One of the most direct, sobering personal implications of God’s omniscience is the fact that He knows every thought that we think. Our intentions, desires, imaginations, and motives are all open and manifest in the sight of our omniscient Heavenly Father.

The prophet Ezekiel emphasized this truth very plainly in Ezekiel Chapter 11. The Spirit of the Lord took the prophet to the eastern gate of the Temple. There he saw twenty-five specific men, leaders of Jerusalem, against whom Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy about the coming destruction of the Temple and the city. According to Ezekiel 11:2, God said of these evil men, “Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city.”

Obediently and faithfully, the prophet of God delivered the message. “And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them” (Ezekiel 11:5).

What a sobering message! In the original word order, the emphasis is placed upon the individual nature of God’s omniscient knowledge. It could be literally rendered “because about the thoughts that arise in your spirit I know each one.”

If the Lord knew the individual, specific thoughts of each of those twenty-five men, then He certainly knows our thoughts today! He knows our thoughts not merely as a conglomerate mass; He knows our thoughts specifically and individually. He knows “every one of them.”

Have you ever taken the time to analyze and categorize every thought? Our thoughts come in and out of our minds with such bewildering rapidity that it is hard for us to separate one thought from another. But God can! He knows our thoughts specifically and individually.

God knows our intentions.

Every day when we awaken, we have certain intentions and plans for that day. Some plans are very narrow in their focus. For example, you may think: “What am I going to do first today? Will I eat breakfast, make coffee, check the news and weather, and open my computer to check my emails? Or will I first take a moment to pray, give God thanks for a night of rest, and open my Bible to seek His guidance upon the activities of the coming day?”

Some intentions are more long-ranged. Perhaps you think: “What are my goals for this week? What are my plans for the month? What are my objectives for the coming year? What are my hopes for my children regarding their future life partners?” God knows each and every one of these thoughts better than you do!

Are your intentions selfish? Are they based upon your own goals for success, or are your plans and desires rooted in God’s Word and His evaluation of true success? Are your hopes for your children’s future based upon your own ambitions? Or are your hopes for them rooted in an ultimate intention to encourage them to follow the purpose of the omniscient God Who knows the end from the beginning?

May the Lord give each of us the grace to form our intentions based upon His revealed will! How wonderful that God Himself assures us that “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).

God knows our desires.

A part of our everyday lives is to have a variety of desires competing for our attention at any given moment. When we are hard at work midmorning, it is difficult not to think about lunch every once in a while!

When we are hot and tired, we long for a drink of cool water and a shady tree. Our desires are often subtle and subconscious; for example, when we are thirsty, we don’t actually think aloud, “I sure would like a drink of cold water!” But this may very well be an underlying desire that is present, even without the actual words or a mental picture of a glass of water!

The psalmist acknowledged that “LORD, all my desire is before thee” (Psalm 38:9). Whether conscious or subconscious, our all-knowing Master knows our desires.

By themselves, desires are not sinful. They are only sinful when they are contrary to the revealed Word, will, and ways of God. Even sexual desires are designed by God and part of the Creation that He said was “very good.” But fulfilling these desires outside the bonds of Biblical marriage can lead to moral bondage, immorality, ruin, misery, and even death.

Desire for food is good and wholesome, but an unchecked appetite can lead to gluttony. Desire for success is healthy, but if it is the wrong kind of success such as that achieved by selfish means, it can make us self-centered, aggressive, and unmindful of others. On the important matter of desires, we would be wise to give careful heed to Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

God knows our imaginations.

In the days of Noah, the Lord said of mankind, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). It may be difficult for some to imagine a society where the imaginations are only evil, but increasingly this is the state of the world in which we currently live.

When imaginations are unchecked by the Holy Spirit, they can degenerate into sensual lusts and perversion. When a man views pornography, the sensual images are easily relived again and again in his mind. For this reason we have the warning to young men in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” This is why Job wisely confessed, “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1). If we truly realized that God knew each and every imagination of our heart, what a stimulus that would be to pursue purity of heart!

Imaginations are difficult to control; in fact, they are impossible to control without the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, with God all things are possible. The Apostle Paul gave believers these encouraging words: “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4–5).

God knows our motives.

The omniscience of God extends beyond our actions to our motivations behind them. He knows not only what we do; He knows why we do it! These motives are often beyond what we ourselves fully understand. Our motives, like our desires, are often subconscious. Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that even when they performed positive religious activities such as praying, fasting, and tithing, their ultimate motive was “to be seen of men” (Matthew 6:5).

According to Proverbs 21:27, “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” We should allow the Holy Spirit to examine our motives for every action to ensure that what we are doing, we are doing for the glory of God.

Understanding that God knows our every thought, our daily prayers ought to include the psalmist’s petition recorded in Psalm 19:14. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Finally, as we recognize God’s omniscience, we should fear Him in a wholesome, positive way that leads us in the path of life. “The fear of the LORD tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil” (Proverbs 19:23).