Blessed are the ears that hear the pulse of the divine whisperer, and give no heed to the many whisperings of the world. ~Thomas Kempis
I have been contemplating different ways we approach God and how, even my most devoted aunt, did not give me list of things I should do, as she would with housekeeping, to teach me about how to have a relationship with God. She would readily talk about her special prayer place, miracles she has seen, and conversations she had with God, but we did not have a daily family devotion or anything like that. We were very involved with church! We also had a Christian band with practice on Thursday nights and we performed at places now and then. One would often hear my aunt singing a Christian song throughout the house. I suppose to her it was so natural, just an integral part of herself that she felt was too personal and/or, perhaps, she just trusted the Lord to lead others according to how He needed to do so and she was only to be a living example.
For me, a bit more guidance would have been helpful since I lacked churching much of my life until then, but I found my way. I would sit in the quiet of the library quite early in the morning before anyone else was awake and just talk with God.
I have been attempting to relate to my daughter an awareness of God and that prayer is speaking with Him, not at Him, and, since it is a conversation, that He has things He will be saying to her, so she should be listening as well. She now tells me that she hears Him give yes and no answers, but she says she has to ask questions so the answer is just yes or no. I have told her that there will be times that God has more to say than yes or no, but it is a start. I am very pleased with her trying to really hear God—some life-long Christians do not learn this discipline!
This is an improvement over when she asked me how I hear God some years ago while I was driving to her piano lesson. I remember telling her that she needed to try to listen. She said she had been trying but she still could not hear Him. I was still contemplating on how to respond since she seemed so serious. Then, she quickly decided that the solution was simple: she would asked God to speak louder. I remember smiling at the simplicity and pureness of her faith.
In this era, it is particularly difficult not to fill our time and minds with all the conveniences technology has made so readily available to us: telephones, radio, TV, computers, Internet, video games, email, even blogging, and more. On what do we spend the most time of our day?
The best way to learn to hear God is to practice daily at listening to Him. That is what we should be doing all day. Yes, that constant prayer (conversation) which includes Him in every moment of our lives. In turn, we are included in His every moment as well.
That is the place to be: in each moment with the Lord, in the kingdom at hand as Jesus described. It could start humbly, like a child would do, with simple questions begging yes-or-no answers and listening for God speak them...with great anticipation!
For me, a bit more guidance would have been helpful since I lacked churching much of my life until then, but I found my way. I would sit in the quiet of the library quite early in the morning before anyone else was awake and just talk with God.
I have been attempting to relate to my daughter an awareness of God and that prayer is speaking with Him, not at Him, and, since it is a conversation, that He has things He will be saying to her, so she should be listening as well. She now tells me that she hears Him give yes and no answers, but she says she has to ask questions so the answer is just yes or no. I have told her that there will be times that God has more to say than yes or no, but it is a start. I am very pleased with her trying to really hear God—some life-long Christians do not learn this discipline!
This is an improvement over when she asked me how I hear God some years ago while I was driving to her piano lesson. I remember telling her that she needed to try to listen. She said she had been trying but she still could not hear Him. I was still contemplating on how to respond since she seemed so serious. Then, she quickly decided that the solution was simple: she would asked God to speak louder. I remember smiling at the simplicity and pureness of her faith.
In this era, it is particularly difficult not to fill our time and minds with all the conveniences technology has made so readily available to us: telephones, radio, TV, computers, Internet, video games, email, even blogging, and more. On what do we spend the most time of our day?
The best way to learn to hear God is to practice daily at listening to Him. That is what we should be doing all day. Yes, that constant prayer (conversation) which includes Him in every moment of our lives. In turn, we are included in His every moment as well.
That is the place to be: in each moment with the Lord, in the kingdom at hand as Jesus described. It could start humbly, like a child would do, with simple questions begging yes-or-no answers and listening for God speak them...with great anticipation!
~ My Lord, thank you for hearing me and help me to hear You. I am definitely trying to listen right now. Please talk to me. ~
