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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I constantly try to plan my life and keep thinking that if God would just tell me what I'm supposed to do, everything will be fine. I am slowly learning that He simply desires a relationship with me, and the more I study and read the Bible, the more I start to truly believe and understand that truth. This is a learning process for me and I have to ask Him to renew my mind daily. Thank you for reminding me that He wants me to live in the "hear and now" and not worry about what "plans" He has in store for me!
I read your Proverbs 31 devotional today on my phone while having lunch.
And it was exactly what I needed today because I'm in the middle of making an important decision regarding ministry and I really want to make sure that it is his voice and not mine the one I hear.
So, thanks so much for sharing all that. Looking forward to the rest tomorrow!
Thank you for this devotion. It was very timely for me. What a surprise, huh? I am struggling with learning to stop and listen and trust God. And wait, the waiting and being still seems to be what is most hard for me. I am so thankful that my Lord and Savior is so very patient with me.
Hey Renee! Thank you so much for this post…One of my all time favorite chapters in the Bible is John 20 when Jesus appears to Mary after He has risen from the dead. She does not recognize Him until he calls her name…."Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic "Rabboni!" (which means teacher.)" Oh, how my soul soars every time I read that verse!! The Master, her Lord, calls her by name and she knows that voice. Can you just imagine the joy she felt in the recognition!! She heard, and it changed her life!!
Ah…it is hard to discern what is from God when I don't take the time to be quiet with him. From the moment I wake up there is "busy-ness" and noise. I hate making decisions since I want to please God, but still am selfish. My husband just told me last night that I tend to "over-spiritualize" all of my decisions. Sigh…
I talk to God and ask that He speak to me through someone I know if it need be. Sometimes I find Him using others to bring me the wisdom I seek after. They don't even realize what they have said that meant so much to me, but I know who laid it on their heart. God is so good, I love when He shows Himself strong to me, not just in blessings, but in love to others, and encouragement from His Word. I hear God's voice everywhere I look, He is my creator, my father, my lover and my best friend.
I struggle with "listening" to God, because I have a hard time figuring out if it is really Him speaking to my heart softly, or if it is just my own thoughts??? How do you discern between the two? My thoughts are constantly on Him, and things above this world. I just keep praying and asking Him to speak to my heart and let me know it is Him and not my own thoughts, I guess He is waiting for me to listen to Him!
I believe the hardest thing for me to do is to give God the actually time to speak. Before marriage and doing my masters it was my favorite thing, I would go for a walk or sit by the water and just listen. And then 'somehow' as life got busier when I would stop to listen my to-do list would fill my mind instead. Now I am married, with a spirited toddler and baby number 2 due in a couple months and it continues to be a challenge to give God the time to speak. I mean I give time to prepare a healthy meal for my family, to read all the parenting books to help my son and I make time to go to our women's bible study for fellowship and encouragement. And I guard all these things like a mother bear, and yet what I also need to do is fiercely guard my time with God. I need to set up a time with Him like I do a date with my husband or a playdate for my son. I need to put it on the calender, and not cancel last minute. I need to realize and remember that He is waiting for me, but I need to show up.
Thank you for the devotion. I learned from the words you wrote. It reminded me to be faithful in the "small" things (such as organizing a closet). God wants my obedience so much and I need to be listening so that I can obey.
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I am encouraged, challenged and blessed by your post. I find that believe that I hear from God and then question or overthink what He says. I struggle then get distrated by analysis paralysis. I pray for God's wisdom, discernment and insight.
There are so many examples I could share of how the Lord has ALWAYS blessed my obedience when I hear and obey Him. One in particular is from several years ago. The Lord kept impressing me to leave from my teaching position. I didn't want to leave. I loved the staff & faculty and being able to minister to the students. I did, however, surrender to the Lord and did not sign my contract at the end of the year. Directly after that a substitute teaching position became available for the Christian school. For an entire year, I was almost the only substitute. So needless to say, I was able to work most days. Our income was supplemented but more importantly, I was able to serve in all age categories from 3 years old all the way to 8th grade! I came to know many families and students. Even after 8 years, there are many that I still stay in touch with! ALWAYS obey God; He keeps His Word. It won't always make sense at the time, but trust Him. He knows best!
"Hearing God". That has been the foremost thought on my mind over the past few months. I wonder all the time how to hear Him. I think I am like Elijah, waiting for the thunder and lightening and God is speaking quietly. There are times when I "know", just "know" that God has spoken, these are more knowledge than a voice. I have so much trouble with noise in my head, so many thoughts all the time. It is so hard to sit and just listen and then I question, is it me or God? How do I know? I have been in ministry so many times in the past, but then I short curcuit when life goes aray. This time, I want to "know" what God wants me to do beyond a shadow of a doubt so that I don't do it in my own power and I don't short circuit again. Tired of being disqualified and feeling that I have disapointed my Lord! I pray daily that God leads me every step of the way. Thank you for your devotion today! It reminds me to be still and Know God! It reminds me that He cares about everything I do, even my motherhood and my boring, trivial, daily job that pays my bills. I need to stop and listen and learn His voice over my thoughts. I will continue on daily and keep following the little steps He has been giving me. I guess He knows right now I am not ready for the giant leaps! I know that one day little will become much and I will be able to look back on this valley and see that God walked before me each step of the way. Thank you!
Deann Young
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I would love the book about saying "Yes" to God again. I haven't really felt "connected" to God for a long time and I need a refresher! I know he is there waiting and I have been stubborn. I'm going about my life taking care of my kids, taking care of my husband, the house, trying to be a good person but I am feeling rather empty and lonley. Yes, I have friends and all that I need but I have not been putting God first or even giving him a place at all. Time to get real. Time to get started. Time to put priorities in place. Time to trust and be healed. Its time.
Renee –
Boy, did your reflection today hit home! I've been so focused on the "bigger" issues (like my writing and teaching religion) that often the day flies by and the laundry piles up and I start to resent the daily grind stuff (dishes, laundry), you know the stuff that no sooner gets done and you have to start all over.
AND, I've organized my husband's dresser and closet before and it's fallen back into chaos so I pledged I wouldn't touch it again. Your devo caused a stirring in my heart. He works hard all week and then is involved with our kids on the weekend. It really would be a loving gesture if I organized his things…AGAIN. Just like the laundry and dishes…it's the daily, small, and nitty gritty gestures that show our love and faithfulness.
Thank you!
Robin
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I am trying to listen with so much on my mind its so hard . I am always looking and trying to hear God speaking to me and showing me the right way to go. I am not sure but does it have to do what you feel in your heart?
Hi Renee, what an encouragement! I tend to get caught up in trying to figure out God’s will for my life and your post reminded to live for His will today, in the hear and now. I often do wonder if I’m hearing from God or if I’m hearing my own voice and it is frustrating. Thank you, I’m excited to be more intentional about listening to God today!
I sometimes find myself too busy with things in life to listen to what God wants me to do for Him. I know if I listen to him and hear his voice the decisions that I make even in every day life would be in His will and maybe even help others in the process. I pray every day but sometimes wonder if I am praying for the right reasons. That is why I need to Be still and let God speak for a change. Sometimes I do too much of the talking. Thanks so much for your daily encouragement.
…seems like time after time God speaks in a quiet yet firm voice…it calls to mind when God spoke to Elijah after all that he went through at Mount Carmel..his human discouragment (yet not spiritual, just had more than enough :> )and his forty day journey (interesting parallels!) until he reached that cave to watch the earthquake, fire etc. Then to hear God speak so gently and quietly, (not in the fire or earthquakes etc) encouraging Elijah and giving him a helper in Elisha and taking care of the threats against Elija's life. What a comfort God is…and thank you so much for your encouragment. It really is so hard to "hear" God sometimes through our own earthquakes and firestorms, guess He's waiting for us to just have a quiet "cave" moment by ourselves with Him :>.
God does speak to us through His Word. I know farewell God has the very best instore for my life. The Bible tells me so. The difficult part is being obedient. One word has helped me more than anything especially in loving others and that is "unconditional". God loves us unconditionally and IF we would just love others unconditionally and be obedient to what we know is right, our temporary lives here on earth would certainly be more peaceful. We need to just keep our eyes on Jesus and be obedient to what our Father tells us.
Your words spoke to me today. I am a former teacher who is able to stay home and raise children. I am very thankful for that. My kids are getting older and i am questioning all the time what it is that i am supposed to be doing! I know i am meant for more but every time i try to figure it out,it doesnt work out or i give up! I know from your words that God wants me to live in the here and now and not worry about my calendar or my success. I just need something to help me work on that!