I mentioned I was starting a Bible Study this week. It's called Discerning the Voice of God. First session out of the box I learned several very valuable things in the weekly daily work.
The first one is...to know God's word and not obey it is a sin against Him. If you defy God you will not hear him. If you obey God, your reward will be great. A consequence of that is that we will hear his voice far less often. A callous will build up around our "spiritual" ears! No matter how hard you pray, your likely not to hear him if you are blatantly disobeying him.
'If only you had paid attention to My commands. then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.' (how peaceful) Isaiah 48:18
"Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man." Matt 7:24
Second...you must set aside time for him, time to talk and time to listen.
I'm all about talking away at him, telling him this and telling him that; asking him for this and asking him for that, thanking him, praising him, on and on.
"Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" Thes 5:16-18
"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Matt 21:22
But then I don't set aside a time for HIM to talk to ME! I don't give him time for rebuttal. I don't give him time to answer my questions or listen to his will for me or his wisdom. It's a one sided conversation. It's all about me. So while praying is about thanking him, talking to him, asking him, it's also about listening for him. How can you hear his voice if your ears are calloused or if you never give him time to speak.
"As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut...he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth,. So let your words be few. Ecc 5:1-2
And hey, here's another thing....he may not speak or answer your prayers when or how you want him to. Waiting for him to respond may take a while. You still have to give him the opportunity, every day. Even if you start with a few minutes of listening and not talking, listening without a hundred other things going through your mind, listening with anticipation that he will answer, that is what it's all about.
"Be still, and know that I am God. Ps 46:10
Obeying him, setting aside time, being quiet, and listening for him with anticipation that he will speak to me, are my goals. That's a big order. It's God before me and I'm pretty selfish much of the time. I can do it though and I know God will be patient with me. He always has been...I'm a slow learner.
