I don't do that often enough, I'm afraid. But I did that this week and I had a joyful conversation with him.
For the last several years, I have often sat down at my computer and typed in a journal the questions I have of God. I have listened spiritually and written down the responses. The questions are usually about my own life and my walk with God. And the answers I get are always in accordance with scripture.
Without fail, I rise from the computer feeling the peace of God.
But I feel I should go beyond this and make it an hour-by-hour habit. I need to do this especially when I'm all worked up and filled with negative thoughts.
God's answers to my written questions are not always what I want to hear. But they help to put me on the right path. And they help to give me a broader perspective - God's perspective - on my problems.
Someone I know spends an hour every morning in silent, contemplative prayer. He tells me that often God will drop a thought in his mind during the day that answers a question in his mind.
King David was a listener. He frequently took his questions to God and God guided him.
In Psalm 139:17, he said: "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them."
I believe God is talking to us all the time and we hear only a small fraction of what he is saying. That's because we aren't listening.
There are many people over the ages who have written about listening prayer - among them Frank Laubach, Madame Guyon, and Brother Lawrence. As our world turns faster and faster, more and more Christians are discovering the value of seeking God and listening to him.
The following is a video by pastor and author Charles Stanley talking about listening prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment