"Often I find it works best if after I ask for God to speak to me, I devote the next hour or so to some kind of activity that neither engrosses my attention with other things nor allows me to be intensely focused on the matter in question. Housework, gardening, driving about on errands or paying bills will generally do. I do not worry about whether or not this works. I know that it does not have to work, but I am sure that it will work if God has something he really wants me to know or do. This is ultimately because I am sure of how great and good he is.
"Often by the end of an hour or so, there has stood forth within my consciousness an idea or thought with that peculiar quality, spirit and content that I have come to associate with God’s voice. If nothing emerges by the end of an hour or so, I am not alarmed. I make it a point to keep listening. Very often within a day something happens through which God’s voice, recognizably distinct, is heard.
"Reflect: What would be the most suitable “in the meantime” activities for you—ones that don’t require enormous attention or intense focus?"
(Willard, D., & Johnson, J. (2015). Hearing God Through the Year: a 365-Day Devotional.)
As I continue to read each day from this devotional, I continue to be amazed at all the way that I can train myself to hear God speaking. The above was one that I read a few weeks ago that reminded me of Brother Lawrence's famous little book, The Practice of the Presence of God, which teaches that the everyday and mundane is a beautiful place to hear from God when you're paying attention.
“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”
I want to encourage You to invite the Holy Spirit into everything, not just waiting for the 'perfect' moment or right atmosphere. I wonder what we might hear from God when we live each day expectant and alert to Him "in the meantime"?
Praying with you,
Pastor Tracy
This Sunday
FAQs of Jesus
”What is that to you?”
Join us on Sunday at 10am as our Pastor Tracy continues in our series.