Look at the words Jesus uses about the Spirit: He guides, He speaks, He tells what is to come, and He makes known. These are communication verbs. The Spirit of God communicates with the people of God.

Pictures — Dreams and Visions God also speaks through pictures.

Over and over throughout the book of Acts, people who walked in the fullness of the Spirit received communication from the Holy Spirit. They heard God speak. It is a clear mark you are living in the fullness of the Spirit.

If we are going to be sensitive to God’s voice in the busyness of life, then we need to develop a quiet place within our souls where we can hear God.

How do we test it when Scripture doesn’t have a clear course of action for a specific prompting? We test it with other mature believers who are living in the fullness of the Spirit and have discernment.

Sometimes the Spirit speaks through compassion.

Sometimes the Lord will give us a specific word of knowledge we have no human way of knowing for someone who doesn’t yet believe, and it will move the person’s heart.

The purpose of prophecy is to strengthen, encourage, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). Prophecy is to be motivated by love.

Please hear me: every emotion, every dream, and every thought is not from God. They must be tested, and they must never contradict what God has plainly said in His word. Emotions in particular must be very carefully tested. We can get bent toward our desires, and then “hear God” through that idol.