God, the other saints are to show you due respect.  Just as Aaron and his wife Miriam about this.

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.  “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked.  “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?”  And the Lord heard this…At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.”  So the three of them came out.  Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam.  When both of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words:  “When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams.  But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.  With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.  Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”  The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.  When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam – leprous, like snow.  (Numbers 12:1, 2, 4-10a).

2.  Dreams.  “In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon , Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed.  He wrote down the substance of his dream”.  Daniel 7:1.  Generally God will speak to you in dreams only if that is a method of communication with which you are good at.  For dreams are highly symbolic, which suits people who are good at grasping symbolism.  Not everyone is good at symbolism, including myself.  I have often said to friends that if God spoke to me in a dream he might as well be talking to a wall for all the good it will do me.

3.  Visions.  “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris , I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest gold around his waist.  His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightening, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.  I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the visions; the men with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.”  Daniel 10:4-7.

While visions themselves can be as symbolic as dreams are; they often contain a mix of symbolic and literal.  And to make things even more exciting, at times the literal is hidden in riddles or the like.  As with dreams, visions are normally given to those who are good with understanding symbolism.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF THIS IN THE LIFE OF DAN DELEON

In the early 1970s, Dan Deleon became a new Christian.  One day he was riding with a friend in a truck.  While listening  to his friend talk about something, the friend’s voice became more and more distant.  Then suddenly Dan saw a vision of rolling black clouds coming towards him.  Out of the clouds he saw a hand reach out towards him.  Even though Dan was new in the faith, he did the right thing.  He asked God if that vision was Him.  Dan told God that he didn’t think it was Him, but just let me know Lord.

God told Dan that the vision was not of Him.  That Dan was to sing a certain song anytime he felt any attacks from the Enemy, Satan.  That son, an old standard from Church history, was to be Dan’s song of victory. So Dan obeyed the voice of God and began to sing that song.  Immediately the clouds rolled away, and the hand disappeared.

To test this, Dan stopped singing.  Then the clouds rolled back in towards him.  So Dan then sang the song again until the clouds and the vision went away for good.  From this experience Dan was given a glimpse of the graphic reality of spiritual warfare against his soul.  That God had provided a means of deliverance through the singing of a song.  A song that worships Jesus.

4.  Audible voice.  “As he [Saul, later named Paul the apostle] neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.  The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone.”  Acts 9:3-7.

Here we read about God speaking audibly to an unbeliever.  Note that Paul heard and understood the words spoken to him.  He didn’t spend time wondering whether he heard words because he didn’t recognize the voice of the speaker.  Given the nature of the chat’s origin, Saul recognized that he was speaking to one with greater authority, and gave honor to him by calling him “Lord”.

5.  General leading.  “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law”.  Galatians 5:18.  The leading referenced there is between doing good versus bad.  Between choosing to be holy or being unholy.  The choices are outlined for us in verses 19 through 23.  Since only believers in Jesus Christ have received the Holy Spirit, who lives within them, only they can be led by the Spirit.

6.  Scripture.  “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:16, 17.  What more needs to be said?  The more you read scripture, asking God to speak to you through it, the more he will do just that.  The more you ask him to help you remember his scripture, the more he will do so.  Which means the more of his life-giving Word will be at the forefront of your mind, ready to be used by him and yourself to teach  you, correct you, and train you in Godly righteousness.

7.  Through prophets or other people.  There are numerous prophets mentioned by name and others mentioned only by their title (prophet) in the Bible.  Most of the prophets mentioned have some of their prophetic messages recorded in scripture.  There are prophets in the Old and New Testaments.  Generally the prophet’s audience is to the Church, though there are a number of instances in the scriptures where the prophet spoke to one or more unbelievers.  There are also examples of God using believers and unbelievers, who were not prophets, to yet speak truth to mixed groups (believers and unbelievers) as well.

Fortunately God has given the Church five tests to use to determine whether any given prophet speaking to us is a true or false prophet.  Some of the tests are unique to prophets.  Some tests though can be used for a prophet or a pastor.  For more information on these five tests for a true prophet, see my special report called THE FIVE TESTS OF A TRUE PROPHET.

A great Bible example of receiving a word from the Lord through another person (who is not a prophet) can be found in Luke 7:1-10.  That story is as follows:

When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum .  There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.  The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.  When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him.  “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.  So Jesus went with him.  He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel .”  Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

The last part of this story is better told (for my purposes here) in Matthew 8:13.  That verse reads; “Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, it will be done just as you believed it would.”  And his servant was healed at that very hour.”

The second  group meets Jesus just up the road from the house and says, in effect, just say the word for the servant’s healing.  Jesus gives the second group the word.  That second group brings back the word from God to the centurion.  Because the centurion had faith that Jesus could and would heal, and that all that was needed was a word from Jesus, the centurion got his heart’s desire fulfilled.

We see here that the second group of people that brought back the word from God were not prophets.  In fact, they were carrying the word of God only after stopping Jesus from coming.  How about that?  Yes, God does work in mysterious ways.

8.  Animals.  One of my favorite modes of God speaking to us humans.  The only known down side to this form of communication is it indicates you are in really big trouble from God.  Granted there may still be Narnian talking animals still, but I’ve not heard about them.

Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab .  But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him.  Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field.  Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.  Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, the donkey pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it.  So he beat her again.

Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.  Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me three times?”  Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me!  If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”  The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day?  Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”  “No,” he said.

Then the angel of the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn.  So he bowed low and fell facedown.  The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?  I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.  The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times.  If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.”  Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned.  I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me.  Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”  The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.”  So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.  Numbers 22:21-35.

9.  Angels giving messages or interpretations.  In the book of Daniel, chapters 7 and 8, there are instances of angels giving interpretations to Daniel regarding dreams and visions he had.  You also find an angelic interpretation in the book of Revelation, chapter 17, verses seven through eighteen.

10.  Signs.  “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:8-12.

And another sign is:  “Tongues, then are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers”.  1 Corinthians 14:22.

The above presents two different signs that God used in the New Testament.  One was a one-time event while the other is continuing to this day.  We see that signs can be introduced by angels or not.  One sign had momentous significance but was a common event in itself.  The other sign is not common, is meant for unbelievers, and builds up the person doing it.

11.  Speaks to your spirit.  John 16:13-15 says “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; but will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.  All that belongs to the Father is mine.  That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you”.  So the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, can and will speak to you directly by speaking to your spirit.  When he does this, the speaking is not with an audible voice, so don’t look for one.  Rather, we say that it is speaking directly to your spirit.  Bam!  The message is there, in your spirit.  No fuss, no muss.  

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF THIS IN MY LIFE

Sometime between the years 1978 and 1980, I used to listen to a radio station (KEZY FM 1190) for two reasons.  One for the music they played and two, I liked one particular Dee Jay (aka Air Talent).  That Dee Jay’s name was Strawberry Jan.  One day I was in my backyard listening to her music she was playing.  I distinctly heard God say to me that I was to immediately begin praying for her.  That I was to do this often.  She was in great danger.  Pray, pray, pray!

So I did pray for her right then, and often through the coming months.  Time flew by and I never knew what, if anything, happened to her.  One day while attending a singles group at Newport Mesa Christian Center in Costa Mesa , California , I heard a woman give her testimony.  That woman turned out to be Strawberry Jan!  After she gave her testimony, I asked her questions about what she was doing around the time that God spoke to me.  Without going into detail or taking thunder away from her, she was living in disobedience to God.  Soon after the time I began praying for her, she was involved in a near-fatal car crash.

She should have been killed right away, or certainly have died at the hospital that night.  Yet she didn’t.  Through God’s grace, she is alive and well, and walking with God.  He has blessed her with miracles, a husband, and wonderful friends and family.  I am blessed to have her as my friend.  She has kindly agreed to give her testimony herein so that you would be blessed by the awesome God we serve.

When Jan was a little girl she gave her life to God.  Until her career took off, she was growing more and more in faith and love for God.  From 1978 to 1984., Jan’s radio and professional career was in the ascendancy.  As she gained more success she continued to be more tepid towards God.  She went to church less often, read the Word less often, fell out of fellowship with her Christian friends, and prayed less often.

In 1982 KOST radio called her with an offer of more money and a better time slot.  Shortly after working for KOST, the station went from a pre-recorded format to a live format, and changed to a soft hits format.  While there she was appointed music director.  She also began doing voice overwork and commercials for the station.

In the spring of 1984 Jan was chosen to debut the Love Songs On The Coast series.  She was also getting more offers for work on TV and radio commercials and voice overs.

Then Jan had her life changing moment.  It was August 11, 1984 , the closing day of the Los Angeles Olympics.  While driving home on the freeway, a drunk driver of a 1.5 ton truck barreled over the center divider and ran into her head on.  His truck ended up on top of her car.  Her injuries were life threatening while the drunk driver had scrapes and bruises.

That night the doctors informed Jan’s parents that she was not expected to live through the night because of her injuries.  To their surprise through, Jan did live through the night.  Not long after this Jan slipped into a coma.  Her brain wave activity level was so low that the doctors believed she would never come out of the coma.  In fact the doctors told her family that if she did come out of a coma, that she would be a vegetable.  However, as Jan likes to say, during this time she was with radio station KOMA.  She had to quit that station though because the format was too sleepy.  So she did.

One of Jan’s injuries was a badly broken jaw.  So the doctors had to give her dental implants and wire her mouth shut.  Not long after her jaws were released from the wiring, Jan said her first words to her brother visiting her.  Again, no one expected her to be able to talk so well or so soon.  She told her brother that she loved him.

A short time later on, her mother brought Jan some get well cards that she had received from her radio station’s listeners.  Just as Jan’s mother was going to show Jan a card, the nurse interrupted her and told her that Jan couldn’t possibly read those.  That Jan was like a baby due to her head injuries.  That she would have to be retrained all over again.  But God is in control, not nurses or doctors.  For the mother showed Jan the card anyhow.  The mother saw Jan’s eyes tracking across the card, reading it.  So she asked Jan if she could read it and knew what it said.  Jan said yes and told her what it said!  To which the mother ran out of the room, praising God and letting the medical staff know of the greatness of our God.

A partial list of the massive injuries that Jan suffered is; the broken jaw, having to get dental implants, being in a coma for months, broken left hand and fingers, multiple surgeries for paralysis in her left foot, reconstructive surgeries, and a brain stem injury.

Despite all these injuries, God has mightily blessed Jan by taking away most of these injuries and their side effects.  She is able to walk with little difficulty, even up and down stairs.  Her seizure disorder is greatly reduced from what it was even a few years ago.  Her short and long term memory is much improved.  In fact, doctors have told her that she would plateau with regard to her healing.  Wrong again!

At the present Jan is still experiencing healings and growth in al areas of her life.  This is partly a result of medical therapies and miraculous healings that God gives her through various Christian ministers she sees from time to time.

As Jan was recovering the doctors and nurses told her she would have to get a new profession.  That she could never go back to being an air talent since it required such a high level of brain activity and coordination.  Again God showed man how limited he is.  For not only has Jan returned to the radio air waves but she has done outstandingly well!  In fact she has done the voices of two characters n an independent film called The Least Likely Candidate.

She and I also want her testimony here to prove that each Christian’s obedience to God’s words are vital.  They affect people we know and don’t know.  My experience with prayer in the life of Jan Marie Kirby (aka Strawberry Jan) is not unique.  It has happened to many Christians, I’m sure.  One of which was a man that Smith Wigglesworth knew.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE IN THE LIFE OF MR. WILLIE BURTON

Mr. Wigglesworth knew a Mr. Willie Burton.  Mr. Burton was working for the Lord in the Belgium Congo years ago.  He took sick and was on his deathbed.  His fellow Christian workers were disconsolate, standing outside his quarters.  When all of a sudden there stood Mr. Burton among them, fully healed.

How did it happen?  Mr. Burton had no clue until awhile later he was traveling in London . After giving his testimony to a group, a woman came up to him and questioned him as to the particular day and hour he was healed.  For the rest of the story I will let Mr. Wigglesworth tell it.

Then she told him [Mr. Burton], “It happened that, on a certain day, I went to pray; and as soon as I knelt, I had you on my mind.  The Spirit of the Lord took hold of me and rayed through me in an unknown tongue.  A vision came before me in which I saw you lying helpless; and I cried out in the unknown tongue until I saw you rise up and go out of that room.”  She had kept a note of the time, and when he looked in his diary, he found that it was exactly the time when he was raised up.  There are great possibilities as we yield to the Spirit and speak to God in quiet hours in our bedrooms.  God wants you to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that everything about you will be charged with the dynamite of heaven.

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