One of the earliest phone scams was a call from a grandchild who desperately needed money. It would cause one to pause and consider sending money. It pulled on the heartstrings because no one wants a grandchild to suffer. The immediate response would be to send however much money the grandchild needed to get out of a jam. And if you were out of touch with that grandchild, you might wire the money to a scammer.

However, a second thought might be, is this the voice of my grandchild? If one hadn’t been in regular contact with that grandchild, it might go unnoticed. Or a disguised voice might fool someone. But if you knew your grandchild’s voice, you would dismiss the call as a lie.

The third thought might be, what is my grandchild doing in Europe, or wherever the caller said he was from. One might wonder if they truly got robbed and needed money to get home. But if you knew your grandchild’s whereabouts, you would dismiss the call as a lie.

Or another thought might be, why is my grandchild is jail? If you knew your grandchild’s values, you may or may not question why he is in jail. But if you knew your grandchild had good values, you would dismiss the call as a lie. But, if you knew the grandchild was wayward, you might wire the money to the scammer.

The point is, when we know someone, we are less likely to fall for a lie. When we really know them, we will know their voice, their character, and what they’re up to. When we know God, we will know when we are hearing from him. We can be sure of Holy Spirit’s voice because he speaks as God. Since we can’t know him face to face, we can know him through reading the Bible, and we can practice hearing from him through prayer.

Reading the Bible reveals the character and values of God and lets us know what he’s up to. When we read the stories in the Bible, they are more than stories. We learn how God reacts to his people in various situations and what he considers important. Reading those stories lets us know who God is.

Satan tries to mimic God. He’s the original scammer. His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy our relationship with God. He will do it by manipulating our heartstrings. He will do it when we don’t know the voice of God’s spirit within us. He tries to fool us and lead us astray, sometimes by closely imitating God.

Satan often lies by appealing to our selfish nature. He offers substitutions for God’s best. Sometimes we take the bait because he offers something we want and, just like the scammer, it forces us to make quick decisions. But taking the bait can be fatal for our life in Christ.

We are always encouraged to read the Bible but reading it purely for the goal of accomplishment doesn’t allow us to know God. Reading the Bible as a spiritually inspired work of God allows us to see him in relationship with people. From Genesis, with Adam and Eve to

Revelation, with God’s final enemy, the dragon, the great deceiver, we learn God loves us and wants the best for us. That best is not necessarily worldly things, but a life that is satisfied by spiritual things.

Prayer is something to develop. When we are young, we learn prayers of protection, “Now I lay me down to sleep….”, and thanks, “God is good, let us thank him for our food”, but the longer we are in a relationship with him, our prayers should mature. Our prayers should turn from a monologue, a one-way talk, to a dialogue, a two-way conversation.

When we know God’s character, we can hear from him when we are quiet before him and give him time to speak to our spirits. We often pray for answers but then quickly move on. Speaking from experience, we can know God’s will for our lives. His language is not with words that the human ear can hear, they are words or impressions spoken into our spirits that give direction.

When we believe the verse that goes something like this, “All my days were known before you formed me”, show there is a path before us. How do we know the way? By knowing the way-maker. Truly knowing him means we won’t get scammed. But, better than not getting scammed is being a forever friend of God.