Tag: Hearing God

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This Is the Way; Walk in It

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

In hospice care and with only a few days remaining, our elderly friend was nearing the end of his battle with cancer, so we went to see him for what we knew would be the last time. Our visit with Bill and his wife Betty was tender and warm, though Bill’s energy had dwindled—when he did speak, it was only a whisper. At some point that afternoon, this thought silently, but certainly, came to me: “You and Betty will step away for a time, and Peggy will share the gospel with Bill.” I hadn’t experienced anything quite like this before, but the notion was so clear that I accepted it, waited, and watched. It wasn’t long before Betty said, “I need to go to the house to feed and walk the dog.” There it was, my cue! “Would you like me to drive you, Betty?” I asked. “Yes, I would like that.”

Now with only Bill and Peggy in the room, God continued to work. It was actually Bill who initiated the spiritual conversation! “I wish I knew if I was going up or down,” he said quietly, referring, of course, to heaven or hell. “You can know for sure,” Peggy said, and she proceeded to share in simple terms that eternal life is freely given to us when we receive it, trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf and asking forgiveness for our sins. “Is this what you want?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied. They prayed together, and when they finished, Bill whispered to Peggy, “Tell Betty what I did.” Bill dies two days later. May he rest in peace; may he leap in joy.

God is working all around us all the time. So, why did He choose this moment to announce His plan to one person and then do it through others? I have no idea. Perhaps it was to clear the room for the sharing of His lifegiving gospel message and the gathering of one precious soul, or maybe it was so this story could be told for God’s glory and our hope. Certainly the entire moment exclaimed relationship!, for it was an honor to be part of it, even if my role was just to get out of the way.

Job’s friend Elihu once counseled him, “God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it.”1 I think he was partially right: God does speak, and He speaks in different ways. But can we perceive it? Yes, we can: we perceive His voice as He wills. So, draw near to Him, quiet yourself before Him, and listen for the voice that says, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Father, thank You for loving us so much that You speak to us. Quiet our soul, that we would be content to wait and ready to hear. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Job 33:14

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As One Speaks to a Friend

“The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”— Exodus 33:11

Who is the one person in your life you can talk with more freely and openly than anyone else? What is it about this person that makes it so? Is it their compassion, relatability, or listening skills? Are they encouraging, insightful, and honest in response? Or perhaps he or she also knows when just to be with you and to say nothing at all. Whatever their helpful character traits, I’m guessing he or she is a friend—perhaps a relative or a spouse, but foremost a friend. Likewise, I think hearing God through prayer starts at friendship.

God is our friend. It is striking, how often Jesus called people, “friend.” To the healed paralytic: “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”1 To the many thousands gathered to hear him: “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid . . .”2 In His parting words to His disciples, Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants . . .  Instead, I have called you friends.”3 Even to Judas as he betrayed Him, Jesus said, “Do what you came for, friend.”4 And as friends eagerly welcome conversation and delight in it, so it is that God invites us, His people, into prayer: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”5

Our friend is God. This One who calls us friends is also He who calls Himself, “I AM.” He is just, so His responses are right, and He is spirit, so He speaks to our soul. So, perhaps like Paul you have presented your requests to God through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, and experienced in silent reply “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.”6 Maybe with fellow believers you have pursued God’s will in a matter through prayer and, like the early church leaders, sensed a resolution that “seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”7 It was while Peter was in prayer that God prepared him—both through a vision and then specific directions—to share the gospel with the Gentiles.8 God is love; He will answer as one speaks to a friend. God is sovereign, so He speaks with power, authority, and always as He wills. Then no matter how He chooses to reply, ours is to trust, to wait, and to listen for our friend, our God.

“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.9 Speak, for your servant is listening.” 10 Amen.

1 Luke 5:20
2 Luke 12:4
3 John 15:14-15
4 Matthew 26:50
5 Jeremiah 33:3
6 Philippians 4:6-7
7 Acts 15:27
8 Acts 10:9-23
9 Psalm 17:6
10 1 Samuel 3:10

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The Bible Is Changing Me

“The Bible is changing me,” observed our dear friend. Exploring God through weekly study and discussion had led her to experience Him also through prayer and reflection, and the change from the inside out was clear. We share her joy. Hers is a relatable story, for isn’t it true that the more we delve into the pages of Scripture—sensing its truth, absorbing its wisdom, and drawing nearer to the God who speaks it—the more it changes us? Peace uproots fear, and meaning supplants futility. Despair withers beneath blossoming hope, and truth liberates us to love. How is it that the Word penetrates layers of opinions and worldviews to reach and change the very core of our being?

Through the Word, the Spirit speaks truth into our soul. On the night of his betrayal, Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf, “Sanctify them [make them holy] by the truth; your Word is truth.”1 He promised his followers, “when . . . the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears.”2

Through the Word, the Spirit speaks life into our soul. “The Spirit gives life,” wrote Peter, “for you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”3 As Jesus taught, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.”4

Through the Word, the Spirit speaks guidance into our soul. “The word of God is alive and active”—we sense its accuracy and precision as it “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit . . . ; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”5 The Spirit exposes our sin,6 not to leave us there in hopelessness, rather He lovingly meets us wherever we are to turn us and guide us in His ways and for His purposes, for “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”7

“The Word of God . . . is indeed at work in you who believe,”8 wrote Paul. For the Spirit of God speaks to us through the Word of God. Then may this be our living testimony every day: “the Bible is changing me.”

So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11.

Father, open your Word to us that we may hear You; open our hearts and minds to Your way, Your truth, and Your life. In Christ the living Word we pray. Amen.

1 John 17:17
2 John 16:13
3 1 Peter 1:23
4 John 6:63 (NASB)
5 Hebrews 4:12
6 John 16:8
7 2 Timothy 3:16-17
8 1 Thessalonians 2:13