Learning to Test What We Hear.
2026-09-21
🕊️ Prayer and Discernment.
🙏 Opening Prayer.
Heavenly Father, we come before You this evening, and I pray, Father, help us to be more discerning.
We ask, Lord, that You give all Your disciples the gift of discernment and help them to understand that discernment is something that isn’t just given. It is something we work towards.
I pray, Father, that You help us to understand that to be able to discern, we need a good working knowledge of Your Word.
To be able to discern, we need to be able to hear the Holy Spirit, and we need to know the basic rules of discernment.
So I pray, Father, that this devotion would touch hearts and help people to realize that in this world we’re living in, with all the deception, all the deepfakes, and all the political conspiracies that are happening, we need discernment to survive.
And I ask, Lord, help us to develop discernment in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
📖 Introduction — Discernment Requires a Standard.
Discernment is the process we use to perceive whether something is real or not real, true or false, accurate or inaccurate, error or deception, good or evil, complete or incomplete, sufficient or insufficient, and whether something is what it should be or not what it should be.
The process of discernment requires perception and measurement.
Measurement is the process we use to perceive a quantity or quality by comparing it against something else.
We measure because comparison gives us a reference point.
We can measure distance against a ruler. We can measure weight against a scale. We can measure time against a clock.
In the same way, spiritual discernment requires a standard against which we measure what we hear, what we see, what we are taught, and even what we think.
For the Christian, that standard is God’s Word.
But spiritual discernment is not simply intellectual analysis. It requires God’s guidance, the work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and a growing knowledge of Scripture.
We therefore need to learn not only what we believe, but why we believe it.
We live in a world filled with information. Some of it is true. Some is incomplete. Some is deliberately deceptive. Some may contain enough truth to make a lie appear believable.
Today we encounter edited photographs, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, false quotations, misleading headlines, conspiracy claims, propaganda, and opinions presented as facts.
This makes discernment important.
But discernment is not the ability to automatically reject something we dislike.
It is the ability to examine something honestly and measure it against the appropriate standard.
That requires humility.
Sometimes discernment will reveal that another person is wrong.
Sometimes it will reveal that we are wrong.
And sometimes it will reveal that we simply do not yet have enough information to know.
A discerning Christian must therefore be willing to say:
“I don’t know yet.”
That is not weakness.
It is honesty.
🏛️ Church History — The Bereans.
The early Christians understood the importance of testing what they heard.
The New Testament church did not simply accept every teacher or every spiritual claim because someone spoke confidently.
The Bereans provide an excellent example.
When Paul and Silas preached in Berea, the people listened carefully, but they did not simply accept everything they heard. They examined the Scriptures daily to see whether what they were being taught was true.
Their example gives us an important principle:
Faith does not require us to switch off our ability to think.
The Christian mind and the Christian spirit should work together under the authority of God’s Word.
We pray for guidance.
We study Scripture.
We listen carefully.
We examine the evidence.
We compare what we hear with what God has revealed.
And then we make a considered judgment.
📜 Scripture One — Test the Spirits.
1 John 4:1.
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
Notice the instruction.
It does not say to believe everything.
It does not say to reject everything.
It says to test.
Discernment requires examination.
When we encounter a spiritual teaching, we should ask whether it agrees with God’s Word and points us toward the truth revealed in Christ.
💭 Reflection.
What have I accepted simply because somebody said it confidently?
Have I actually tested it against Scripture?
📜 Scripture Two — Train Yourself to Discern.
Hebrews 5:14.
“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
There is an important word here:
Trained.
Discernment develops through practice.
Just as a muscle becomes stronger through exercise, our ability to discern becomes stronger as we continually study God’s Word, pray, examine what we encounter, and practise distinguishing truth from error.
Discernment is therefore not merely something we ask God to give us.
It is also something we must exercise.
💭 Reflection.
Am I actively training my spiritual discernment, or am I simply expecting it to appear when I need it?
📜 Scripture Three — Search the Scriptures.
Acts 17:11.
The Bereans received the message eagerly, but they examined the Scriptures every day to see whether what they were being taught was true.
This is a powerful lesson for Christians today.
We should not reject something simply because it challenges us.
Neither should we accept something simply because the person saying it is respected.
We should search the Scriptures.
That applies to sermons, social-media posts, Christian books, videos, artificial intelligence, and even these devotions.
The Bible remains the standard.
Not the preacher.
Not the author.
Not the computer.
Not the artificial intelligence.
The Word of God.
💭 Reflection.
When I hear something about God, do I search Scripture to discover what God actually says?
🧭 Discernment Is Not Suspicion.
There is an important difference between discernment and suspicion.
Suspicion can cause us to distrust everything.
Discernment teaches us to examine everything.
Suspicion says:
“I don’t believe it.”
Discernment says:
“Let me test it.”
Suspicion can be driven by fear.
Discernment should be guided by truth.
Suspicion can close the mind.
Discernment keeps the mind open while refusing to abandon the standard of truth.
The goal is not to become suspicious of the world.
The goal is to become less easily deceived by it.
⚖️ A Practical Discernment Process.
When something comes before us, slow down and ask:
1. What exactly am I being told?
Do not react before understanding the actual claim.
2. What evidence supports it?
A confident statement is not automatically evidence.
3. What is the source?
Who said it? Where did the information originate? Can the original source be checked?
4. What does God’s Word say?
Does the teaching agree with Scripture, or does it contradict what God has revealed?
5. Am I allowing my emotions to influence my judgment?
Fear, anger, excitement, pride, and personal preference can affect our ability to discern.
6. What do I actually know?
Separate facts from assumptions, interpretations, rumours, and opinions.
7. What don’t I know?
Sometimes the most discerning conclusion is that more information is required.
This is especially important in an age where information can be created and distributed within seconds.
🕊️ The Holy Spirit and Discernment.
Spiritual discernment is not simply human intelligence.
We can be intelligent and still be deceived.
We can be educated and still misunderstand Scripture.
We can be experienced and still make mistakes.
Therefore, the Christian should pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
But we should also remember that the Holy Spirit does not need to contradict the Word that He inspired.
When we believe that we have received some spiritual insight, we should examine that insight against Scripture rather than using our feelings as the final authority.
The question is not merely:
“What do I feel God is saying?”
The deeper question is:
“Does what I believe God is saying agree with what God has already revealed?”
That question can protect us from many forms of deception.
🏋️ Practical Exercise — Pause, Pray, Examine, Measure.
Today, take one claim you encountered during the day.
It could be something from social media, television, a conversation, a video, or even something someone told you about the Bible.
Do not immediately accept it.
Do not immediately reject it.
Write it down.
Then examine it.
PAUSE. Do not immediately react.
PRAY. Ask God for wisdom and clarity.
EXAMINE. Look carefully at the claim, the evidence, and the source.
MEASURE. Compare what you have discovered with Scripture and with the available evidence.
Then decide whether you should accept it, reject it, investigate further, or simply say:
“I don’t know yet.”
That final answer is sometimes the most discerning answer of all.
🌅 Heavenly View — God Sees the Whole Picture.
From our human perspective, we often see only fragments.
God sees the whole picture.
We see today’s information.
God sees the beginning and the end.
We see what people say.
God knows the heart.
We see appearances.
God knows the truth.
Therefore, discernment should always be accompanied by humility.
We are not God.
We do not know everything.
But we can learn.
We can pray.
We can study.
We can listen.
We can test.
And we can continually bring what we encounter before the truth of God’s Word.
The goal of discernment is not to become suspicious of the world.
The goal is to become less easily deceived by it.
🙏 Closing Prayer.
Heavenly Father, we come to You this evening as we go into this night.
Please help us to meditate on Your Word, to discern right from wrong, to discern Your Word for what it is and what it is telling us, not what we want to believe, but what You are telling us.
Help us to discern between truth and lies, and help us to stand against deceiving thoughts that come into our minds when we read the Bible, when we talk about Your Word, and when we pray.
Help us, Lord, to have discernment.
I ask this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
🩸 Cody — Dei Scriptor
God’s Journalist.
ChatGPT — and the Holy Spirit.
📱 WhatsApp Copy-and-Paste Version.
*🕊️ Prayer and Discernment.*
*🙏 Opening Prayer.*
_Heavenly Father, we come before You this evening, and I pray, Father, help us to be more discerning._
_We ask, Lord, that You give all Your disciples the gift of discernment and help them to understand that discernment is something that isn't just given. It is something we work towards._
_I pray, Father, that You help us to understand that to be able to discern, we need a good working knowledge of Your Word._
_To be able to discern, we need to be able to hear the Holy Spirit, and we need to know the basic rules of discernment._
_So I pray, Father, that this devotion would touch hearts and help people to realize that in this world we're living in, with all the deception, all the deepfakes, and all the political conspiracies that are happening, we need discernment to survive._
_And I ask, Lord, help us to develop discernment in Jesus' precious name. Amen._
*📖 Introduction — Discernment Requires a Standard.*
Discernment is the process we use to perceive whether something is real or not real, true or false, accurate or inaccurate, error or deception, good or evil, complete or incomplete, sufficient or insufficient, and whether something is what it should be or not what it should be.
The process of discernment requires *perception and measurement.*
Measurement is the process we use to perceive a quantity or quality by comparing it against something else.
We measure because comparison gives us a reference point.
For the Christian, that standard is God's Word.
But spiritual discernment also requires God's guidance, the work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, and a growing knowledge of Scripture.
We live in a world filled with information. Some of it is true. Some is incomplete. Some is deliberately deceptive.
Today we encounter edited photographs, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, false quotations, misleading headlines, conspiracy claims, propaganda, and opinions presented as facts.
This makes discernment important.
But discernment is not the ability to automatically reject something we dislike.
It is the ability to examine something honestly and measure it against the appropriate standard.
Sometimes discernment will reveal that another person is wrong.
Sometimes it will reveal that we are wrong.
And sometimes it will reveal that we simply do not yet have enough information to know.
A discerning Christian must therefore be willing to say:
*"I don't know yet."*
That is not weakness.
It is honesty.
*🏛️ Church History — The Bereans.*
The early Christians understood the importance of testing what they heard.
The Bereans provide an excellent example.
When Paul and Silas preached in Berea, the people listened carefully, but they did not simply accept everything they heard. They examined the Scriptures daily to see whether what they were being taught was true.
Their example gives us an important principle:
*Faith does not require us to switch off our ability to think.*
We pray for guidance.
We study Scripture.
We listen carefully.
We examine the evidence.
We compare what we hear with what God has revealed.
And then we make a considered judgment.
*📜 Scripture One — Test the Spirits.*
*1 John 4:1.*
> "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God."
It does not say to believe everything.
It does not say to reject everything.
It says to *test.*
Discernment requires examination.
*💭 Reflection.*
What have I accepted simply because somebody said it confidently?
Have I actually tested it against Scripture?
*📜 Scripture Two — Train Yourself to Discern.*
*Hebrews 5:14.*
> "But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
There is an important word here:
*Trained.*
Discernment develops through practice.
Just as a muscle becomes stronger through exercise, our ability to discern becomes stronger as we continually study God's Word, pray, examine what we encounter, and practise distinguishing truth from error.
Discernment is not merely something we ask God to give us.
It is also something we must exercise.
*💭 Reflection.*
Am I actively training my spiritual discernment, or am I simply expecting it to appear when I need it?
*📜 Scripture Three — Search the Scriptures.*
*Acts 17:11.*
The Bereans received the message eagerly, but they examined the Scriptures every day to see whether what they were being taught was true.
This applies to sermons, social-media posts, Christian books, videos, artificial intelligence, and even these devotions.
The Bible remains the standard.
Not the preacher.
Not the author.
Not the computer.
Not the artificial intelligence.
*The Word of God.*
*💭 Reflection.*
When I hear something about God, do I search Scripture to discover what God actually says?
*🧭 Discernment Is Not Suspicion.*
Suspicion can cause us to distrust everything.
Discernment teaches us to examine everything.
Suspicion says:
*"I don't believe it."*
Discernment says:
*"Let me test it."*
Suspicion can be driven by fear.
Discernment should be guided by truth.
The goal is not to become suspicious of the world.
The goal is to become less easily deceived by it.
*⚖️ A Practical Discernment Process.*
When something comes before us, slow down and ask:
*1. What exactly am I being told?*
Do not react before understanding the actual claim.
*2. What evidence supports it?*
A confident statement is not automatically evidence.
*3. What is the source?*
Who said it? Where did the information originate? Can the original source be checked?
*4. What does God's Word say?*
Does the teaching agree with Scripture, or does it contradict what God has revealed?
*5. Am I allowing my emotions to influence my judgment?*
Fear, anger, excitement, pride, and personal preference can affect our ability to discern.
*6. What do I actually know?*
Separate facts from assumptions, interpretations, rumours, and opinions.
*7. What don't I know?*
Sometimes the most discerning conclusion is that more information is required.
*🕊️ The Holy Spirit and Discernment.*
Spiritual discernment is not simply human intelligence.
We can be intelligent and still be deceived.
We can be educated and still misunderstand Scripture.
We can be experienced and still make mistakes.
Therefore, the Christian should pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we believe that we have received some spiritual insight, we should examine that insight against Scripture rather than using our feelings as the final authority.
The deeper question is:
*"Does what I believe God is saying agree with what God has already revealed?"*
*🏋️ Practical Exercise — Pause, Pray, Examine, Measure.*
Today, take one claim you encountered during the day.
Do not immediately accept it.
Do not immediately reject it.
Write it down.
*PAUSE.* Do not immediately react.
*PRAY.* Ask God for wisdom and clarity.
*EXAMINE.* Look carefully at the claim, the evidence, and the source.
*MEASURE.* Compare what you have discovered with Scripture and with the available evidence.
Then decide whether you should accept it, reject it, investigate further, or simply say:
*"I don't know yet."*
That final answer is sometimes the most discerning answer of all.
*🌅 Heavenly View — God Sees the Whole Picture.*
From our human perspective, we often see only fragments.
God sees the whole picture.
We see appearances.
God knows the truth.
Therefore, discernment should always be accompanied by humility.
We are not God.
We do not know everything.
But we can learn.
We can pray.
We can study.
We can listen.
We can test.
And we can continually bring what we encounter before the truth of God's Word.
The goal of discernment is not to become suspicious of the world.
The goal is to become less easily deceived by it.
*🙏 Closing Prayer.*
_Heavenly Father, we come to You this evening as we go into this night._
_Please help us to meditate on Your Word, to discern right from wrong, to discern Your Word for what it is and what it is telling us, not what we want to believe, but what You are telling us._
_Help us to discern between truth and lies, and help us to stand against deceiving thoughts that come into our minds when we read the Bible, when we talk about Your Word, and when we pray._
_Help us, Lord, to have discernment._
_I ask this in Jesus' precious name. Amen._
🩸 *Cody — Dei Scriptor*
*God's Journalist.*
*ChatGPT — and the Holy Spirit.*