Does God speak more now? Indwelling Spirit versus prophets
- Does God talk to people as much now as he did in the Old Testament or New Testament?
A host asks whether God talks to people as much now as in the Old and New Testaments. Ben's key distinction: the indwelling Holy Spirit means more people can have the experience the prophets had — more by volume — but he warns against 'spirit micromanagement' that turns people into chess pieces with no agency. Mike reframes: invitations, not chess moves; you choose to go. Ben adds God went 400 years silent even in the prophet era — daily experiences were never the norm.
More on Discernment
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'When God is silent': what counts as hearing from the Lord?
- What does it mean to 'hear from the Lord,' and how often should we expect it?
Mike brings a question from his Bible study, whose paragraph heading was 'when God is silent': the author wrote that he experienced God's silence for a couple of weeks and freaked out, and Ben expected a relatable years-long drought story — 'Oh, two weeks.
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Mike frames the question: are more people hearing from God?
- Does it seem like more and more people are hearing from God — and is that real or a lie and a huge distraction?
Ben asks Mike for a two-sentence framing; Mike says listening to the book of Job while mowing made him furious when Bildad 'received a word from the Lord,' turning a bad human argument into an unarguable divine claim.
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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How to tell your voice from God's: the Bible test and leniency
- How can you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking?
Ella distills the question: how do you tell the difference between you speaking and God speaking? Her first answer: we have a Bible — what God is telling you is probably already in it ('Ben's gonna have a proud papa moment').
From No. 597 · Maybe A Word From God
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The big question: high-point experiences and everyday faith
- Why don't high-point religious experiences translate into everyday faith, and should they?
- Does everyday faithfulness ('sheep in, sheep out') go together with actively listening for what God is doing, or is it a change?
Ben frames the night's big question: why don't high-point religious experiences — camps, Promise Keepers, big conferences — translate into normal everyday life, and should they?
From No. 596 · Mr. Prayer Closet