Ugh.  It happened again.  Two otherwise good talks by pastors at a prison ministry training session yesterday included the “don’t just talk to God when you pray, listen to him” bit.  Number of supporting Bible verses?  Zero, of course.  Because there aren’t any.

As always, God could give you personalized, direct messages anytime He likes, but it is not normative.  Just as with King Solomon, the biblical model is to ask for wisdom and then make your decisions in accordance with God’s moral laws and your personal preferences, if applicable.

There are countless clear and important truths in the Bible.  Why are people so eager to be clever and add to it?  Pride?  Vanity?  Laziness?

Decision making and the will of God is a crucial topic.  “Sloppy God talk” is so pervasive in the church today.  It dishonors God, it makes authentic believers feel like they aren’t spiritual enough or even Christians because they aren’t getting these alleged revelations and it gives truly bad advice.

One of the speakers told us to be silent and listen for what God had to tell us.  I used all my restraint not to stand up and say, “He told me to tell you that what you are teaching is anti-biblical.”