Welcome friends! Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit. If you found your way here through my P31 Encouragement for Today devotion, “Living in the Hear and Now,” I’m so glad you stopped by. I hope you’ll stay a while and make yourself comfortable.
One of my deepest desires is to be a woman who listens to God. But, I don’t always get it right. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s God talking or just me thinking. Ever wondered that?
I also I admit, I’m not always crazy about what I sense God telling me to do. Yet I’ve learned over the years that when I listen to God, I discover His best for me. And I grow in my trust in Him.
I’ve seen again and again that His ways lead to His goodness. And when I follow Him, His mercy follows me.
As I shared in my devotion today, I went through a season of learning how to really listen closely so that I could experience a day by day abiding in God’s presence and plans. I thought I’d been listening to Him all along, but my prayers reflected that I wanted to know where to invest my efforts. In a still small voice God showed me that He wanted my ears more than my efforts.
He was more concerned about character than my calendar. I realized that many times I’d sought God for the larger plans in life, convinced that if I figured out what He wanted me to do I could become the person He created me to be.
Have you ever thought, “If only God would show me what job to take; what man to marry; what church to attend – then my life would be complete and I could serve Him with my whole heart”?
The problem is sometimes we get a glimpse of where He wants us to go and then assume we know how to get there. I’ve made that mistake many times and then wondered why I wasn’t getting anywhere.
Jesus depended on the Father for the large and fine print written in His life plan. He listened closely and obeyed quickly. John 5:19 reflects His absolute dependence: “The Son can do nothing by Himself; he can do only what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does also.”
Like Jesus, we will discover God’s purpose for our lives through dependent hearts that seek to listen to His. We will find out what’s on God’s calendar and part of our calling when we live in the hear and now – listening for His voice and obeying it each day, in every here and now.
Questions to Consider
- Do I read my Bible so that God’s words and ways are familiar to me?
- Do I intentionally listen for God’s voice or do I assume I know what He wants me to do?
- If God were to speak to me, would I recognize His voice?
- Is my mind so full of worries that my thoughts drown out the possibility of hearing God’s thoughts?
Steps to Take
- Take time now to quiet your heart and your thoughts.
- Be still and acknowledge that God is God and you are not.
- Tell God your desire to hear Him today and then ask Him to speak to your heart.
- Share with Him your plans for the day and then ask Him to show you His.
- Give God permission to interrupt your thoughts and agenda and lead you in a different direction if He wants to.
- Get ready for a day filled with adventure and companionship as you walk hand in hand with your Maker.
Verses to Ponder
1 Samuel 3:10, “The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Psalm 119:16, “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
John 14:31, “But the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”
Isaiah 55:2-3, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live….”
Isaiah 50:4, “The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
If you want to become a woman who listens to God, and discover the adventure of faith He has for your life, you will want to read Lysa TerKeurst’s book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.
I’m giving a copy away to one of you this week! It’s one of my all time favorite books and it kept me inspired to keep my promise to God that I will live in the hear and now! To enter to win, click on the word “comments’ right below this post and share your thoughts or questions about listening to God. Please include your email so I can find you if you win. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Anything. Just talk to me…I’m listening :0). I love reading what you have to say!
And be sure to come back tomorrow! I’ll be talking more about listening to God and offering a great free resource to help you discern His voice from your own. If you’re new, I want you to know there’s a place for you here and I’d love for you to join us! You can subscribe to updates via email in my sidebar, link up in the Google Friend Connect box or become a friend on Facebook!
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This has been my prayer for some time. I feel like I'm so all over the place, and lately just going without any thought that I just don't even stop to realize it is God speaking to me…or realizing I'm not hearing Him speak to me. Thank you for this post so that I can continue to listen for it and pray that I stop to recognize it, thank Him for it and follow it!
Connie [email protected]
I just flat out don't hear Him. Especially on the little day to day things. I am too busy trying to find the 'right' way to pray and study His word. I spend way too much time doing that and end up never really hearing Him at all.
Your devotion so touched my heart today. It seems I want God to hand me a schedule and calendar for when He wants me to do things. I love the phrase "Live each day in the hear and now". Thanks for sharing it today.
Penny Whitley
I learned from the mouth of my Pastor this past Sunday, that God's will is always something you WANT, whether you realize it or not. He has placed the gifts already inside you, you just have to discover them! He said, "The creator plans it and the creation discovers it."
I love how when we are finally listening to God, He is so faithful to guide us into His plans! And at just the pace we need!
I just came back from our churches District Ladies Retreat this weekend and I came away with an even greater desire to listen… just be still and listen. As a working wife/mom of 4 teenagers, it gets really easy to set my day to auto-pilot just to get through, but I know if I just slow down and listen, really listen, God will have so much more for me & my family. Thank you for this devotion. It was exactly what I needed TODAY!!!
What a great reminder. Thanks for your encouragement. I love the statement and challenge that God is more concerned with my character than my calendar. Guess I should start praying about that one because it seems like my calendar is packed with me, myself, and I and every once in a while others. Thanks.
I often wonder if I am hearing God's voice or my own ideas. But I have found that when it is God's voice, I have a definite peace when I heed his direction. In my busy life, I always need a reminder to be still and listen for Him!
Sometimes you just know it is God speaking and then again sometime I am not sure. I guess it all comes with keeping on going everyday in God's word and "obeying" Him.
We've been talking about this very thing in our small group. I love when God does that! Thank you for the reminder that my agenda isn't necessarily God's and that I should be flexible enough to change mine if He is calling me to do so. Thank you for reminding me to be a better listener and not always just a "doer".
[email protected]
I've read a lot of the other comments and it's reassuring to know we struggle in some of the same ways. It's easy to get complacent and lazy if I let my guard down. Once this happens God's voice seems so distant and so hard to distinguish among all the other voices surrounding me. I want to be a "yes" woman as Lysa says, but fear so often sticks his ugly face in the way. Lord, I want to see You, to hear You, to know You, so I can follow hard after You. I believe, help my unbelief.
I also second guess if I am hearing a word from God or is it just what I want to believe to come true and telling myself that it is of God. I am new to the time alone thing with God so I am really unknowing to if it is just my desires or God confirming His will in my life. I would appreciate any feedback on the difference between the two. How will I know it is of God? I have prayed that the Holy Spirit reveal it to me but then I am still unsure.
I am so thankful to have come across this today. This year has been horribly difficult for me, and though I know God has me right where he wants me for this season, I've struggled to even keep my head above water. I pray often that God will give me strength to endure today and change so I can enjoy tomorrow, but I worry that I won't recognize God's voice if he tells me to jump.
I'm working on filling TODAY with him instead of waiting for tomorrow to come, and it sounds like I'm not alone.
Sometimes i hear Him and continue going the opposite way caught up in my own frustration or pain. Sometimes I hear Him and follow. it is then that I experience peace and joy. Why don't i follow all the time? I'm selfish and therefore i pray……
oh I struggle with this. I see the big picture but don't let God control the small things. I take control instead. I want to be free of this and hear his words daily!!
Thank you for this offer.
Lindsay
[email protected]
Your post today speaks to my heart and is an encouragement (and conviction!) that I need to stop worrying about tomorrow and live in today, tuned in to the voice of the Almighty! Thank you!
I too tend to listen to God for the big things of life, and think I can handle the little things on my own. But reality says that I need God in all the little things too! YES – I want to live in the hear and now!
Blessings to you and yours,
Maureen F.
ferguson 5 @ sbc global . net
I to find myself wondering "Is that God trying to tell me something?" My husband surrendered to God to work full-time in missions at the age of 51. Many don't understand our life now (including me at times). He is away more than he is home but we believe he is following God's plan. I wish I felt that confident about my own life! Your devotion really gave me something to think about. Thank you
hearing comes from the word, right? Thank you for the reminder to stop and listen. To be still. This is a constant struggle for me, yet I desire to follow God and please Him.
It is unbelievably awesome when God hears women pouring out relational concerns from their hearts. Two days later at a Bible Study He ministers to these same women about loving them and having plans for them. God did that for a friend and me last week. We were both amazed how He listens and ministers! Thank you Lord for Hearing and loving me. [email protected]
Thank you for this! I lost my uncle in a drunk driving accident 9/15. Drove by his house and he was outside in a lawn chair watching cars go by 2 days earlier. I honked and waved but didn't take the time to stop despite God saying "Just pull in and say hi." I didn't get the opportunity to say hi again. I am working on listening. Thanks again!
Amy M – [email protected]