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!
Discover more from Renee Swope
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hi! I am from Lake Charles, LA and you spoke at my church this past weekend,Trinity Baptist Church. Unfortunately, I had to be out of town and missed you. I am sure you were a blessing to our sweet ladies. I do not always get to read your daily devotionals, but today I did and I do not believe it was an accident. My husband & I have a big decision to make today, and I really need to be still and listen to God's voice and not assume what I think he wants us to do. Thanks for the reminder to continuously stop and listen to God throughout our day.
I often wonder if I am hearing God speaking, or if I am just hearing the echoes of my past bouncing off the walls that hold my hopes for the future. Recently, God has been blessing me by helping me to see and HEAR that it is much easier for me to distinguish His voice from my own when I am spend more time in His word.
Wow, this is something God has been showing me in the last ten days or so. On Friday, it enabled me to put away my to-do list and spend hours in prayer for our family, especially our oldest daughter. About 2:00 pm, I felt released from praying and felt like a battle had been won on her behalf. Today I still don't know what the specific battle was, but I am thankful I had the listening ears to spend time in prayer instead of cleaning the house. I want to be more receptive to what He is telling me!
For me, I truly want to be a women after Gods own heart. He has changed me by far in my day to day basis. I do notice myself jumping ahead of Gods plans, but later come to find out, it's not about me, its about him. I am looking to encourage myself daily so I can encourage other women around me as well. I am working on Taming my toungue. Theres soo much to say, but i do want a copy of the book. you can email me at [email protected] Thank you for reading! God bless, and May God enrich your ministry. -Katie
As a busy homeschooling mom of 3 boys and wife of 21 years, I struggle to find those quiet moments to just listen. It's usually a ride to the library ALONE or a jog around the block that helps to clear the way to hear His still, small voice that speaks peace and comfort to my busy days.
I loved what you said in your prayer in the devotional, "Sometimes I fall into the trap of waiting for a better tomorrow or an easier assignment so that I can be faithful." Oh, I find myself there many times, but I pray I will be faithful in the day to day things – things like homeschooling my boys and teaching them how to be future leaders in whatever sphere of influence the Lord has in store (families, ministries, etc.) and supporting, encouraging, and loving my husband as he walks the path God has for him.
Too overwhelming for a girl like me, but with my Savior by my side I will be faithful to this call.
Thanks for reminding me about the "little things" that we are to be faithful to…and listening to God "in the now" instead of waiting for some enormous "sign' to fall out of heaven and tell us to do "some great thing"….We miss so much by not living in the now…and being faithful with the little things…
I would love to know that I am hear God day by day…So often I stumble around…and feel He has abandoned me to my own wisdom…yet in my head I know that can't be true…
I want to trust that He is willing to speak if I am willing to listen…
I find that God can and does speak to me in many ways. After I have prayed for guidance, I might receive a devotional e-mail that addresses the very topic I've prayed about. By staying in His word and daily reading devotions, like Proverbs 31, I hear God speak to me. He will also use Christian sisters to speak a word. And, yes, I also struggle with knowing at times if it's something I want or what God wants. That is the time I go into prayer and ask for prayer. When I receive God's peace over a situation, even if He is quiet, I know He has spoken.
What a great subject! This is a daily struggle for me, and I guess for many women. We are part of a society that moves so fast, has all the answers and juggles multiple facets of our lives. We are busy! We have places to go and schedules to follow! So many times He has revealed to me that I need to be still and listen. Stop doing and hear Him. Because it's in the busyness of this world that His voice gets dimmer if we allow it. We need to remain in Him to allow Him to work in and through us – one day at a time. He will reveal what we need to know when we need to know it. I guess that's part of walking in faith. I know it's a work-in-progress for this woman! 🙂
Christine
[email protected]
I want a better understanding of when is God really talking to me? How do I learn to really HEAR him. People always say things like "I heard the Holy Spirit say this or that. Or God told me to do this or that. I don't really know if I have EVER HEARD Him speak to me, and I want to HEAR!!! [email protected]
It never fails! Almost every day the Proverbs 31 devotional is meant for my own heart, and today was no different. My prayer journal is full of requests for God to tell me what to do, but very few of the days have me telling Him I am listening. I have to work to be a good listener, and not just to Him! I praise Him for His immeasurable grace!
Hello – I love your blog and get so much encouragement from it. Thank you for being here for me. 🙂 I am in a "not so happy" marriage with a husband who drinks entirely too much, so we don't get to spend quality time together as a couple or as a family. I love my husband and I am committed to keeping my vow to him, but his drinking makes it so hard. I am trying desperately to listen to God's voice today and during this season, to see what I am supposed to be during this time for him and our family. Is it fair, that I have to be the one to step up? NO Is it fair, that I have to parent by myself sometimes? NO Is it fair that I don't get the husband I so desire? NO – BUT I am here for a reason and will do what God has planned for me! I would love to be able to discern in many of these situations, whether or not I am hearing God or relying on my own will – I like to think I am living out his plan and not being selfish, but am afraid that there are times that I do live selfishly. Please add The Buchanans to your prayer list and pray for the day that I get to see my husband saved….I know that it will happen, I just pray for me to be there to see it. In Christ Love!
I've spent most of my life praying, listening, then dragging my feet to comply. Mostly because I tend to second-guess and analyze things to death. Wondering if it was really God speaking or just my own thoughts. Sometimes that feet dragging has resulted in not so good consequences. I try now to think less-because I find that the more I think things over, the more my own selfish, worldly thinking distorts what I've heard from God-and I try to move more, trusting that God is in control. Nah—you know I don't always jump up and do what God has told me to do…I wish I could say I never let what others think or might say scare me off from doing things, but more and more I am choosing to live God's way, not mine. And there is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that you've just done something for God, especially when no one else knows about it!!
I too stuggle with listening to God and being obedient. Trusting Him to know the path and following without "seeing the map". I ask for help in being still and knowing He is God but the ME part tries to take the control back. Then He gently reminds me that I asked for help by a message, scripture or devotion, or a friend's comments. How great is that? That He loves me enough to remind me without nagging:) [email protected]
I read through alot of the comments and realize that I am not the only one having a hard time telling if it is God or just me. I know that my Pastor says alot of the time, if you are led to minister to someone you better make sure it is God leading you and not you wanting to give your
thoughts on the issue. Which leads me to always question myself and in doing so I dont go to that person and say anything. Our pastors daughter is going through depression now, and that is something I went through about 20 years ago. I feel like I should go and encourage her to exercise and stand on God's word which is how I got through this myself. But because this is his daughter, I feel scared to go, in case this is not God talking to me. How do I learn to hear God's voice. HELP!
I do not have a google account, but my email address
[email protected]
Thanks, Denise
This message seems like it was sent right to me, just for me this morning. I am trying hard to listen to God and hear HIM not my own thoughts about my stumbled marriage to a man I know God made perfect for just me, but I can't reconcile to my own idea of perfection. I am desperate to hear God in my finances where I struggle to let go of control and the I can do it myself attitude. I need God to grab me and gently (or maybe not so gently) nudge me back to who He made me to be. A mighty woman of God! Thank you for your message. God truly knows how to use everything for HIS good..and to bless his sheep.
Hi Renee,
Thank you for your sharing of "Living in the Hear and Now" of Nov. 16. Just like you…I worry of not doing the best God wants me to. Through your word of encouragement. I now know God want us to live in obedient moment by moment and day by day. And when we are faithful in the small things, then God can entrust us with the big things that He has plan for us. Your word of encouragement come at the right time when I am at the cross road to wonder whether do I really listen and obey to do what God had desire for me? Thank you so much for your word of knowledge. I will quiet myself down before God and listen to Him moment by moment and day by day to fulfill what He has for me. Thank you…
Blessing,
Justina(Singapore)
[email protected]
Ok, so I was soooo hoping you would be giving me a way to identify if it's just me thinking or God speaking to me. 🙁 I'm sure I need to read more and pray more. I would love to win the book also. [email protected]
I am having a hard time really listening to what God wants from me right now. My husbands company has presented him with a promotion that will take us away from our family, friends and hometown. I am struggling with what is Gods will and what is our own. I do not want to leave my loved ones but I also would love the financial security that will come with this move. I am torn as to what is best for my family. I know that I have to just be patient and listen for his words but I have always had a hard time with this part of my faith. I like to be "in control" and know what is coming around every corner. Guess I am not much different than most women but sometimes I would love for God to just show me the answer in bright flashing neon lights… in other words make the choice so clear to me that I cannot mess it up.
Thank you for your inspiring words this morning… it is just what I needed to hear!
[email protected]
Daily Encouragement hit the nail on the head for me today. Thank you!
You could have started the devo off with Dear Jeannie, as much as it spoke to me. I know God sent that message for me this morning. Thank you!