We often get asked “how did you know you were hearing from God?” after we share some of our giving stories that God has led us through.
While we don’t have all the answers and we don’t believe there is only one way to hear from God, in this article we are sharing what we have learned about hearing from God with our giving (and really any other areas of our lives).
We will be sharing the exact process we follow when we are trying to identify if we are hearing from God or not.
And we’ll also discuss a specific miracle money story and example that just happened.
Hearing from God is something we ALL can do and isn’t reserved for the “super-Christians” LOL!
Now before we get into all the details, we recorded our discussion on our SeedTime Money Podcast YouTube channel:
(The following is an abbreviated transcription from a video Linda and I recorded. Please excuse any typos or errors.)
How do you hear from God?
Bob: Today, we wanna talk a little bit about how to hear from God in your giving. And, this is a question that I get that we’ve gotten a lot over the years. As we’ve told some of our story and some of the things where we felt like God lead us in a direction normally that’s absolutely insane, absolutely crazy.
But yet we sense that it was God leading us there. That question comes up a lot. Well, how do you hear from God? How do you know it was God?
Whatever, all this different stuff. And, and honestly, I haven’t talked about it a lot because it’s like, I don’t know. This isn’t a topic that, you know…
It’s different for everyone
Linda: It’s kind of ambiguous too, and I feel like it’s different for so many people. Like there’s a lot of different answers. Yeah. It’s not just a, you know, if you do this, then this, it’s not that easy.
Bob: Yeah. I think there are a lot of answers here and I think .ike, we’ve talked to different people who hear from God in different ways. And so like, it just adds to what I think is the beautiful nature of not being formulaic. And that’s one of the things I love so much about God, is that you will not be reduced to a simple formula.
A miracle money story
Bob: So I wanna start by just sharing a story just from, really a miracle money story. We’re talking about miracle money stories this month and just cool things that God is.
Um, we’re sharing a lot of ’em on our email list, so if you’re not on our email list, be sure to get on our email list. That’s where we send really a lot of our best tips, special offers and just all kinds of encouraging stuff on there. So just go to seedtime.com/subscribe and you can get on that. But I wanna start with this story because A, it qualifies as a miracle money story.
Linda: Yeah, absolutely. I
Bob: t’s really, really cool.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: Um, but also I think we can talk a little bit through, um, how specifically you heard from God in this situation. Yeah. About this. Yeah. So do you wanna tell it?
Never suppress a generous thought
Linda: Okay. So, uh, a few days ago I got this text from a friend who was on a just dreamy vacation that she was getting to go on (find out how we travel for free!). And she texted me because we had talked about this trip and she was so excited and you know, it was just, you know, a friend text.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: So she texts me, shows me where she is. I mean, it’s just gorgeous.
And, she texted “I did not bring the proper attire to be at this gorgeous hotel,” you know? And, and so she’s like, I’m gonna go shopping and get something. And I was like, oh my gosh, that’s so fun. This feels like, you know, fairytale where you get to go on a trip and then buy a new wardrobe. It’s typical chick flick.
So I was like, oh, that’s so. And I’m just, in my mind, honestly, just dreaming about being in her situation and how much fun it would be. And I kind of get this idea to, uh, send her some money to go…
Bob: It’s just, it’s just a thought.
Linda: Yeah. It’s just a thought. Just a quick little, just a quick little, oh, you should just contribute to that. If she’s gonna go buy some clothes, just give her, give her a little extra fun money.
Bob: Well, and one thing, a little bit of our I think family values that we live by is that we do whatever we can to not let a generous thought pass us by.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: Without taking action.
Linda: Never suppress a generous thought. Right? That’s the quote that we…
Bob: Yeah. So anyway, so the point is, is that I think that’s where it starts. Because I, I’m pretty convinced that I don’t think the enemy is planting seeds of generosity in our minds very often. And so I tend to believe that when we have a generous thought, it’s probably from God. You know?
Linda: Sure, sure.
Bob: Anyway, so you have this thought to send her a little bit of fun money.
Linda: To send her a little bit of fun money. Yeah. I’m like, okay, that’s, that sounds fun And it was really such a quick thought.
So yes, coming back to this, we never suppressed a generous thought and I honestly had time right then. Like my kids were playing in the other room and I thought, okay, I’ll just send her some quick money on Venmo. That’s easy. I can do that.
Um, which by the way, I said this on Instagram. I think I’ve said this before, but if you have Venmo make sure that your picture on there is a giant picture of your face. Like we can see who you are very clearly in case someone wants to randomly send you a Venmo money. Um, I don’t need the most artistic picture you’ve ever taken. I wanna see who I’m sending money to.
Bob: So if you want to have a chance for us to send you random Venmo money,
Linda: Seriously.
Bob: Get your picture on there.
Quick thoughts of generosity
Linda: Um, so yeah. I just have this quick thought of like, oh, let’s just send her some money. And I’m like, oh, okay. All right. So I grab my phone. And I go to type in and I’m, I’m trying to think how much should I send send her?
And at first I think $50. That seems rational, but it was like, almost like I, I, I don’t know. It was like a really quick progression in my mind of, no, not $50. A hundred? No, not a hundred. $150? No, not $150. $200? No, not $200. 250? 250. And it was like, there was something about that $250 that was just like, yeah, that’s it.
Bob: It just felt right.
Linda: Really. That’s, that’s as deep as it went. This was honestly so… almost flippant, it felt like. So I wanna talk about this more because there’s an interesting story with this, but…
Bob: Yeah. Okay, we’ll come back to this story.
Linda: Yes.
When it feels right to give, it just “clicks”
Bob: But, but I think that’s an important point. Cuz this is, I’ve, I’ve observed a lot when I’m trying to hear from God with giving. A lot of times I feel like I’m running thoughts through my head. And really, I guess through my spirit, like, I don’t know where I’m just trying to evaluate like what feels right. And there are times where it’s like, this just doesn’t feel right. It’s just like, I don’t know, it’s just not a peace with it.
Then there’s times where it’s like this just clicks. And it locks in and it just feels… and that’s what, to me, it sounds like you’re saying.
Linda: Yes.
Bob So the idea of giving a hundred, it’s just like I could do it, but it just feel like the right amount.
Following the wisdom of God
Linda: Which this is such a tricky thing because like the Bible does not say do what feels right. It doesn’t say that almost anyway, like at all ever. So I get why this is one of those things that just is, it’s just odd. It’s just awkward, you know? Because you want to be doing the wise thing, you want to be doing the right thing, you know?
And I think that’s where we can get tripped up so often in this is because we are trying so hard to do the wise thing. And I, you know, I am 100{1652eb1ffa4184925f6a63a9c04ea6b421acb7a78117241e7d4325cdca8339fa} for that. I, I don’t wanna be misunderstood at all.
Bob: Yeah, but that’s an important distinction because a lot of times, I mean, if we look at a lot of our stories, uh, I, we default to following the wisdom of God.
Linda: Absolutely.
Bob: Like that’s our default. But whenever we sense God is leading us to do something else, that is above standard default wisdom.
Linda: Right.
Bob: And so when I sensed God calling me to work on my blog full-time, as I got laid off in 2008. Like in so many ways, that looked like a foolish decision. Like in the natural, I was making a hundred dollars a month from our blog. I have my new wife, she doesn’t have a good income either.
Linda: Right.
Bob: It looked like a terrible idea. But it’s what God was calling us to do.
Linda: Now I will say within that, we used wisdom to take steps forward ( here are 7 steps to take when you lose your job).
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: Okay. Yeah. So this $250, we’ll just use this as a example. We had that money.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: I didn’t go into debt over this money.
Generosity and our seed account
Linda: Okay. Like, uh, we’ve talked about this a lot, that we have our, um, our giving fund (how we’ve made giving fun!).
So we have a Seed account, which is what we call it. And it is, we have money that we give towards our church, money that we give towards other ministries and non-for-profits. And then we have a specific account in our budget (here are other budget categories to consider) that is for buying people birthday presents or a coffee or you know, whatever.
Bob: Stuff like this.
Linda: Yep. Stuff like this. And I knew how much money was in there and there was enough money to cover this.
Thoughts on going into debt to give
Bob: Yeah. And this brings up another side point that I think is important because people ask me sometimes. Well, I wanna give off my credit. I don’t have any money, but I have a credit card and so I want to give and go into debt to give (here’s how you can get out of credit card debt).
And for me personally, I’m not gonna say like “thus says the Lord,” or whatever. Um, yeah, I’m not gonna touch that. I’ll just say for me personally, what I’ve decided, like my default on this is if I have to go in debt for it, then I’m not actually the one giving it. You know what I mean? So Chase Bank is the one who is giving the thing.
Linda: Interesting.
Bob: And I am the one who is making that happen. And, uh, and so for me, that doesn’t feel right. And so we don’t do that. That’s not how we operate. We give from what we have so that we can actually be the ones who are giving it. And so it’s a question that comes up from time to time, and that’s just one simple way I like thinking about it.
Bob: Again, like we mentioned, like there’s a wisdom component to stewarding well. But like I said, above all that is when we sense that God is leading us to do something. Like we lean into that.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: That is our number one priority.
Linda: Yeah.
Miracles and the pattern of wisdom
Bob: Because again, you go through the Bible and look at all the miracles, so many of them did not follow a pattern of wisdom. But followed a pattern of God is asking me to do something crazy. And…
Linda: Yeah
Bob: Go march around this city seven times.
Linda: I was just thinking seven times.
Bob: And then yell real loud. Like what Army General even came up with that plan, you know?
Linda: The idea is terrible, right?
Bob: Or even Jesus, like, Peter, go back out. I know you’ve been fishing. I know that you do this for a living. You know what you’re doing. You haven’t caught anything, but go back. Do it one more time. Peter’s rolling his eyes like, dude, you’re…
Linda: You’re a carpenter, you’re not a fisherman.
Bob: Stay in your lane preacher man. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You know? So it’s like there’s something about obeying, you know, in those situations. But anyway.
What does it mean when giving “feels right”
Linda: Yes, so, so I, I quickly get to this $250 and I go, that seems really high. Like, honestly, I just was like, that seems. But all right. What’s the harm? Is kind of where I went. Yeah. What’s the harm like? There really was no harm, there was no downside to this.
Bob: And it felt right, right.
Linda: And it had that feeling of like this. For some reason, I think it hits right.
Bob: Okay. I think that that, when we say felt right.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: I think the important piece there is that this isn’t like our flesh that feels right.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: It’s cuz that that’s how our society and our world lives. Like what is going to make my flesh feel good?
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: And it’s not that, but it’s like your inner spirit man, you know? Right. That it feels right. And it’s like that… that’s the thing we’re after.
Linda: That was the thing. Yeah, exactly. So I just hit send and I moved on. Because I, heard that voice that said, that seems high. And I just decided to dismiss it because never suppress a generous thought is really what I was thinking.
Well, and it wasn’t until I got that, like I was thinking in my head, how much should I give her (here are some extraordinary stories on giving)? How much should I give her? And it wasn’t until I got Venmo open and I went to go type it in and it just started popping up and then I went, okay, $250. Send. It was like, I didn’t get the clarity I needed until, until you were there.
Clarity in deciphering what to do
Bob: Yeah, I was there. Yeah. So that is another like little piece of this too. So sometimes what I’ve done in the past to help give me clarity when I’m trying to decipher what I’m supposed to do in a situation is I will basically, In my mind, just imagine the two different scenarios.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: Like going down this path or going down this path and like just seeing if God gives me a peace about either one of them as I’m imagining them. Because it’s kinda like what you’re talking about, it’s kinda like stepping into that thing a little bit, to see if there’s a sense of peace there, you know?
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: Um, so anyway, that’s really good. But the thing you were just saying about like having that thought of, man, that feels like a lot. For me, like that same thing happens. Yeah. Like many times when we decided, oh, we’re gonna give our age as a percentage of income.
Linda: I’m like, seems like a lot.
Bob: That seems like a lot.
That seems crazy. But if I look back and evaluate all those thoughts, those were fear-driven thoughts. In which God does not give us fear-driven thoughts.
Linda: That is, is true.
Bob: And so, anyway, so that’s just a whole nother aspect of this too. Because those thoughts of fear, they don’t come from God.
Linda: Right.
Bob: God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear.
Linda: Right.
Bob: You know? So like that’s not from him. Uh, and so that’s just another, I don’t know, we’re just kind of throwing up a lot of different pieces on the wall and hopefully some of us will stick and resonate and click and help some of you listening here.
Prayers answered
Linda: Yeah. So you know, I send this money. I’m, I kind of am like, I’m just excited. I’m excited for her. I’m like, you know, show me what you get, whatever. And, that was it.
Well, she quickly sends me a message back and says, I have to tell you a story. And I’m like, okay, great. I love, I love stories, you know. And she begins to tell me about leading up to this trip.
She’s like, I think I had told you this before, but I had been praying and asking God to be able to travel this year. And I mean she, of course her story is much longer than what I’m gonna share here, but her just going on this trip was a testimony. Her being able to go on this trip, because she had a lot of things going on this year that would’ve prevented it from happening. But then one of the other major hurdles that she had was, they’re just in a pretty tight financial position, you know?
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: They’re, they’re actually very wise with their money (scriptures on wise money management). But they’re finding themselves in a tight position. And so her even being able to go on this trip was an answer to her prayer.
And she starts telling me as she was driving to the airport, She and her husband are talking, they’re trying to figure out honestly, like how she’s going to buy food on this trip. You know they’re at that position where it’s like, we’ve planned as best as we could. Here we are. Let’s figure it out. They have the best attitudes of anybody I know, honestly.
She goes on this trip and she’s just like, well Lord, she says, you know what? I already asked you to go on this trip. I’m, I’m on a roll cuz you gave me that. So now I’m just gonna ask for it, I’m gonna ask for $250.
Okay? This is on her way to the airport. Could you just gimme $250? That would make it so I could buy some presents for some people that I love, have enough money to eat and just have a little bit of money to have some fun and do some things that I maybe wouldn’t normally do.
And she’s like, I’m okay. I’m content with what you’ve given me and just being on this trip. If I have to fast the whole time, I will.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: Um, well, I mean, really, this is the type of person she is and it’s so beautiful. And then she said, when she had texted me, she was like, I even forgot that I prayed that until I saw that you had sent me the exact amount that I was asking God for.
Bob: Yep.
Linda: And I, I got really excited because… and then, you know, as she’s sending this message, she’s also praying for me in the process. Which was so beautiful and sweet, because I honestly needed it that day.
Bob: Yeah.
Confirmation of hearing form The Lord
Linda: So, one of the things that I took away from this though is that it was confirmation to me that I had heard from the Lord on this.
Bob: Yeah, yeah.
Linda: Because she had given me no indication that she needed any money on this trip. Like there she wasn’t begging people for money. She wasn’t, she didn’t even tell us that they were in a tight financial position.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: She literally just said, oh, I’m gonna go shopping that. That’s it. That’s all she said, I’m gonna go shopping.
And I think it’s so cool that in that moment of her saying, I’m going to go shopping, and the Holy Spirit says, could you, can you send this real quick? And I just, I did it. Almost… it felt like almost no thought at all. Which really encouraged me because it felt like I am able to obey without this being a week of me fasting and praying and trying to get answers from the Lord.
I do think that there are times we need to do that, don’t get me wrong. But it was really exciting and it actually makes me excited to want to pray and fast because there’s so much more for us to have from Him.
Bob: Yep.
Actively listening and obeying
Linda: But it also made me excited that as we just are activated and are active in trying to listen for the Lord that I believe that He’s just speaking to us. And it also gave me a clue into how I feel like I hear from the Lord sometimes. Which is not very spiritual. Like I, I looked back.
Bob: It is, it just might not feel spiritual.
Linda: Yes, it doesn’t feel spiritual. But I started looking back to some other things where I had spoken some things to people. And they said, would you pray about this with me? I said, yes. I’ll pray about that with you. And I think I said some word of encouragement. My friend said that’s exactly what I needed to hear.
I mean, it was so quick and in my head it wasn’t even so exciting. It wasn’t even so big. It was just me speaking out the truth of what I know about God. And, it just is really exciting cuz it’s teaching me how if I can just be active, I feel like God will use me as I’m just going and doing. Because I’m going and being.
Bob: Yeah and obedient.
Linda: Active and obedient. It’s not as hard as I always thought it was.
Bob: Well, yeah, cuz in that situation, like this is the thing, you could have said $250 is too much.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: Like $50 feels right. Even though it doesn’t feel right. You know?
Linda: Yeah.
Fear disrupts the blessing
Bob: And so if you’re in that situation and you’re being led by fear (quotes to help you conquer fear), then you’re going to miss out on what God’s trying to do.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: You’re gonna miss out on the miracle that He had. And so this was just a cool, small, little miracle that you got to participate in.
Linda: Right.
Bob: Uh, yeah. And I think it’s really, really fun.
Linda: Yeah. And if I look back, I’m really excited and I’m glad that she told me. Because I look back at some other stories that I was able to be part of, and I’m realizing it’s helping me recognize, oh, that’s how, that’s how God’s communicating with me.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: And it, it just, it boosts my faith.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: Like, it, it makes me want to say yes more. And just continue to like, move in that direction. And also just recognize that, okay when, when it feels like this, that means this. You know what I mean?
Bob: Yeah. Cuz the, the point here that I think is important to make is that I think everyone feels kind of crazy when they’re trying to hear from God. Like, I think it’s just a regular occurrence where you feel like, I feel kind crazy doing this.
Linda: This is weird. Yeah.
Bob: But like, I feel like that’s the path of following Jesus.
Linda: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. And…
Validation in knowing you obeyed God
Bob: And so when you get validated…
Linda: When you get validated.
Bob: Like, because some of ’em we’re not gonna see until we get to heaven.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: And we’re not gonna know that we got it right until we get to heaven.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: But when we can have some of ’em on earth to as a confirmation of, “wow, okay, that’s awesome. I did that right.” You know?
Being a mirror to other believers leads to affirmation
Linda: Yeah. And also just affirming other believers who are being used by God in your life. Just saying to them, “you don’t know how timely that was. You don’t know that I asked God for that exact amount of money. You don’t know that I’ve been praying about that situation for months.” Like telling other believers so that they can go, “oh, that was, that was the Holy Spirit speaking in me.” Like just affirming that in them.
You know, the Bible talks about how The Word is a mirror. But also, He makes people to be mirrors to each other. And I think when we, anytime we have the opportunity to mirror back who God is in them, we need to take that opportunity and do it.
Bob: Yeah, that’s good. So that’s really good.
Linda: Yeah. So that, that was the, this was the exciting story for me. Um, in the last week. I, I’m really pumped because I love feeling like I’m being used by God.
Bob: Oh yeah. I mean, it’s what lights us up.
Linda: Yeah. I love it.
Bob: I think as Christians, that’s, that’s how we’re hardwired.
Linda: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Bob: To want and to desire that.
There’s a lot of ways to hear from God
Linda: Yeah. And I just wanna add, like, this is, this is not the only way I think you can hear from God. Like we, we talked about that in the beginning.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: Where it’s like, there’s, there’s a lot of ways to hear from God and we don’t wanna put any of that in a box. I just wanted to share my experience because, um, I think it might be helpful to, to hear how someone else is processing through that.
Bob: Yep.
Linda: And how you can like, have that knowing, moving forward.
Hearing the audible voice of God
Bob: Yeah. Cuz yeah. I mean, I know people who say that they’ve heard the voice of God. And it’s like, I haven’t. I’d love to.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: But I haven’t like, heard an audible voice.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Bob: Um, pretty much for me it’s always been internal, you know?
Linda: Right. Yeah. Me too. Um, and so, I mean, I’m curious to know… I always like hearing ways that other people are like hearing from the Lord. But I think when you take a step out and you do something that you’re like, I, this doesn’t seem like my idea. This seems like it might be the Lord. Taking that step out and then seeing what happens. Like I, I think is so good. Cuz I, I don’t think that, I think he wants to train us in this.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: I don’t think that it’s just something that He’s like, just do it. And then He is mad if we don’t, you know, obey or whatever.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: Um, I think that there is a training ground for this. So, um, for me it’s just a continual practice of let’s just kind of see what happens.
Bob: Yeah.
Linda: And when I do the, get that confirmation, which isn’t always, but when I do it really helps me go, “oh, that, that was it. That’s what that feels like.”
Bob: Yeah. Yep.
Linda: So, yeah.
Bob: That’s good.
Linda: Mm-hmm.
Closing thoughts
Bob: anyway, that’s what we have today. Hopefully you found this helpful. Share this with someone who needs it.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: Um, if you haven’t left us a review over at iTunes, or anywhere else, that would be a huge blessing and we really appreciate it. Cuz it just helps get the podcast into more people’s ears.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: Yeah, just be a blessing to us. But, um, anyway, I think that’s it.
Linda: Yeah.
Bob: And we’ll see you in the next one.