The Bible refers to both Hananiah and Jeremiah as prophets. Both claim to be speaking for God, but they are offering opposite points of view. How can you tell which is the authentic voice of God? According to the Bible the only sure measure is to wait to see how things turn out and then you know who was right. But of course we can’t wait until the end, we must make decisions today not knowing the future. Jeremiah suggests, and spiritual masters through the ages have picked up the theme, that it is wise to be suspicious if “the word of the Lord” is what you want. God is larger than our hopes and dreams so in our prayer we must be open to God’s surprises.