Listening

My wife is a therapist. She spends a good portion of her day listening to children talk about their problems, their feelings and the things that could be better in their lives. Some times this is a joy, sometimes it is torture, but it is always really hard work.

If I look back over my adult life, I bet I've heard 25 sermons that revolve around one common theme. It might be called, "Knowing God's Will for your life" or "Finding your Purpose" or "Who is the Holy Spirit?" or "Hearing God". They all revolve around the disconnect that we feel between us and God.

When we look at the Old Testament, we see God talking directly to Abraham and to Moses. We see angels showing up with messages, we see prophets doing crazy stuff and then proclaiming the word of the Lord. In the New Testament, we get a couple more angels, then God actually shows up in human form and talks to us, then we see people blinded and receiving visions. None of this stuff has ever happened to me.

There have been times when I took this as a personal slight. Where was my message from God? Why don't I get visions or dreams? Am I not important enough? Am I not good enough? Am I too terrible of a sinner?

All those sermons I heard said some combination of a couple different things.

1) God's word as found in the Bible is perfect and that's how he talks to us now. Keep reading.

2) We don't hear God because we're too busy.

3) You don't hear the Holy Spirit because you're not really a Christian.

4) Something else in your life (sin) is blocking you from hearing God.

My life is radically different because of what I've heard from God. Five years ago I completely changed the direction my life was heading. At that time I was sinning, I was terribly busy and I wasn't really reading my Bible all that much. Somehow, God still got his message across to me.

I wish that I could explain what that was like or how anyone can hear a clearly defined message from God. I can't. I just knew what God wanted me to do, and I couldn't not do it.

Recently, I've partnered with a group of people to focus on paying closer attention to what God is saying to us. How? By listening. We meet together each week and start by simply asking the question: "What is God saying to you now?" That's a tough question. It's one you can't make up an answer to. It's one you have to prepare for.

That preparation is constant. It's a 24-7 thing. The last couple weeks, I've found myself more aware of my surroundings, more attuned to my thoughts, to how they change and what they're about. I'm constantly looking for God, listening for Him to speak to me in some way.

It's amazing what you hear when you actually listen.

Whispers

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

The smallest voice can have the greatest power, but only if we humble ourselves and listen.

Luke 11 - P.R.A.Y?

Maybe you've heard or read or practiced the P.R.A.Y. model of prayer. If not, it is a model that gives some guidelines on how to talk to God. It goes like this:

P - Praise. Tell God how great he is.

R - Repent. Admit the stuff you've done wrong to God and turn from it.

A - Ask. Let God know what you want for yourself and others.

Y - Yield. Relax, be quite and listen for God's response to your prayer.

If we look at this model in relation to Jesus example of prayer in Luke 11:2-4, what do we find?

P - "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come"

R - "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us"

A - "Give us each day our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation"

Y - ?

Okay, How about Matthew 6:9-13?

P - "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

R - "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors."

A - "Give us today our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Y - ?

I'm not seeing Y as modeled specifically in prayer.

Have we added Y to prayer as an expedient to making this more like a conversation?

Do any of you practice this model regularly and if so, how does the Y part go for you?

Have we added Y to prayer because it is easier to do it there than in the rest of our lives?

Personally, I've never had an experience where I've prayed and heard God speak (or move or influence or prod) specifically when I yielded. Instead, His voice has reached me when I've yielded in other parts of my life.

So, I'm yielding now (Not to God, but to you) so I want to hear your voice. What do you think about this?