4 Signs the Holy Spirit Is Speaking to You

John 16:13-14

As we all know, it can be a challenge to be sure we are hearing God, so here are 4 signs the Holy Spirit truly is speaking to you.

1. You Can Be Sure the Holy Spirit Is Actually Speaking to You When You Are Being Shown How to Exalt Jesus

Many are led astray when they think they are following the Holy Spirit but in actuality they are simply following their own desires, some other person’s desire for them, or a false spirit. This is why 1 John 4:1-3 is so important. It states:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

When a false spirit is presenting itself in someone’s life, the thrust of that person will be to exalt him or herself. They may do this in a religious way by sharing what type of visions they’ve had or by trying to exalt themselves in the eyes of others, but when the Holy Spirit is truly speaking to someone, the Spirit will always exalt Jesus Christ. For in John 16:13-14 Jesus states:

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

2. When the Holy Spirit Is Speaking to You, He Will Focus on Producing the Fruits of the Spirit in You

As we all know through spending lots of time in conversations with friends and family, every individual has certain areas of interest that they seem to always focus on. For example, my dad is an avid cyclist, so eventually we always end up talking about bike riding at some point whenever we talk. I have other friends who love a certain sport, a certain theological topic, or who love to talk about politics.

The same thing is true of the Holy Spirit. God will speak with you about anything you bring to him in prayer, but when it is time for God to bring up the topic of conversation, you can be sure that he will very often come back to the fruits of the Spirit with you again and again. In Galatians 5:22-25 it states:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

So the Spirit may be talking to you about dating, about your career, or about some other desire you have, but when the Holy Spirit is truly speaking to you about any topic like these, he will bring the conversation back around to the fruits of Spirit as well. He will show you how to have love, joy, peace, and all these other godly qualities in the specific area of your life you are talking about with him.

3. The Holy Spirit Is Truly Speaking to You When the Word of God Is Illuminated to You in Your Heart

In 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, Paul warns us not to believe everyone who claims to be telling the truth because even Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. So how can we know if it is God speaking through someone or just that person’s own ideas? How can we know if we are actually being led astray by Satan rather than following the Holy Spirit? In John Calvin’s famous book called Institutes of the Christian Religion, he states:

Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority can the Spirit have with us if he be not ascertained by an infallible mark?  . . . lest Satan should insinuate himself under [God’s] name, [God] wishes us to recognize him by the image which he has stamped on the Scriptures. The author of the Scriptures cannot vary, and change his likeness. Such as there he appeared at first, such he will perpetually remain.”

In other words, whatever you sense the Holy Spirit speaking to you personally, you should be able to see those same truths, principles, and ideas in the Bible as well.

Much like a human fingerprint that clearly identifies if someone did or did not touch something, the Holy Scriptures can be used like this as well. When you carefully compare what you are hearing personally to what is already written in the Bible and the two match, you can be sure this truly is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

4. When You Receive an Inner Peace Paired with a Biblical Plan, This Is Usually the Holy Spirit Speaking to You

There are basically two ways God leads his children through storms in life. He either gives them a wise plan on how to change the circumstances in their life or he gives them a supernatural peace to help them get through this trial even though the circumstances will remain the same.

Usually God gives us a hybrid of both. He might not tell us how the next 50 years will go, but when you seek the Lord he will give you a wise plan on how to proceed forward in a way that honors him. And in the midst of all the unknowns, when the Holy Spirit is truly speaking, you will gain an inner peace that only God can produce. Notice what Jesus said in John 14:26-27 about giving us wisdom and giving us peace. He states:

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. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

So if you are receiving a wise biblical plan along with an inner peace, this is a sign the Holy Spirit is truly speaking to you.