Listening to God.
At first, it seems like an elusive concept fraught with the potential for error. But if we have safeguards in place, it’s easy for His children to hear His voice. Jesus promised this to us in John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me.”
The main safeguard we should use when listening to the voice of God during our prayer time is His Word. In fact, scripture is a wonderful conversation piece when learning to hear from Him. With the Holy Spirit as our teacher and our counselor, we can easily interact with Him through the Word. In fact, God commands us to do so in scripture:
“Take words with you, and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity; receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.” (Hosea 14:2)
One way I actively dialogue with God is by praying back the truths of scripture to Him. If there’s something I don’t understand in His Word, I’ll ask Him about it. If I don’t sense an answer from Him right away, I’ll wait on it (waiting can be a challenge!!) If there’s a scripture which leaps off the page for me, I’ll slow down and listen to what God wants to say to me through that scripture. Sometimes its a rebuke, or an encouragement, or direction, or chastening.
Then I’ll write down my thoughts as they come to me. As I write my thoughts, I ask God what is the one thing I should do to get started on the path He wants me to take. This can be related to a character issue I’m struggling with, preparation for something in the future, a relational issue or any other aspect of my life.
If I sense Him leading me to do something, I write it on a ‘to do’ list in the back of my prayer journal. After my prayer time, I’m usually still thinking about what He’s asking of me. If it’s a major decision, I’ll talk it over with my spouse since he’s the spiritual head of our family. I don’t make major decisions after one prayer session. Hastiness is unwise. Sometimes, it takes months or years of planning and preparation before we make a major move. As I talk over major decisions with my spouse, we usually get direction or confirmation through the Word, conversations, books, sermons. Then we’ll start planning… If we don’t get confirmation or direction, we wait.
If it’s a character issue or something that just deals with me, I’ll ask God for practical ways I can incorporate His direction into my life. I don’t always get an answer right away but, if I wait, I’ll get further direction on how to do this. Often times, He’ll tell me to drop activities or simplify my life in some way to make room for what He wants me to do.
I’m still taking gradual steps on learning to abide in Him, but thus far, this has been the most effective way for me.
Next week, we’ll talk about writing His word on our hearts!
Leave a Reply