God said

[Bridgida]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

 

[timf]

This is an area where one should be cautious. It is very easy to mistake how one feels at a particular moment as something God is telling you. For example. a very good preacher can create a strong emotional response to his message. A person could easily mistake the strength of the emotional response as a leading by the Holy Spirit.

That we are eager and willing to be led by God to do his will is a testimony to the sincerity and depth of your faith. However, we are also to be a wise as serpents, which I take to mean we should first be seeking wisdom, understanding, and discernment.

Pro 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
Pro 2:2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Pro 2:3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
Pro 2:4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Pro 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Pro 2:6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Pro 2:7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
Pro 2:8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
Pro 2:9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
Pro 2:10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

 

[Albion]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

Hello, Bridgida.

Different branches of Christianity would most likely answer this in different ways. However, it is often said that when God calls, he calls and calls and calls. In other words, it's not a message from on high...and then nothing.

Some people think it does work that way, but you might consider the thinking of all those Christian people and pastors who feel that when God calls he is persistent until there in no doubt left in the person. If you do not feel that call repeatedly, and even continuing over some length of time, the initial feeling you had might not be what you thought it was.

 

[BobRyan]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

When God is in it - it becomes a consuming desire - a passion where the focus is on spreading the Gospel and saving souls. If you get a message from God about saving souls as a politician and it keeps coming back as a conviction - pray and take it seriously.

If it is a one time fluke passing thought - don't be too focused on it.

John 16 we are told that many people are mistaken - thinking God told them to do something - that He did not tell them to do.

John 16:2 They will ban you from the synagogue, yet an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering a service to God.

The Apostle Paul says he used to do certain things thinking God was telling him to do it -- and it was wrong.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

Welcome to CF. Though I think asking the Holy Spirit, rather than The Father, may not be how Jesus Christ of Nazareth taught us how to pray, if the move is positive for the Kingdom of God then I would assume it is His will. But this is only an assumption. One must always check the fruits.
Blessings.

 

[aiki]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

Is That You, God?

 

[ViaCrucis]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

I wouldn't trust anyone who told me to try to know the mind and will of the Spirit apart from what is given in Word and Sacrament.

That is the path of Enthusiasm. And Enthusiasm kills faith.

Enthusiasm, in a religious/theological context comes from the older, more literal meaning of the word, from the Greek ἐνθουσιασμός (enthousiasmos) from en (in) + theos (god) + ousios (essence); "being directly inspired by a god"; i.e. that one can have direct experience of God, and especially, of His Essence, without any any intermediary. Enthusiasm, therefore, says that we can directly experience, know, and have a relationship with God through interior, unmediated experiences. This is held in opposition to true theology which says that we only experience God through the intermediation of Christ, the one Mediator between God and man, in and through God's external word: The Scriptures, the preaching of the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc.

The false doctrine of Enthusiasm is one of the most diabolical and pernicious lies that gets perpetuated in the Christian Church today. Enthusiasm leads men away from faith toward their own subjective feelings and appetites, Enthusiasm sets us in opposition to the Cross of Jesus Christ, leading us to the worship of our own gut feelings and instincts (Philippians 3:17-19). I do not say this to cause fear, but instead as a warning. We must place our faith, all of our trust, in Jesus Christ. Not on ourselves, not on our feelings, and not in our own sense of what the Spirit is saying or doing--but rather to look to Christ, to Christ's word, to God's word and promises which are ours in the Sacraments.

When we look inside of ourselves, we will only ever find idols.

The true God is found outside of ourselves, in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, dead, and on the third day rose again.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

The true God is found outside of ourselves, in Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, dead, and on the third day rose again.

How do you line that up with Christ in me the hope of glory?

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

The prophet Elija was of that ilk, he was told one thing by God, and he went full force in his way to carry that out. Even tho Jesus said that the spirit in that was not right in calling down fire on anyone. But he was going on what God had previously told him, his reactions to circumstances were very human. He went from one revelation to the next with God sustaining him until he was able to receive further revelation. But that was not always successful to God tho. When God tried to tell him about listening to the still small voice instead of the nature surrounding him, all Elijah was able to focus on was his own solidarity. But God’s people have advanced much further in learning to stand in His word by using the sword of truth of His word effectively to bring about a new understanding that still needs the mantle of the HS to carry it thru.

 

[Francis Drake]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

I note the flood of negative comments, do not be discouraged.
Serving God is not just missionary work or soup kitchens. For decades I served the Lord in industry, and I saw more of the power of God at work there than I did in church!

Sometimes after you receive an initial word, you don't get a follow up word until you start on the journey. So I suggest you start exploring what you have already been given, all the time asking God for his wisdom, which James tells us, God WILL ALWAYS GIVE TO THOSE WHO ASK.

James1v5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

 

[Francis Drake]

Welcome to CF. Though I think asking the Holy Spirit, rather than The Father, may not be how Jesus Christ of Nazareth taught us how to pray, if the move is positive for the Kingdom of God then I would assume it is His will. But this is only an assumption. One must always check the fruits.
Blessings.

One must always check the fruits?
How does that help direct us when fruits don't happen till years down the line?

 

[Maria Billingsley]

One must always check the fruits?
How does that help direct us when fruits don't happen till years down the line?

These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

 

[Francis Drake]

This is fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Thank you Maria for clarifying. You didn't say 'fruits of the Spirit', so I presumed you were referring political fruits that would proceed from the decision.

@Bridgida
One of the best confirmation of God's will in a decision is receiving his peace within.
Col3v15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body. And be thankful.

The above is a typical translation of that verse, but the Greek word used for 'rule', also means to arbitrate or act as an umpire, as in sports decisions.

For many decades, I have sought and received Christ's peace deep within to confirm the directions I believed he had given me. If there is no peace, I walk away.

 

[tturt]

Also, we can ask God for confirmation..

After Sauls's Damascus Road experience, 'God is telling Ananias to "...Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying [there].
And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias enter and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." Acts 9:11-12

 

[FutureAndAHope]

I went last year to HTB church in London and there at the end of the service the priest told us to ask the Holy Spirit what he would like to tell us.

After that I heard very clearly that I should go into the politic in my home country.
Since then I tried to ask God about it, but no answer came.
It can be coming from me as in the past I was thinking in this direction.
But I ask is if God tells you to do things just once?
Just once and never again?
Otherwise, it is on my mind to do something, but it would be a big change in my life and a positive one.
so, yes I need a piece of advice on this issue.
there are people who were told things by God. They were told to become nuns or go and rescue street children in a faraway country.
I really wonder if such a thing just happens once?

Psa 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

This direction does not seem like a bad thing. In order to become a politician however requires work, meeting people, getting involved with political parties etc. All of these interactions will give you an opportunity to share your faith.

 

[Bridgida]

Yes, to start work on a project or join a political party. I think of studying something related.
Thank you for all the answers.