Hearing from God
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7
To hear from God you need: 1) A regular time and place. Some prefer morning. ‘…In the morning my prayer comes before you’ (Psalm 88:13).Others prefer evening. ‘Let my …praise [be] like the evening sacrifice’ (Psalm 141:2). Others prefer encounters throughout the day. ‘Evening, morning and noon I cry out…’ (Psalm 55:17). Just find a time and place that’s right for you. ‘How much time should I take?’ As much as you need. Your time with God should last long enough for you to say what you want, and for God to say what He wants. 2) An open Bible. Before reading the Bible, pray. Don’t go to Scripture looking for your own idea, go searching for God’s. ‘…Hunt for it like hidden treasure. Then you will understand…and you will find that you know God’ (Proverbs 2:4-5 ). God seems to send us messages as He did manna: one day’s portion at a time. He gives us: ‘…A command here, a command there. A rule here, a rule there. A little lesson here, a little lesson there’ (Isaiah 28:10). Choose depth over length. Read until a verse ‘hits’ you, then stop and meditate on it. Understanding comes a little at a time, over a lifetime. 3) A listening heart. James writes, ‘The man who looks into the perfect law…and makes a habit of so doing, is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and he wins true happiness’ (James 1:25). We know we are listening to God when what we read in the Bible is what others see in our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me listen to your Word today and every day. Help me to go to Your Word seeking Your ideas and not mine. In Jesus’ Name, Amen