Tag: Prayer and Praying

About Addressing the Silence of God. “Okay God, I am Praying! Demanding! Where for Art Thou now?” Psalm 28

Silence from God is the loudest and the saddest thing I have ever heard. – Lacey Sturm –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacey_Sturm

Where is God today?

Is God just taking that long delayed “spring break” or

Long awaited “summer vacation on HIS mountain top away from everybody else’s sin ‘nails on a chalkboard scratching’ noise?”

How can he allow evil and suffering in the world?

Have “miracles” ceased or have we ceased looking for “miracles?”

Have we ceased looking for God or are we listening to all the latest social media talk God has given up on mankind?

What are some of those soul-chilling statements I have read on social media?

“I would believe in God if he was not so d***ed inconsistent for my tastes.”

“Believe in God? Why? He never helped me or anyone else I ever knew!”

“It is easier for me to believe in what those bullets will do to me if they hit me!”

“Believe in God? That’s a laugher! Look at my neighborhood and tell me why?”

“I would believe in God if I was not so busy ducking all the bombs going off!”

“I would believe in God if He had not stolen my Mom and Dad in that accident!”

“I would probably believe in God if He would just leave me the h**l alone.”

“I would believe in God if He would just let me be a Mom just this one time.”

“I would believe in God if He would just shut His mouth and close His Bible!”

“I would believe in God more if my life would just stop going around in circles.”

“I would believe in God more if I did not get so frustrated in trying to believe!”

There are more. And each one I remember brings greater and greater sadness.

Some days are just days when it is all I can do is to try and stifle my own tears.

“I would believe in God a little bit more If I were not trying so hard not to cry!”

“I would believe in God more If I were not constantly crying out: “Why Me?!”

So, what do I end up doing anyway?

YEP!

I am touched by the Holy Spirit, and I am returning to the Word of God.

YEP!

When I am tired of the silence, then I am reminded of the Grace of God.

God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have again latched themselves to my soul.

Today, I and my spirit are reminded of the vast treasure house of God’s Truth.

Psalm 28 Complete Jewish Bible

28 (0) By David:

(1) Adonai, I am calling to you;
my Rock, don’t be deaf to my cry.
For if you answer me with silence,
I will be like those who fall in a pit.
2 Hear the sound of my prayers
when I cry to you,
when I lift my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.

3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil;
they speak words of peace to their fellowmen,
but evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for their deeds,
as befits their evil acts;
repay them for what they have done,
give them what they deserve.
5 For they don’t understand the deeds of Adonai
or what he has done.
He will break them down;
he will not build them up.

6 Blessed be Adonai,
for he heard my voice as I prayed for mercy.
7 Adonai is my strength and shield;
in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped.
Therefore my heart is filled with joy,
and I will sing praises to him.

8 Adonai is strength for [his people],
a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people! Bless your heritage!
Shepherd them, and carry them forever!

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Silence of God

When God is silent is He still working?

You either have to answer “yes”, or “no,” “maybe,” “don’t know,” “I don’t have the slightest idea,” or “I’ve never even thought about it.” “I do not care.”

On the surface, you might immediately answer—”Oh yes, God is always working when He is silent, but I won’t ever believe this is always the case.”

Why would anyone ever say this?

When God is silent don’t get unduly alarmed by His silence but don’t ignore it either. The silence of God is unsettling to us and it tests our faith. 

James 1:3-4 tells us

“Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Let patience work—let patience do its job to complete the work that needs to be completed.

We are often too quick to say, “Oh, it must not be God’s will” and give up way too soon. or I will hear preached and taught and counselled that “Don’t worry about it, the answer will come soon. God is still working on it in His silence.“

This one royally irritates me:

“It often takes time for things to work out. Hold fast to your faith during the silent times. God’s answers are often just around the corner.”

Somehow, that last response invalidates or minimizes my “right now needs.”

Please do not invalidate or minimize me any more than I’m already invalidating and minimizing myself. I guarantee it will only make things significantly worse.

On the other hand, there are often times when God cannot work because He has given people free will to either choose to follow Him or not.

We can make the choice to believe Him or to go our own way. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own ways…” (Isaiah 53:6).

There are often periods of silence when God lets people go their own way and take the consequences of their wrong choices before they turn things around.

Mark 6:5-6 “5 Jesus was not able to do any miracles there except the healing of some sick people by laying his hands on them. 6 He was surprised that the people there had no faith. Then he went to other villages in that area and taught…”

He couldn’t do what he had the power to do because the people didn’t believe.

That day a lot of people experienced the silence of God when they could have been healed. It doesn’t say WHY they didn’t believe.

There is another scripture text which reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

If you talk to people today, you will find out that a lot of people do not believe that healing is for us today and will say that ended with the apostles.

We have some friends that would say they do not believe in prayer for the sick.

“What is the point of praying for them anyway God does not do that today.”

If people lack knowledge on God’s provisions, they will not receive what they need. We need to see what promises there for us are and apply them to our situation whether it is for healing, or finances, or whatever else we need today.

Another reason for God’s silence is deliberate sin.

“If I regard iniquity (cherished sin) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Psalm 66:18).

A barrier will go up and we don’t hear from God. He is silent for a reason.

We used to sing a song—Nothing between my soul and my savior.

If we identify the silence as sin, we can get that taken care of.

“If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

When it seems that God is doing nothing, we may be too busy to notice.

Day in and day out rushing here and there, we are not aware of what is happening.

Do not ignore the silence—watch to see if He is working or not. 

Habakkuk 2:3 tells us what to do. “I will stand upon my watch to see what he will say to me.”

Slow down in the rush of the day and listen and watch closely.

You may be rushing right on by something important.

Get ready to receive by clearing the way.

Go back to the basics.

If you get off track, the Holy Spirit will get you back on track.

He will “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

God works throughout our lives silently.

Sometimes we are just in the planting and growing season, and nothing is wrong with the silence of God. The timing is not yet right for the harvest.

The Wife and I looked at a vehicle one time and were going to buy it that day but for some reason they would not make the deal with us that day. We went home frustrated and shrugging our collective shoulders and we did not buy it.

Soon after we found a nicer vehicle – a smaller SUV and we leased it.

In the case of the first vehicle, it was not the right one. The second was brand new and we got a lot of good miles out of it, and we traveled all over the place.

Sometimes God just doesn’t have anything to say to us at the moment because things are unfolding at their own pace or something better is going to emerge in due time.

God’s silence does not mean that He is not present.

He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

And Matthew 28:20, “Lo I am with you even to the end of the world.”

Scripture makes it clear that our heavenly Father hears and answers prayer.

Yet we all experience times when, though we pray for God to act right away, He does not.

What are some reasons for the delay?

At times the Lord sees that our attention is misdirected. Our relationship with Him should have priority over any earthly matter (Mark 12:30).

Yet minds and prayers can become so fixed upon a need that our gaze shifts away from Him.

The Father may delay His answer until we refocus on Him.

In other situations, God waits because the timing is not right for granting our request.

Perhaps certain events must happen first, or people’s thinking needs to be changed.

There are also seasons when the Lord wants to stretch and grow our faith.

One of the ways He accomplishes that is by having us watch for His response.

The Holy Spirit will work in these times of waiting to mature us and bring forth righteous fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Other reasons are a wrong motive for our request (James 4:3) and the practice of habitual sin.

We all fall short when it comes to God’s standard of holiness, but some of us persist in a lifestyle of disobedience.

The Lord may delay His answer so He can prompt us to confess our sin and turn back to Him.

Waiting on the Lord isn’t easy—faith and trust are needed (Hebrews 11:1).

In some cases, God is still working when He is silent but that he is working behind the scenes.

Or you can say sometimes we cause the silence by our unbelief.

We may say I just don’t know about his silence because I lack knowledge and need to learn what is in the Word for me.

God, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, never works in a straight path from A to Z.

He brings a lot of people across our pathway to fit into the total pattern.

When it looks like things are never going to work out, His times and seasons of “palpable” silence plays the proper part at the right time in the total picture.

Matthew 13:10-17 Easy-to-Read Version

Why Jesus Used Stories to Teach

10 The followers came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you use these stories to teach the people?”

11 Jesus answered, “Only you can know the secret truths about God’s kingdom. Those other people cannot know these secret truths. 12 The people who have some understanding will be given more. And they will have even more than they need. But those who do not have much understanding will lose even the little understanding that they have. 13 This is why I use these stories to teach the people: They see, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really hear or understand. 14 So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true:

‘You people will listen and listen,
    but you will not understand.
You will look and look,
    but you will not really see.
15 Yes, the minds of these people are now closed.
    They have ears, but they don’t listen.
    They have eyes, but they refuse to see.
If their minds were not closed,
    they might see with their eyes;
    they might hear with their ears;
they might understand with their minds.
    Then they might turn back to me and be healed.’

16 But God has blessed you. You understand what you see with your eyes. And you understand what you hear with your ears. 17 I can assure you, many prophets and godly people wanted to see what you now see. But they did not see it. And many prophets and godly people wanted to hear what you now hear. But they did not hear it.

If His answer is delayed, check that

1) your focus is on Him, 2) your motive for asking is both God-glorifying and God-honoring, and 3) you aren’t hiding in and behind the facade of practicing habitual sin. Then you will believe that His response will be for your good and His glory.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

let us Pray,

God, my Refuge and Strength …

I run to you when things get tough. I desperately need help. Hear me, and don’t be silent. Don’t turn me away. I am crying unto you from an earnest and honest heart. I am struggling with your silence in the midst of my unbelief and in pain.

My trust is fractured, and my feelings are hanging by a badly frayed thread. I want with all of my being to trust that You are my Lord and my Rock of safety. Tune my soul and open my ears to your silent voice that I may hear and believe. I pray this in the name of my Savior, Jesus the Christ. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Happy Birthday! God, What Should I Pray for Now? A Feast of “Not so Much,” a Feast of “Just Right” or “Too Much?”

Happy Birthday to Me! Today, I am Celebrating a Wonder of God!

Birthdays are, or at least they should be, a deeply personal and meaningful “holiday,” so to speak. We feel that it is a special day, and even people who are complete strangers, don’t know you very well will wish you a “Happy Birthday” and sometimes they will even go out of their way to do something nice for you.

Why are birthdays special? As we get older, we can sometimes feel as if our birthdays aren’t as special or as important to celebrate. They just aren’t as exciting as those younger days when we were kids. While the Bible doesn’t command a celebration of birthdays, there are good reasons to go out of our way continue to celebrate the birth of any person—and a birthday is a perfect time to do it.

It is good to affirm the value of a person.

In Genesis 1-3, God goes about creating a beautiful and good creation. His most celebrated creation is man. God forms humanity in a very personal way:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

Man is given a special status as God’s image bearers. What does that mean? God is king over his creation, is holy and good (moral attributes), and a creator.

In a similar way, man was made a steward over creation, was supposed to rule over creation well (Gen. 1:28), be holy and good, follow God’s word (Gen. 2:17).

God has created every single human being with intrinsic value because they are made in his image. Whether someone is an infant, a teenager, young adult or an octogenarian, every human life is absolutely special and precious in God’s sight.

The life of man was so utterly precious that the unjust taking of that life carried a severe punishment (Genesis 9:6). The psalmist, when faced with the marvels of creation, is amazed that God has created man in such a special way, with an elevated status (Psalm 8:4-6). To God, People hold a special place in this world.

Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and can look upon, recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmist in praising God for human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how absolutely, completely, they are a wonder of God.

Philippians 4:12-20English Standard Version

12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

14 Yet it was kind of you to share[a] my trouble. 15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.  16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. [b] 18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.

Today is my Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you readers too – even if today is not your actual birthday.

Truth be told, everyone who comes to read this has a Birthday to Celebrate!

One day, God loved you so much He chose a special day to give you a life to live!

Wonder of Wonders! Miracles of Miracles! God chose to give you and me life!

Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

Regardless of your personal circumstance right in this exact moment,

Celebrate God as He is certainly celebrating you EXACTLY RIGHT NOW!

Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things. 

There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.

It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.

Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.

It is 100% important to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday. When we celebrate someone’s birth, any one’s birth, even the one’s now being born somewhere, we can each remember that our Creator’s image is stamped upon this unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.

Consider this Illustration;

 In Tony Campolo’s book, “The Kingdom of God Is a Party,” he tells of an event that took place when he visited Hawaii on a speaking tour.

If you’ve ever flown to the Hawaiian Islands, you know that the first couple of days are tough because you are trying to adjust to the time change. You auto-matically wake up about 1 or 2 a.m. their time because it’s about 6 or 7 a.m. back here. And that’s exactly what happened to him.

He woke up very early his first morning there and ended up going out on the downtown streets of Honolulu, looking for a restaurant that was open where he could get a cup of coffee that early in the morning.

He finally found what he called a “greasy spoon” restaurant, went in and saw that he was the only customer there. As he sat down at the counter, a rather large fellow came out of the kitchen and asked what he wanted.

Tony ordered a cup of coffee and a donut. So, the guy went back into the kitchen and came out with a sad looking donut & a cup of very hot coffee. Tony slowly sipped his coffee & ate his donut.

As he was doing so, in walked 9 prostitutes off the streets of Honolulu. And one of them sat down next to him. As she was sitting there, talking to the girl next to her, she said, “Well, tomorrow is my birthday.”

The other girl said, “So what, Agnes? What do you expect from me, a party or something? What do you think I’m going to do, bake you a cake?”

Agnes said, “I don’t expect anything. No one has ever thrown me a birthday party, and I’ve never ever had a birthday cake. I was just telling you, that’s all. Tomorrow is my birthday.”

The conversation soon ended, and all the girls left. Tony sat there for a moment, and he recalls, “Every once in a while, you get a good idea.”

He turned to the guy behind the counter, whose name was Harry, and asked, “Harry, do those girls come in every night about this time?” “Every night,” Harry answered. “Well, will Agnes be back tomorrow night?” “Yeah, she’ll be back.”

He said, “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we throw a birthday party for Agnes?” Harry answered, “That’s a great idea. Let’s do it!” Tony said, “I’ll buy the streamers and get a sign that says, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes,’ and we’ll buy her a cake.”

“No,” Harry said. “I’ll bake the cake.” And they got busy making their plans. Finally, Tony said, “I’ll be back at 2:30 tomorrow morning.”

When 2:30 came, Tony was back with all the streamers, balloons, and the sign. Meanwhile, Harry had baked the cake and spread the word, and there were 30 prostitutes there, ready to have a birthday party for Agnes.

Tony writes, “We were all there in this restaurant, 30 prostitutes, Harry and me.” We had just gotten the streamers up, balloons inflated, and everything ready, when in walked Agnes and her friends. And as she did, the whole group burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday, Happy birthday to you.”

Agnes was so overwhelmed that she could hardly move. Then here came Harry with the birthday cake with all the candles lit. “Come on, Agnes,” he said, “blow them out before they melt.” But she didn’t do a thing.

Finally, Harry said, “If you don’t blow them out, I’ll do it,” and he did. Then he handed her a knife and said, “Here, for crying out loud, cut it so we can all have a piece of cake.” But Agnes just stood there looking at the cake.

Finally, she said, “Do you suppose it would be all right if we didn’t cut the cake tonight? Do you think I could just take it home and look at it for a while? I promise I’ll bring it back tomorrow night and we can all have a piece then. But tonight, I’d just like to keep it if it’s all right.”

Everyone agreed that it would be okay. So Agnes left, carrying her cake as though it was a priceless treasure.

Tony said that after she left there was total silence in the room. “Here were all these prostitutes, Harry & me,” he said, “and since I had been acting as the M.C. the next move seemed to be mine.”

So, I said, “Let’s pray. Then I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would get straightened out. I prayed that she would really have a happy birthday.”

“After I finished, Harry grabbed me by the shoulder and said, ‘You didn’t tell me you was a preacher.’ I said, ‘I’m not, Harry. I’m just a Christian and I just go to church.’”

Harry said, “What kind of a church do you go to?” Tony said, “I go to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:00 in the morning.” “No you don’t,” said Harry. “There ain’t no church like that. If there was, I’d go to it, too.”

That’s quite an inspiring story, isn’t it?

But let me ask you, “Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a prostitute? Is it appropriate to pray for her to have a “happy birthday”?

Some might wonder about that. But it certainly is appropriate to pray for her salvation and for her life to be straightened out. When people are “lost” we must be diligent in praying for them and their relationship with their God.

But when it comes right down to it, we ought to ask this question too:

Is it right for any Christian to throw any party for a complete stranger? Is it appropriate to pray to God for that stranger to have a “happy birthday?”

Is it right for any Christian to throw any party to simply “Celebrate God?

Why do we “celebrate God?”

How do we pray for people we both know and do not know who are going through difficulties in life and who are probably not too inclined to be “celebrating God who is daily celebrating them?”

The natural response when we see someone who is sick, or going through tough times, or family difficulties is to say, “We are praying for you.”

But have you ever found yourself wondering, “What is the best thing to pray for in this situation?” Sometimes it is hard to know just what to pray. And doubts can arise when we pray earnestly, and we don’t get the answers that we want.

Sometimes we pray for people who are sick, and they don’t get better.

Or we pray for a marriage to be healed, and the couple gets a messy divorce.

Or we pray for a couple to have a healthy child, and a handicapped child is born.

Why “celebrate God?”

I cannot sit here and give you any easy answers as to why this ought to happen.

But what I don’t know about prayer doesn’t discourage me.

Because the way I have seen prayers answered, and the way lives have been changed as a result of prayer, gives me so much encouragement that I am so absolutely convinced the most important thing we can do in times of difficulty and ease and abundance is to “absolutely celebrate God” through our prayers.

Prayer puts us in touch with God. And it’s important for us to come to God and express our gratitude for our life, needs and the deepest longings of our hearts.

Psalm 8 Names of God Bible

Psalm 8

For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] a psalm by David.

1 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

Your glory is sung above the heavens. [b]
2 From the mouths of little children and infants,
    you have built a fortress against your opponents
        to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens,
    the creation of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
4         what is a mortal that you remember him
            or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
5         You have made him a little lower than yourself.
        You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6         You have made him rule what your hands created.
        You have put everything under his control:
7             all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals,
8             the birds, the fish,
            whatever swims in the currents of the seas.

9 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

It bears repeating as many times as it can be, ought to be, repeated;

Birthdays are a time for thankfulness.

Birthdays are a fantastic time to contemplate more positive things. 

There is so much complaining, strife, and conflict that swirls around us.

It is easy to be pulled down into focusing on troubles and trials and take people and things for granted.

Birthdays provide an opportunity to thank God for the life of a person who is made in the image of the God of the universe and is an amazing creation.

How important is it for us to “celebrate God celebrating us” to remember God is the one who should be the focus of a birthday?

When we celebrate God celebrating someone else’s life, what are we in actuality doing?

We are remembering that our Creator’s image is permanently stamped upon this singularly unique person, and we can thank God for his gift of their life.

Consider this illustration;

Tony Campolo tells about another time that he drove to Valley Forge, PA, where he was to be the featured speaker at the college there.

A few minutes before he was to speak several men took him into a back room and began to pray for him, that God would bless him and use his speech to accomplish His will.

While they were praying, one man also prayed, “And Lord, about Burt Harris.

Lord, Burt Harris needs you badly. He lives in that trailer down the street & he is considering leaving his wife & family. Lord, if you could just get through to Burt Harris…that would be great. Please, Lord.” And then he went on with his prayer.

Listening as the man prayed, Tony thought, “It’s strange that he should pray that here.” Soon the prayers were finished & Tony went out & made his speech to what proved to be a very appreciative audience.

After finishing, Tony got into his car & started toward home. But just at the edge of town he came upon a hitchhiker. He said that he doesn’t usually pick up hitchhikers, but for some reason he decided to pull over & pick the man up.

The man got into the car, & as they headed toward the highway Tony asked his name. The man said, “Burt Harris”.

Immediately, Tony stopped the car, turned it around & headed the opposite direction. The man stared at him & said, “What are you doing?” Tony said, “I am taking you back to your wife and family whom you are trying to leave.”

The man turned white! He never said another word – just sat speechless as Tony drove him straight back to his trailer. At that, the man asked, “How do you know where I live?” Tony answered, “God told me.” (In a way He really had.)

Tony ended the story, saying, “I took this guy inside his home and God did the rest. The family and the marriage was restored.”

Wow! What a story. And it’s true, absolutely true!

Now let’s go back & review what we have learned today from the apostle Paul.

We have learned we need to be asking for God’s presence and strength in our daily lives, for His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be working deep within us.

We need to be “celebrating God” by praying for God’s will to be done, and not ours. We need to be concerned about more than just our “celebrating” our own lives and needs and trials, but too about “celebrating” those who are around us.

Human beings of all ages are wonders of God. Just as we are amazed by and ought to recognize the glory and blessing of a stately mountain range or the awesomeness of a crashing ocean, we should join with the psalmists in praising God for the absolute sanctity of human life. Birthdays are great opportunities to remind a person of the blessing he or she is and how they are a wonder of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Good morning, Lord!

Thank you for my Birthday, Lord!

Thank you for my life, Lord!

Thank You for a new day. Thank You that Your compassion is renewed every morning. Great is Your faithfulness and Your steadfast love, O Lord!

I do not know what all is going to happen today, and how much celebrating I will get done, but You do. So, I give this entire day as one celebration to You.

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, Father. Energize me for Your work, because You know how happy I am and how tired these bones are. Awaken me to the wonder of Your salvation and quicken my spirit to the reality of Your work in my life.

Lord, my mind is filled with creative ideas of celebration, but they are also jumbled. Holy Spirit, come and hover over my mind like You hovered over the waters at creation and speak order out of the chaos!

Help me to cease striving and to trust that You will give me all I need today to celebrate what life You have given and to do the work You’ve given me to do.

I deeply believe You will be faithful to complete the good work You’ve started, and as I step out into my day, I declare Your sovereignty over every area of my life. I entrust myself to You and ask that You use me however You see fit.

This day is Yours. My body is Yours. My mind is Yours. Everything I am is Yours.

May You be pleased with my celebration today.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Footprints in the Sand. Confidence in the Sovereignty of God. When we find It hard to Pray, there is Grace even before our Asking for it. Romans 8:26-30.

The third passage of Scripture which confirmed for me this truth that prayer starts with God is Romans 8:26-30.

This particular passage affirms the inspiration for praying comes from Him.

Again, the Spirit of the Lord, the present Christ, is the initiator of the desire, content, and assurance of prayer.

How do we ask for the Holy Spirit?

A story is told of a soldier who was doing guard duty on the front line in WWI.

After being relieved of duty, as a Christian, he wanted to pray, to thank God for protecting him, and to ask for His continued protection.

The enemy lines were very close, and he couldn’t go far.

So, he just crawled a little way away from where he had been standing guard, knelt and began to pray aloud. The soldier who replaced him heard his voice and thought he was speaking to someone in the enemy lines. So, he reported him.

The officer in charge said, “you have been accused of revealing secrets to the enemy. How do you respond?”

• The soldier said, “It’s not true. I wasn’t doing that”

• The officer replied, “Then what were you doing when you were out there facing the enemy and talking?”

• He said, “I was praying”

• “You were praying out loud?”

• “Yes, I was the young soldier responded”

• The officer said, “Show me. Pray right now”

• So, the young man knelt and prayed

• And when he finished the officer dismissed the charges

• “Because,” he said, “nobody can pray like that unless he has been practicing”

How do we pray when we don’t know what to say?

In these verses,

Paul tells the followers of Jesus in Rome that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, even to the point of articulating to God what we can’t put into words!

Not only that, but when we point our hearts and requests and thanksgivings to God, the Holy Spirit cleans up our prayers and conforms them to the will of God!

Even in asking for the Holy Spirit to be at work in our lives, he goes to work for us in and through our prayers!

Note how Paul developed the same sublime theme.

Romans 8:26-30 Amplified Bible

Our Victory in Christ

26 In the same way the Spirit [comes to us and] helps us in our weakness. We do not know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself [knows our need and at the right time] intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. 27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes [before God] on behalf of [a]God’s people in accordance with God’s will.

28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. 30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The full impact of this is realized by starting at the end.

We are called and appointed to belong to the Lord.

His desire is for all things in our lives to work together to accomplish the plan He has for each of us.

That plan is His will for us.

The word thele’ma is used in Greek for “will” in this passage. It means desire.

The Lord has a desire for all of us, a purpose for us to accomplish.

But He does not leave us, after we are born again, with no training or help in accomplishing this purpose of being conformed into His own image.

He invades our subconscious with preconscious longings and urgings which are manifested in the conscious desire to pray, seeking His desires for us.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one.

The Spirit is the reigning glorified Christ with us.

This is what Paul made undeniably clear to the Galatians.

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6).

The Spirit of the Son comes to us in our weaknesses.

He calls us to prayer and then gives us the “groanings which cannot be uttered.”

What does this mean?

My understanding is that the groanings are the preconscious longings which He eventually articulates through us in helping us to put into words what He wants us to pray.

It is not that the intercession is done for us, for that would deny the cooperation with the Lord for which we were created.

In my Christian life, I have found that prayer is a difficult discipline.

I concur with others that praying moves through different seasons.

• My Posture may change

• My Prayers may change

But whatever season I am currently facing, my specific prayers are often marked by experiences.

• If I am Doubting – I pray for Faith

• If I’m Hurting – I pray for Healing

• If I’m Confused – I pray for Understanding

• If I’m Worried – I pray for Calmness

• If I’m Restless – I pray for Peace

• If I’m Afraid – I pray for Comfort

• If I lack Wisdom – I ask God to give me Discernment

If this is true for you, we are together in the difficult discipline of prayer, for I am no saint when it comes to the fervency of my “disciplined” prayer life.

• Prayer is a lagging discipline that needs constant shoring up

• Prayer is a spiritual discipline that needs cultivation

• The ground needs to be turned over

• Seeds of prayer need to be planted and watered

• We wait like the farmer, trusting the seed will sprout and multiply its blessing

Prayer takes effort and constant fine-tuning.

• We learn to pray

• We learn what not to say.

At first the invasion of the Spirit produces the longing to pray.

Then when we feel the need to pray, but still don’t know how or what to pray, He provides that also.

Because He knows our hearts and is the heart of the Lord, He brings them into congruity. His purpose is to bring our desires into alignment with His desires so we can ask for that which will be part of all things working together for good.

Recently I had a misunderstanding with a cherished friend which resulted in a broken relationship.

The startling thing was that for a time I didn’t want to find a reconciliation.

I chalked it up to my own definition of “irreconcilable differences” which had precluded the possibility of forgiveness and a new beginning.

I was deeply hurt and angry.

My “best Christian Response” my “great plan” was to forget the whole mess.

Some weeks later, a growing and maturing uneasiness began to grow in me.

I couldn’t shake the man out of my mind.

That was followed by a mysterious desire to pray about him.

When I responded to the inner urgings to pray, I noticed a subtle difference in my attitude.

As I prayed, I was given new empathy for what might have caused the man’s behavior during our painfully short intense interaction.

I was given a completely different picture of the needs inside him; and then I asked for a way to communicate acceptance and forgiveness.

As I lingered in prayer, a strategy was unfolded for what I needed to do and speak. I had the deep conviction that the plan came from the Lord.

Therefore, when I asked God for His help to accomplish His will in the matter, I could ask with confidence and boldness knowing God already had the answer.

The inner disquiet, like an inaudible wordless groaning, turned into clarity and was articulated in a request for the quiet strength and courage to do what the Lord had promised He would do in our relationship through me if I were willing.

A brand new, ready will worked with my imagination to form the “God-Gifted” picture of how it would be accomplished when the God-Moment had arrived.

And that’s exactly the way it turned out. I learned that after our exchange, he too began to pray. The Lord was initiator and inspiration from start to finish.

Oftentimes when we find it hard to pray – we need to just get started.

• Just start talking to the Lord

• Just start Praying

• Don’t worry about the Words

• Don’t worry about your Posture

• Don’t worry about Sounding Good

• Just start Praying

It’s difficult to pray because humbling ourselves, getting over ourselves, and coming to the end of our stubborn and sinful selves is hard.

• When we pray, we die to self, and death hurts.

• That’s why our flesh fights so hard against prayer

Moreover, it’s hard to pray because our focus is too often on praying itself and not upon God. We learn about prayer not so that we might know a lot of facts about prayer, but so that we might pray with our sole focus is 100% on God.

• By His Sovereign Grace, we know Him

• We know He is there

• We know He not only Hears but Listens

• We know He is not silent

• We know He always answers our prayers and always acts in accord with His perfect will for our ultimate good and for His glory.

When we recognize God’s sovereignty in prayer, we are also reminded of His Love – Grace – Holiness – Righteousness, and we are thereby confronted with the harsh reality of our own wretched sin in the light of His Glory and Grace.

Prayer is not a preparation for work, it is work.

• Prayer is not a preparation for the Battle – Prayer is the Battle

• Prayer is two-fold

– DEFINITE ASKING and DEFINITE WAITING TO RECEIVE ~ Oswald Chambers

• Prayer is Emotionally Consuming

• Prayer is Physically Consuming – Fatigue

When we find it difficult to pray – satan wants to keep us from prayer and its power

• No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil

• Not that he practices it, but he suffers from it

Satan uses “Weapons of Mass Distraction” –

• Phone Calls

• Text Messages

• Social Media Platforms

• Our Jobs

• Our Busyness

When we find it difficult to pray — our flesh is weak.

We have difficulty suppressing physical tiredness and challenges.

Perhaps there are days when our mind grows tired.

Or we are physically exhausted from work – from our children – and possibly even from weakness due to an illness. I find that physical weakness is often connected to spiritual weakness and fatigue (though not always connected).

• When the body is weak, our minds can think wrong thoughts about God, and our hearts can begin to believe these thoughts

• Prayer time can become ineffective because our minds are distracted and wander to different themes.

Life always seems to find a way to gather around us when we are ill-prepared. Before we know it, acknowledge it, pray through it and confess it – CHAOS!

Then we are in that place once again where we do not know what to do or are too busy trying to control and manage things under our own strength – to do.

With no rhyme or reason, the eternal cycle of our independence versus “God-Dependence” spins wildly – from earth to the far depths of the universe again.

Praise God for His Word –

Psalm 19:1-3 Complete Jewish Bible

19 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 (1) The heavens declare the glory of God,
the dome of the sky speaks the work of his hands.
3 (2) Every day it utters speech,
every night it reveals knowledge.

Praise God for the revelation of His Word, the ultimate revelation of Truth!

Because, before I knew it,

The same process occurred in a tough decision I had to make recently.

I thought I knew what the Lord wanted and did not pray a lot about it.

When the decision was made, I had no peace.

There was a jangling grating static in my spirit. It lasted for several days. When sleep was interrupted by the disturbance, I knew something was very wrong.

I asked the Lord to be very clear. I asked Him how to pray.

A specific request was given me to make.

If the disturbance was from Him, I asked that it continue and grow.

If the decision I had made was right and the disquiet was simply my own fear of implementing it, I was led to ask that the disturbance be taken away.

You guessed it: the impossibly irritating static grew to unbearably high decibels.

That led me to confess, “Lord, now I know I’m on the wrong track. Show me what you want me to do.”

After hours of quiet listening, I reversed the hastily made decision.

As I prayed, a new direction formed in my mind, pictured by my imagination.

When I decided to follow the new direction, the jangling static inside subsided.

An inner calm and confidence grew in its place.

John 14:23-27 Complete Jewish Bible

23 Yeshua answered him, “If someone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Someone who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words — and the word you are hearing is not my own but that of the Father who sent me.

25 “I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you.

27 “What I am leaving with you is shalom — I am giving you my shalom. I don’t give the way the world gives. Don’t let yourselves be upset or frightened.

Then with holy boldness, I asked for THE sure and certain revelation of what the Holy Spirit had formed in my mind.

When I asked, I knew that I was assured of the answer.

Subsequently, the decision was worked out by the Spirit’s power exactly as He detailed it in prayer.

Again, He had been the source of the disturbance, the desire to review the previous decision, the architect of the new plan, the communicator of the different direction, instigator of a boldness to ask for what He had imparted.

Our desire to pray is the result of His call to prayer. He has something to say.

Our responsibility is to listen to what He wants to give us for our problems and potentials.

He will make it clear.

Then we can say with courage, confidence and boldness born of the Holy Spirit:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him,
seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true,
No, I was found of Thee. (Author Anonymous)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Precious God, Almighty Father, my words cannot express the depth of my appreciation for your gift of the Holy Spirit. Even when I don’t know how to pray or what to say, I know the Spirit is there with me, sharing my heart with you in ways both, far beyond my comprehension, pleasing to you! Thank you for this grace and the gift that makes it possible. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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Confidence and Carefulness in our Prayer Life – It all begins with our Confidence in God. 1 John 5:12-17

 At the same time, I was pondering the implications of the Lord’s offer in Isaiah 56:24-25, Holy Spirit led me to rediscover another passage which deepened my understanding of that promise. I read 1 John 5:12-17 with new eyes in my heart.

I find our current text difficult to understand! In verses 14 & 15, I struggle to understand how the promise really applies, because frankly, it does not line up with my experience.

In verse 16, I struggle to understand the exact meaning of the “sin unto death,” and thus I’m not sure how to apply this to my prayer life.

So today I face a difficult task. I’m sure that John wrote these verses to boldly encourage us to pray, and so I want to encourage you to pray more faithfully.

God is a prayer-hearing God (Ps. 65:2). But at the same time, I can’t gloss over the tremendous difficulty our text creates for my prayer life.

It is simply not always true to my experience. John, who is echoing here the repeated promises of Jesus (Mark 11:22-24; John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:24), says that if we ask anything according to God’s will, He will answer favorably. “No” is not an acceptable answer. It must be “yes” every time!

Over the years, my “prayer batting average” is pretty low. I have prayed for the salvation of people who have not gotten saved. I have prayed for the restoration of sinning Christians, who have not repented and been restored.

I have prayed mightily for the reconciliation of many Christian marriages and friendships which have been broken up for what I always sincerely believed to be reconcilable differences. I find people give up too easily on themself and God.

Some try to get God off the hook saying, “Don’t worry about it” as a statement of “Oh well, I failed, He gives people free will anyway to walk away, so I will.”

But if God cannot subdue a sinful person’s will, then He can’t do anything!

To me, I sometimes find myself believing that means that sinful man, not God, is sovereign! “Just quit!” And it means that prayer is useless and impotent. If God promises to answer our prayers, then He has the power to answer them!

I’m sure that the fault is with me, not with God’s promise!

I do not like to quit on anything especially myself and of the utmost God.

I am probably lacking in understanding God’s perfect will and lacking in faith.

But I could not find many preachers or teachers on this text who would admit to having the difficulties with “faith and delayed answered prayers that I have.

So, this has not been an easy devotional to prepare, because if I am honest, I have to faithfully expose my own failures in prayer to you! My prayer has been that perhaps by sharing my struggles, you will be motivated to keep “swinging” in your prayer life. Maybe one day we will all improve our batting averages!

1 John 5:12-17 NKJV

12 He who has the Son has [a]life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [b]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Confidence and Compassion in Prayer

14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The power of ‘prayer’ is so easily forgotten, but it is so powerful! We have the ability to talk with our God about anything at any time.

We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence because of Jesus, knowing that He hears our prayers.

If you have been doubting whether God is hearing your prayers, I hope and fervently pray this devotional message is ‘reaching,’ encouraging for you.

“…. All because we do not carry everything to God in Prayer”

WHY NOT?

The answer to our prayers is prepared before we pray.

The desire to talk to the Lord about our needs comes from Him.

Prayer begins in the mind of God, invades our minds, is formulated into a clarification of what He wants to do or give, and then is articulated in our expressions and our words. He is more ready to hear than we are to pray!

It is a privilege to be able to come to God and ask him anything.

He always wants to know what is deepest on our minds, souls and hearts.

Just like any other quality relationship, openness and communication is integral. When it comes to our relationship with God, it’s no different.

Just like this verse says, when we come and ask anything according to God’s will, he will hear us. God will always hear and answer our prayers.

God’s answer won’t always be what we want.  Sometimes God may tell us no or wait. We might think we know what is best for us, but the truth is God knows even better! We must remind ourselves that God is in control of our lives.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails

I love how we can pray at any time.

Each day I find myself talking to God at different points in the day.

It might be before meals, when I’m out with friends or at church.

We don’t have to do anything special or be in a certain place, we can just pray from whenever and wherever we are, and we can talk to God just like we would talk to a friend or will start up a random conversation with a complete stranger.

We don’t need to use big words.

No matter how big or small our requests are, God wants to hear them, and He wants us to give Him all that is on our heart because He loves and cares for us.

He knows what we are going to say before we say it (Isaiah 65:24), but that shouldn’t change the way we relate to God when we pray. We can confidently pray about anything, anywhere to our God who is always waiting to listen.

Maybe you have been praying for a friend who has been sick for a long time.

This is the case for a parishioner at church who has been sick for a number of weeks now, with what is essentially sounding like an undiagnosed illness.

The whole church has been praying for him and yet he remains sick and, on some days, even seems to get sicker and sicker, with no recovery in sight.

Does this mean God isn’t listening to our requests?

No, of course not.

God hears all our prayers and all we can do is to be obedient in prayer and trust God’s perfect will for His life.

Just like I said before, God always knows exactly what is best for us.

Of course, God can heal that person anytime, but there is a reason He hasn’t.

We don’t know what that reason is, but He does and that is where trust is so important. We must trust God’s plans even if we don’t understand them.

It’s another reason why we can approach God in prayer with confidence.

We might have our own plans and ideas, but we can confidently and boldly lay them all before His Throne, at His feet and know with confidence that God will direct our lives in the best possible way, according to His perfect Will for us.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight

I want to encourage you to be obedient in prayer.

Remember we can approach God with confidence when we pray.

We shouldn’t doubt whether He will hear us or not. He loves us and God will always listen to our requests.

God may not answer our prayers in the way we want, but He will answer them according to His will.

God’s ways are good and perfect.

We might think we know what is best for us, but our God knows best.

The Lord comes to us as the implementor of prayer.

The Apostle John asserted the secret of dynamic praying in the context of our life in Christ.

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 4:12).

The apostle John wanted his readers in the early Church to be confident, sure of their young and maturing relationship, now and forever, in Christ.

He went on to state the reason why he had written was:

“that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).

For John, the Son was Immanuel, God with us and within us, and continuing with us to guide us. His Christian life was not an anxious searching for the Lord but a moment-by-moment response to His impinging, invading imminence.

Then in 1 John 5:14-15, John “blows the Shofar,” sounds the same joyous note we heard in the Isaiah promise.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

I quickly checked the Greek text to review words I had studied so often before.

Now they came alive in new vitality and freshness.

The words of “confidence” and “in Him” leaped off the page.

Confidence is perresia in the Greek. The word means boldness.

It is a compound word made up of pan — all, and ressia — to tell, meaning freedom to speak boldly. Prayer is freedom to speak freely and boldly to the Lord who has come to be with us and within us and instigated our prayer.

The confidence we have in prayer is what “we have in Him.”

The confidence we have in prayer is what we have “toward Him” or “face-to-face” with Him.

Prayer, for John, was face-to-face communication with Christ as a part of the eternal quality of life we have in Him which gives us boldness. Face to face, eye to eye, first we listen to Him intently and then we can speak with intrepidity.

And who starts the face-to-face conversation? The Lord! John makes that clear in 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.” He is the prime mover in salvation, the gift of faith, and the initiation of prayer.

In prayer, He makes known to us what His will is so that we can ask for what He longs to give. He calls us into His presence because He has the answer to our needs and questions. “If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Our assurance that He hears us is that He is the one who first asked for the conversation. He would not call us to prayer and then refuse to listen or be inattentive to our prayer.

That’s the confidence, boldness, we have – prayer is our response to His call.

In the time of face-to-face communion, He makes clear what it is that we are to ask for in the needs He has come to us to help us solve.

So, when we do ask, it is with the confidence that we are asking for what He is prepared to release for us.

“And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

We know before we ask, because the content of our asking has already first been guided by Him.

The same assurance had been stated by John earlier in his epistle.

“And by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment” (1 John 3:19-23).

By the measure of confidence, we have in His Words of Scripture, may we trust Him when we pray, because He knows us even better than we know ourselves.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, I have trusted You for my salvation and desire to walk in spirit and truth, to abide daily in Christ, and to live in unbroken fellowship with You in the days I have left of my life.

I know You are a God that hears and answers the prayers of the righteous, and I pray that I would increasingly offer up my prayers and supplications according to Your will, so that You may be honored in my prayer-life, glorified through the words that I speak, the meditations of my heart, and the daily activities and actions that I live out, according to Your will.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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Prayer Starts with God (Isaiah 65:24; 1 John 5:12-15; Romans 8:26-30)

The age-old conundrum speaks, thundering through my consciousness,

Which came first – the Chicken or the Egg?

Yesterday, I shared Daniels Prayer from chapter 9. Working through it was a totally amazing experience for me. I want to share a revolutionary thought. It has changed my life. My whole perception of prayer has been transformed by it. As a result, my prayers and praying have become more exciting than ever.

I believe that I have been a “Christian” for twenty something years now. Yet after experiencing Daniel 9, I now realize that far too many of those years were spent being a “Christian” with a totally incorrect conception of prayer and of answered prayer. All those years I labored with the misapprehension prayer was my idea alone, that conversation with God was initiated by me.

That idea took on the unknown, unrealized inconceivably heavy baggage of my believing that I had to get God’s attention and that He would listen and respond if only I said ‘exactly’ the right words, led a good “Christian” life worthy of His condescension.

Prayer became burdensome, laborious. often, I was reluctant to pray when I needed to the most because of things I’d done or said which made me feel ashamed or embarrassed by a less than perfect life. The conception that prayer was initiated by me left it up to my changing moods and spiritual readiness.

Then one day ago, I happened on a combination of Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments which exploded the tight, constricted, and limited view of praying, prayer and answered prayer which I had held. They all thundered forth coming together in a stunning truth that I desperately needed to learn and live.

Stated simply it is this: prayer always starts with God. It is His idea alone.

The desire to pray is the result of God’s greater desire to talk with us. He has something to say when we feel the urge to pray. He is the initiator. The keen desire to make sure I begin, end the day with prolonged prayer is His gift.

The sense of need to pray for challenges or opportunities throughout the day is because He has wisdom and insight He wants to impart.

When we face crises and suddenly feel the urge to pray for strength, that feeling is a response to the Lord’s invasion of our minds which triggers the thought of needing help which is congealed into the desire to pray.

How arrogant of me to so naturally believe it was my idea first to pray when I “felt like it.” God, not us, was the author of the longing for His help. He is the instigator, He is the implementor of prayer, and He is the inspiration of prayer.

So, today I begin a three-part series of devotionals on those Scriptures which God, the Holy Spirit placed upon my heart following my ‘Daniel 9’ experience.

Isaiah 65:24-25 NKJV

24 “It shall come to pass
That before they call, I will answer;
And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Answer Is Prepared Before We Pray

In Isaiah 65:24, listen to what the Lord Himself tells us about prayer.

“It will come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.”

The answer to our prayers is prepared before we pray.

The desire to talk to the Lord about our needs comes from Him.

Prayer begins in the mind of God, invades our minds, is formulated into a clarification of what He wants to do or give, and then is articulated in our words. He is more ready to hear than we are to pray!

This propitious promise of the Lord was made in response to an excruciating question asked by Israel, recorded in Isaiah 64:12.

The people had sinned and felt the judgment of God.

They were distant from Him; He had never left His people. Their sorrow had reached its height when they cried out, “Wilt thou keep silent …?” (RSV).

The response of grace was mediated through the prophet.

How much of our “prayer life” is devoted to, without any second thought of acknowledging, knowing, believing, there will come a time when not only will the Lord answer, but His answer will precede the petition, and prayer will be the gracious, loving response of God’s call rather than just His response to our call.

Isaiah’s stunning revelation of our future. I believe this prophetic revelation of the nature of prayer is in his sure and certain anticipation of the arrival of the messianic age when God Himself would come to reconcile, redeem His people.

25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
The lion shall eat straw like the ox,
And dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”
Says the Lord.

The people to whom the Prophet Isaiah wrote never fully appreciated the wondrous offer God made in this statement. It was only after the incarnation and Pentecost that a new creation was prepared to appreciate, appropriate it.

It was not until the liberation of the bondage of the will took place on Calvary and the new creatures in Christ were filled with His Spirit at Pentecost that a new Israel, the Church, was born and could accept and utilize the awesome promise the Lord had made so long before.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 RSV

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; [a] the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[b] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.


Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. Known as the Sage of Chelsea, once said, “Prayer is and remains a native and deep impulse of the soul of man.”

That sounds lovely, but I don’t know that I believe it as much as I once did.

Based on Isaiah 65:24, No one naturally desires to pray. Our volitional capacity is debilitated by our sin until we are loved, liberated, and regenerated by Christ.

It is after we have been transformed by the cross and filled with the Spirit that we can experience the enlivening of the “native and deep impulse” to pray.

And even after we’ve been born again, it is the Lord who motivates us to pray. It is part of His prevenient, beforehand grace.

Not even the longing for God is our accomplishment.

It is birthed in our souls by the Lord who created us for communion with Him.

Commenting on this promise in Isaiah, Martin Luther said,

“Our prayer pleases God because He has commanded it, made promises, and given form to our prayer. For that reason, He is pleased with our prayer, He requires it and delights in it, because He promises, commands and shapes it. … Then He says, ‘I will hear.’ It is not only guaranteed, but it is actually already obtained.”

Isaiah 65:24 (KJV) declares, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Remember when God is quiet, He is up to something.

There are several other examples in the Bible that show the power of prayer.

God already knows our needs, but He wants us to ask and prove to Him that we believe and trust in Him.

Sometimes God allows adversity to come into our lives to see if we will surely and certainly love and have total faith in Him. He quietly stands back to see how we are going to handle the situation.

In His name alone, In His time alone, He “will move” in the manner that He alone chooses. Therefore, when God is quiet, He is up to something.

Are WE?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us pray,

Psalm 130 Complete Jewish Bible

130 (0) A song of ascents. By David:

(1) Adonai, I call to you from the depths;
2 hear my cry, Adonai!
Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.

3 Yah, if you kept a record of sins,
who, Adonai, could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.

5 I wait longingly for Adonai;
I put my hope in his word.
6 Everything in me waits for Adonai
more than guards on watch wait for morning,
more than guards on watch wait for morning.

7 Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai!
For grace is found with Adonai,
and with him is unlimited redemption.
8 He will redeem Isra’el
from all their wrongdoings.

Holy and gracious God, you are the greatest of all. You are full of wonders that no mere human can ever hope to comprehend. Lord, I seek to understand you and your ways so that I can live according to your commandments. I pray for your divine illumination in my heart and mind. Help me see what you intend for me to see. Help me understand what you intend for me to understand. Open my eyes and my ears to see you and hear your whispers. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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“I am Praying to God. I am Listening for God’s answer and I can almost hear Him speak it to me. There is so much static. What am I to do now?” Daniel 9

Daniel 9:3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

I don’t know about you but one of the most frustrating things in life is trying to listen to the radio when I am driving and suddenly there is all kinds of static!

This is especially true when I am on the road cruising, and I am tuned into my all-time favorite music stations and life is deemed by me to be so very good.

I am just driving along when there is an important ball game on, and the static arrives, and your ears and nerves start to hurt from it, then you carefully scroll through the channels and all you can find is a station of some other noise that you cannot stand to listen, and it seems to be right between the two numbers.

Everything was great. Cruising the highways. Now the static arrives. You can’t quite seem to dial your place of “ultimate” peace back in. You try to fine tune with all of your might but it isn’t distinct or clear.

Delays, Distractions, Disturbances and Worldly Static interference prevail.

This is never truer then when you are forced to try to turn over to an AM radio station while driving! You begin to question the signal strength of the station.

Static on the radio is one thing but static when you are trying to hear God is even more frustrating. There is an example from the pages of God’s Word of static when it comes to hearing from God that I want to remind us all about.

Daniel 9:1-6 NKJV

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Let’s set the scene.

Daniel and the Children of Israel are in captivity.

Because of their own rebellion, hard heartedness and disobedience, prophecy has been fulfilled and they are slaves to Babylon.

Familiar with Scripture, Daniel knows the foretold length of the bondage is coming to an end and so he begins to call out to God to remember them.

He reminds God of the promise that the captivity will last a certain period of times – 70 years.

Daniel 9:7-17 NKJV

7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake [a]cause Your face to shine on [b]Your sanctuary, which is desolate.

Daniel Fasts. Daniel Prays and Daniel approaches God. He acknowledges their wrongdoing and then he reminds God of an example of God’s ability to rescue.

Some of us would hear God if we would simply acknowledge our own culpability and responsibility for the situation, we are in.

But we also need to learn a key here in getting response from God.

We pray to God. We remind God, even though He hasn’t forgotten, what He has done in the past. In the process, we are reminded that He can do more than we ever dreamed of or expected! It increases our faith to reflect on His faithfulness.

Daniel 9:20-23

“While I was pouring out my heart, baring my sins and the sins of my people Israel, praying my life out before my God, interceding for the holy mountain of my God—while I was absorbed in this praying, the humanlike Gabriel, the one I had seen in an earlier vision, approached me, flying in like a bird about the time of evening worship. “He stood before me and said, ‘Daniel, I have come to make things plain to you. You had no sooner started your prayer when the answer was given. And now I’m here to deliver the answer to you. You are much loved! So, listen carefully to the answer, the plain meaning of what is revealed:

So, he gets immediate response. But watch and listen – here comes the static.

Daniel 10:2-3, 12-14

“During those days, I, Daniel, went into mourning over Jerusalem for three weeks. I ate only plain and simple food, no seasoning or meat or wine. I neither bathed nor shaved until the three weeks were up.

“‘Relax, Daniel,’ he continued, ‘don’t be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you. But I was waylaid by the angel-prince of the kingdom of Persia and was delayed for a good three weeks. But then Michael, one of the chief angel-princes, intervened to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. And now I’m here to help you understand what will eventually happen to your people. The vision has to do with what’s ahead.’

In this instance Daniel goes from immediate communication to kneeling and fasting and wading and waiting through static.

He prays for 3 solid weeks and there is no response.

Then 24 days later an angel shows up and says the first moment you prayed you were heard but I ran in to static.

The enemy resisted.

Remember our enemy is called the prince and power of the air!

He works in the air ways to convolute and delay deliverance.

His power is best exhibited in the air ways.

Think about that a moment –

the enemy flexes his muscles in our lives by trying his best to control what we hear. That is why we so often see people derailed and detoured by something they hear – or more often than not – they thought they heard.

The truth it what they thought they heard was actually a twisted version of what was actually said. So, in order to be able to defeat this power of the air we need to learn some lessons based on Daniel’s experience that will help us tune in.

1. We need to hear that we are heard.

I want you to notice an incredible truth from this account.

This passage says on two different occasions that from the moment Daniel even thought about or began to pray that he was heard. The rate of response varied but the rate of God hearing Daniel’s request was consistent. Immediate!

Our petitions and requests hit God’s ears not when they cross our lips but when they cross our mind! I believe it is so important to recognize this because I have noticed we tend to think because we struggle to hear that God struggles to hear.

So strong was this on my heart today I just write to assure you today that even when static interference has become the new standard of normal for us as we pray and try hard to listen for and harder still to hear God, even when we, like Daniel, consistently long for response but hear nothing we all need to know:

God absolutely hears us from the very exact moment we begin to think about it.

There may even be occasions when the answer may seem to arrive too late to us, we need to, instead trust, to rest in the knowledge that the answer is on its way.

Isaiah 65:24 – Before they call, I will answer while they are still speaking, I will hear!

Maybe in old song form – Oh yes, the answer is on the way, this I know Jesus said it I believe it to be so. Our Heavenly Father knows the need before we pray, and we can be rest assured the answers on the way!

2. Static reveals resistance and should cause us to rejoice.

I pray that I am about to blow your mind . . . Interference reveals interference!

Why bother even telling you something so elementary?

Because I get genuinely concerned that a lot of us make the mistake of equating silence as a sign or indication of God’s lack of concern or love. I have watched people get mad at God because they fail to realize that if there is static it doesn’t mean God doesn’t care it means the enemy is at work to stop their answer.

In fact, I am going to make an odd statement to you today!

If you are confronted with static, you should rejoice!

The more static you are encountering the more encouraged you should be because that is a sure and certain indication that the enemy knows a response is coming from God and he is doing everything he can to stop you from hearing it.

More Static Interference should strengthen your resolve. Too often we let static stop us in our tracks. The first little taste of any interference and we turn off the radio. Which brings me to the third to be valued lesson we can gain from Daniel.

3. The proper response to static is persistence.

Daniel is doing his very best to hear and instead there is nothing but static and silence. But notice he doesn’t give up. He keeps listening. He keeps tuning in.

No answer after day one he is persistent. No answer after week 1 he is even more persistent. No response 10 days in he yet persists. Nothing after 2 weeks . . . No change leads to no change . . . He continues. Answer released on day one but not received until day 24. Persistence 100% wins wars, persistence 100% prevails.

Some of us are always stopping one day short, one service short, one moment short of reception of miracle. Keep fine tuning.

If resisted, don’t back up, don’t give up, don’t let up instead press in harder.

If the enemy is resisting this hard and is resisting this long the answer must surely and certainly and most absolutely 1000% be worth all of the wait.

We can’t become too soon frustrated with static that we change channels.

Some of us have been praying for months even years and it is like tuning into and hearing and listening to an AM station at night in response – 100% static.

Why such a level of static?

Why does God seem to take long to answer prayers?

Sometimes God waits to answer our prayers because He trusts us to make the right decision.

Other times, God requires us to patiently wait for an answer so we can build our faith and trust in Him.

And on some occasions, God gives us answers, but they may not be what we’d hoped for, instead the answers are exactly what God knows we 100% need.

What we can learn from Daniel about delayed answers to prayer

The Lord promises to respond to our prayers, particularly the prayers we prayed in faith.

While that may be true, there are time when we feel like God’s not responding to us.

We’ve prayed and prayed but the answers just don’t come when we want them to.

These delays frustrate us.

What do we do when the answers to our prayers see, to come late?

How do we respond when God’s responses to our cries and prayers seem slow in coming?

We keep praying in faith.

Relentless faith

Many of us tend to point the blame on God when the answers to our prayers seem late. We tend to ask Him “why” the answers don’t come, “why” they arrived late, or even “why doesn’t He hear us.”

We are always quick to blame God who actually knows what we will pray for before we pray, responds in the fastest time possible

– right at the very exact moment we pray.

Actually, we are the ones who should keep praying when the answers to our prayers seem delayed, not God.

Consider Daniel, who experienced such a delay.

Here are some things we can learn from his experience:

God’s answer is sent immediately

We read in Daniel 10:12 that God sends His reply the moment He hears our prayers.

“Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.””

The enemy, however, seeks to delay or prevent God’s response from arriving to us

We then read in the following verse how the enemy prevented Daniel from receiving God’s reply in the soonest time possible.

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days…”

This means there’s a war in the heavenlies for the answers to our prayers.

Are we going to stop praying just because the answer is delayed?

Are we going to quit on God because “He doesn’t seem to respond”?

I absolutely, fervently pray that we don’t.

In fact, I pray that we respond exactly like Daniel did when his prayers remain unanswered:

He fasted and kept praying for a time until he received the answers.

“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” (Daniel 10:2-3)

Soon enough, the answers did arrive. They arrived because God made them arrive:

“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” (Daniel 10:13)

In closing

Friends, God does answer our prayers, but the devil seeks to discourage us from seeking God.

The more we pray, the more the enemy tries to hinder our prayers from being answered. We should never ever give up on praying for God’s answers to arrive.

Keep praying. Lean in harder. Lean in longer.

Be persistent in Prayer –

1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 NKJV

14 Now we [a]exhort you, brethren, warn those who are [b]unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

In the meantime, ….

While the static interference seems to go on forever and ever – (lingering amen)

Romans 12:9-13 NKJV

Behave Like a Christian

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient[a] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given[b] to hospitality.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, what a comfort and joy to me that You know and understand the deepest longings of my heart. Thank You that You know the end before the beginning, and hear and answer my prayers before the request forms in my heart or crosses my lips. Thank You for beautifying my requests and providing the answer that is best for me. Teach me to pray into Your will for my life, and align my heart’s desires to Your perfect will. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

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To know God, to believe in God, to Follow Jesus, We Need to Learn to Listen to His Voice. Exodus 3:1-5

When all is said and done, and the whole Truth is being Told, OUR problem when it comes to OUR listening is not God hearing us, it is us hearing God.

Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling for you and for me;
see, on the portals he’s waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
Refrain:
Come home, come home;
ye who are weary come home;
earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
calling, O sinner, come home!

Exodus 3:1-5Amplified Bible

The Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God. 2 The [a]Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing flame of fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was on fire, yet it was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn away [from the flock] and see this great sight—why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned away [from the flock] to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then God said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet [out of respect], because the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

If I were to ask you ladies if you husbands are good listeners, most of you would probably respond with a resounding: “no.”

If I were to ask you gentlemen if your wives are good listeners, most of you would probably respond in much the same way the ladies did.

If I were to ask you parents if your children are good listeners, I believe I would get a lot of “no’s.”

If I turned that around and asked you teenagers if your parents listen to you, I am sure that I would get a loud and resounding “no.”

If I were to ask each Christian man or Christian woman if you were a good listener to the voice of the Lord, I believe the answer is “no” once again even though the Bible says in John 10:27-28 that my sheep hear my voice.

In these days in which we are living in, we must learn to be good listeners if we are going to be followers of God, the Father, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Do you know who the best listener is?

It is God.

All the way from the very deepest place in all eternity – God heard!

In the Book of Exodus, the Lord tells us (Exodus 3:7) that the Lord heard the cries of the Israelites under the cruel hand of the Egyptian taskmasters.

Psalm 5:3, the psalmist confirms that the Lord hears my prayers.

Psalm 20, the Lord confirms that He hears my cries in times of trouble.

Make no mistake about it: The Lord listens well to ALL of His Children.

Our problem when it comes to listening is not God hearing us, it is us hearing God.

In the Book of Revelation in the Lord’s messages to the seven churches John writes under inspiration of God these words, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

And then in the Gospels Jesus used that same expression. Mark 4:23 (NKJV) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Those were Jesus’ own words and He recognized that many do not hear him.

So, I have to ask myself the question:

“What is the problem that I don’t hear God?”

And that is what we are going to look at today.

What hinders us from hearing the Lord?

To do that I want to look at the encounter at the burning bush when God spoke to Moses, and he heard clearly what God had to say.

Exodus 3:1-5International Children’s Bible

The Burning Bush

3 One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s sheep. Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law. Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. 3 So Moses said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?”

4 The Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground.

Point #1

Hearing God ‘s voice will require effort on my part.

Moses took his sheep to a place where He knew that He could talk with God.

Do I make the effort to go to a place where I can talk with God?

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Moses lives in the land of Midian on the backside of the desert tending the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law.

So, as we come to Exodus 3, Moses is going to take his sheep out to pasture.

But please notice here that Moses is not taking the sheep in the back pasture an acre or two from Jethro’s house. Look at a Map. Moses has set out to take them about twenty-five miles (25) miles to the pastureland around Mt. Horeb.

There were many mountain ranges near Midian, but Moses headed to a specific mountain range- Horeb.

Horeb has two meanings:

Mountain of YHWH and it is also called the Mount of God. You might have heard this Mountain also referred to a Mt. Sinai in some places. It would become the place later where God would then write, give Moses the Ten Commandments.

The fact that Moses would take those sheep that far tells me how badly Moses wanted to hear from God.

What kind of effort do you and I make to hear from God?

Are we “that” willing to get up early to seek the Lord since He gives us a promise in Scripture? 

Proverbs 8:17 (KJV) I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Isaiah went to the house of the Lord to hear from God, and there He meet the Lord High and lighted up.

And it was there that Isaiah carried on a conversation with God.

And Jesus would always go to a secluded place to listen to the Words of His Father.

In all three cases, there was an effort- to get up early, to go to the church house, and or to go some distance away to find a secluded place to talk to God.

What effort do we put in to listening to God?

No effort?

Then we are probably not hearing from God.

And actually, there are times that God must put you in certain places to get you to listen to Him.

I noticed that I am a pretty good listener to God when I am in a hospital bed.

I also notice that I am a good listener when troubles are attacking me at all sides.

But let me tell you what I have found out in my life.

It is so much better for me when I make more than the minimal effort to listen to God rather than just waiting for God to arrange the meeting to listen to Him.

Point# 2

Hearing God’s voice will require vigorously exercising a spiritual curiosity about what God is doing around me that a lot of Christians lack. Do I even look to see God doing things around me, do I bother to ask God “what are You trying to tell me?”

Exodus 3:2-3 (NKJV) 2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So, he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

Remember, Moses is working. He is managing a flock of sheep for his father-in-law.

Ladies, do you know how hard it is to have a conversation with your husband when he is at work?

Gentlemen, do you know how hard it is to have a conversation with your wives when they are trying very hard to prepare you your supper when you get home?

Most of you are going to get a one- or two-word answer and then bye.

Guys when they are working are single focused. Ladies are very diligent in their efforts not to undercook or burn the food, to not over or under season the meal.

I am sure there would be a lot of guys who saw the burning bush and said to themselves that is “just simply too weird” and kept on walking by. And after they passed it by, they would give no more second thought of it or about it.

Moses, on the other hand, had a spiritual curiosity, after all he did take his sheep to the Mount of God.

So, ladies, gentlemen, He may have been expecting something from God.

Moses approached near the bush and ultimately had a conversation with God.

With all the upheaval going on around us, any curious Christians should have begun a conversation with God as to why so much negativity is assailing them.

War in the Ukraine, raising prices at the Gas Pumps, Housing Costs, Student Debt, National Debt, Political intrigue, Economic Upheavals on Wall Street and other World Markets, Gun Violence, Hot button controversial topics such as the issue of Immigration, Abortion, Extremism are all making news at a rapid pace.

I would want to know: “God, are we to be preparing us for the end times?”

God are you just giving us a glimpse of what is going to happen in the future?

And that peaked curiosity starts a conversation with God just as that burning bush started a conversation between God and Moses which resulted in change.

Look for things God is doing in your life or in the world, be curious, because that just may be God’s way of reaching out wanting to start a conversation with you.

Point # 3

Hearing God’s voice will require an expectation that I am going to hear God’s voice. If I go into prayer not expecting to hear from God, I am not going to hear from God. Moses took his sheep to Mt. Horeb expecting to hear from God.

4 So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

I told you that Moses came to Mt. Horeb expecting to hear from God.

Let me tell you why I believe that is the case. I have two reasons that I say that:

(1) The way that God addressed Moses by calling out his name twice Moses, Moses. In the Jewish language when two words are repeated back-to-back it is for emphasis. It is like saying Moses I have been waiting for you.

When I was a young boy if my mother hollered “Tom, Tom” meant that she had been waiting on me. God was telling Moses; I have been waiting on you.

(2) Look at Moses’ response. He did not say “Yes, Lord” but rather “here I am”. I finally made it here.

Make no mistake, Moses walked 25 miles out of his way to Mt. Horeb expecting to hear from God. And God waited for Moses to get there.

Conclusion

Verse 5 says “…for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 

Wherever it is you and God are communicating (that is talking to and listening to God) that is Holy Ground.

It could be any church house, your back porch, or 25 miles from “wherever”.

When is the last time you have been on Holy Ground?

Today, Jesus invites you to Holy Ground.

Will you come talk and listen to God as the invitation is offered?

Will we try just that much harder to hear what the Lord is saying to us?

“Speak, Lord, for your Servant is Listening.”

“You have my attention, Lord, I pray my ears are hearing you correctly.”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Lord God, my Way-maker, I know you have a destiny for me to achieve in this life. I want to follow the plan that you have laid out. Help me to understand and follow your call. Show me your will for my life and what I need to do right now to get started. Enable me to know who I am in Christ, and the special gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation as I seek to know you more intimately. Gloria! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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God Speaks! Are we Hearing Him or Are We Instead Testing Him? Mark 12:28-34

Simplify!

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail …Simplify. Simplify.”

Those are the words of Henry David Thoreau, the American writer, who in the early 19th century, for two years, lived alone, isolated by the shore of Walden Pond in the woods of Massachusetts.

Simplify.

Do you have any interest in simplifying your life?

Does that sound appealing to you?

Do you feel like we tend to complicate things, even spiritual things?

In terms of the purpose of your life, what would God have you do?

We need answers, don’t we?

But where will you go to find your answers? Out into the woods like Thoreau?

Well, to discover answers it is helpful to use another quote by Thoreau’s: [he said] we must

“drive life into a corner and reduce it to its lowest terms”. “Simplify. Simplify.”

I believe Henry David Thoreau is right, because this is precisely what Jesus himself does in our passage today.

What is the most important thing you can do? Answer is “Simplify your life!”

What is the most important thing we can do in our relationship with God?

Answer: Simplify it down to its most basic terms: Hear God!

What is the most complicated thing we can do in our relationship with God?

Answer: Test Him! Repeatedly ask “Whom, What, Where When and Why!”

Hear God or Test God?

Hear God or Resort to “turning your hearing aids off” Selective Hearing

Trust and Obey unless you personally believe there is definitely another way.

Take your Bibles and turn with me to Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12:28-34Christian Standard Bible

The Primary Commands

28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

29 Jesus answered, “The most important[a] is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.[c][d] 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself.[e] There is no other command greater than these.”

32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, [f] and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Sadducees come to Jesus to debate and to test him – their intention is to try and “trip him up” that they might publicly embarrass and humiliate him. They want to “hear” what Jesus has to say about how he prioritizes God and the Law.

Jesus “heard” their words very well. Jesus also heard their hearts beating at the anticipation of taking Jesus down in full view of the gathered and gathering crowds of onlookers who also waited to “hear” how Jesus would respond now.

But notice here Jesus “hears the question” and also hears the murmurs and the curious silence of those who have gathered, he does not hesitate in responding.

For Him the answer is obvious. And it should have been for all of them as well, seeing as how they “heard themselves’ reciting the ‘answer’ twice every day!

You see, the greatest of all the OT commandments came from Deuteronomy chapter 6, from a section recited daily by faithful Jews everywhere, even today; a confession called the Shema. It’s exactly what Jesus quotes in verse 29 and 30.

So, what do we see here? We see a scribe coming to Jesus, listening in as Christ interacts with the Sadducees back in verses 18-27. From what we can tell, the scribe doesn’t seem motivated by jealousy or ill-will. He seems to ask Jesus this question because he simply recognizes there is wisdom in the words of Christ.

Here the Scribe was listening from a short discrete distance to the exchange of words between the Sadducees and Jesus. The Scribe was trying very hard to hear the responses as the conversation took place in real time.

As the Scribe was in the active process of hearing the exchange of words, he was also actively trying to hear the message both were trying to communicate to each other. Hearing these messages, the Scribe knew, would help him respond most efficiently and effectively back to both parties.

The conversation between the Sadducees and Jesus ends. And immediately the Scribe becomes more than just a little bit curious about the exchange, instead also becoming complementary at the words Jesus spoke (Verses 32-33).

Did you also notice the Scribe made no further effort to complicate the moment, add to the debate, by asking Jesus’ dozens more complex theological questions? I believe He heard the correctness and simplicity of Jesus’ few spoken words.

He undoubtedly had more questions he wanted to ask and have answered to suit his own particular nuanced theological interpretations, understandings.

He undoubtedly would’ve enjoyed sitting on a bench in the Temple to debate him. Instead, the Scribe heard the simplicity of Jesus’ words and approached him on the basis of that simplicity and acknowledged with Jesus the simplicity of them.

Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!

Now, I want you to notice something else here.

Do you see how Jesus takes advantage of this opportunity? Jesus is not simply humoring a peripheral question asked by a scribe with misplaced priorities.

This scribe has asked a fantastic question, and Jesus makes the most of the opportunity by giving not just the greatest commandment, but the second most important command as well.

What I’m saying is that this is not just a question that was important to the scribe. It is a question that was and is important to Jesus. Why? Because in it, Jesus has the opportunity to simplify the issue of man’s highest end before God.

And did you notice, the scribe understood the importance of Jesus’ answer.

His response to Jesus in verse 33 simply reveals that this man recognized how obedience to these commands was far more important than obedience to all of the sacrificial laws of the Hebrew Testament.

Such laws were simply worthless if a worshiper’s heart was not aligned with the simplicity of God’s greatest law.

And then something else odd happens. The text takes us in a very interesting direction. A Scribe steps forward and seeing that Jesus had answered well… he simply asks a sincere question of Jesus. “Which commandment is first of all.”

And Jesus again, answers wisely quoting scripture in verse 29. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength,” … and to that he adds, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And then here, the really amazing thing happens.

We have a Scribe, an ‘expert in the law’ who “gets it” without further debate.

Not only does he understand what Jesus is saying… he takes it another step.

You see… one thing you have to understand about the Scribes is that they were very strict about following the rules… the letter of the law.

They made completely sure that they did everything just so. So much so they made everything far too complex, often missing the very simple point of what God was really calling them to do.

And Jesus, in a way of “rebuking them”… pointed them to the heart of their calling. Love God, and love neighbor. It’s as exquisitely simple as exactly that.

And the scribe echoed back to him… in verse 32.

“You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; and to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And Jesus replied back to him in verse 34… “seeing that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Or we might also re-write that verse this way by adding to it this thought… “Jesus, knowing that the Scribe had heard him … “seeing that he answered wisely, ….” he said to him, “you are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

What made this Scribe so different?

Why, amidst so many examples of Scribes on the wrong side of it all, do we have this one shining example of a Scribe “gone right?”

Thinking about this, I believe there is enough evidence in today’s scripture for us to understand what makes this Scribe stand apart.

First of all… he came with a heart that was all about listening and hearing rather than a heart that was all about testing.

Instead of coming into the conversation with his mind already made up, already thinking his way was the only way… he came seeking to listen, seeking to hear, seeking to know… seeking to understand… perhaps even to actually learn God.

What about us? I think that we too… far too often fail to listen and rather come to the conversation with our minds already made up we are going to test God with a whole host of theological debates, exercises in theological semantics.

Here, in today’s lesson… we have a bunch of the “bad guys” (Sadducees) setting the example for those of us more inclined to incessantly question and debate …

Then we have the Scribe who models and sets the example of “enough debate!” Hear what God in Christ Jesus is saying to His Children through the length and breadth and width and height of His everlasting and ever living Holy Scriptures.

“May we one day acknowledge the difference between the two approaches. May we be willing to hear and listen to those simple truths so that we may hear. May we come with learning hearts seeking rather than with hearts that are testing.”

This “I Will” “first hear the Word of God, listen to the Word of God, listen to Jesus as he “keeps it simple smart” first is exactly what set the Scribe apart.

He was willing to keep the primacy of God first and really listen and pay close attention to that … and as a result he actually heard what Jesus was saying.

And this is my second point… the Scribe heard the message… and the message was this:

Talk with God, Hear God, Listen to God, Love God with all your 1) heart, all your 2) soul, all your 3) mind, and all your 4) strength. Again… the English words are good, but they come far short of what is being said in the original Greek.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mar/12/28-34/s_969028

Take the time to go through each individual word of each individual verse.

Learn the Nuances. Listen to and then Hear God speak through the nuances.

For example, begin with the nuanced understanding behind

1) the heart… is so much more than this thing in our chests.

It not only represents the center of all of our physical being… it represents the very center of our spiritual life.

More than that, it represents all of our passion, our desires, our appetites, even our affections… and Jesus calls us to direct all of them rightfully towards God.

Then move on to learning the nuances of the rest – Soul, Mind and Strength.

God, through His Son Christ Jesus, is definitely trying to converse with you.

Insert yourselves into this picture – Become the Scribe, the Crowd, and Jesus.

Hear what God really has to say – what God really wants us to hear and learn.

Without making this section into its own mini sermon…

Just think about all the things in this life we are passionate about, all the things that take priority… more often than not, these things are not God. And yet… this is the example set for us in today’s scripture.

We are covenanted to make God #1.

We are covenanted to listen, hear, and learn from God first!

We are covenanted to be doers of the truth of God first!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Almighty God, we ask you to clean our minds and hearts of all the things that may prevent us from hearing your word. Empty our hearts of doubt and empty our minds of preconceptions and assumptions. May we know that you are the source of our knowledge. Prepare our hearts to be ready to accept your truth. Help us be capable of hearing your voice speaking to us. Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Hearing God |Today, IF You Hear His Voice Do Not Harden Your Heart to it.

“I faced a mountain
That I never faced before
That’s why I’m calling on You Lord
I know it’s been a while
But Lord please hear my prayer
I need You like I never have before

Sometimes it takes a mountain
Sometimes a troubled sea
Sometimes it takes a desert
To get a hold of me
Your love is so much stronger
Than whatever troubles me
Sometimes it takes a mountain
To trust You and believe …”

Sometimes it Takes a Mountain by Gaither Vocal Band (2014)

God desires to speak directly to you. God desires to speak directly to me also. As a good Father, he deeply longs to engage with every single one of His Children in continual conversation. God desires to hold our attention to hear only Him.

So great is his longing for communication that he’s given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We now have access to the heart of God through the Spirit. We can know his will, hear his voice, and live with the knowledge of his wisdom and his love.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, [a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29 ESV)

Let the truth that God desires to have real, life-transforming conversations with you sink into your heart for a minute. Think about what it means for your own life to have communication with God.

Your Creator longs to help you with your decisions, our relationships, work, finances, and identity. God himself wants to talk with you about your life—to fully know you and be known by you. God really wants to hear and to be heard.

Just as any good parent loves talking with their children, your heavenly Father loves talking to you, his child. You see, God speaking to you is so little about our ability to hear his voice and so much more about his desire for you to know him.

His voice in your life is just another product of grace, God’s unmerited favor for those who believe. Like any conversation, you will only hear him when you are listening. Just like any good conversation, God longs to hear from you as well.

As much as we each mutually want and mutually share the desire to hear and be heard, the truth is there are times and seasons of great silence from God’s side.

There are also times and seasons of great silence but also times and seasons of great stubbornness on our side. We speak to God as He asks us to do – but we only receive great silence.

We do not necessarily mind episodic periods of brief silence – we expect them.

We do not like silence, however, when it is all, we get in response to efforts to our alleged “best and most energetic and fervent” efforts communicate.

I get really put off when I seem to be the only one who is making the sincere and considered effort to communicate.

I get really perturbed, then I will go silent too.

In my response, in my angst, I will allow my own heart to go silent with God.

My heart hardens against my God.

My soul will sit with my great angst and feast on my growing stubbornness.

I will not sit at His table nor feast at His table of abundant life. (Ps. 23:5)

I will, instead, sit at my own table and repeatedly stab my fork into my silence and I will, instead, raise my fork unto my mouth and feast upon its abundance.

Who shares my table with their “great cloud” of witness statements on this?

And then the Holy Spirit rushes into my silence, interrupts me, reminds me God’s Word speaks of caution, admonish and sternly warn against that too.

Hebrews 3:7-10 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

Therefore Do Not Harden Your Hearts As Israel Once Did

7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says[a] [in Psalm 95:7-11]: “Today, if you hear His voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion during the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested Me with a trial and saw My works 10 for forty years. Therefore, I was-angry with this generation and said, ‘They are always going-astray in the heart, and they did not know My ways’.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

How clearly the anonymous writer to the Hebrews reminds us to consistently and continuously keep our focus on Jesus, Who is both the Apostle and the High Priest and the Author of our Christian faith and our heavenly calling.

Savior Christ’s faithfulness in carrying out His Heavenly Father’s business is unsurpassed by great prophets like Moses, unmatched by distinguished high priests like Aaron, and unrivalled by celebrated kings like David or Solomon.

Savior Christ’s glory and splendour, might, majesty, dominion and power, far surpasses such great men. He is the master-builder of the universe and while these others illustrious men were God’s faithful servants, Christ Jesus is the Son of the most High God, and we are safe and secure in His care.

He alone is entrusted to take charge over God’s entire house, and Church-age believers are members of that household. Together, we are being built up into a spiritual temple, in Whom the Holy Spirit of God resides.

The insufficiently preached and taught astonishing and wonderful truth is that WE who have trusted in His sacrificial death and glorious Resurrection, are His spiritual household, missioners and ministers of His New and better Covenant.

We have God’s assurance our eternal salvation is secured forever in the nail-pierced hands of Christ, Who died to pay the price of our silence and our sin.

Nothing can snatch us out of His hands and nothing will pluck us from the hand of our Father in heaven, for we are saved by grace through faith.

We are neither saved by our silence nor kept by works, for He who started a good work in us has also faithfully promised to complete that good work.

He has promised to hold us fast to the end and sanctify up completely, spirit, soul, and body, lest anyone should boast.

Savior Christ has taken the responsibility of both our initial justification and progressive sanctification upon Himself. He that keeps Israel, has promised to guard us, keep us and protect us by His sufficient grace and almighty power.

We in turn, in humble gratitude give an outward profession of our faith and are called upon in this passage to ‘prove all things’ by walking in spirit and truth.

We are to eschew evil, abide in Christ, obey His commands, and trust in His Word throughout our earthly sojourn.

We are to remember the thrice-proclaimed warning that is in these verses, that today – Today – “TODAY is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day we are to live our life as unto the Lord, to produce spiritual fruit which will verify that we are truly members of His holy household, and citizens of heaven.

We are to grow in grace, mature in the faith, never to give up on His living Hope and live a life that readily and assuredly and easily identifies us as His hallowed household. We are to do it today, and not postpone it for some future occasion.

We are to take to heart the self-same warning that went unheeded by the Israelites: “Today is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day we need to live as unto the Lord.

Today is the day we should give up on our angst and silence to grow in grace.

Having been justified by His blood, we are reminded that today is the day that we should continue to be maturing in the faith and be progressively sanctified.

Today is the day we should become more and more like Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed.

We are blessed to have the indwelling Holy Spirit Who has promised to guide us into all truth, through His gentle inner promptings and by means of the holy Scriptures –

for His Word is: Hebrews 4:12

“Living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and is able to discern every inner thoughts of the heart and every secret motives of the mind.”

We must never forget that we are to listen to His voice, heed His instructions, and live by faith ‘today’. We are to encourage one another day after day, for as long as we live and keep growing in grace as long as it is called ‘today’.

Let us forget our silence. Let us never forget that “today is the acceptable day of the Lord,” not only for ourselves but for sinners and saints alike, and may we use our voices today in a way that glorifies God and points others to Christ.

God has spoken to the hearts of his children over the centuries inviting them back into relationship with him. These Spirit-inspired messages came in many and various forms, but the clearest came through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-3). 

Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us and to those around us, inviting us to come home to him. We must respond, or our hearts harden, and we lose any possible sensitivity to the message of grace.

The message from the Holy Spirit, uttered over and over through the centuries, now comes to you and me in today’s verses:

“Hear God’s voice! Do not harden your hearts!”

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for this warning in Hebrews that today is the day to hear Your voice and respond to Your warning, in thought, word, and deed. Keep me from going astray or developing a complacent attitude, a murmuring spirit, or a hardening of my heart. Help me to be a become a godly testimony of Your Holy Spirit’s work in me so that others may see Jesus in me and glorify Your holy name. This I ask in Jesus’ name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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Those Who have Ears let them Hear what the Lord God is saying to them Today. Please make their Ears Tingle.

“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia

Truth: You and I are the children of a loving God who is desperately jealous for the entirety of your heart. From beginning to the end, God’s Word illustrates a truth that spans beyond the ears of this world and into the fullness of eternity.

Truth: You and I have an enormous, God sized opportunity in this life either to give our whole hearts to God and receive an eternal reward, or give our whole hearts to the world, which will only lead to destruction.

Truth: We can each choose, either surrender all that we are and have to the perfect, pleasing Words of our heavenly Father or seek fulfillment, pleasure, status, wealth in that which has little to do with God’s Kingdom, belongs to the world alone.

The absolute best way we can ensure our lives are fully surrendered and wholly available to the Father is to spend the first moments of our day alone with him.

If we are going to make the most of this life, we must set aside time to assess our thoughts, actions, and emotions. We must make time to take an honest look at our lives and discover whether we are truly living for God or for the world.

And in response to a daily assessment, we must consistently engage in the process of listening for the voice of God through Word of God so that our lives may be encouraged and empowered by the forgiveness and love of the Father.

God longs for your life here on earth to impact eternity. He is a Father who has perfect plans to bless you in ways you cannot imagine. But God cannot bless that which is not best. He cannot reward you for doing that which is destructive.

Hear the Word of God. Choose to center your life around meeting with God that you might store up a wealth of eternal treasure in your daily thoughts. Open all of your heart unto the Holy Spirit every morning that he may reveal anything that’s keeping you from experiencing the fullness of life Jesus died to give you.

Surrender your life to the God who has greater things in store for you than you can ask or imagine. And experience the peace and joy that comes from allowing God to have the entirety of your life to bless and fill with his glorious nearness.

1 Samuel 3:11 Authorized (King James) Version

11 And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

I want to start this devotional out by telling two brief stories.

The first is: – There once was a man that whispered, “God, speak to me.” And a meadowlark sang. But the man did not hear.

So, the man yelled back, “God, speak to me!” and Thunder rolled across the sky. But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.” and stars too numerous to count shone brightly. But he noticed it not.

The man then shouted, “God, show me a miracle.” as he looked down upon his newborn son sleeping in his crib. But the man was unaware.

So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know that you are here!” Whereupon God reached down, touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly off of the back of his hand and walked on into the living room.

The second story is: – A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded she was becoming hard of hearing. So, he decided to conduct a “hearing” test without her knowing about it.

One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him, and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me now?”

There was no response.

Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still no reply.

Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.

Finally, he moved right in behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?”

To his surprise and chagrin, she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, YES! I can hear you just fine! Didn’t you hear me shouting back?”

The Premise of these 2 stories is:

1.) When God speaks make sure you do not miss out on His blessing because it is not packaged the way you expect.

2.) The hearing problem is never with God not speaking but 1000% us not listening!

Life is full of twists and turns that require both big decisions, small decisions, adjusting to major life changes, and tackling day-to-day living.

It seems like there are plenty of people out there who are ready to give you advice—in books, on television, at the office.

But is that the counsel we really need?

If we entertain too many different influences, thoughts and opinions, it can lead to confusion. In the midst of it all, you may feel uncertain that you are hearing the one voice you absolutely long to hear most—the voice of God.

God is a speaking God, and He speaks to His children every day. We have the wonderful opportunity to listen to Him and learn to hear His voice.

To what measure or degree do we believe our ears being “tingled” by something or someone other than God today?

Do we believe the Word of God for His Children can still influence us today?

Do we believe the voice of God can still be our influencer?

We don’t have to go through life being influenced through hearing others’ opinions of life, or blindly making decisions or relying on our own listening skills and hearing abilities or disabilities.

Truth: God created each and every one of the complexities of our body. That, of course includes the anatomy and physiology of our ears and brain to interpret.

As much as we can or cannot hear ourselves think through a jumble of worldly noises and countless distractions, we can hear God clearly and consistently if we are each studious and disciplined to read The Word of God for His children.

“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia

“He who has ears for hearing, let him listen with them” Benedict of Nursia

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father, in the Name of Jesus, I thank You that You desire to speak to me every day—guiding me in spirit and in truth to obey Your Word and enjoy an abundant life. I thank You that You have called me Your friend and that I may come boldly to the throne of grace to find help whenever I have a need in my life. Lord, Let me Hear!

Lord, Your Word says that when we draw near to You, You will draw near to us. So, I draw near to You today. I seek Your face, Your truth and Your word for my life. I want to know You more, hear You more and obey You more. Help me, my Creator, to feel more and more confident each day in knowing that I hear Your voice. Alleluia! Amen.

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