Listen and Learn

To prepare for our mission to Swaziland we have been asked to complete a few "homework" assignments and devotionals.

One of the things that has really stuck out to me is, the emphasis on spending time just listening to and meditating on what the Father has to say.  Sometimes, it seems that I forget to do this.  I suppose I tend to be the talker in my relationship with Jesus.

I think this is a common problem.  Our relationships with our Savior seem to be one sided.

How can we possibly have a relationship with God, much less be guided by that relationship, if we hardly let Him get a word in?

My prayers always look somewhat similar day to day.  They begin with my asking for forgiveness and thanking Him for his mercy and sacrafice.  Then I typically pray for His people and His world and I throw in my own problems and requests.  Then I ususally end somewhere around, "Your will be done and not my own." 

While I deeply mean every word that I say, I seem to talk AT Him.  Not WITH Him.

God doesn't want a rehearsed speach every single day.  He wants a conversation.  Intimacy.  Closeness.

Sometimes words aren't even necessary, just silence.

God speaks to us.  Sometimes His voice is loud and clear, sometimes its a gut feeling, sometimes its a faint aching in your heart..for everyone, His way of communication is different.. 

He might be trying to speak to you during your quite time, during the preaching of His word at church, through a Bible study, through musical worship, through another person, etc.  However, we must be listening for His voice to have a hope at hearing it.

We must take time away from the monotony of our everyday lives and spend time, literally, with Jesus. 

I have found this exceptionally hard to do in my home.  There are distractions simply everywhere.  Dogs, computer, tv, things to clean, things to do. 

To get seperation I like to go on my back porch, in my teeny-tiny back yard, so that I have a clear view of the sky and trees and flowers - His creation. 

I spend time in His Word here, I spend time worshipping Him.

But rarely do I spend time in silence.  Simply, listening for His voice.

He wants to tell me something, He wants to show me something, but sometimes I find myself so wrapped up in what I have to say that I forget to listen to His words.  I ask Him a question and don't even give Him the opportunity to answer.  But, He wants to answer and He WILL answer..I simply must chose to hear Him.

God is already using this trip, before it even starts, to reveal Himself to me.  He has something to say to me and I am being reminding through these devotionals to hear Him.  I am in awe before my Jesus, He is rendering me speachless. 

John 3:30 "He must become greater; I must become less."

My relationship with my Savior is not about me.  It's about Him.  Making much of Him, glorifying Him, advancing His Kingdom. 

It's time I stopped "talking" and started listening.